Imperial College London, has launched its new science hub in Bengaluru, the Imperial Global India. The hub is being established as a Liaison Office and will support joint research projects, long-term collaborations, student scholarships, collaborative PhD programmes and fellowships.
It will strengthen partnerships between Imperial and leading universities and institutes in India and act as a communication channel to form closer ties with industry and policymakers, and provide a platform for greater collaboration in science and technology innovation between India and the UK.
Imperial says that research programmes with Indian partners will focus on helping to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges in areas such as climate change and sustainability, food and water security, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Imperial Global India has announced its first key initiatives:
- The India Connect Fund will support up to 25 joint research projects every year between Imperial and partners in India in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum science, biotech and clean energy.
- The Future Leaders Scholarship is Imperial’s biggest ever scholarship programme for Indian scientists and will support 75 STEMB students over the next five years.
- The establishment of six high-impact Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Global Faculty Fellowships withtheNational Centre for Biological Sciences and Indian Institute of Science to develop a London-Bengaluru AI in Science Network.
- Investment in a Global Challenge Labprogramme to bring together hundreds of UK and Indian students each year to jointly co-create innovative solutions to UN Sustainable Development Goals.
- Investment in high-impact doctoral training networks in science and technology through a new collaborative PhD programmewith the Indian Institute of Science, bringing together UK and Indian PhD students to work on joint research projects. This will be enhanced by a Global Fellows programmefacilitating doctoral-level exchanges between leading laboratories in the UK and India.
The hub was formally launched at an event at the Science Gallery Bengaluru recently where India’s top business leaders, policymakers and scientists discussed ways to expand India-UK partnerships in science, technology and innovation.
Speakers included: N.R. Narayana Murthy, Founder – Infosys Limited; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon Group; Srinath Ravichandran, Cofounder & CEO, Agnikul Cosmos; Dr Anjana Badrinarayanan, Associate Professor at National Centre for Biological Sciences and Schmidt AI in Science Fellow; Vidit Aatrey, CEO and Founder, Meesho; Mr Priyank Kharge, Minister for Electronics, IT and Biotechnology, Government of Karnataka; and Dr M.C. Sudhakar, Honourable Minister for Higher Education, Government of Karnataka.
The event was hosted by Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial, Vindi Banga, Chair of Imperial’s Council, and Imperial Global India Academic Co-Directors Professor Sanjeev Gupta and Dr Elena Dieckmann.
Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, said: “Our new science hub Imperial Global India will forge and strengthen links between Imperial and partners in India.  Through the hub we will support several flagship programmes including research projects, long-term collaborations, student scholarships, collaborative PhD programmes and fellowships in areas such as telecoms, critical minerals, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology and health-tech, and advanced materials.
“These initiatives will help deliver solutions to the world’s biggest challenges.”
