ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
12 March 2007 PA/06/2007
Australia's Chief Scientist and an Australian Nobel Laureate visit India as Australia-India science collaboration poised to grow
Australia-India bilateral science collaboration will be strengthened with a series of joint scientific workshops, meetings and lectures this week.
The bilateral activities begin with a two-day joint workshop on bioremediation on 11 March 2007 followed by two days of presentations and discussion on opportunities for collaboration. The workshop is jointly funded by the Australian and Indian Governments as part of the agreed activities from the Joint Science and Technology Committee meeting held in Australia in 2005.
The Chief Scientist of Australia, Dr Jim Peacock AC, begins a visit from 12 to 15 March at the head of a delegation of Australian science experts and government officials for meetings of the Australia-India Joint Biotechnology Committee and Joint Science and Technology Committee on 14 and 15 March, respectively.
Australian Nobel Laureate and Immunologist, Professor Peter Doherty, will be in Hyderabad on 16 March to give the third Burnet Lecture on Plagues, Pestilences and Influenza at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Gandipet.
Professor Doherty will also visit Manipal, Karnataka, to deliver the opening lecture at the joint Australia-India Conference on Pharmacogenomic hosted by the Manipal University, on 17 March, on the theme Human Variations and Pharmacogenomics.
He will also inaugurate the Government of India's Department of Science and Technology-sponsored program, FIST (Funds for Improvement of Science and Technology), to enhance training and research capabilities of post-graduates and faculty at the Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
"These activities, including the visits by Professor Doherty and Dr Peacock, signal the growing bilateral cooperation in science," said Mr John McCarthy, Australian High Commissioner to India.
"Our scientific and technological relationship has a long history. A bilateral treaty signed in 1986 underpins a range of other agreements, including a memorandum of understanding signed between the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Indian Government Department of Science and Technology (DST) in 2003 on cooperation in science and technology," said Mr McCarthy.
Mr McCarthy said, "This relationship was further strengthened when the Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, announced an allocation of $25 million for an Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF), to be matched by the Government of India, and new Endeavour Fellowships during his visit to India in March 2006. A memorandum of understanding was also signed between DEST and the Indian Government Department of Biotechnology (DBT) on cooperation in biotechnology."
"In late 2006, the first round of research applications was sought for the Indo-Australian Science and Technology Fund and the Biotechnology Fund components of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund."
"I am pleased to announce that under the Australian Scholarships program, in 2007, the number of Endeavour awardees from India will be significantly higher than in 2006. A total of 47 Indians will spend up to six months in Australia pursuing academic and professional interests. The number of awardees in 2006 was five. Six Australians will spend time in India under the program," added Mr McCarthy.
The Burnet Lecture series was initiated by the Australian Education International India, Australian High Commission, in 2005, to encourage greater collaboration between Australian and Indian researchers, particularly in the field of biotechnology. The lecture is named after Sir McFarlane Burnet, another Australian Nobel Laureate well known in India for his work on immunology.
The inaugural Burnet lecture was delivered by Sir Gus Nossal at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on 28 February 2005. The theme was “Immunology as a weapon for Disease: Prevention and Health Reform”. The second Burnet lecture was delivered by Professor Ian Frazer at the University of Pune on 5 March 2006. The theme was “Harnessing the immune system to control cervical cancer”.
For further information, please contact Ms Stella Morahan, Director, Science Cooperation, Department of Education, Science and Training, Australian High Commission, New Delhi, on 09810646954.