ANRF conducts first Meet & Greet webinar with awardees of PMECRG
ANRF conducts first Meet & Greet webinar with awardees of PMECRG
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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