India - U.S. Science & Technology Relations: Harnessing the Potential

Main Activities of the S&T Wing:

The S&T wing of the Indian Embassy at Washington is involved in:

l      Assessment and evaluation of S&T strengths in US;

l      Promotion of interaction and building partnership of Indian scientific agencies and R&D personnel with their counterparts in USA on themes of mutual interest and benefit;

l      Formulation and signing of bilateral and multilateral S&T agreements;

l      Implementation and promotion of bilateral, regional and multi-lateral cooperation in S&T through specific Programs of Cooperation (POC).

l      Establishment of Bi-national/multinational S&T centers and implementation of major R&D programs.

l      Assist in developing Joint R&D projects/centers

l      Provide necessary input for organizing Joint Workshops/ symposia/ seminars

l      Coordinating Exploratory visits and Project related Exchange visits of Scientists

l      Facilitating exchange of S&T information and documentation

l      Providing access to Major Research and Infrastructural facilities

l      Coordinating fellowships/Short duration training programs

l      Managing others forms of cooperation as agreed mutually.

Science and Technology Policy of India

India’s S&T policy (2002) is anchored in our abiding belief that for science and technology to grow,

·        It must be green,

·        It must be ethical,

·       It must have a human face,

·        It must be gender sensitive,

·        It must be region and context-specific,

·        It must reflect our enormous diversity and plurality, and

·        It must be dynamic and flexible.

Main objectives of Policy are:  

·        To ensure food, agricultural, nutritional, environmental, water, health and energy security of the people on a sustainable basis.

·        To vigorously foster scientific research in universities and other academic, scientific and engineering institutions; and attract the brightest young persons to careers in science and technology.

·        To promote the empowerment of women in all science and technology activities and ensure their full and equal participation.

·        To provide necessary autonomy and freedom of functioning for all academic and R&D institutions.

·        To establish an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime that maximizes the incentives for the generation and protection of intellectual property by all types of inventors.

·        To promote international science and technology cooperation towards achieving the goals of national development and security, and make it a key element of our international relations.

Indo-US Science and Technology Cooperation

Historical perspective:

In the late 1950’s Indian and American scientists began collaboration on agricultural research with support from PL480 funds. In 1960s these collaborations spread to other fields, witnessing the establishment of such organisations of excellence as Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and National Council of Education, Research & Training (NCERT), New Delhi, as well as agricultural universities. In 1970s scientific collaborations expanded rapidly with the setting up of a Joint S&T Sub-Commission in 1974. Science & Technology Initiative (STI), which was taken up in 1982, encompassed a limited number of high priority areas. The high level support for STI attracted some of the best scientific and engineering minds in both countries. US-India Fund (USIF) was established in January 1987 with about Rs. 217 crores, which supported more than 50 workshops and 300 research projects in science and technology over a 11-year period. Scientific community also benefited from the Indo-US S&T Fellowships Program, which operated for 3 years in early 1990s.

India has entered into bilateral S&T agreement with nearly 70 countries including the USA. With the signing of Indo-US S&T umbrella Agreement on October 17, 2005, the scientific cooperation between the two countries has taken a new dimension. Some of the past and ongoing cooperative programs are listed below:

Some Landmark cooperation of Yesteryears:

·       Cooperation towards the Indian 'Green Revolution'.

·        Development of an anti-relapse anti-malarial compound jointly by Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) with US organizations.

·        Collaboration between of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa and Office of Naval Research on the Arabian Sea Tropic Dynamics.

·        Involvement of Udaipur Solar Observatory as one of the six observation sites for the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) project managed by the National Solar Observatory, Tucson. 

·        Fabrication and supply of the muon tracking detector parts by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for the PHENIX collaboration experiment aimed at the search for quark-gluon plasma at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at BNL in USA.

·        Establishment of a solar test facility at the Solar Energy Centre of Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources near Gurgaon with the cooperation of the Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, USA.

·        ISRO-DST and NASA-NOAA MOU for Research in Atmospheric Sciences was signed in 1997 for sharing of Indian and US meteorological data and collaborative research in the area of earth and atmospheric sciences.

·        Indo-US Vaccine Action Program (VAP): The agencies involved in this program are Department of Biotechnology, Indian Council of Medical Research and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare from India and National Institute of Health and USAID from USA.

·        Contraceptive and Reproductive Health Research: The participating agencies in this initiative, which was taken up in November 1997 are, from the Indian side, Indian Council of Medical Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (with Department of Biotechnology as the nodal agency), and on the US side, National Institute of Child Health & Human Development and USAID.

·        Establishment of Indo-US Science & Technology Forum in 2000 with Endowment of over $ 7 million. The Forum activities are managed with the earning of annual interest and recurring matching grant from the Indian Government to the tune of about $ 1 million/year.

Major Initiatives undertaken in last few years:

·        DST-NSF S&T Cooperation in the areas of Material Sciences, Engineering, Computer Sciences, Physics, Biotechnology, Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences. An Indo-US Networking on Material Sciences & Metallurgy was establishment.

·        Establishment of an Indo-US joint working group towards participation and contribution in the building of International Linear Collider for High Energy Physics.

·        AERB-NRC cooperation in Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Reactor design, Licensing and other regulatory aspects.

·        Partnership on “Methane to Market”: In Nov. 2004, India joined an US initiative along with 14 other countries in order to utilizing her Methane resources for economic advantages. It is an action-oriented initiative and is expected to deliver significant benefits including positive economic returns exceeding modest investments, improved air quality, increased mine safety, reduced waste, enhanced energy security and improved greenhouse gas efficiency.

·        Promotion of Ayurveda in USA: In pursuance of the Article (16.17) of the “National Policy on Indian system of Medicine and Homeopathy-2002”, the Department of AYUSH has proposed to initiate teaching of Ayurveda in US Medical Schools and promote collaborative research.  This program was initiated in 2005 and Indian Ayurveda experts are offering basic Ayurveda courses in a few selected Medical Schools in US.

·       Indo-US Agreement on Military Medical Training: On April 13, 2005, India and USA signed an agreement on medical training and academic cooperation in military medicine. India’s Armed Forces Medical Services and the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, Maryland, are assigned to implement this agreement. The agreement will allow the two partners to share military medical experience, professional knowledge and facilities. The objectives of the agreement are to enhance the preparedness of military medical personnel, military medical school faculty and staff members to perform future duties and establish long-term bilateral relationships to combat emerging diseases, like avian flu and SARS, and endemic diseases, like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and malaria.

·        Signing of Indo-US S&T Umbrella Agreement on October 17, 2005 with special emphasis on sharing of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

·        Establishment of Indo-US Bi-National S&T Commission in 2006 for fostering R&D and scientific exchanges between universities and research institutions.

·        Capacity building programs with several US universities in order to acquire international clinical trials standards.

·        Indo-US partnership in the areas of nano-technology, biotechnology, advanced material, high energy physics and Green Chemistry etc.

·        Indo-US Cooperation on E-Learning between DST, ISRO, 42 Technical Schools in India with nearly 20 leading Universities in US and corporate partners.

·        Signing of MoU with the State of Maryland, USA to carry out scientific research, provide opportunities to use of libraries, archives an museums, organize manpower training; and exchange of scientific, academic and technical personnel.

·        Indo-U.S. Cooperation on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases and Disease Surveillance to study TB, Malaria, Avian Influenza (H5N1), Nipah Virus and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

·        Indo-US Initiatives on HIV/AIDS includes expedited FDA review of generic anti-retroviral drugs produced by Indian Pharmaceutical Companies, collaboration in basic sciences, product development and clinical trial research, US-India HIV/AIDS Private sector Corporate Initiative to build alliances between U.S. and Indian companies and the governments and to create an HIV/AIDS Capital Fund.

·        Indo-US collaborations are actively pursued on (1) Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV/AIDS, (2) Maternal and Child Health and Human Development Research, (3) Disease Surveillance and emerging infectious diseases,  (4) Surveillance for human influenza.

·        The Indo-US initiative on Technopreneurship in Academia was undertaken by CSIR & National Entrepreneurship Board (NEB) as Indian partners and MIT-Harvard University as U.S. partners in 2006. 

·        Starting S&T Executive Training Program: The Indo-US Forum facilitated the participation of 8 senior Indian scientists drawn from various organizations (CSIR, DST, DRDO, ISRO etc) for the Executive Training program on Science, Technology, Innovation Policy (STIP) at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University from 27 Nov to 8 Dec. This program was funded by the DST.

·        Organization Indo-US Flagship programs viz. Frontiers of Engineering and Frontiers of Sciences Symposia was initiated by Indo-US S&T Forum in collaboration with US National Academies of Sciences since 2005. Three such high profile events were already organized. This symposium series is intended to bring together outstanding young scientists and engineers below the age of 45 from India and the US, not only to discuss exciting advances and opportunities in their own fields, but also to learn and discuss about research at the cutting edge of other disciplines while building new ties between future leaders of both nations scientific enterprise.

·        Centers of Excellence in clinical trials are being developed at Pune and Chennai in collaboration with US counterparts.

·        Non-Human Primate Breeding and Research Centre is being set up in cooperation with US in Sasunavgarh, Maharashtra.

·      US-India HIV/AIDS Private sector Corporate Initiative: Following on India’s recent scale up of resources and renewed political commitment to fight HIV/AIDS, President Bush announced an additional U.S. contribution of $7 million to expand resources available to fight HIV/AIDS in India.  These new resources will catalyze an innovative partnership, the HIV/AIDS Private-Sector Corporate Initiative.  This initiative will build alliances between U.S. and Indian companies and the governments of India and the United States in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and could be expanded to other countries. 

·        A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the two countries to collaborate on Disease Surveillance and emerging infectious diseases in 2005. 

·        Cooperation in Nanotechnology: In June 2005, an agreement was signed to establish a cooperative research program in the field of Nano-technology between Rutgers University, the International Advanced Research Centre (ARCI) at Hyderabad, and NEI Corporation - a Rutgers spin-off company in New Jersey.  The collaborative research work is aimed at high performance batteries, fuel cells, photonic and electronic devices, all of which will contribute to the creation of new businesses and jobs both in the US and India. 

·        Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Programme with priority areas viz. viral hepatitis, typhoid, E. coli, rotaviral diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, malaria and HIV; and 

·       Indo-U.S. Programme on Contraceptives and Reproductive Health Research with priority areas viz. new reversible male contraceptive methods, long acting injectibles for women, development of contraceptive vaccines and clinical research in reproductive health 

·     Indo-US Collaboration in Brain Research: An agreement was signed between the National Brain Research Center, Gurgaon (Department of Biotechnology) and the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA in October, 1999 for collaboration in areas of Neurosciences.   

·       US-India Biotech Alliance: A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 7th November, 2002 between the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to establish the U.S.-India Biotechnology Alliance with an objective to promote cooperation between businesses in India and the United States of America in the area of biotechnology.  

·        PIOUS Database and Network: In order to strengthen Indo-US partnership and to bring efficacy in achieving desired goals, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India has decided to create a classified database and connect individuals, institutions and industries in US and in India by an interactive network of Professionals of Indian Origin in US (PIOUS). For more details please contact Counselor (S&T), Embassy of India 

Indo-US S&T Umbrella Agreement

On October 17, 2005, a historic agreement to foster S&T cooperation between India and the USA was signed by the Indian Minister for Science & Technology Shri Kapil Sibal and the US Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice.  The cooperation is based on shared responsibilities and equitable contributions and benefits commensurate with the respective scientific and technological strengths and resources of the two countries.  The agreement establishes the framework for dynamic and effective cooperation between organizations and individual scientists of the two countries.  It delineates the guidelines for exchange of scientists and the sharing of Intellectual Property Rights.

          The agreement accords priority to collaborations that can advance common goals in science and engineering research and education, support partnerships between public and private research institutions and industry, and address such science and technology issues as: promotion of science-based decision-making, environmental and biodiversity protection, safe drinking water, watershed management, natural and social sciences, agriculture, marine sciences, energy, basic space sciences, climate, HIV/AIDS, infectious and chronic diseases, health and biomedical research, telemedicine, information and communication technologies, standards and metrology, sustainable development and other mutually beneficial areas.        

          In Feb. 2006, the President of India signed ‘Instrument of Ratification’ in order to implement this Agreement. 

Indo-US Bi-National S&T Commission

Recognizing the unique role of Science and Technology in Indo-US relations, the Prime Minister Shri. Manmohan Singh and the President Bush agreed to set up a Bi-national S&T Commission that would give direction to cooperation in S&T area. It would build upon the Bilateral Agreement on Science and Technology signed in October 2005, and will provide a framework for a vigorous public-private partnership aimed at:

·        Serving as a bridge and forum for dialog between the Government science and technology agencies in both countries,

·        Fostering R&D and scientific exchanges between government,  universities, research institutions, and the private sectors,

·        Encouraging the joint research and development of S&T projects for commercial products for mutual benefit of both countries,

·        Providing oversight for the Indo-US S&T Forum and awarding competitive grants under the Binational S&T Endowment Fund, and

·        Encouraging commercialization of new technologies and identifying and promoting reduction of regulatory and bureaucratic barriers in both countries.

The Commission would have an open architecture and encompass existing and ongoing bilateral programs including: DST-NSF program of Cooperation, Indo-US S&T Forum, Indo-US Collaborative Program in nano-technology, Indo-US Vaccine Action Program. New initiatives would be considered by the Commission, taking into account their contribution to the objectives stated above. The Commission will support the early establishment of a bi-national industrial research and development initiative with commercial outcomes. It would also consider constituting task forces on priority areas of cooperation. An endowment fund of US $ 30 million will be created with equal contributions from India and US.

S&T Fellowships:

Every year, the Government of India provides 100% financial support to more than 50 highly motivated scientists from various universities, institutions and laboratories to work in US institutions under various fellowship programs viz. DBT Overseas Associateship program and DST’s Better Opportunities for Young Scientists in Chosen Areas of Science and Technology (BOYSCAST).These short and long term fellowship programs not only provide state-of-the-art research facilities to Indian scientists but also enable them to build long-term scientific collaborations with host institutions. 

Opportunities for STIOs to Cooperate with Indian Scientists: 

The Department of Science and Technology has initiated a new program from 2006, called Collaborative Project with Scientists and Technologists of Indian Origin (CP-STIO). Under this program we aim at sourcing STIOs participation and leveraging their expertise (ideas, best practices and resources) of relevance and importance to S&T in Indian context and for enhancing international presence in India. More details are available at DST website: http://www.dst.gov.in or contact Ms. Sadhana Relia (srelia@nic.in).

INDO - US S & T FORUM

The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), established under an agreement between the Governments of India and the United States of America in March 2000, is an autonomous, not for profit society that promotes and catalyzes Indo-US bilateral collaborations in science, technology, engineering and biomedical research through substantive interaction among government, academia and industry. As a grant making organization, the principle objective of IUSSTF is to provide opportunities, to exchange ideas, information, skills and technologies, and to collaborate on scientific and technological endeavours of mutual interest that can translate the power of science for the benefit of mankind at large.

The Forum makes a valuable contribution to strengthening the bilateral US-India relationship by exploring and identifying fruitful areas of cooperation through sponsoring workshops, scientist exchanges and meetings. Some activities of the Forum is listed below: ( for more details please visit website: http://www.indousstf.org)

Bilateral Workshops/Round table/Meetings/Symposia:

·                    Diarrhea and Enteric Protozoan Parasites: New Challenges in the Era of HIV/AIDS.

·                    Utilization of Space Based Resources for Enhancing Science Education.

·                    Physics with Energetic Heavy Ions and Rare Isotopes.

·                  Novel and Complex Materials.

·                    Digital Archaeology: a New Paradigm for Visualizing the Past through Computing and Information Technology.

·                    Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Wireless Sensors.

·                    Technology Platform on Manufacturing and Design.

·                    Nanoparticle Aerosol Science and Technology (NAST): emerging trends.

·                   Cerebro-Vascular Disorder.

·                    Molecular Insights into Digestive Disorders.

·                    Recent Advances in Microstructure, Texture & Property Relations in Close Packed Metals.

·                    Design Engineering.

·                    Building bridges, forging bonds for 21st century Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

·                    Future Trend in Spectroscopy: application to national security.

·                    Culture of Innovation in India - opportunities seized and opportunities lost.

Joint Centers:

Following joint centres are established - (1) Joint Centre for Advanced and Futuristic Manufacturing (IIT Kanpur & Illinois Univ), (2) Joint Centre for Geological Carbon Sequestration (NGRI & PNNL) and (3) Joint Centre for Experimental & Theoretical Astroparticle Physics (IAP & Univ of Washington) 

Important Links:   

Database of Professionals of Indian origin in USA (PIOUS): http://www.piousnetwork.com

Department of Science & Technology: http://dst.gov.in  

Indian National Science Academy: http://www.insa.ac.in

 Indian Academy of Sciences: http://www.ias.ac.in

 Indian National Academy of Engineering: http://www.inae.org

The National Academy of Sciences: http://www.nasonline.org

The Indian Science Congress Association: http://www.sciencecongress.org 

Department of Biotechnology: http://dbtindia.nic.in

Ministry of Earth Sciences: http://dod.nic.in 

National Institute of Ocean Technology: http://www.niot.res.in 

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research: http://www.csir.res.in 

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare: http://mohfw.nic.in 

Ministry of Environment & Forests: http://envfor.nic.in 

Department of Atomic Energy: http://www.dae.gov.in/aec.htm 

Atomic Energy Regulatory Board: http://www.aerb.gov.in

Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications & Information Technology: http://www.mit.gov.in

Indo-US Science & Technology Forum: http://www.indousstf.org