Five prominent Sri Lankan scientists have been honoured by the Asian Scientist magazine, for their outstanding contribution to various disciplines of science. Every year since 2016, the Asian Scientist Magazine has been compiling a list of Asia’s most outstanding researchers.
Now into its eighth edition, the Asian Scientist 100 list celebrates the success of the region’s best and brightest, highlighting their achievements across a range of scientific disciplines. To be acknowledged on this list, the honouree must have received a national or international prize in the preceding year for his or her research. Alternatively, he or she must have made a significant scientific discovery or provided leadership in academia or industry.
Accordingly, the Asian Scientist Magazine has listed Chathuranga Ranasinghe from the University of Colombo, Ashani Savinda Ranathunga from the University of Moratuwa, Dr. Asha De Vos, Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda and Prof. Chandana Jayaratne among the top 100 scientists in Asia for the year 2023.
Great achievement
This is a great achievement that augurs well for science and science education in Sri Lanka. This is not the first time that the five scientists have received recognition – they have been recognised individually previously for their achievements.
Chathuranga Ranasinghe received the 7th Sheikh Fahad Hiroshima-Asia Sports Medicine and Science Award in 2022. Ashani Savinda Ranathunga is the recipient of 2022 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for turning industrial and agricultural waste into value-added products and using them as raw materials for eco-friendly construction and development projects.
Dr. Asha DeVos is a marine biologist, educator and a leader in the field of blue whale research. She is the first Sri Lankan to receive a PhD in marine mammal research and the first National Geographic explorer from the country. She is a recipient of the Maxwell-Hanrahan Award in Field Biology.
Rohan Pethiyagoda won the 2022 Linnean Medal in zoology, and became the first Sri Lankan to receive the medal. He was recognised for his consistent research, writing and advocacy in biodiversity conservation in Sri Lanka.
Prof. Chandana Jayaratne was conferred the National Apex Award 2022 by the Sri Lankan President for his consistent professional excellence in the field of science and technology in the country.
More recognition needed
This recognition of five of our leading scientists by the prestigious Asian Scientist magazine should lead to more awareness in society about the behind-the-scenes work and research done by the scientists’ community in the country. We are generally obsessed about news and gossip on celebrities, business personalities and politicians, but do not even think about the positive contribution made by our researchers and scientists.
For example, during the height of the Covid pandemic, researchers at the University of Sri Jayewardenapura linked up with British universities for genomic sequencing and vaccine research, for which they won global recognition. Yet, only a few were aware of this achievement as they were not in the limelight.
This also exposes another stark fact about our education system. Parents and even students believe that everyone should become a doctor or an engineer. But this is simply not practical or possible. Students who are selected for science and agriculture courses at our universities enter those faculties with the greatest reluctance, for they believe that the opportunities are severely limited for them once they pass out as graduates. This is because they suffer from the conventional job mentality that is so common among our university graduates, most of whom think that the Government should find employment for them at the end of their degree course.
The Asian Scientist accolades, on the other hand, show that there is plenty of scope for scientists in various disciplines. Becoming a world-class scientist or researcher requires out-of-the-box thinking – it is not definitely a “job” in the conventional sense of the word. If one analyses the stellar careers of the above-mentioned scientists, it becomes clear that a certain amount of passion for what they do is involved. In other words, they have a clear goal in mind. Money is a secondary factory for most scientists, though those who reach the top in their science careers can potentially earn much more than doctors or engineers do. For example, a biomedical researcher can earn up to US$ 100,000 per year.
Total revamp necessary
But to be fair by the graduates, our universities and their curricula must change too. They still offer many conventional or out-of-date courses that have no relevance to today’s fast-paced, commercialised world. This could be one reason why they are lagging way behind in World University Rankings. There should be a total revamp of their degree courses, given the importance of fields such as Biomechanical/Biomedical engineering, Genetic Engineering, Sustainable and Renewable Energy, Industrial Psychology, Atmospheric Studies, Electric/Hydrogen Aviation, Epidemiology/Pandemic Studies, Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computational Linguistics (think Siri or Alexa), Health Technology, Big Data and Data Analytics, Construction Management, Drone Technology and Autonomous Vehicle Management (driverless cars, smart roads etc).
These are all exciting fields, with a huge potential for the future. To cite just one example from the above courses, imagine the savings in terms of fuel and CO2 emissions if today’s Kerosene-powered jet engines can be replaced with electric or hydrogen propulsion systems.
There is also a tendency to think of universities solely as places of learning. But just as a zoo is not really a place that displays animals but rather a centre for animal conservation, a university is not just an academic studies centre – rather, most universities are research centres for real-life applications covering everything from Malaria vaccines to alien intelligence. Doing research per se is not adequate – they must also team with industry leaders to commercialise any final products.
One recent example is the University of Oxford’s tie-up with pharma giant AstraZeneca of Sweden to manufacture a vaccine for Covid. This also highlights the international nature of university research, which is vital to secure funding and gain global reach. In any case, Sri Lanka is too small a market for any products that come out of a research lab. Thus international cooperation is essential for university research.
But to enter a university and do a course of this nature, a student has to complete school education first. This is where our schools come in. Unfortunately, many mechanical-oriented subjects have been removed from our education system over the years. Some time back, students were allowed to decide in Year Nine whether they wanted to pursue studies or a career in a field such as radio electronics. In today’s terms, we need a thorough emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects at school level. In fact, the school curricula too should be changed to reflect this need and reality.
More students, especially girls, must be encouraged to take up these subjects at O/L and A/L stages. They can derive inspiration from scientists like Dr. Asha DeVos who is internationally recognised. Worldwide, an increasing number of girls and women are taking up science studies.
Barriers
Of course, barriers exist for Asians who succeed in any field, and especially for women. Dr. DeVos herself recently recounted a rather nasty experience she had at an overseas event, where she was the main speaker. As she was about to enter the venue, the security person told her to take another entrance, apparently thinking she was a janitor. She had to point out a nearby life-size billboard that announced her attendance as the keynote speaker. This is just one incident that illustrates the barriers that Asian women have to overcome, regardless of their field or career.
We also have to turn the searchlight inwards and analyse whether our scientists have got due recognition on their own soil. As far as we are aware, none of the five scientists honoured by the Asian Scientist magazine has migrated to another country so far. Unfortunately, many of our academics and scientists who go abroad for studies turn their backs on their motherland and stay back in the host countries. This may seem rather selfish, but one wonders whether the lack of recognition and opportunities (not to mention monetary considerations) back home are keeping them away.
Some are also exasperated with the difficulties experienced in travelling with a Sri Lankan passport and seek dual citizenship, as scientists need to travel frequently to Western countries for seminars, meetings, exchange programs and research opportunities. Many Sri Lankan doctors, engineers, scientists and academics too have left the country as a result of the recent economic crisis. This trend must be reversed, lest Sri Lanka lose its brightest minds within a few short years. They should be given adequate opportunities and financial rewards to retain their talents within our shores.
We often see Sri Lankan scientists living abroad winning various awards, with that honour and prestige going to the foreign institutions and countries they work for. Every time this happens, we lose as a nation. They should be invited to come back at least for various assignments with our universities, without necessarily losing their foreign citizenship.
Science is not an exotic object that is beyond our reach. Science is deeply connected to our day-to-day life, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear. Scientific research over the last 50 years or so has made our lives immeasurably better and more rewarding. We live happier, longer lives thanks to the advances in medicine and health technology. The next goal is literally to save the world from Climate Change, for it can destroy the world that we know and love. Science is the answer to all our problems, especially if scientists around the world can cooperate to resolve them.