India

The German-Indian collaborative project “Science Express”, a “mobile science centre” launched by the heads of government of the two countries on 30 October 2007, had over two million visitors during the course of its seven-month journey through India, exceeding all expectations. Both the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) consider it a great success. The Science Express, which was developed under the leadership of the Max Planck Society (MPG), presented Germany as a hub of innovation and high technology and an excellent place to study to a broad public in India, including many schoolchildren and students. The train, which stopped at 57 Indian cities before its journey ended on 4 June 2008, received great media attention in India. A number of other countries and companies are currently investigating the possibility of carrying out similar projects in India to emulate the success of the Science Express.

Political framework for scientific and technological cooperation

Scientific and technological cooperation (STC) with India is one of the most important areas of Indo-German relations within the two countries’ strategic partnership. German-Indian STC relations are based on the 1971 agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and space, the 1974 agreement on cooperation in scientific research and technological development, and numerous individual agreements between German and Indian research institutions and intermediary organizations.
Since 1996, the extent and aims of STC have been determined by the Indo-German Committee on Science and Technology, which was established on the basis of agreements made between the heads of government in 1988 and 1994. Its 7th meeting took place in Jülich on 20 May 2008. International Bureau of the BMBF is in charge of supporting the STC activities.

Federal Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Singh underlined the significance of STC by concluding the German-Indian Joint Declaration on 23 April 2006, on the occasion of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Germany, and again during the Chancellor’s return visit on 30 October 2007.

One of the aims of the Federal Government’s “High-Tech Strategy for Germany” is to increase collaboration in growing markets with countries that have a dynamic research environment. That is why the Federal Government is providing special support for cooperation with countries that are strongly expanding their research and development capacities and are therefore becoming attractive partners for Germany in its role as a key high technology location.

During Federal Chancellor Merkel’s visit to India in late October 2007, Federal Minister Annette Schavan and Indian Research Minister Kapil Sibal signed an agreement on the establishment of an “Indo-German Science and Technology Centre” (IGSTC) in New Delhi, with its own premises and staff. In the first five years (2008-2012), the BMBF and DST will each provide an additional €10 million to enable the new centre to fund application-oriented research. Joint calls for proposals in industry-relevant fields of research and development that are particularly beneficial to both sides (so-called “2+2 projects”) will form the basis of the centre’s project funding activities. Six joint R&D projects are already receiving financial support (BMBF funding: €1.4 million).

The IGSTC in New Delhi was formally inaugurated with the unveiling of the centre’s sign on 9 September 2008, during Federal Minister Schavan’s visit to India. Just before this ceremony, Federal Minister Schavan launched the BMBF’s initiative to promote Germany as a key location of innovation under the motto “India and Germany – Strategic Partners in Innovation”. In this campaign, German research networks and research institutions that were selected via a BMBF call for proposals are presenting their R&D expertise in India.
In addition, Minister Schavan took part in the German-Indian Conference “Science for Sustainability – Driver for a Common Future”. Together with her counterpart Minister Sibal, she signed a joint declaration on future cooperation in the field of “Research for Sustainability”. The conference took place as part of the research policy initiative “Dialogue for Sustainability (D4S): Sustainable Solutions – Science for Sustainability", a dialogue that the BMBF has established with emerging economies, including India.

On 8 September 2008, Federal Minister Schavan took part in the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the IIT Madras, which received special support from the German Federal Government when it was first founded. She also launched a new DAAD scholarship programme (STAR) that funds exchanges for young (Indian) researchers.

Key areas of cooperation

STC with India is categorized into three areas that complement each other:

• Student and scientist exchanges through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) and the German Research Association (DFG). This is fertile ground for future projects and long-term collaborations, including measures within the “Hi! Potentials" campaign. 
• Joint research projects within the BMBF’s research funding programmes and, in future, the calls for proposals of the Indo-German Science and Technology Centre (IGSTC). 
• “Mobility projects” run by the International Bureau of the BMBF (IB) and the DAAD (“project-based personnel exchange programmes”, PPP) for the initiation and preparation of joint research projects: workshops, conferences, and reciprocal specialist delegation visits. The BMBF/IB’s mobility measures enable about 75 Indian and 75 German scientists and engineers per year to travel to and work at universities and research institutions in the respective partner country (there are currently about 50 mobility measures). In addition, approximately 15 individual visits and 2-4 bilaterally funded workshops are organized every year.

According to the decisions made at the last STC Committee meeting, the key areas of scientific and technological cooperation are:

• Biotechnology 
• Health Research 
• Information technology 
• Environmental research 
• Sustainability research 
• Materials research 
• Space research, technology and applications 
• Production technology  (since end of 2007) and
• Disaster and safety research

Highlights of bilateral cooperation

The BMBF supports various collaborative projects with India in the field of production technology. A first joint research project in production technology (“LeanDI“) is being funded in cooperation with the DST and carried out by the project partners (Technical University of Darmstadt, the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi and PSG College in Coimbatore). The project is already underway. A second German-Indian R&D project in the field of production technology (paper technology) is currently being prepared.

In the area of environmental and sustainability research, the BMBF’s call for proposals “Megacities – Research for the Sustainable Development of Tomorrow’s Megacities” attracted a high level of participation. One proposal, which focuses on energy efficiency and climate protection in Hyderabad, will be funded for a further five years, after an initial preparation phase of two years. On 20 May 2008, the establishment of a German-Indian working group on “Sustainability Research” was agreed under the umbrella of the STC committee.

In the field of biotechnology, a first large R&D project (“Chitosan”) by the University of Münster has been selected for BMBF funding. A German-Indian bioethics course organized by the German Reference Centre for Ethics in the Life Sciences (DRZE) took place in Bonn from 24 October to 9 November 2008 with the help of BMBF funding.

Health research: A novel structural initiative, the “Indo-German Liaison Office for Infectious Diseases Research – ZINF Würzburg / CDFD Hyderabad” (IGLO), was established with funding from the IB. It will provide the basis for a long-term, structural collaboration between the Research Centre for Infectious Diseases at the University of Wuerzburg (ZINF, Prof. Hacker), the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics in Hyderabad (CDFD, Prof. Hasnain) and the public and private research networks connected to the two centres. The main aim of the office is to develop bi- and multilateral research projects in the area of infectious diseases research. The office will build up strong links with small and medium-sized enterprises in both countries. In this way, it will take advantage of the already excellent research cooperation as a basis for closer economic cooperation. The liaison office forms part of the University of Würzburg’s excellence initiative and works with the Indian research partners in an advisory capacity. After the recently opened “Indo-German Science Centre for Infectious Diseases”, a collaborative project between the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, this is the second structural measure for the support of bilateral cooperation in the field of health research.

In addition, India plans to contribute approximately €36 million to FAIR, a large-scale international project to build a new accelerator facility for ion and antiproton beam research at the GSI in Darmstadt. India and Germany are both participating in ITER, a project to build an international fusion reactor in France.

Funding for collaborations with India

There are annual bilateral calls for proposals in which the best R&D project proposals are selected for funding (mobility funding). There are currently about 100 BMBF mobility projects in which Indian researchers and engineers receive funding to work at German universities or research institutions and German researchers receive funding to travel to India in connection with scientific and technological cooperation activities. In these projects, Indian funding organizations pay for the visits of Germans to India and the flight expenses for Indians coming to Germany. In addition to the mobility measures, approximately 15 individual visits that have the aim of establishing initial contact and an average of 5 bilaterally-financed workshops are supported every year.

Fifteen projects were selected for funding in the BMBF call for proposals “Promoting Germany as a key location of innovation”, under the slogan “India and Germany - Strategic Partners in Innovation”.

In the area of education, the marketing activities of the High Potentials Campaign are bearing fruit. The number of Indian students in Germany (approx. 4,000) has risen dramatically over the last decade. However, at 15%, the number of female students is still very low (on average, 50% of all international students are female), even compared to other Asian countries. The Master Sandwich Programme, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is another example of a successful exchange programme. Indian students from one of the seven IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) complete their dissertations at one of six German Universities of Technology and additionally do an internship in industry. When it comes to the number of students who receive scholarships from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, India takes third place after the USA and Japan.

With the help of funding from the Excellence Initiative of the Federal Government and the Länder, the year 2008 saw the University of Göttingen and the Free University Berlin open new local offices in Pune and New Delhi, respectively. The Max Planck Society has sent a member of staff to the German Embassy in New Delhi to support STC activities. This reflects the growing interest of German universities and research institutions in cooperation activities with India.
The German Research Association (DFG), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (HFG), the Max Planck Society (MPG), the Fraunhofer Society (FhG), the Leibniz Association (WGL), the Goethe Institute (name in India: “Max Müller Bhavan”), the German-Indian Chamber of Commerce (AHK) and other funding and intermediary organizations also run research and funding programmes in India, some of them with local representations.