Biotech to figure in new EU-India S&T cooperation
Financial Express | Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Biotech to figure in new EU-India S&T cooperation
ASHOK B SHARMA
New Delhi, November 7 : Biotechnology in agriculture, bio-fuel, climate change and energy security are top on the agenda of the European Union’s new offer for science and technology cooperation with India.
"I am confident that we are embarking upon a new eara in science and technology cooperation between the European Union and India. Our S&T cooperation agreement is about to be renewed for a further 5 years and we are about to announce new exciting opportunities for collaborative research, which may include biotechnology in agriculture, bio-fuel, climate change, energy security and computational material science. We will establish a road map of our strategic S&T cooperation for 2008 and beyond," the European Commission’s director-general, Jose Manuel Silva Rodriguez at press conference here on Wednesday.
He said that the quality and the number of Indian participants in the early stage of the European Union’s 7th Research Framework Programme was impressive.
Rodriguez and his team would participate in the 4th EU-India Science and Technology Cooperation Steering Committee meeting being hosted by the Union science and technology ministry in Delhi on November 8.. This meeting will discuss collaborative research in the fields of computational material sciences which will receive support of about 5 million euros (Rs 28 crore) from each side. It will also review progress on the renewal of the EU-India S&T cooperation agreement.
Scientists from the two sides will jointly work towards a common identified goal of developing high performance ceramics, structured composites and advanced materials capable of performing multiple roles. Intellectual property rights will be shared by scientists collaborating in the project.
"The potentially significant and mutual benefits of this cooperation were highlighted by the leaders of the EU and India in the joint statement of their summit in Helsinki last year. The renewal of the EU-India S&T Cooperation Agreement is expected to be one of the key deliverables at the forthcoming EU-India Summit on November 30 in Delhi, followed by a joint business summit in November 19," said Rodriguez.
