Indo-German Cooperation in Science & Technology and Education Celebrating 50 years of cross border collaboration

The Indo-German Science & Technology (S&T) cooperative program is implemented under an Inter-governmental Agreement on “Cooperation in Scientific Research and Technological Development” signed in May 1974. The Department of Science & Technology (DST) from Indian side and the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung – BMBF) from Germany are the nodal agencies for overall coordination of the programme.

An apex Indo-German Committee on S&T was established in 1994 to coordinate the implementation of the cooperation through joint review of the activities and suggesting measures towards enhancement of cooperation including those of DST, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). So far, 11 meetings of the S&T Joint Committee have taken place, the last of which was held in Berlin in 2017. The Indian side is co-chaired by Secretary, DST and the German side by the State Secretary, BMBF.

Various modes are in place for implementation and intensification of cooperation and collaborative work in S&T between India and Germany. They include:

• Joint research projects between institutions and scientists
• Joint projects in the 2+2 mode (R&D Institution and Industry on both sides) under the aegis of Indo-German Science and Technology Center (IGSTC)
• Project based personnel exchange programme with emphasis on exchange of young PhD scholars
• Young Indian students/researchers/scientists visiting Germany to interact with Nobel Laureates
• Joint Workshops / Seminar / Symposia / Schools / Trainings
• Networked Partner Research groups
• Frontiers of Engineering symposia
• Participation in mega science projects like FAIR, DESY, etc
• Establishment of Indo-German Max Planck Centres.
• Indo-German Center for Sustainability (IGCS)
• Mobility programmes
• Collaborative programs / schemes
• Applied research projects with Industry, Research and Government