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UK Solar delegation, along with RCUK Office in India staff at Moser Baer. |
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Signing of the cooperation agreement. From Left: Mr Creon Butler- British Deputy High Commissioner; Dr T Ramasami-Secretary DST; Dr A Mukhopadhyay-Advisor DST; Dr Jason Green- Head of Energy Research Capacity, EPSRC and Prof Surendra Prasad-Director IIT Delhi |
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UK delegates enjoy a rickshaw ride in Old Delhi |
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, UK (EPSRC) and the Department of Science and Technology, India (DST), on 23 April 2009, signed a cooperation agreement to co-fund a joint research initiative in solar energy. The agreement was signed in the presence of the British Deputy High Commissioner Mr Creon Butler and the Secretary of DST, Dr T Ramasami.
The RCUK Office in India, working closely with EPSRC and DST, brought together eight solar researchers from the UK and thirty-two Indian solar researchers over a networking dinner and workshop to scope out the grand challenges for the joint research initiative.
The UK delegation, including staff from EPSRC, arrived in India on Monday 20 April. At the beginning of their week in India, EPSRC and RCUK Office in India staff met with Dr Ramasami and other senior DST colleagues to agree the priorities for working together. The UK delegates, along with RCUK staff, attended a series of visits, organised by the Science and Innovation Network. These included Industry (Moser Baer); Academic institutions (IIT Delhi) and applied research centres (Solar Energy Centre).
The reception and dinner on 22 April, hosted by the Deputy High Commissioner, saw large attendance including colleagues from the India offices of the Climate Change & Energy Unit, Science and Innovation Network (SIN) and the British Council. Dr Ramasami welcomed the delegation and underlined the importance of the initiative in an Indian context. He expressed his belief in the importance of great minds working together on complex issues.
All delegates reconvened on 23 April when they discussed the specifics of how they could effectively work together and agreed priorities for collaborative research. A cooperation agreement to co-fund a joint research initiative was signed between Dr A Mukhopadhyay (Advisor, DST) and Dr Jason Green (Head of Energy Research Capacity, EPSRC).
Calls for proposals will be publicised here in summer 2009.
All presentations made during the networking dinner and workshop can be found below:
Opening Presentation 
Dr Ralph Gottschalg
Dr RK Bhogra
Professor Ken Durose
Dr Jason Green
Rangan Banerjee
Dr SK Iyer
Anand Patwardhan
Suresh Chand
Dr David Lane
Neil Robertson
Dr R Bhattacharyya
UK and Indian Solar researchers at the reception hosted by the British Deputy High Commissioner