Deakin University launches research initiative in India

Updated on: Tuesday, September 08, 2009

New Delhi: Deakin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Sally Walker launched the Deakin India Research initiative (DIRI) today in New Delhi.DIRI brings together Deakin’s research partnerships in materials sciences, nanotechnology and biotechnology with some of India’s leading companies, research institutes and universities. Professor Walker said it demonstrated the importance Deakin placed on developing research partnerships.

“Deakin is very committed to developing effective research partnerships. In Australia this has been with industry and government and has contributed significantly to Deakin developing a culture of research innovation,” Professor Walker said.

“I’m delighted to say ‘Deakin India Research Initiative’ takes this model of partnerships to a whole new level. We will be collaborating with Indian companies, research institutions and universities to train PhD students in India who are ready to take on the challenges of the future.

“In our work with industry in India we have received strong support for a model to train industry-focused PhD students. Students are enrolled at Deakin University, but conduct much of their research in India working with an industry or other research partner. The students will have both Australian and Indian supervisors and will spend about six months in Australia working with their Deakin supervisors on critical experiments or gaining a broader, international understanding of their field of research. “The doctoral research theses will be examined in the same way as they are for Deakin’s Australian students.”

Deakin University has been a leader in Australia in developing research models that bridge the gap between academia and industry. Discussions with organisations in India have highlighted how bridging this gap is a major issue if India is to increase its manufacturing and knowledge industries.

Deakin’s Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research, Professor Lee Astheimer, recently visited India to meet many of Deakin’s partners in DIRI.

“I was extremely impressed with the facilities and research being undertaken at many of the places I visited. Companies such as VIMTA Labs are increasingly working globally and have identified the shortage of PhD graduates who want to work with industry in India. They see this as a significant barrier to the future Indian expansion of frontier technologies like biotech.

“By the end of this year we will have at least 20 PhD students enrolled through DIRI, with significantly more in 2010. There is a strong emphasis so far on biotechnology, nanotechnology and materials science, but I am sure this will expand into a whole range of discipline areas where Deakin has strength and where there is keen interest and need in India,” Professor Astheimer

Deakin University launches research initiative in India

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