The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) conducted its first Meet & Greet webinar with the inaugural cohort of Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant (PMECRG) awardees on August 26, 2025. The virtual event, attended by over 560 participants from across India, was designed to connect awardees, encourage the use of social media for broader research dissemination, and foster collaborations. Dr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, CEO of ANRF, presented ANRF’s vision for catalyzing India's rise as a research and innovation powerhouse. He emphasized ANRF's mandate to advance scientific research and innovation across all stakeholders and encouraged awardees to leverage digital platforms and AI tools to amplify their research impact. Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru from IIIT Hyderabad introduced SARAL (https://saral.democratiseresearch.in), a digital toolset designed to convert research papers into videos, enable media outreach, and foster public engagement in eleven Indian languages. The ANRF Media team clarified technical aspects of the PMECRG scheme. The webinar is part of ANRF's commitment to democratizing research and improving the ease of doing science. More webinars will be organized on grant processes and administrative aspects. This information was released by PIB Delhi on August 28, 2025, at 4:36 PM (Release ID: 2161541).
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Science Technology: The Indian government ministry responsible for science and technology policies and initiatives.
Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF): A statutory body established by the Prime Minister of India with the mandate to advance scientific research and innovation across all stakeholders.
Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant (PMECRG): A grant program by the Indian government to support early career researchers.
Dr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman: CEO of ANRF.
Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru: Professor at IIIT Hyderabad.
IIIT Hyderabad: International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, Telangana.
SARAL: A digital toolset and platform designed to convert research papers into videos, enable media outreach, foster public engagement, and create collaboration opportunities in eleven Indian languages.
Delhi: Location where the press release was posted.
Ministry of Science & Technology
ANRF conducts first Meet & Greet webinar with
awardees of PMECRG
ANRF CEO highlighted vision to catalyse India’s rise
as a research and innovation powerhouse
Posted On: 28 AUG 2025 4:36PM by PIB Delhi
The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) conducted its first Meet & Greet webinar with the
inaugural cohort of Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant (PMECRG) awardees on 26 August 2025.
Over 560 participants joined virtually from different parts of the country for this interactive session.
The webinar featured Dr. Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, CEO, ANRF; Prof. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, IIIT
Hyderabad, and officials from the ANRF Media team who engaged with the awardees and addressed their
queries.
In his presentation, Dr. Kalyanaraman elaborated on ANRF’s vision of catalysing India’s rise as a research
and innovation powerhouse. He emphasised that ANRF is a statutory body established by the Prime Minister
of India with the mandate to advance scientific research and innovation across all stakeholders. He also
highlighted the importance of leveraging social media as a first-class tool for disseminating research and
engaging society at large.
He encouraged awardees to actively use digital platforms, AI tools, and innovative formats such as Fireside
Chats and Lightning Talks to amplify their research, ensuring wider reach and greater impact. His core
message focused on Quality, Impact, and Outcomes; and in parallel ANRF is working to improve the Ease of
Doing Science, and reducing administrative load on PIs. He thanked all ANRF officers and staff who have
made the PMECRG program a success.Prof. Kumaraguru introduced SARAL (https://saral.democratiseresearch.in/), a digital toolset and
platform in progress designed to convert research papers into videos, enable media outreach, foster
public engagement, and create collaboration opportunities in eleven Indian languages. He gave a
live demonstration and addressed several technical queries from the participants.
Various technical aspects of the PMECRG scheme were clarified by the Media team, highlighting its
flexibility and the ways in which researchers can maximise its scope to advance their projects.As part of ANRF’s commitment to democratising research, the aim of this webinar was to connect PMECRG
awardees, encourage the use of social media for broader dissemination, and foster collaborations that extend
research impact far beyond individual laboratories.
More such webinars will be organised on grant processes and administrative aspects to further
promote ease of doing science.
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NKR/PSM
(Release ID: 2161541)