Ramanujan Auditorium

Private Funding for Basic Sciences in India

G Baskaran

IMSc, Chennai

Sharing wealth for the betterment of society is an important contributor to progress. Tata, Birla, Mehta, Mahendralal Sarkar, Annamalai, Azhagappa, AC Muthiah, Krish Gopalakrishnan, Narayanamurthy, Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar and several others, via support to science, have been torch bearers in India. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is slowly impacting science as well. An enlightened self-interest motivates sharing, leading to a win-win situation. I will talk about an example I know personally, centered around Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics at Waterloo, Canada. I will also talk about a remarkable organization, Science Philanthropy Alliance, in North America, run by fellow scientists.