Follow us
Indian Institutes and Universities who plan to undertake joint research projects in collaboration with international universities have been been given funding for the different projects that have been submitted till now. The MHRD has spent approximately 420 crores for the same.
In October 2018, the Indian Government had launched a scheme called the Scheme for Promotion of Academic Research Collaboration, also known as SPARC which enables the Indian students to take up joint research operations with international universities. Recently the government has started to financially support all the collaborative research projects that the students have taken up with the international universities.
The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHR) has approved grants that amount to nearly 420 crores this month. These funds have been raised for a total of 600 research proposals made by the Indian Institutions and the International Universities. Sources state that proposals were eligible for the funding from the government if they state the problem that they will be addressing in the different fields of science, technology, social sciences or humanities undertaken by Indian Institutions or Universities in collaboration with the foreign institutions or universities.
The projects that have been approved will be conducted for a duration of two years. Out of the 600 research projects that have been approved this year, one of them has been submitted by the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, in collaboration with North Carolina State University on the topic of Thermal Food Processing Optimisation. Another project that has been submitted is the standardisation of seed testing procedures and storability for medicinal plants which has been taken up by Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University in partnership with Masey University in New Zealand. Vellore Institute of Technology in association with Deakin University from Australia has also submitted a project on the topic of enabling smart and safe cities through the internet of things technologies.
Also Read: ISB Collaborates with Moscow School of Management for Executive Education and Research in Emerging Markets
An Assistant professor from the School of Basic Sciences at IIT Mandi states under SPARC, the Indian institutes will be receiving regular visits from researchers and faculty from the associated universities, which will also include the conducting workshops for students studying in India along with helping in the creation of niche courses which are related to the topic of the research, releasing journals etc. IIT Mandi is also one of the Indian Institutes that has received funding for a research project under SPARC. They will be working on studying the cross-talk between plants and microbes. They have received a total of funding of 46 lakhs for the project.
Also Read:MoU Signed Between IIT Bombay and BIS for Standardisation and Conformity Assessment
Another factor under the scheme is that the Universities / Institutes can submit any number of research projects as well as partner with any International University or institute. However, the institute or the university must be in the top 500 QS World Rankings or in the top 200 QS World Rankings under a particular subject. For example, the Indian Institute of Bhubaneswar has submitted a total of 11 projects that will be done in collaboration with 8 different universities across the world. IIT-B has been rewarded 6.18 crore for the purpose of completing the research projects.
