Climate change will be one of the most challenging environmental issues in the 21^st Century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) has identified the emission of carbon-dioxide by the burning of fossil fuels as the primary cause for the dramatic increase in global mean temperature that we have witnessed during the past 40 years. The increase in temperature in most parts of the earth has been accompanied by rapid melting of glaciers, increase in sea level, heat waves and extreme rainfall events. If human beings continue to pursue the same development path as before, the global mean temperature may increase by 3 to 5 degrees Centigrade by the end of the 21^st Century. This can lead to catastrophic events such as rapid sea level rise or changes in monsoon rainfall patterns. Developing countries like India may have to adapt to these unexpected changes in climate patterns.

The panel discussion will address these issues from variety of perspectives. Some of the questions that will be addressed are:

1. Should we really worry about the impact of climate change?
2. What strategies should we adopt to adapt to climate change?
3. What should be India's role in global climate negotiations?
4. Should India adopt an alternative development paradigm?
5. What will be the role of renewable energy technology in mitigating climate change?
6. What is the link between local air pollution and climate change?
7. Should India agree to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions?
8. What is the link between global change and climate change?

The 20^th Century had witnessed major changes in the purpose and the goal of Universities. Initially two major attributes of a University were Education and Research. Science was pursued for the beauty and the purity of science and for man's quest for knowledge. Subsequently, fuelled by the needs of the world war, their role in the economic development of a nation and their interactions with the Industry also became important. Today, the Universities are central focus for the innovations that would make the role of science and technology very relevant to the society that they live in. Indian Institute of Science, in the last Century had maintained its place of pride and had done well by all accounts. Its role in generating scientists and engineers who went on to lead the nation in its pursuit of using Science and Technology as a vehicle for National Development, its role in all the major S & T Initiatives be it in Defence, atomic energy, space, telecom, agriculture, biology, material science and Chemistry and Physics has been praise worthy. It had been responsive to the local needs while being sensitive to changes in the international arena.

During the initial part of its existence, the Institute had been the cauldron of creation of many new Institutions. Later, in the seventies, while industrial demands for research and development in India increased, it responded well by creating its Industrial Consultancy Centre through which it was able to put many products on the road. It was also the first to create a centre for applications of S & T to rural development. All these, it did without losing its focus on high quality science a major indicator of which was the high impact and internationally acclaimed publications in peer reviewed journals.

The 21^st Century has already seen the destruction of borders between nations when it comes to the issues of societal concerns and the economy. Today's societal concerns such as energy, climate change, health care and others are no longer one nation's problem and are often beyond an individual nation's abilities. They need global pursuits of highly interactive and collaborative approaches.

The borders between areas of research have also become porous, questioning the very basic concept of discipline based science pursued so far. The future innovations are known to be in the interface areas between science and engineering.

The Universities such as the Indian Institute of Science can no longer be content with being the best in the nation. They need to be internationally competitive. They also need international presence and the presence of peers from all over the world in its campus.

The institutions are expected to have faculty and students who are individually brilliant but to showcase to the rest of the world the collective excellence of the institution.

There are many other changes that one may witness in the role and purpose of the Institute in the 21^st Century.

The major goal of the panel discussion is to receive ideas about the impending changes and advice about how the Institute should rediscover itself to prepare and propel itself into the 21^st Century and make it at least as glorious as its past in the 20^th Century.