Three new collaborations with India

The University of Würzburg has signed three new cooperation agreements in India.

University President Alfred Forchel (left) and K. VijayRaghavan, Director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, sign a partnership agreement. They are joined by (back row, from left to right): Jürgen Kreft, Hans-Günter Löffler, Dr. Axel Brockmann, Satyajit Mayor, and Savita Ayyar.

Prof. Mythily Ramaswamy, Head of the School of Mathematics, and Alfred Forchel sign an agreement.

The University of Würzburg and the Indian Institute of Science conclude a cooperation agreement. Group photo (from left to right): Jürgen Kreft, Hans-Günter Löffler, Alfred Forchel, and Padmanabhan Balaram, Director of the IISc. (Photos: General Consulate of Germany, Bangalore)

The University of Würzburg has just signed partnership agreements with no fewer than three leading research institutions in India. In so doing, it is intensifying the cooperation that already exists in the areas of life sciences, space technology, and mathematics.

On a trip to Bangalore in India, the President of the University of Würzburg, Alfred Forchel, visited three renowned research institutions and concluded new cooperation agreements with them. Hans-Günter Löffler, Deputy Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Jürgen Kreft, Würzburg Professor of Biology, played an active role in the negotiations that led to this point. At the heart of the three agreements lies the exchange of researchers, lecturers, and students. In addition, the researchers concerned will plan joint research projects, conferences, and programs to encourage young people. The institutions involved are:

National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS)

The NCBS is part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), a very highly renowned group of non-university research institutions in India, similar to the Max Planck institutes in Germany. “Basic research at the frontiers of biology” is the main focus of the scientists there. The range of subjects is huge, extending from the single molecule to systems biology. There is considerable overlap here with the research fields of biologists at Würzburg.

Professors Erich Buchner and Wolfgang Rößler are already collaborating with NCBS scientists on the neurobiology of Drosophila and the neuroethology of social insects.

More information: www.ncbs.res.in

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,
Centre for Applicable Mathematics (TIFR CAM)

The “Centre for Applicable Mathematics” in Bangalore is also a “Tata Institute of Fundamental Research”. It specializes in many different areas of Applied Mathematics. Research is currently focused on various aspects of differential equations. It is keen to work more closely with the University of Würzburg’s Institute of Mathematics. Relations already exist there with Professor Christian Klingenberg from the Department of Mathematics VI - Applied Analysis. A junior researcher from TIFR CAM started working there only a short time ago: Dr. Ujjwal Koley, on a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, will spend two years conducting research in Würzburg.

More information: math.tifrbng.res.in

Indian Institute of Science (IISc)

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore is regarded as one of the top state-run research institutions in India. Founded when India was still a British colony, it opened its doors in 1909. The original two faculties for chemistry and electrical engineering have since become the Science and Engineering faculties.

These house departments and centers working in a multitude of science and engineering fields. The IISc and the University of Würzburg are looking to intensify their collaboration in future in the following areas:

•    Aerospace technology and robotics

•    High-energy physics

•    Ecology and zoology

Professor Klaus Schilling, Chairman of the Department of Telematics and Robotics, already enjoys a relationship with the IISc. He and colleagues from Bangalore are working on a research project all about satellite formation flying. Likewise, physics professors Reinhold Rückl and Werner Porod have long been collaborating successfully with scientists from the IISc on issues relating to high-energy physics. Professor Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, Chairman of the Department of Zoology III, is also planning to collaborate with scientists from the Indian institute.

More information: www.iisc.ernet.in

By: Gunnar Bartsch

21.09.2012, 14:45 Uhr