Smt. Savitri Thakur Flagged Off India Research Tour 2025 at ICSSR, New Delhi

Empowering women researchers and scholars is central to building an inclusive knowledge economy: Smt. Savitri Thakur

Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Smt. Savitri Thakur, today, formally flagged off the India Research Tour 2025 at the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi.

Organised by Springer Nature in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Government of India, the India Research Tour is one of the country’s most ambitious outreach initiatives promoting integrity, inclusivity, and innovation in research. Now in its third edition, the tour will travel across 29 institutions in 15 cities and 7 states, focusing on Open Access, research integrity, diversity, inclusion, and ethical scholarship.

Addressing the gathering, Smt. Savitri Thakur highlighted the Government of India’s unwavering commitment under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi towards empowering women and children through knowledge, research, and innovation. She said that the India Research Tour is a vital platform for connecting with researchers across the country. It supports women in research, strengthens ethics in scholarship, and ensures equitable access to opportunities and resources. Empowering women researchers and scholars is central to building an inclusive knowledge economy. By promoting ethical research practices and democratising access to knowledge, this initiative contributes directly to the vision of Viksit Bharat.

Smt. Thakur further emphasised the Ministry’s focus on creating safe, supportive, and opportunity-rich environments for women scholars in universities and research institutions. She appreciated Springer Nature and ICSSR for ensuring that the Tour includes discussions on gender equality in research, ethical publication practices, and the Her Research, Our Future initiative, which aligns closely with the Ministry’s mission to mainstream women’s voices in academia and policymaking.

Also present on the occasion were Mr. Frank Vrancken Peeters, CEO, Springer Nature, Mr. Venkatesh Sarvasiddhi, Managing Director, Springer Nature India, and Prof. Dhananjay Singh, Member Secretary, ICSSR.

This year’s tour will include visits to leading institutions such as IIT Kharagpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Guwahati, Maulana Azad Medical College (New Delhi), IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, and IIM Bodh Gaya.

The key pillars of the India Research Tour 2025 include:

• Promoting Open Access (OA) and advancing awareness of One Nation, One Subscription (ONOS);
• Advancing Research Integrity and exploring the role of Artificial Intelligence in publishing;
• Promoting diversity and inclusion through initiatives such as Her Research, Our Future;
• Supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by democratizing access to knowledge.

Springer Nature is one of the world’s leading publishers of research and a pioneer in open science. Through its trusted brands and technology-driven platforms, Springer Nature supports researchers in sharing discoveries, helps educators advance learning, and empowers professionals to stay at the forefront of knowledge.

Disclaimer: This is an official press release by Pib.