• The Rajya Sabha passed the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Bill, 2023 to set up a national agency to fund research across universities in the country.

• The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 7.

• On June 28, 2023, the Union Cabinet approved the introduction of the National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill, 2023 in Parliament.

Provisions of the Bill

• It will establish Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), an apex body to provide high-level strategic direction of scientific research in the country according to recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP), at a total estimated cost of Rs 50,000 crore during five years (2023-28).

• The Department of Science and Technology (DST) will be the administrative Department of NRF which will be governed by a Governing Board consisting of eminent researchers and professionals across disciplines.

• Since the scope of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation is wide-ranging impacting all ministries, the Prime Minister will be the ex-officio president of the board and the Union Minister of Science &  Technology and Union Minister of Education will be the ex-officio vice-presidents. 

• NRF’s functioning will be governed by an Executive Council chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the government of India.

• The NRF will forge collaborations among the industry, academia, and government departments and research institutions, and create an interface mechanism for participation and contribution of industries and state governments in addition to the scientific and line ministries.

• It will focus on creating a policy framework and putting in place regulatory processes that can encourage collaboration and increased spending by the industry on R&D. 

• The Bill will repeal the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) Act, 2008.

Science and Engineering Research Board

• The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of Department of Science and Technology (DST) has taken several significant steps in advancing R&D in frontier areas of science and engineering in the country. 

• The SERB interventions mainly aim to support the R&D projects in core areas of science, engineering and its interdisciplinary fields, targeting the young scientists/researchers to start/initiate their research through specific calls and fellowships programmes in view of equity and inclusion. 

• In addition, SERB takes new initiatives through need-based calls to trigger the research in national interest and emerging technologies.

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