The Resilience of Science, How Global South Researchers Are Bypassing Bureaucracy with Creativity and Collaboration
In the grand, global narrative of scientific progress, the spotlight often falls on the gleaming laboratories of North America and Europe, where state-of-the-art equipment and streamlined funding processes are considered the norm. Meanwhile, in the vibrant research ecosystems of the Global South—from the universities of Kenya to the institutes of India—a different, more arduous struggle for knowledge unfolds. Here, scientific inquiry is a constant battle against a triumvirate of constraints: bureaucratic red tape, chronic underfunding, and prohibitively expensive technology. Yet, against this backdrop of systemic challenges, a powerful story of resilience, ingenuity, and solidarity is being written. Scientists are not merely surviving; they are devising innovative ways to keep the wheels of discovery turning, proving that the pursuit of knowledge can flourish even in the most unforgiving environments.
This spirit was crystallized in a plenary lecture by Dr. Sammy Wambua, a conservation genomics scientist from Pwani University in Kenya, at the Student Conference on Conservation Science in Bengaluru. His talk, “Navigating Conservation Genomics in East Africa: A Personal Journey, Practical Lessons, and a Vision for Equitable Science,” served as both a stark diagnosis of shared ailments and a hopeful prescription for collective action. For the early-career scientists from India and other countries in attendance, Dr. Wambua’s experiences were not a foreign account but a mirror reflecting their own daily realities. His journey underscores a fundamental truth: the most daunting barriers to scientific advancement in the Global South are often not intellectual, but bureaucratic.
The Bureaucratic Quagmire: When Procedure Trumps Progress
The first and most formidable obstacle detailed by Dr. Wambua is the labyrinthine nature of administrative systems. Researchers in Kenya, much like their counterparts in India, find themselves entangled in a web of multiple overlapping policies, opaque approval processes, and inhibitory “oral directives” that carry more weight than written rules. “When you run into hindrances with anything bureaucratic and try to get an explanation, you don’t get a satisfactory one,” Dr. Wambua observed. “It tells you immediately that the bureaucrats are not guided by anything that is written.”
This sentiment resonates deeply within the Indian scientific community. Wildlife biologists frequently wait for months, even up to a year, for permits to conduct research in protected areas, often with no communication or updates from forest departments. The experience of conservationist Trash Thekachara, who had to sit in a forest department office for four days to secure a permit delayed by eight months, is a testament to this culture of inertia. This practice of developing ad-hoc, persistent workarounds to navigate systemic inefficiencies is what is known in India as jugaad—a quintessential survival skill that has now become a necessary part of the scientific toolkit.
The problem extends from permits to procurement. Outdated government procurement rules, often designed for the purchase of office furniture rather than cutting-edge scientific reagents, impose rigid “lowest price” norms. This makes it nearly impossible for labs to procure highly specific, niche materials required for advanced research, even when only a single supplier exists globally. While the Union Ministry of Finance has taken a step in the right direction by easing some financial limits, the core issue of inflexibility remains. Dr. Wambua’s vision of government offices functioning as proactive “service counters” that clearly communicate application status is a distant dream for many researchers who instead face long, unexplained silences, forcing them to invest precious time and resources in relentless follow-ups.
Collaboration as a Strategic Bridge Over Institutional Hurdles
Faced with such systemic blockades, scientists in the Global South have turned to collaboration as a powerful strategic tool. Dr. Wambua detailed a particularly effective workaround for one of the most common bureaucratic logjams: the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). International collaborations typically require formal MoUs approved by respective governments, a process that can languish in ministry corridors for years, effectively stalling research before it can begin.
The solution? Pragmatism over protocol. Dr. Wambua and his colleagues have pioneered the use of provisional “Frameworks of Collaboration.” These informal agreements allow research teams to begin their work immediately, sharing data, resources, and expertise while the cumbersome formal MoUs wind their way through the bureaucratic machinery. “We apply for the MoUs to be approved, and in the meantime we can get started,” he explained, emphasizing that this approach is both legal and profoundly practical. It is a classic example of refusing to let perfect be the enemy of good, ensuring that scientific progress is not held hostage by administrative sloth.
Collaboration also serves as a critical lifeline for funding. Dr. Wambua described how repeated rejections for postgraduate scholarships did not deter his students. Instead, he strategically partnered with conservation organizations, designing research projects with the explicit condition that the budget include coverage for students’ fees and stipends. This model ingeniously links capacity-building directly to research outcomes, ensuring that the next generation of scientists is trained even in the absence of robust state-funded scholarship programs.
In India, where delays in disbursing fellowships force many research scholars to take on teaching work or even personal loans to survive, such innovative funding models are urgently needed. Collaborative arrangements, where Indian and foreign labs split research work and costs, offer a viable path forward, though they too often run into the same bureaucratic walls.
Leapfrogging Obsolescence: The Power of Networks Over Ownership
Another key insight from Dr. Wambua’s lecture addresses the crippling cost of technology. In an era of rapidly evolving scientific instrumentation, making a massive capital investment in a single piece of equipment, like a DNA sequencing machine costing tens of lakhs of rupees, is a high-risk gamble. The model can become obsolete within months, rendering the huge investment a sunk cost and leaving the institution with outdated technology.
The alternative? Prioritize access over ownership. Instead of buying and maintaining expensive hardware, scientists can ship samples to partner labs abroad at a fraction of the cost, leveraging state-of-the-art facilities that would be impossible to fund locally. “It helps to have friends in labs in different cultures,” Dr. Wambua remarked, highlighting the immense value of global scientific networks. This approach allows researchers in the Global South to “leapfrog” technological generations, bypassing the need for costly and soon-to-be-obsolete infrastructure and directly utilizing the best available tools elsewhere. His assertion, “We cannot stop working because there is no money. If you have a PhD, the least you can do is think,” is a powerful mantra for resourceful science.
The Imperative of South-South Solidarity
Underlying all these strategies is Dr. Wambua’s compelling call for a reorientation of scientific collaboration. For too long, the dominant model has been North-South, often with inherent power imbalances. The future, he argues, lies in strengthening South-South partnerships. Countries in Africa and Asia face remarkably similar challenges—from bureaucratic delays and funding shortfalls to shared research priorities in areas like tropical disease, sustainable agriculture, and biodiversity conservation.
By pooling resources, aligning research agendas, and sharing hard-won lessons in navigating their own systems, these nations can create a powerful, self-sustaining ecosystem of knowledge production. “We should be intentional in seeing our strengths and finding ways to work together,” Dr. Wambua urged. This is not just about solidarity; it is about strategic efficacy. Evidence supports this: an analysis by Indian researchers showed that collaborations with a greater number of institutions consistently led to more impactful publications with higher citation rates.
For the young researchers in Bengaluru, Dr. Wambua’s account was both a validation of their struggles and a guidebook for perseverance. The challenges are real and systemic. But his message carried a profound note of optimism. It revealed that creativity, pragmatism, and a commitment to community can forge a path where formal systems fail. The scientific spirit in the Global South is not defined by its limitations, but by its boundless capacity to adapt, collaborate, and endure. By thinking and working together, scientists are not just bypassing red tape; they are building a more resilient, equitable, and interconnected future for global science.
Q&A: Navigating Science in the Global South
1. What are the biggest non-scientific challenges facing researchers in the Global South, according to Dr. Wambua?
The most daunting challenges are bureaucratic, not scientific. These include:
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Opaque Approval Processes: Lengthy, unpredictable waits for permits and approvals with no clear communication or justification.
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Inhibitory Oral Directives: Unofficial, unwritten rules that often override formal policies, creating confusion and inconsistency.
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Outdated Procurement Rules: Rigid government tendering processes that prioritize “lowest price” over scientific necessity, making it difficult to acquire specialized reagents and equipment.
2. What is the “Framework of Collaboration” model, and how does it help bypass bureaucracy?
A “Framework of Collaboration” is a provisional, informal agreement between research institutions that allows them to begin joint work immediately, while the formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) undergoes a slow, often multi-year government approval process. This pragmatic approach is legal and ensures that scientific progress isn’t stalled by administrative delays. It is a crucial workaround that prioritizes the actual work of science over perfect paperwork.
3. How can collaboration help solve the problem of expensive and rapidly obsolete equipment?
Instead of every institution making high-risk investments in expensive hardware like DNA sequencers that may become obsolete quickly, collaboration enables a model of access over ownership. Researchers can ship samples to partner labs in other countries that already have state-of-the-art equipment. This allows scientists in the Global South to use the latest technology at a fraction of the cost, bypassing the need for local procurement and maintenance and avoiding technological obsolescence.
4. What is “South-South collaboration,” and why is it emphasized?
South-South collaboration refers to partnerships between scientists and institutions in developing countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It is emphasized because these regions face similar constraints (bureaucracy, funding, infrastructure) and share common research priorities (e.g., tropical diseases, local crop varieties, biodiversity). By pooling resources, sharing knowledge, and aligning their research agendas, they can reduce dependency on traditional Northern partners, create a more equitable scientific landscape, and produce more impactful, contextually relevant research.
5. How does the concept of Jugaad relate to scientific research in India?
Jugaad is an Indian term for an innovative, improvised fix or a flexible approach to problem-solving in the face of rigid or inefficient systems. In scientific research, it manifests as the ability of researchers to find creative workarounds to bureaucratic and logistical hurdles. Examples include persistently following up with officials in person to secure delayed permits, or finding alternative suppliers or methods when procurement rules block standard pathways. It represents the resilience and ingenuity required to conduct science despite systemic challenges.
