Research collaborations in spotlight during Union Minister Jitendra Singh’s UK visit

London, Apr 29 (PTI) Research collaborations between India and the UK in the field of carbon capture and space technologies were among the areas in the spotlight during a visit to Imperial College London by Union Minister for Science Dr Jitendra Singh, who is on a tour of the UK this week.

The minister was given insights into the ongoing projects on which scientists and researchers from both countries were focussed and also interacted with the significant Indian student cohort at the leading research university.

The ministerial delegation, including the Principal Scientific Advisor to the government of India Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, toured the Imperial College labs for a first-hand account of the tie-ups.

“The advantage we share is that the two nations share a very comfortable bonding over the centuries so it makes things easier for collaborations in different areas,” Dr Singh said during the visit on Friday.

“What is remarkable is that all institutions like Imperial College London have a very sizeable number of boys and girls from India and also the faculty here is looking up to them with a huge amount of esteem and expectation The vaccine success story in the aftermath of COVID is something which has vindicated India’s immense potential, which was waiting to happen,” he said.

The minister toured Imperial’s Carbon Capture Pilot Plant to see how the students are training to become the next generation of chemical engineers.

He also saw a demonstration of the latest imaging from the Mars Rover at the Data Science Institute by Indian-origin scientist Professor Sanjeev Gupta before his interaction with students.

Professor Mary Ryan, Vice Provost (Research and Enterprise) at Imperial College London who joined the minister on the tour, said: “It is excellent to see India driving the science agenda for sustainable development and leading an impressive series of engagement through the Science20 group. We look forward to learning more about the outcomes and to working with our partners in India on the priority areas.

“Here at Imperial, we’re incredibly proud of our longstanding connections with India. We are privileged to host just over 800 talented and highly entrepreneurial students from India, some of whom I am delighted to see here today.”

During the visit, Imperial College London announced that it would be launching the ‘Future Leaders Scholarship’ programme for Indian Masters students, which will support 30 students over the next three years.

The scholarships will be for students in MSc programmes across Engineering, Natural Sciences, Business School and Medicine and half of the scholarships will be reserved for female scholars.

Professor Peter Haynes, Vice-Provost (Education and Student Experience) at Imperial, said: “It is a real priority for Imperial to continue to facilitate and support two-way mobility between India and the UK.

“I hope that we are able to welcome even more students from India in the future and I am very pleased to share today that Imperial is investing just over GBP 400,000 in scholarships for the future STEM-B leaders of India,” Haynes said.

“The investment will see the launch of 30 merit-based scholarships over the next three years, with the first application round opening next academic year,” he said.

During his five-day UK visit, the Science Minister kicked off with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with his British counterpart, George Freeman, at the India-UK Science and Innovation Council meeting.

He has since toured several academic institutions including the University of Surrey and Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxford and interacted with academics and university chiefs at the Royal Society in London.

On Saturday, Singh participated in an Indian diaspora event at the High Commission of India in London, discussing India’s growth story and bilateral collaborations with representatives from the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

On Sunday, the minister will join a special live broadcast event marking the 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat’ radio address at India House in London.