तिश्ना—लब

Update -Finally publishing the draft from dec 2019    Somebody on twitter found it absurd to call science a meritocracy. I would agree to it in the past but now I am not sure.  My prime focus is on marks. It never bothered me until I met two researchers from Max Planck institute in a symposium. Apparently, the grades are taken very seriously in Europe for PhD admission. Just like in India.That is ridiculous on two levels. One, the message it sends out- ONLY high scoring students can, and should be privileged to, make a career in science. Second, the assumption that those students will be good at doing science. Because unlike PhD admission, these may not be followed up with an interview and only based on merit the batch of students is prepared. And the majority, the <85% scoring population, has to look out for other means to show how competent they are. And that is really really worrisome for anyone who wants to increase the engagement of society in STEM o...