Facilitating US-India bilateral research collaborations
In February 2022, the U.S. National Science Foundation issued a Dear Colleague Letter encouraging joint U.S.-India research projects involving principal investigators from both nations for collaborative research that can accelerate the development of new technologies, tools and systems for mutual societal and economic benefit.
The U.S.-India collaboration is an example of NSF's commitment to cultivating international partnerships that produce and benefit the scientific and technological discoveries of allies with common scientific visions and goals. The partnership also provides the opportunity to leverage international datasets and expertise; participate in multinational standards-setting bodies and scientific and technical organizations; and enhance international cooperation through joint projects, exchanges of researchers and co-development and co-production initiatives.
"NSF is proud of the partnerships India and the U.S. have harnessed and cherished over the past few decades. Both nations share common values and aspirations to advance societal progress. We should work hard to encourage and facilitate global experiences for our students throughout their STEM education journey," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan.
In collaboration with six Technology Innovation Hubs supported by the Indian Department of Science and Technology, NSF is announcing the selection of U.S. supplemental funding awards totaling $2.8 million to support the U.S. side of research projects that will focus on areas like artificial intelligence, data science and edge computing. The awards will support bilateral collaborations to help advance the frontiers of science and strengthen science and technology engagement between two of the world's largest economies.
The Hubs are part of a five-year, nearly $430 million investment by the Indian Department of Science and Technology under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems and comprise academic researchers and industry partners.
The goal of these projects is to add international collaboration to existing research projects in the U.S. and India. The awards aim to leverage unique resources such as testbeds and datasets available in the U.S. and India, expand collaborations on critical technologies like artificial intelligence and advanced wireless, and encourage student and researcher exchange programs.
"It was exciting to see the strong response we received to the joint call for proposals. The awarded researchers are now looking forward to initiating the collaborations," said Gurdip Singh, division director for Computer and Network Systems at NSF. "We are hoping that these partnerships will amplify the impact of collaborative research to address societal challenges in the two countries and facilitate student and researcher exchange efforts."