Switzerland and India to Boost Research in Science & Technology

On November 23, 2017, the Government of Switzerland announced that it would collaborate with India in the next phase of two-party or bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology. The Swiss government termed India as one of the emerging global players in research and innovation.

The fourth Switzerland-India Joint Committee meeting that took place earlier this week enabled both the countries to set the course for future bilateral cooperation in the area of research. The meeting was held on November 21, 2017, and it focused on evaluating the latest processes and cooperation while the delegations ‘defined the later stage of the bilateral programme’.

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During the meeting, an agreement was made that the Indian DBT (Department of Bio-Technology) and the SNSF would launch a joint call for projects. Already, there are more than 90 cooperation agreements between Indian and Swiss higher education and research institutions. Today, researchers from India are associated with more than 90 SNSF projects. The Swiss government hailed the research centres and a considerable talent pool in India. Since 2003, India and Switzerland have taken up more than 55 joint research projects. By 2016, over 900 Indian students were enrolled at a public Swiss University.

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The following are the major focus areas of research between India and Switzerland: -

• Sustainable Energy
• Urban Development
• Health and Medical Sciences
• Nanotechnologies
• Biosciences and Material Sciences

According to sources, the next meeting of Joint Scientific Committee will take place in Switzerland in 2019.