A coffee table book on the C V Raman International Fellowship for African Researchers, highlighting the successful journey of the programme, was launched jointly by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
The book has been brought out by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. The fellowship scheme was introduced under the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) to promote scientific cooperation between India and Africa.
The fellowship provides opportunities for African researchers to undertake research and training spanning between 1 to 6 months at Academic and Research Institutions in India. Since its inception, close to 500 scientists and researchers from African countries have undertaken R&D work in host institution in India. The programme has helped to take the footprint of Indian science to 40 countries across Africa.
Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST noted that the C V Raman International Fellowship for African Researchers was one of the most prestigious programme of DST. He has also thanked the African partner nations for their overwhelming support in making the programme a great success and strengthening the bond of partnership through scientific and technological linkages, according to a release by FICCI.
The African scholars are able to nurture their research ideas under the guidance and mentorship of leading Indian scientists and academicians and benefit from access to advanced scientific facilities in premiere educational institutes and research laboratories in India.
Welcoming the guests, Mr. Nirankar Saxena, Deputy Secretary General, FICCI said “India’s C V Raman International Fellowship programme helps build capacity of African Researchers to scale research and cull out innovations that will shape the future of Africa and India”. Dr. Arabinda Mitra, Adviser, International Cooperation, DST who instrumented the scheme said, “The C V Raman International Fellowship is a unique programme to strengthen the bonds of scientific collaboration between India and Africa through supporting human capacity building, which will enable long term partnerships in research and development”.
Around 139 R&D institutions and laboratories, universities, colleges from across 70 cities in India have hosted African researchers under this programme over the last seven years. For a majority of the Fellows, the programme has contributed immensely to their career and helped them develop new research ideas in science and technology after returning to their home country.
The scheme has got overwhelming response from pan Africa and going forward, the partners expect to raise the number of research fellows to 1000 and continue strengthening the bond by creating a bridge of knowledge between Indian research expertise and African scholars. (Research Matters)