Scientific Adviser for close ties between varsities, labs

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 14

The Principal Scientific Adviser to the Union Government, Prof Krishnaswamy Vijay Raghavan, on Saturday said the universities should be linked closely with national research laboratories to improve education and research and prepare quality manpower as per needs of the industry.

He stated this while speaking on the need for industry-academia engagement at the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) here. Prof Vijay Raghavan stressed the need to use science to change the research and development ecosystem.

He is in Chandigarh to assess the progress made by the Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC) and look at the possibility of adopting this model for setting up the proposed University—National Research Laboratory Hub (North-West). Ten such hubs have been envisaged in India by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to strengthen the research ecosystem of universities.

At present, CRIKC comprises four universities, Panjab University, Punjabi University, Kurukshetra University and Guru Jambeshwar University of Science and Technology, along with six national research institutes, including the IMTECH, Central Scientific Instruments Organisation, Semiconductor Complex Limited, National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute and the Institute of Nano Science and Technology.

IMTECH Director Dr Anil Koul said steps were being taken to join hands with the industry and bridge the trust deficit that academia and industry had towards each other. Highlighting IMTECH’s push towards collaborative industry sponsored projects and research, he emphasised that IMTECH’s outreach in industry-academia relationship for various technology transfer and collaborative projects was a step in the right direction. Prof Vijay Raghavan also interacted with heads of universities, national research laboratories as well as business executives. CRIKC institutes also displayed various technologies developed by them.