Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, has sent a personal message of congratulations
to Research Councils UK (RCUK) on its launch today of a new office in India. The
office, hosted by the British High Commission in New Delhi, will promote research
collaboration between the UK and India and is ideally placed to develop positive,
sustainable and influential relationships within the international research and
business communities.
Mr Brown said: "I believe that research has an important role to play in the
global knowledge society of the future. It is only through collaboration on high-quality
research that we will be able to address the global and societal challenges that
we face. With its rich tradition of research excellence and ambitious plans for
the future, India was an immediate choice for the first group of such overseas offices.
I would like to personally thank the UK team for their hard work and the Indian
authorities for extending such a welcoming hand to this new facility."
The RCUK Office in India will work with Indian funding bodies to share strategies,
increase dialogue on funding priorities and pursue and promote collaborative research
opportunities. The office will develop a better strategic engagement between the
UK and India, leading to high impact research partnerships.
The Research Councils have been working to encourage collaboration with India
for a number of years and have already produced excellent collaborative projects
such as:
- a UK research collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi,
developing new ways of using biomass by growing 'multi-purpose' crops which
can be used for food, soap and even pesticides, before the burning of residues
for energy;
- a joint initiative in partnership with the India Department of Science and
Technology (DST), investing £8 million into 'Science Bridges', an innovative
scheme taking established UK-India collaborations to a new level and at the
same time bringing in industry partners;
- a partnership between the DST and the Engineering and Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) is seeking to establish a collaboration of world-class
teams addressing the key technologies essential in delivering Next Generation
Networks to meet business and government challenges in the UK and India;
- work by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) on the first
ever Indian moon mission, supplying a sophisticated X-ray camera for aboard
the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which launches on 22 October.
Next year, £5 million of funding will be committed for new research on energy,
to be undertaken with Indian partners and focusing on priority areas such as solar
energy.
Professor John Beddington, UK Chief Scientific Advisor, said: "The opening of
the RCUK Office in India is yet another demonstration of how the UK is recognising
the value of global collaboration in tackling future challenges. Working with partners
in emerging economies is vital to bring about the best possible research outcomes.
In this time of economic gloom and doom, it is important that we keep sight of the
big picture and work together with global partners to achieve solutions."
Professor Ian Diamond, on behalf of RCUK, said: "Collaborative research proves
constantly that it brings huge benefits to everyone, as researchers from different
disciplines share their expertise to achieve extremely positive and high impact
results. UK and Indian researchers have a vast amount to offer each other in terms
of knowledge, good practice and a different perspective. We are very excited about
the RCUK Office in India and the opportunities it will bring to both India and the
UK. The UK is already a centre for world-class research, but we are always looking
for ways to expand our knowledge and working practices."
Dr Alicia Greated, Director of the RCUK Office in India, said: "We look forward
immensely to working closely with India. It's a fantastic opportunity for us to
be able to facilitate and encourage more collaborative working between India and
the UK. We will support researchers who wish to broaden their research perspectives
by spending time in another country. As India's research reputation and capacity
continues to grow, we feel it is vital to embed valuable relationships between the
UK and India to ensure future success."
The launch will be attended by Professor John Beddington, Chief Scientific Advisor
for the UK, Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, Director of the Warwick Manufacturing Group,
Dr R.A. Mashelkar, President of the Global Research Alliance, and Professor Alan
Thorpe, Chief Executive of the Natural Environment Research Council who is representing
RCUK at the launch, along with other dignitaries and invited guests from the two
countries.
As a prelude to the RCUK launch, Professor Beddington attended a India-UK food
crop production workshop on 17 and 18 October which provided an excellent opportunity
for over 50 academics from the UK and India to share their recent research in this
area and to explore future avenues for research collaboration. The workshop was
opened by Creon Butler, British Deputy High Commissioner and Keynote Addresses were
given by Professor Beddington and Dr Paroda, Executive Secretary of the Asia Pacific
Association of Agricultural Research Institutions.
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Notes for editors:
Contact:
Chloë Somers,
RCUK Press Officer
+44(0)1793 444592
Further information
The full text of the Prime Minister's message of congratulations will be available
to download from the RCUK in India website after the launch.
Background on the RCUK Office in India
In January 2008, the Prime Ministers of India and the UK reiterated their commitment
to increasing UK and Indian research, which has led to the creation of an India-based
Research Councils UK (RCUK) Office, co-located with the Science and Innovation Network
in the British High Commission, New Delhi.
Role of the RCUK Office in India
The UK Research Councils have now established a Research Councils UK (RCUK) Office
in India to bring about a step change in strategic level engagement and collaboration
between the Research Councils and Indian research funding organisations. The Office
will work equally on behalf of all Research Councils to identify and facilitate
new research collaborations in priority areas across the breadth of the research
base.
Specifically, the strategic goals of the RCUK Office will be to make it easier
for the UK and India to develop high quality, high impact research partnerships
by focusing on the following priorities:
- Influence: To develop positive, sustainable and influential relationships
with key stakeholders.
- Excellence: To support the facilitation of high quality research collaborations
between India and the UK.
- Impact: To build the profile of the RCUK office to influence policy and
deliver valuable, high impact outputs.
These three priorities will underpin five key aims presented in the RCUK International
Strategy which are:
- Encourage collaboration between UK researchers and the best researchers
from around the world.
- Promote the movement of researchers to and from the UK.
- Give UK researchers access to data facilities and resources.
- Influence the international research agenda.
- Promote the UK as a world centre for research and innovation.
About Research Councils UK
The seven Research Councils are independent non-departmental public bodies, funded
by the Science and Research Budget through the Department of Innovation, Universities
and Skills (DIUS). They are incorporated by Royal Charter and together manage a
research budget of around £3 billion a year.
Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the partnership between the UK's seven Research
Councils. Through RCUK, the Research Councils work together to champion the research,
training and innovation they support.
The seven UK Research Councils are:
- Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC);
- Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC);
- Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC);
- Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC);
- Medical Research Council (MRC);
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC);
- Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
New ways of using biomass
Much of rural India depends on the burning of plant materials for heating and
cooking, but biomass used in this way consumes precious resources like land and
water. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has awarded
over £1 million to researchers at Warwick, Aston, and Bristol Universities to collaborate
with the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, to develop new ways of using biomass.
The team is looking at improving efficiency by growing crops which can be used for
food, soap and even pesticides, before the residues are burned for energy. Using
existing technologies in new ways, a new biomass-fuelled system will generate heat
and purify water for drinking, hopefully leading to significant improvements in
quality of life for the local population.
Science Bridges
The Research Councils wish to enhance linkages with India, USA and China through
provision of a limited number of Science Bridges between research organisations,
to raise the impact and profile of collaborative activity between the UK and these
countries and to facilitate innovation from existing research. These awards will
be made to UK institutions with extant research links with the US, China and India
to accelerate the deployment of research knowledge, deepen and strengthen current
research links, enable the acquisition of new skills and encourage wealth creation
through improving the transfer of research and expertise from the research base
to businesses and other users by building science and innovation bridges with world-class
universities and high-tech businesses. The Indian Department of Science and Technology
(DST) is partnering Research Councils UK in supporting Science Bridge partnerships
and will provide up to £4 million to the partner Indian Institutions to match the
support to UK institutions.
Next Generation Networks
This partnership is a key part of the plans for engagement with India under the
cross-council theme of 'Digital Economy' and will establish a collaboration of World
Class teams addressing the key technologies essential in delivering Next Generation
Networks to meet business and government challenges in the UK and India.
- It is a key part of the plans for the Digital Economy engagement with India.
- It builds on engagement initiated at a previous UK/India Summit between
Professor Gerard Parr (University of Ulster) and Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala
and supported through EPSRC INTERACT international network funding.
- It incorporates key UK and India academic Institutions, in collaboration
with BT in the UK and Infosys Technologies in India.
The partnership will establish a collaboration of World Class teams addressing
the key technologies essential in delivering Next Generation Networks to meet business
and government challenges in the UK and India, with plans to commit £2.5 million
from each country.
Work by STFC on the first ever Indian moon mission
A sophisticated X-ray camera made by scientists and engineers from the UK's Science
and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is set to launch into space on 22 October
aboard the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft - India's first mission to the Moon. The camera
(C1XS) was designed and built at STFC Space Science and Technology Department at
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. It is an X-Ray Spectrometer that will measure X-rays
to map the surface composition of the Moon which will help scientists to understand
its origin and evolution, as well as quantifying the mineral resources that exist
there.