Thaindian News

Chennai, Jan 4 (IANS) The need for collaborative research between industry and universities, building more university research parks and sector-specific research institutes, and focusing on research that brings down costs for the masses were the unanimous recommendations of an expert panel at the 98th Indian Science Congress here Tuesday.Starting the discussion on enhancing academia-industry interactions R. Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor to Indian government, said: “Industries, when they are globally competitive, like to interact with academia.”

Industry is good at delivery while academia is good at research and what is needed is innovation to bridge the two, he said,

Stressing the need for university research park, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) director M.S. Ananth said: “The concept is new to India where as it is old in other parts of the world.”

An university research park is a cluster of technology-based organisations that are located on or near a university campus to benefit from the institute’s knowledge base and ongoing research.

Ananth said: “The university will benefit from higher publication of papers in scientific journals and more patent filings, attract eminent scientists and a gradual shift in curricula that industry would find it useful.”

IIT-M has promoted the IITM Research Park here on 11 acre plot at an outlay of Rs.350 crore.

“India needs at least 25 such parks to promote innovation and entrepreneurship and the setting up of which needs an enabling policy environment, interest free loans/grants from the government,” Ananth said.

Recalling the success of Central Leather Research Institute’s (CLRI) interaction with the leather industry here, Science and Technology Secretary T. Ramasami said there needs to be a sector specific industry-institute relationship model as one formula will not fit all sectors.

“The interaction between industry and the institute should be through special funding and back up innovation with venture capital,” he said.

Urging setting up of automotive-sector specific research institutes on public private participation model, P. Rama Rao of International Advanced Research Centre for Power Metallurgy and New Materials said there are more than 150 auto sector focused research institutes in the world.

“A transportation research centre in Chennai could be set up to look at hybrid vehicle technology and others,” Rao said.

According to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Director General Samir K. Bramachari, the industry-institute should look at research projects that would bring down the cost and make the products accessible to the poor.

On Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) initiatives on interacting with institutes, its Director General V.K. Saraswat said the organisation is setting up a research centre in IITM Research Park that would house around 20 scientists.

He said the DRDO has created a three tier industry interaction model based on the lead system integrator concept whereby the organisation would interact with small and medium enterprises for product development, testing, and productionisation and interact with large industries for integrating the various sub-systems.