CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) Director S.Chandrasekhar on Friday urged industry to prepare a white paper specifying changes it wanted academic institutions to make, thus helping industry-academia collaboration gain momentum.
“Industry needs to make a white paper and tell the world publicly this is what we are looking for from these institutes. That clarity needs to be given so that academic institutes could really reorient their curriculum, syllabus or experimental part so that [students] are really ready to join the industry,” he told a virtual conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Telangana.
Noting that industry-academia collaboration was being discussed for many decades now, he emphasised measures to help build trust between the academia and industry, including by locating small research and development facilities of industry on campuses.
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Mr.Chandrasekhar, who also called upon CII to work in this direction, said trust between both parties is key as “industry always thinks by talking to academic collaborator, there is every possibility of their knowledge being leaked out to their competitor. The academic collaborator thinks I share some idea with industry and they will not give back my royalty or they will not acknowledge the way it has to be acknowledged”. Such measures to bolster collaboration would help meet Atmanirbhar (self-reliance) goals, he said.
Addressing the webinar on ‘Enriching industry - institutional collaboration on research and technology’, US Consul General in Hyderabad Joel Reifman sought to highlight Ind- US collaborations, especially in Telangana. Defence and aerospace, biotech and pharma, and environment technology sectors offer potential for more partnerships.
Joint Secretary to Centre’s Department of Science and Technology Sunil Kumar said Telangana has huge potential in the area of industry-academic collaborations. It is crucial to encourage entrepreneurs to invest more in R&D and engage with institutions.
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