IISc (Indian Institute of Science) Bangalore and Imperial College London have reportedly formed a research and education partnership.
Under the agreement, the two leading institutes will unveil a research and education seed fund that will help in future joint research projects across various scientific areas, bolster new educational innovations, and increase student and academic mobility between the two institutes.
Recently, Imperial was ranked the world’s sixth best university under the QS World University Rankings for 2023, while IISc emerged as India’s top institute.
The new alliance will form a closer collaboration between IISc and Imperial. The Imperial-IISc Innovative Research and Education Fund is open for applications from teams at both institutes and will foster educational collaboration and early-stage, risky, and blue-sky research ideas.
Teams at IISc and Imperial will use the Fund to support small-scale experiments, exploratory research, and the development of workshops, prototypes, and hackathons. It will also allow students and researchers to visit each university.
The two institutes will also seek to develop a student exchange program to allow students at both universities to expand their experience and network.
Professor Maggie Dallman, Imperial’s Vice President (International) has commented that the partnership unites two top universities to make an impact on innovation, research, and education.
Professor Dallman added that India is a prominent hub for education, research, and innovation, and the IISc-Imperial collaboration will help bolster India-UK partnerships over the coming decade.
Prof Praveen Kumar, IISc’s Chair of the Office of International Relations has stated that the new program will offer fresh momentum to the IISc-Imperial partnership which has existed for several decades.
Prof Kumar further pointed out that the latest IISc-Imperial agreement is part of organic alliances between the UK and Indian universities.
India and Imperial College have strong links in education and research. Over the last five years, academics from Imperial has issued around 1,230 research papers with over 300 Indian partner institutions.
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