UK-India Workshop and Symposium

31 January 2007
New Delhi

The Royal Society of Chemistry continued to foster relationships with chemical scientists abroad by hosting the UK-India Workshop and Symposium in New Delhi, in conjunction with the UK’s Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) and the Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI).

The workshop was the second joint CRSI-RSC Workshop for Young Chemists on Smart Materials. This event, based around a ‘talk and chalk’ format, were each speaker is allowed only two overheads and extensive use of a white board, facilitated lively discussion on topics ranging from nano-technology, self assembly and soft matter. 

‘This first trip to India and direct experience of the Indian scientific community has been very positive and has really encouraged me to explore the opportunities for specific collaborations’ remarked Milo Shaffer, one of the 12 young researchers from each country (6 each from the UK and India) who partook in these closed sessions. 

‘Hopefully discussions [from the workshop] will lead to future cooperations and collaborations among the younger chemists of the two countries’ (Uday Maitra, secretary of the CRSI and Head of the organic sector at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore).

The following day saw the 1st UK-Indo Symposium on the Chemical Sciences. 

This successful series of open lectures seen was opened by a joint welcome from Professor Chakravorty, (President of the CRSI) and Richard Pike (CEO of the RSC). With at least 500 attendees at its peak, the symposium began with a presentation by RSC President Jim Feast on ‘Control of luminescence in poly (arylene vinylene) via control of chain microstructure’, and was followed again by a broad mix of both Indian and UK speakers presenting their research on topics as varied as catalysis, laser use in chemistry and propulsion at the nano-scale. 

This day also proved fruitful for possible future India UK collaborations. ‘Meeting, and having extensive discussions with leading Indian scientists in his field [self-assembled gel-phase materials] has provided the basis for closer future links and potential further meetings between out research group here in York and those in India’ (Professor David Smith, Department of Chemistry, symposium speaker). 

During the events, Richard Pike (CEO of RSC) and Alejandra Palermo (RSC special projects manager), also visited the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi. Informal discussions with a group of about 30 postgraduates allowed students to discuss their ideas and research directions, and also provided opportunities to gain an understanding of how education in India is delivered from primary, to secondary and through to higher education and beyond.

The RSC also had opportunity to strengthen its contacts in India through an open-air dinner at the British High Commission, hosted by Jane Owen, Counsellor, Economic and Commercial, British High Commission. This event, occurring after the signing of the CRSI and RSC joint agreement provided ample opportunity for informal discussions, and hopefully will lead directly to lasting interactions and collaborations between the UK and India.