India Initiative - Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg

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1 India Initiative - Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg 4 th Coordination Travel to India, A Brief Report From 23 rd September to 1 st October 2013 a delegation from the University of Würzburg visited again most of the partner institutions in India. The delegation consisted of President Prof. A. Forchel, who was present on the first day and signed an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) New Delhi, Prof. Jürgen Kreft (Representative of the Vice-President International Affairs) and Dr. Stephan Schröder-Köhne (University of Würzburg Graduate Schools). The latter two stayed in New Delhi for another couple of days and then proceeded to Hyderabad and Bangalore, where they visited several universities and research institutions with which the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg (JMUW) has concluded MoUs in the past three years. In New Delhi as well as at the other places the delegation met officials and colleagues from the partner institutions in order to - inform on the current and future exchange schemes within the DAAD programme A New Passage to India. These schemes not only apply to students from JMUW, now students from the Indian partner institutions are eligible too. The programme also applies, with some limitations, to faculty from Würzburg as well as from the Indian side. See: - discuss how to strengthen and extend the existing ties in a sustainable manner - identify topics and funding programmes for joint research projects and grant applications Before touring the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Dehli, in the afternoon of 23 rd, the delegation made a short visit to the Delhi office of the German Research Foundation (DFG) to talk to the new director, Dr. A. Hansen, and the senior programme officer Mr. K. Hariharan. This was followed by a meeting with the Counsellor Cultural Affairs and a representative of the Science Department in the German Embassy. In the late afternoon the formal extension of the MoU between the University of Würzburg and the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, initially concluded in 2010, was signed by President Prof. A. Forchel and the Vice Chancellor of JNU, Prof. S.K. Sopory. Informative talk in the Committee Chamber between Vice Chancellor, President and faculty After the signature: VC Prof. S.K. Sopory (center), President Prof. A. Forchel (center right), JNU faculty and members of the Würzburg delegation

2 Prior to the signing of the MoU, the delegation visited several facilities on the JNU campus, the - new Special Centre for Nanosciences - Archives on Contemporary History ( P.C. Joshi Archives ) and finally - Jawaharlal Nehru Institute for Advanced Study (JNIAS Delhi) The latter two institutions are directed by frequent guest professors at the University of Würzburg. Archives on Contemporary History with Chairperson Prof. J. Nair (left) Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Study (JNIAS) with Director Prof. U.S. Bava The next day Prof. Kreft and Dr. Schröder-Köhne visited other Schools and Centres at JNU with which an ongoing academic / scientific cooperation and students / faculty exchange exists or is considered for the near future. Experiences with and future aspects of these collaborations were discussed with the JNU faculty involved. Prof. C. Harshvardhan (Chairperson Centre for German Studies), Dr. Schröder-Köhne Centre for Political Studies, with Profs. (inter alia) S. Pai (Rector JNU), V. Verma (Dean) in the center School of Life Sciences, with Dean Prof. B.N. Mallick (center) & faculty (r.: Prof. Kreft) JNU Convention Centre

3 Centre for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, r.: Prof. R.N.K. Bamezai (Dean) Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies, with Prof. G.N. Jha (center left), Computational Linguistics The next station along the journey was Hyderabad where the University of Würzburg has a long standing cooperation with the University of Hyderabad (UoH). A formal MoU exists since The extension of the MoU as well as the options for student and faculty exchange were discussed with the Director of International Affairs and also with faculty from several schools. Furthermore, the delegation visited the Hyderabad Office of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and discussed new funding schemes. With the Director of International Affairs, Prof. C. Bhagvati School of Management Studies, faculty and Dean Prof. V. Sita (center) New building of the School of Life Sciences With Prof. N. Siva Kumar, Biochemist & Indian Coordinator of an IRTG (co-funded by DFG & UGC)

4 Research group of Prof. N. Ahmed (4 th left), Pathogen Biology Lab, Dept. of Biotechnology Mrs. A. Desai (l.), Director Goethe-Centre Hyderabad Dr. M. Sharma, Senior Programme Officer DFG Office The travel ended in Bangalore, where MoUs with three leading institutions have been concluded in September All three research institutions have the status of a deemed university, i.e. grant Master s and Ph.D. degrees. Current aspects of the implementation of the collaboration agreements - which already proved very successful - including student and faculty exchange as well as joint research projects were discussed with local scientists and administrators. As on previous occasions, the German Consulate General and in particular Deputy Consul General H.- G. Löffler was very supportive in all activities of the University of Würzburg in Bangalore and elsewhere in Karnataka. At the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) Discussion with Dr. A. Sarin, Dean Academics, about the exchange programme Central lounge in the new southern labs Scientific talk with Dr. A. Brockmann, group leader neurobiology, about a joint research project After talking science with Prof. S. Shona Chattarji, neurobiologist

5 Meeting with Dr. R. Rathod, former doctoral student at the JMUW Graduate School Life Sci. Lunch with A. Uri, New Passage to India exchange student from Würzburg At the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) New Mathematics building Prof. G. Rangarajan, Chairman International Relations Cell (IRC) At the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Centre for Applicable Mathematics (TIFR-CAM) Working lunch with (l. to r.) Profs. Praveen C. (recent guest faculty at JMUW), G.D.V. Gowda and M. Ramaswamy (Dean) Inside TIFR-CAM

6 Facilitated by Prof. R. Gadagkar from IISc and accompanied by Dr. M. Mundakana, Science Officer from the German Consulate General, the Würzburg delegation could visit for the first time another premium research institution in Bangalore, the multidisciplinary Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). Information talk with JNCASR President Prof. M.R.S. Rao (center) and Mr. A.N. Jayachandra, Sr. Admin. Officer Dr. M. Mundakana with the Würzburg delegation in front of the C.N.R. Rao Hall of Science Conclusion: - the A New Passage to India student and faculty exchange programme is well established - collaborative research projects and joint grant applications are under way and there is the potential for a significant increase in the future