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IIT KGP Explores French Connections For Academic And Research Collaborations
KOLKATA: IIT KGP recently organized a two-day R&D Club meeting for India-based French Companies in collaboration with the French Embassy. The collaborative event was aimed to promote academic and research collaborations and people exchange between industrial sector in France and India. The event focused on defining and delivering joint academic programs for deep scientific cooperation while enabling enterprises and companies to work with researchers in India.
Among some of the key French corporate houses which participated were Saint-Gobain, Total Oil, Solvay, Lumiplan and others. The Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA) which is funded by governments of both countries and the Consulate General of France in Kolkata was also among the participants.
IIT KGP proposed an idea for establishing joint critical science institute - an Indo-French Institute led by IIT Kharagpur where all the IITs and select French companies could be partners. “IIT KGP can play the role of the central coordinating institute and would be happy to take the proposal to the Government of India provided the French corporations and government bodies are interested. Such collaboration will cut across disciplines and bring in people in large scale instead of building one to one relationship” opined Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, director, IIT KGP.
Two more thrust areas were identified which included the Indo-France heritage corridor of Bengal and a French vertical in the National Digital Library. “France is a powerhouse of art and culture on one hand and science and technology on other. We are in the advanced stages of signing MoUs with four French universities for collaborative opportunities on all areas” said Baidurya Bhattacharya, Dean, International Relations. IIT KGP at present has collaborations with top French brands in India such as AirBus, TOTAL.
