India, UK sign agreement to collaborate on science and innovation

India and United Kingdom Sign MOU for Science and Innovation Collaboration: India and the United Kingdom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for collaboration on science and innovation. The agreement was signed during a meeting of the UK-India Science Innovation Council, which was presided over by UK Science Minister George Freeman and Indian Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh. The MOU aims to deepen collaboration between the two countries in science and drive economic growth, job creation, and improve the lives of people around the world.

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Joint Research Schemes and Net Zero Innovation Virtual Centre:

The press release by the UK government stated that the MOU aims to unleash new joint research schemes to tackle global challenges such as climate change, pandemic preparedness, AI, and machine learning. The agreement creates a new UK-India Net Zero Innovation Virtual Centre focused on industrial decarbonization. A UK-India scientific deep sea mission would also be part of the collaboration.

UK-India Science Partnership:

The UK government named India as a partner for the UK’s International Science Partnerships Fund, continuing the UK-India science partnership built through the Newton-Bhabha fund. The renewed partnership will kick off with two new joint UK-India research programs. The first program will receive £5 million in UK funding, matched by India, for research into farmed animal diseases and health. The second program will receive £3.3 million in UK funding, matched by India, towards a technology and skills partnership program. This program will enable UK and Indian researchers to develop skills, technologies, and knowledge in areas such as AI, machine learning, and bio-imaging.