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The scientific enterprise in India has grown dramatically in the past few decades, with research emerging as a viable and important career option for students of science. The country thus has a large population of young scientists in the early stages of establishing their independent research careers. While this demographic is arguably the most important group that will determine the future of scientific research in India, their status and concerns are poorly understood. The Indian National Young Academy of Sciences conducted a national survey to better understand and present the challenges faced by them. Through a structured questionnaire, we sought the views of researchers below 45 years of age. Here, we summarize the responses from 854 participants across multiple early career stages. We highlight key challenges faced by these scientists in establishing an independent research career, and suggest steps to address them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIDS, which twenty-five years ago no one even knew it existed, has become the most serious infectious disease worldwide. The development of an HIV vaccine is one of the most difficult challenges that modern biomedical science is confronting. To address this challenge, scientists may need to organize themselves in a more intense, targeted, and collaborative effort, such as the one proposed by the Global HIV/AIDS Vaccine Enterprise. The enterprise concept proposes to complement the creativity of individual investigators with a collaborative system that ensures a more effective use of human and financial resources to produce new scientific knowledge. It also implies that the scientific knowledge can be harnessed in a targeted way to develop practical solutions to urgent global health problems, including explicit product development activities. Different modalities of the enterprise concept are being explored for the development of drugs to treat tuberculosis and vaccines to prevent malaria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]