LONDON Research collaborations between India and the UK in the field of carbon capture and space technologies were among the areas in the spotlight during a visit to Imperial College London by Union Minister for Science Dr Jitendra Singh, who is on a tour of the UK this week.
The minister was given insights into the ongoing projects on which scientists and researchers from both countries were focussed and also interacted with the significant Indian student cohort at the leading research university.
The ministerial delegation, including Professor Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, toured the Imperial College labs for a first-hand account of the tie-ups.
“The advantage we share is that the two nations share a very comfortable bonding over the centuries so it makes things easier for collaborations in different areas,” Dr Singh said during the visit on Friday.
“What is remarkable is that all institutions like Imperial College London have a very sizeable number of boys and girls from India and also the faculty here is looking up to them with a huge amount of esteem and expectation… The vaccine success story in the aftermath of Covid is something which has vindicated India’s immense potential, which was waiting to happen,” he said.
The minister toured Imperial’s Carbon Capture Pilot Plant to see how the students are training to become the next generation of chemical engineers.
He also saw a demonstration of the latest imaging from the Mars Rover at the Data Science Institute by Indian-origin scientist Professor Sanjeev Gupta before his interaction with students.