Dr (Mrs.) Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, joined a high-level panel discussion on "Shaping Policy Choices for Frontier Science" at the Conference on Complexity in Matter and Policy (CMP26). The Conference is organised in honour of Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, for his five decades of distinguished contributions, from pioneering research in condensed matter physics to providing strategic leadership in advancing India's research and innovation ecosystem. The panel was organised by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), the Raman Research Institute (RRI), and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) on the sidelines of the conference on 8th August 2026. The panel also featured senior science leaders Prof. (Vijay) K VijayRaghavan, NCBS and former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India; Dr Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology; Dr Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, Chief Executive Officer, Anusandhan National Research Foundation; Prof. Shekhar Mande, President, Indian National Science Academy; Dr Samir Saran, President, Observer Research Foundation; and Prof. Tanusri Saha Dasgupta, S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences. The panel was chaired by Prof. G. Rangarajan, Director, IISc. In her interventions, Dr Maini highlighted that India has consistently invested in frontier sciences, but over the years, public funds have diversified into frontier, translational, and applied research. She stressed that frontier and applied research must go hand in hand. She also highlighted recent national missions such as the National Quantum Mission, India AI Mission, Deep Ocean Missions, ANRF, and the RDI Fund as efforts to bring government, academia, industry, and start-ups together to translate deep science into strategic and technoeconomic outcomes, while building a conducive ecosystem through IP, procurement and validation, and advanced testing infrastructure. Rajesh Ganapathy | Ranjini Bandyopadhyay | B. Chagun Basha | Kunal Thakur