The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is a department within the Ministry of Science and Technology in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was established in May 1971 to promote new areas of science and technology and to play the role of a nodal department for organising, coordinating and promoting scientific and technological activities in the country. It gives funds to various approved scientific projects in India. It also supports various researchers in India to attend conferences abroad and to go for experimental works.

Open access

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) supports

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...

to scientific knowledge, originated from the public-funded research in India. In December 2014, the DST and the

Department of Biotechnology The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is an Indian government department, under the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for administrating development and commercialisation in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. ...

(DBT),

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, had jointly adopted their Open Access Policy.

Scientific Programmes

Autonomous S&T Institutions

The autonomous science and technology institutions organized under the department include: * Agharkar Research Institute, Pune *

Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) is a research institute in Nainital, Uttarakhand, India which specializes in astronomy, solar physics, astrophysics and atmospheric science. It is an autonomous body under the ...

, Nanital * Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow *

Bose Institute Bose Institute (or Basu Bigyan Mandir) is a premier public research institute of India for biological sciences and also one of its oldest. The Bose Institute Kolkata is a Tier 1 Natural Science Research Institute in India, sharing the podium wit ...

, Kolkata * Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences, Bangalore *

Indian Institute of Geomagnetism The Indian Institute of Geomagnetism is an autonomous research institution established by the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology. The facility is engaged in basic and applied research in geomagnetism, as well as alli ...

, Mumbai *International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials, Hyderabad * Institute of Nano Science and Technology, SAS Nagar *

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in basic sciences under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. Established on 29 July ...

, Kolkata *

Indian Institute of Astrophysics The Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), with its headquarters in Bengaluru, is an autonomous research institute wholly funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. IIA conducts research primarily in the areas of ...

, Bengaluru *

National Innovation Foundation National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) is a multidisciplinary research institute located at Jakkur, Bangalore, India. JNCASR was established by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of Indi ...

, Bengaluru *

Raman Research Institute The Raman Research Institute (RRI) is an institute for scientific research located in Bengaluru, India. It was founded by Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman in 1948. Although it began as an institute privately owned by C. V. Raman, it became an ...

, Bengaluru * Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology * S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata *Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati *Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) * North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) * Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun *Vigyan Prasar, New Delhi * Anusandhan National Research Foundation

Scientific and industrial research organisations

DST runs a program to recognise non-governmental and non-commercial organisations engaged in science and technology areas as ''Scientific and Industrial Research Organisations (SIRO).'' In 2024, there were 884 organisations across natural and applied sciences, agricultural sciences, social sciences and biomedical sciences.

Attached Institutions

*National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisation, Kolkata *

Survey of India The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.Ministry of Science and Technology (India) Science and technology in India Science and technology ministries 1971 establishments in India {{India-gov-stub