Event: Visit of Prof. K. VijayRaghavan to Chandigarh
Date: July 14, 2018
Venue: Seminar Hall, CIL Building, Panjab University, Chandigarh
Academia clusters are important parameters for pushing the frontiers of science and technology as well as Industry-Academia Partnership. Panjab University is in the forefront of establishing an Academia cluster christened as Chandigarh Innovation and knowledge Cluster (CRIKC), which is a conglomerate of nearly 30 institutions comprising of Higher Education Institutes and National Research Laboratories. Now, CRIKC is a registered society. PU is also an epicentre of Industry-Academia R&D program. DST, GoI has set up a Center for Policy Research for enhancing Industry-Academia R&D. The activities of CRIKC and DST-CPR have been appreciated by the Ministries of GoI, Niti Aayog, Funding Agencies, Universities and Research labs.
To assess the performance/activities of CRIKC and DST-CPR, Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the GoI, accepted the invitation (extended by Prof. Arun K. Grover, Vice Chancellor, PU and Prof. Rupinder Tewari, Co-ordinator DST-CPR) to visit Panjab University on 14/07/2018.
The office of PSA, has recently launched a program to link Universities (U) with National Research Laboratories (NRL). So far 10 U-NRLs have been created and 1 such hub is present in North-western part of India with headquarters in Chandigarh. UNRL- North-Western Region comprises of four universities (Panjab University, Punjabi University, Kurukshetra University & Guru Jambeshwar University of Science & Technology) and six NRLs (IMTECH, CSIO, NABI, CIAB, INST & SCL). The PSA, wanted to see whether CRIKC model can be used for the functioning of U-NRL hubs.
In the inaugural address, Prof. Arun K Grover, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University, Chd., highlighted the genesis and evolution of CRIKC and laid out Action Plans for CRIKC and U-NRL, for the benefit of society at large.
Prof. Rupinder Tewari, Coordinator, DST-Centre for Policy Research at PU, talked about the recommendations for the promotion of university-industry collaborations at the national and regional levels. His suggestion of connecting the industries (micro, small, medium and large) to the universities with the active participation of already established District Industries Centres (DICs) was highly appreciated by the PSA. This endeavour can be a game changer for bridging the gap between industry and academia.
PSA, also visited CIL, New blocks of Biological Sciences and BIRAC’s Center for Innovation cluster (CIC)-Biotechnology.
In this event two MoUs were signed between academia and industry. One of the MoUs with Medzome Life Sciencez, was for the transfer of a rapid diagnostics technology for detection of Typhoid. The other was between CRIKC and The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE) for promotion of entrepreneur.
The newspaper clippings of the event
