India and Switzerland will further strengthen the bilateral efforts in health research by setting up a global science and technology outpost in India and launching another round of collaborative research programme in the field of medical sciences and nanotechnology.
Switzerland is establishing a global science and technology centre named Swissnex India in Bangalore to foster cooperation in research. It will serve as an Indian R&D hub and host several scientific and technology institutes. It is also intended as a base for Swiss and Indian organizations to connect, share knowledge and form partnerships in science and technology.
Swissnex is run by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education and Research together with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. It will be the fifth such global centre after San Francisco, Boston, Shanghai and Singapore. Research areas will include material sciences and nanotechnology, health and medical sciences along with information and communication technologies, sources said.
Besides, the two countries together will launch another round of joint research programme in the field of infectious biology including innovative and safe vaccine development. “The collaborative project looks to encourage further advances in research and knowledge production within the programme's priority research areas. It will aim to create synergies across borders and institutes and to draw benefit from pooled research efforts and expertise,” according to official sources.
Both the governments will extend grants to the select scientists in both the countries to take up research under the collaborative programme that will last for three years. “All grants for the year 2012 are subject to the approval by the Swiss Parliament in 2011. Total Swiss funding budgeted: CHF 2 million. Swiss funding will be awarded to the Swiss main applicants to cover the costs for the Swiss part of the joint projects (maximum of support: CHF 250’000 for 3 years). Grant funds may not be used to cover overhead costs. The over-head charges to the Indian participating Institutes shall be provided by Department of Science and Technology as per prevailing DST norms,” said a notification.
Indo-Swiss Joint Research Programme was founded in 2005 by the Swiss State Secretariat of Education and Research (SER) and the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) with the goal of furthering cooperation in strategic scientific and technical areas relevant to Switzerland and India.
It is aimed at supporting research partnerships between Swiss and Indian scientists, by promoting faculty and student exchanges between the two countries, and by facilitating access to specialised equipment and resources in the counterpart country.
On the Indian side, ISJRP is directed and coordinated by DST. In Switzerland, ISJRP is implemented and managed by the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the Swiss Leading House for India. Since 2008, EPFL is assisted by the University of Lausanne (UNIL), the Associated Leading House for India.
Since its inception, ISJRP has issued two calls for joint proposals, one in January 2005 and one in December 2007. Both calls aroused strong interest among Swiss and Indian scientists, reflecting the high demand for such an opportunity.