First UK-India call under Newton Fund launched
As part of the Newton Fund, the MRC and DBT are working to further strengthen the excellent research ties between the UK and India.
The UK’s Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Indian Department of Biotechnology (DBT) together invite proposals to the UK-India Joint Centre Partnerships call. This is the first call for proposals for joint research between the UK and India, under the recently announced Newton Fund in April 2014.
As part of the Newton Fund, the MRC and DBT under this programme are working to further strengthen the excellent research ties between the UK and India.
The MRC will allocate up to £3.5million for this programme, which will be matched by DBT. This programme is expected to fund up to three partnerships for a period of three years.
The value and areas of research collaboration between the UK and India has immensely amplified in the last five years, and this announcement will further enhance the existing partnership, and supports the mobility and exchange of MRC and DBT-funded researchers between both the countries.
The scientific remit of this programme cover the following:
- Cancer biology
- Translational regenerative medicine in neuroscience
- Antimicrobial resistance especially resistance to antibiotics
Sukanya Kumar-Sinha, Deputy Director RCUK India, leading on this joint venture said:
the MRC and DBT are charged with fostering research and development within their own communities. This first joint initiative aims to strengthen academic cooperation between the medical research communities in the UK and India in areas of mutual strategic interest. This is also the first UK-India initiative to be announced under the UK’s recently launched Newton Fund.
This call is primarily focused upon developing and enhancing sustainable research partnership, and will also expand upon the currently funded research activities. Some examples of activities under this initiative are:
- Joint research projects between researchers at the partner centres in one of the three areas stated above
- Laboratory exchanges, including short and longer term visits, exchange of PhD students, post-doctoral researchers and visiting fellows
- Enabling the sharing of key resources across the partner centres
- Supporting wider activities to strengthen links, for example holding symposia, workshops, seminars, meetings
Call closes on 29 September 2014.
For further details and guidance to the call please see here.
Further information
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Please email Geeny George or call on 011 2419 2637 for more information.
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Newton Fund: is a new initiative intended to strengthen research and innovation partnerships between the UK and emerging knowledge economies. It was launched by the Chancellor in April 2014, and will deliver £375 million of funding over the course of five years. Please see the government’s Newton Fund policy paper where you will find details of the fund, UK delivery partners, overseas partner and associated activities.
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Medical Research Council: The MRC is one of the seven Research Councils in the UK responsible for co-coordinating and funding medical research. The MRC focuses on high-impact research and has provided the financial support and scientific expertise behind a number of medical breakthroughs.
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Department of Biotechnology: The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) under the Ministry of Science and Technology gives a new impetus to the development of the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. DBT has promoted and accelerated the pace of development of biotechnology in India and is a key partner of the UK and other international agencies. DBT has made significant achievements in the growth and application of biotechnology in the broad areas of agriculture, healthcare, animal sciences, environment, and industry.
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Research Councils UK India: Research Councils UK (RCUK) India, launched in 2008, brings together the best researchers in the UK and India through high-quality, high-impact research partnerships. RCUK India, based at the British High Commission in New Delhi, has facilitated co-funded initiatives between the UK, India and third parties that have grown close to £150 million. The research collaborations are often closely linked with UK and Indian industry partners, with more than 90 partners involved in the research. RCUK India is actively involved in co-funded research activities with seven major Indian research funders on a wide array of research themes addressing global challenges such as energy, climate change, social sciences, healthcare and life sciences.
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