Click to play videoTamil-Nad born Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and two other scientists won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Dr Ramakrishnan spoke exclusively to CNN IBN about what India needs to produce Nobel Laureates. He said India needs a long term policy to produce quality research.
CNN-IBN: How does it feel to win the Nobel Prize?
Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan: Well, it still hasn't completely sunk in. I was quite surprised when they called. It's a recognition for all the people who have worked in the lab. Ribosome is a field that many people have contributed to and made major contributions. So, I feel honoured that I was chosen as one of the three people they recognised for this work.
CNN-IBN: Do you feel a particular pride as an Indian?
Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan: I'm not big on nationalism. I like people better than nations as such. But I'm deeply aware of my Indian roots and I'm deeply grateful to my teachers.
CNN-IBN: Do you think this kind of research might be possible in India too?
Dr Venkatraman Ramakrishnan: I don't see why there shouldn't but there are some limitations. One is it's expensive, we use lots of material like crystallisation, robotics and so on. The real issue is getting access to very powerful X-ray sources. Most of my Indian colleagues have to fly to Japan to get their data but it's question of wanting to do it and of stable funding. It's very important to realise that this is not the kind of work which can be done in one-two year time scale, which is typical for research project grants.
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