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He said the U.S.-India partnership is of great importance to both the Biden-Harris administration and Congress.
Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, Director of the National Science Foundation, said there is full bipartisan support for a strong partnership between two great democracies, the United States and India.
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his historic state visit to Washington DC, interacting with the scientific community and young scientific minds with a visit to the National Science Foundation headquarters in Alexandria.
“Now, in terms of the National Science Foundation (NSF), we have started working with India on a partnership thread,” Panchanathan told PTI in an interview.
NSF first began with the Department of Science and Technology. Together, they have already raised two rounds of funding.
“We started with 35 projects funded by six digital technology hubs. That was in 2022,” he said. They are currently considering a variety of exciting joint proposals between U.S. and Indian researchers, many of which are expected to receive funding.
“The Ministry of Information Technology met with us. They signed an implementation agreement last summer and we are already inviting proposals. We will decide on the specific projects that will be funded. We are in the final stages,” he said, describing this as the second phase.
The third thread is establishing partnerships with the biotechnology sector.
“We are announcing a joint funding proposal opportunity with the Ministry of Biotechnology to enable people to collaborate in the areas of bioeconomy and biomanufacturing,” he said.
“This is in line with President Biden’s executive order on bioeconomy and biomanufacturing a while ago. There’s similar interest in India. So it’s really great for both sides and research groups to work together on that. It’s an opportunity,” he said.
Panchanathan also said in an interview that “over the past decade, we’ve seen a kind of deliberate intensity to ensure that scientific and technological innovation happens at scale.” ”
Panchanathan, who is one of President Joe Biden’s top scientific advisors, has visited India several times in the past year and a half to strengthen scientific cooperation between the two countries as directed by the president and prime minister.
“When you go to India and talk to people, you see a clear difference in terms of seeking the entrepreneurial ventures of the future, the industries of the future. Of course, the science and technology aspirations are being realized on a large scale. All over India. “Several institutions want to do basic discovery research as well as applied research. There is an even greater desire to work collaboratively with industry,” he said. “So there’s clearly an acceleration in the trajectory of wanting to build a science and technology-based innovative economy for the future. You can see that,” Panchanathan said when asked about India’s science and technology development over the past decade. He told PTI when asked.
“These are values that the United States and India clearly share, and we believe that if we build such a rich spirit of innovation in both countries, we can provide for our people, which will lead to prosperity for all. It’s possible.” Citizens of both our countries. “This has clearly been a deliberate and intense effort over the past 10 years,” he said.
Mr. Panchanathan believes that the establishment of the National Research Foundation (NRF) by India is a good step and will explore how to synergize the investments being made by different sectors in promoting science and technology and integrating innovation and discovery. He said he is considering whether it is possible. ; We are also trying to build more research intensity, not only in our prestigious institutions but also in various institutions across the country.
“That would be important, given that we have a lot of young people in India who are looking to set up skilled and technical workforce-based institutions, to ensure that we are training our people for the industries of the future and ensuring that the jobs of the future are ready. “Not only to ensure opportunities for all, but more importantly, to ensure the success of the world’s industry in the future,” he said.
Panchanathan, an Indian American who has served as the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) 15th acting director since June 2020, is a computer scientist. Chennai-born Panchanathan, an IIT Madras alumnus, was recently elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering.
A top U.S. scientist said the Department of Telecommunications has also expressed a desire to work with the NSF on areas of common interest, including next-generation telecommunications systems, SixG and beyond.
“We are thinking about how we can integrate our assets and bring together both research groups who want to collaborate in these areas. Ministry of Earth Sciences, The Ministry of Mines has also expressed interest in working with us,” he said.
“As you can see, what we started with the Department of Science and Technology and the Prime Minister’s (state) visit is already taking shape as a thread of five or six opportunities that we are working on,” he said. Ta. He said.
A meeting with the Chief Scientific Adviser in Ahmedabad ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi said that India and the US are looking to further their partnership by working together not just bilaterally but also in other areas. We discussed ways to strengthen it. Like-minded partners can work together to do bigger and better things for all countries, he said.
“We have also been exploring the Quad as a framework for how we can work together. We have four countries working together: India, the US Australia and Japan, and we have identified AI for agriculture. A great topic of interest to everyone.
“It is clear that this could have a significant impact on the United States and the Indo-Pacific region.”
“What we can do by deploying technologies like AI is how we can enable more efficient, effective and technology-inspired agriculture, and through it, produce better outcomes. We are already working on that. We are partnering with institutions and researchers in Japan, India, and Australia to support our U.S.-funded AI research institute. , we are going to announce some projects that we will co-fund so that we can do further research. How can we work together?” he said.
“We will also ensure that we have a joint call for proposals in the near future that will bring all countries together on this topic. In this partnership, it is clear that researchers from both India and the United States have a strong interest in working together for the benefit of the world and society, not to mention the economic vitality and national security goals of both countries.” said Dr. Panchanathan.
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