Imperial College London on Tuesday announced new funding for joint scientific projects with top universities and institutes in India through its India Connect Fund.
The fund, unveiled last year, is focused on three themes: Emerging Technologies for Innovation, Climate and Sustainability, and Health. It involves Imperial College London, one of the leading global universities, working with partners in India in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum science and clean energy.
Each successful project receives grants up to GBP 5,000 and is led by one principal investigator each - based at the partner institution in India and at Imperial. "The India Connect Fund brings together the best scientists from India and Imperial to work in exciting areas such as AI, quantum, and clean energy," said Professor Ian Walmsley, Provost of Imperial College London.
"Our scientists have already made many exciting discoveries together, and this funding will further strengthen our links. India's research capabilities are growing rapidly, and its researchers will play a critical role in finding solutions for the biggest challenges," he said.
The collaboration under the India Connect Fund is designed to cover areas of research such as AI, quantum, semiconductors, clean energy, green hydrogen, antimicrobial resistance, extreme weather and digital health.
The seed funding will support exploratory research, small-scale experiments or the development of prototypes, workshops and hackathons and enable the researchers to take part in exchanges to work at Imperial and partner institutes in India.
The applications for the funding, the latest round for which will close on Sunday, have already backed a number of projects between scientists at Imperial and partners in India aimed to tackle global challenges.
Dr Angela Kedgley, from the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial, and Dr Darshan S. Shah, from IIT Bombay, were among the first recipients of the India Connect Fund awards and are working on a project looking to improve the accuracy of remote monitoring of upper limb movements for potential applications in diagnostics, physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
The research could help develop cheaper and more accessible tools to improve the care of patients with neuromusculoskeletal conditions of the arm. "The bilateral travel as part of the India Connect Fund not only helped foster a collaboration on the focused theme of 'Remote Monitoring of Upper-limb Biomechanics' between the research groups at IIT Bombay and Imperial but also aided interactive discussions on the far-reaching applications of such translational research with a wider multidisciplinary audience extending beyond biomedical engineering," said Shah.
Meanwhile, Professor Jane Hirst, from School of Public Health and George Institute for Global Health at Imperial, and Dr Usha Sriram, from DIWAS and Voluntary Health Services Chennai, worked together to tackle the urgent issue of improving pregnancy outcomes and lifelong health for around 25 million women who give birth each year across India.
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