The Rs 20 crore annual funds will be distributed through incubators, aiming to strengthen the Indian healthcare system and incentivise research in the country in the areas of medical technology and bioscience research.
(L-R): Dr Satya Prakash Dash (Senior Advisor, BFI); Sandeep Nailwal, Founder, BFI; Co-Founder & CEO, Polygon Foundation; Co-Founder, Sentient AI; Prof. Vijay Chandru (Co-founder, Strand Life Sciences; Co-founder and Chairman, CrisprBits) and Dr. Gaurav Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Blockchain For Impact (BFI) (Source: financialexpress)
Medical and med-tech research in India is set to get better incentives, with the launch of National Science Prizes by Blockchain for Impact, a non-profit incubator fund, with a total of Rs 20 crore per year being distributed. This award is being handed out to select researchers at IITs and other key institutes, aiming to recognise innovation in the field of medical technology and bioscience research.
The awards will be distributed across the following categories: Two Lifetime Achievement Awards for contribution to science and health of Rs 25 lakh each; a grant of Rs 2.5 crore each through the Sandeep Nailwal India First Award to three Indian-origin or global researchers, entrepreneurs or innovators willing to relocate to India to scale biomedical science or public health; two awards for global excellence of Rs 5 crore each to individuals whose global work has shaped biomedical research and public health; and two Young Indian Scientist Awards of Rs 50 lakh each for biomedical scientists, public health pioneers or changemakers under 40 who have built unique solutions.
This year, the Lifetime Achievement awards were conferred upon Padma Shri Dr. Balram Bhargava and Dr. Vijay Chandru for their contributions to the field of science and healthcare in India at Vimarsh, a science conclave organised by Blockchain for Impact (BFI).
Established by Sandeep Nailwal, a tech entrepreneur and philanthropist, these awards aim to advance India’s scientific potential and attract the global talent pool back to India. Speaking to FinancialExpress.com, Nailwal, who is the founder of BFI and co-founder and CEO of Polygon Foundation, said: “If India is to grow the way it should, we need more of the global talent pool to come back to India. This idea germinated during COVID, when we raised funds for emergencies during the pandemic, and that fund has grown to over Rs 4,000 crore.” This is Nailwal’s way of giving back to society in the long term in India.
He says there are two reasons that India’s top research talent looks at foreign universities to pursue research. One is the peer group that they get exposed to, and the second is the stipend that they get. To counter that, through this fund, he looks to increase the stipend for researchers in India itself, through various incubators in IITs, and that should attract the peer group as well, even getting foreign researchers to pursue research in India.
“My aim is to recognise and empower researchers whose work has the potential to shape the future and solve key healthcare issues in India. This initiative is a significant step towards giving back to the country that has given me so much, and building a culture where innovation is celebrated and nurtured,” Nailwal said.
BFI was set up during the second wave of the COVID pandemic in India. The funds collected were initially used towards strengthening the Indian healthcare system. However, after the COVID wave, the focus transitioned towards early identification and prevention activities. So far, around 55 different startups have been funded through various med-tech incubators.
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