I met with the United Kingdoms Minister for Universities, Science and Cities, Rt Hon Greg Clark, MP in New Delhi on 12th November 2014, and agreed to take the UK-India research and innovation relationship to a greater level with the announcement of a significant new initiative to be known as the Newton-Bhabha Fund. At the 4th UK-India Science and Innovation Council (SIC) held at New Delhi. Co- Chairing the meeting, both science ministers applauded the significant role that the UK-India research and innovation partnership has played in bringing together the best researchers in both countries. Both countries are actively cooperating to address the global challenges through the application of science and technology. We both noted that the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) has been successful in building new scientific partnerships through joint research projects and networking. It was agreed in principle to augment and continue UKIERI Phase III. The Newton-Bhabha Fund (£50 million over 5 years from the UK and matched efforts from India) is an important programme, with a strong interdisciplinary dimension that will further strategise the science, research and innovation cooperation between the UK and India. A series of new Newton-Bhabha programmes were welcomed, including: British Council India and the Department of Science and Technology, India joint PhD student mobility programme. This will sponsor UK and Indian PhD students to spend a period of their study (3 to 6 months) in premier Indian and UK higher education institutions starting from March 2015. The aim of the programme is to pave the way for the next generation of researchers in the UK and India to interact with each other and build long-term R&D linkages and collaborations. The UKs Medical Research Council (MRC) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) joint initiative for new research projects in Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Up to £2 million is available from the UK and ICMR will fund the Indian component Up to £10 million for joint Global Research Programme in Womens and Childrens Health funded by the UKs Medical Research Council (MRC), Department of International Development (DFID) and Indias Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Up to £7 million for Joint Centre Partnerships in Cancer Biology, Translational Regenerative Medicines in Neuroscience and Antimicrobial Resistance, funded by UKs Medical Research Council (MRC) and Indias Department of Biotechnology (DBT). Joint UK-India centre(s) for research in Renewable Energy co-funded by RCUK Energy programme and Indias Department of Science and Technology (DST) Innovate UK and the Department of Science & Technology, India joint programme to support business-led research and development aimed at tackling grand societal challenges. ______________________________________________________ India and UK are two nations linked through history. We enjoy a warm and close multi-faceted relationship. I believe in many ways our future will be even more closely linked in this 21 st century of knowledge economy. Science, Technology and Innovation will certainly play a very significant role in building a partnership through which we can together meet the global challenges and societal aspirations of our two countries. This government under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi is committed to promote science with a human face that serves the common man and promotes equitable and sustainable development of India. We need to leverage more on science and technology to bridge disparities between urban and rural divide with focus on technologies for inclusive development, economic growth and employment generation. We also recognize that science and technology will be an important enabling tool to meet the unmet needs of the society. In the present Government, sectors such as agriculture, integrated water, management including cleaning of rivers; public health including nutrition & sanitation; IT enabled education; clean energy; manufacturing; communication & transportation technologies are some of the key areas that will have priority. Many of these are inevitably linked with the contemporary subject of climate change, adaptation and mitigation. We recognize that in order to build research excellence and competence, India needs to harness, attract and provide opportunities to the best brains in the country. We have to motivate more young people to take up scientific research as career choice. This is a challenge not only for India, but is a problem faced around the world including, I suppose in the United Kingdom. In fact, we have an even greater challenge - the world is looking at India as a supplier and source of these young minds and fertile brains! In this direction, one of the first steps I have taken is to considerably enhance the fellowship stipends to our PhD, post-doctoral and research fellows. The fellowship money have been increased by almost 50.For the minds to remain productive, their pockets need to be comfortable. In order to create an ecosystem of fundamental research as a pathway for technology development and innovation, this Government is of the firm belief that our R&D and academic institutions need to be more globally connected.In this direction, we have launched another new scheme called GIAN-Global Initiative for Academic Networks which will allow faculty from abroad to undertake both teaching and research assignments in indian institutions for substantive period. This will not only help in knowledge disseminatio but also promote knowledge creation through international collaboration. I recognize that the India-UK Science and Innovation Council (SIC) has played a vital role in building a mutual partnership based on trust, reciprocity and parity. Our bilateral R&D collaboration has stepped up from a modest 2 million pounds in 2008 to currently worth 150 million pounds of co-funding from both sides. This relationship is truly contemporary and covers a wide gamut of basic, applied and industrial research. The announcement of the Newton Fund by the United Kingdom 10 promote economic development through science and innovation is a very pragmatic step. I also appreciate UKs decision in allocating 50 million pounds over five years exclusively for India collaborations. I am extremely happy to announce in this SIC meeting today, that we commit to join this program in co-funding the joint R&D activities. From our side, I am extremely pleased to reciprocate in naming this as the Newton-Bhabha Fund, recognizing the two great physicists. Newton and Bhabha may have been separated by time, but I wish to recall that both had a common academic lineage of Cambridge University. It is also a befitting tribute to Homi Jehangir Bhabha - the founder of the Indian Atomic Energy Program. I am confident that the collaborative R&O activities under the aegis of the Newton-Bhabha Fund will take our relationship to a newer height in making it more visible, impactful and relevant. I understand that our government agencies and scientists have already taken a collective approach in identifying the grand challenge areas to be covered under this new Fund. I am told that these areas include - Public Health & Well Being; Energy-Water-Food nexus; Sustainable Cities; High Value Manufacturing; Big Data Analytics etc. These are indeed very topical and relevant for us to address through a collaborative framework that will include people, project and translation strands. It will be also pertinent that while we define the contours of the programs to be launched under the Newton-Bhabha Fund, we should also put in place a robust monitoring mechanism. This will ensure a scientific approach in capturing the outcome and impact of the collaboration. One would like to recall the vibrant cooperation between BIS, British Council, RC-UK, Royal Society, TSB and Welcome Trust cooperation with all our lead scientific agencies like OAE, OBT, 08T, ICMR, ISRO and MOES. This has showcased the value of science, technology and innovation as a significant pillar of the Indo-UK relationship. We should continue to build on this achievement. It will be important that we continue to selectively support such initiatives which may not fall under the Newton-Bhabha Fund activities but are equally relevant. In this context, I would like to announce the commitment of DST to continue partnering in the Phase III of the UK-India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) which has been able to effectively foster partnerships between the next generation researchers. As we stand at the threshold of another historic journey in our STI collaboration through the Newton-Bhabha Fund, I would like to congratulate the scientific community and all the stakeholders of both our countries who have made a significant contribution in building this partnership and wish them best in the future endeavours. I would like to conclude by thanking my Co-Chair Honourable Greg Clark and the UK delegation for your commitment in building this partnership, to which we are equally committed.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 05:17:03 +0000
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