UK's University of Manchester takes roadshow to India for collaboration on science, health, humanities

LONDON : A senior delegation from the University of Manchester is on an India visit this week to strengthen partnerships and seek new opportunities around science, health and humanities, the leading educational institution in the north of England said on Monday. Visiting Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi, the university roadshow comes close on the heels of a landmark agreement to collaborate in the field of science and innovation to help drive economic growth and create skilled jobs.

The India-UK agreement struck recently covers a joint award PhD programme between the University of Manchester and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), which is seen as building on existing research collaborations across a number of thematic areas including biomaterials, graphene, and environmental sciences.

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"The joint PhD programme with IISc is testament to the university's strategic ambitions to build world-class research links with India and to encourage more student mobility between the two countries," said Professor Stephen Flint, Associate Vice President International for Manchester University. "The University of Manchester established research partnerships with IISc some years ago and this PhD programme is the next step in deepening our relationship, with academic colleagues in both institutions sharing supervision of the PhD students, who will spend two years in Manchester and 2 years in Bengaluru," he said.

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Professor Govindan Rangarajan, Director of IISc, noted: “Indian Institute of Science is pleased to partner with the University of Manchester for the joint PhD programme. "Given multiple areas of mutual interest to both institutions, we are confident that this will be a very productive partnership that further strengthens our ties." The university said it is developing a global health strategy around the origins of non-communicable diseases in people living outside of Europe and North America and while in India, the team will explore how working in partnership with Indian institutions can address some of these healthcare challenges.

The University of Manchester said its global healthcare strategy and India-UK collaborations has resulted in the launch of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neurodevelopment and Autism in South Asia Treatment and Evidence (NAMASTE). The unit builds on its autism programme to implement a novel integrated detection-care pathway for young children with autism and their families in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal, using lay health workers.