New funding to strengthen UK-India science

Imperial has launched new funding for joint projects with top universities and institutes in India.

Imperial – ranked second best university in the world in the latest QS World University rankings – will work with partners in India in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum science and clean energy. 

Professor Ian Walmsley CBE said: “The India Connect Fund brings together the best scientists from India and Imperial to work in exciting areas such as AI, quantum, and clean energy."  Professor Ian Walmsley Provost, Imperial College London

The India Connect Fund is focused on three themes: Emerging Technologies for Innovation, Climate and Sustainability, and Health. 

This includes areas of research such as AI, quantum, semiconductors, clean energy, green hydrogen, antimicrobial resistance, extreme weather and digital health. 

The seed funding will support exploratory research, small-scale experiments or the development of prototypes, workshops and hackathons, and will enable the researchers to take part in exchanges to work at Imperial and partner institutes in India.   

Each project will receive grants up to GBP 5,000 and be led by one principal investigator based at the partner institution in India and one principal investigator based at Imperial.   

The India Connect Fund builds upon Imperial’s longstanding engagement with partners in India and is part of efforts to strengthen these links even further.  

Professor Ian Walmsley CBE said: “The India Connect Fund brings together the best scientists from India and Imperial to work in exciting areas such as AI, quantum, and clean energy. 

“Our scientists have already made many exciting discoveries together and this funding will further strengthen our links.  

“India’s research capabilities are growing rapidly and its researchers will play a critical role in finding solutions for the biggest challenges.”  

Apply for the funding here. It will close for applications on 8th September 2024.

Research project successes

The India Connect Fund has already funded several projects between scientists at Imperial and partners in India and is helping to tackle global challenges.

Here is some of the exciting work that received funding through the programme: 

Improving women’s health 

Professor Jane Hirst, from the School of Public Health and George Institute for Global Health, and Dr Usha Sriram, DIWAS and Voluntary Health Services Chennai, worked together to tackle the urgent issue of improving pregnancy outcomes and lifelong health for the 25 million women who give birth each year across India. It is estimated that around 12 per cent of these pregnancies will be affected by diabetes, making India the country with the largest number of pregnant women with diabetes. 

Other non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure are the leading causes of premature death and disability for women worldwide. 

Professor Hirst explained: “Women who enter pregnancy with one of these conditions or develop common complications of pregnancy such as gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders are at increased risk both during their pregnancy and in the years after birth of diabetes, high blood pressure and other metabolic conditions. 

“Our collaboration brought together experts and stakeholders from across India to discuss these challenges and identify potential research topics to improve outcomes for women and their babies.” 

Dr Sriram said: “There are more than 300 million women of reproductive age in India and nearly 75 per cent have single or multimorbidity. When they enter pregnancy with these health issues it translates into high-risk pregnancies with poor pregnancy outcomes and offspring health. Preconception care is clearly the solution to decrease or prevent many of the risks like gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, nutritional deficiencies, preterm deliveries and low birth weight babies. Our collaboration has greatly helped in starting this important conversation and raising awareness among relevant stakeholders about research, advocacy and informing policy.” 

Remote biomechanics 

Dr Angela Kedgley, from the Department of Bioengineering, and Dr Darshan S. Shah, from IIT Bombay, were among the first recipients of the India Connect Fund awards.   

They are working on a project looking to improve the accuracy of remote monitoring of upper limb movements for potential applications in diagnostics and physiotherapy and rehabilitation. The research could help develop cheaper and more accessible tools to improve care of patients with neuromusculoskeletal conditions of the arm.  

Through more affordable devices and systems, ‘frugal biomechanics’ could help speed-up diagnosis, reach patients unable to access clinics, and improve remote monitoring. 

Since the funding was awarded the researchers have spent time in each other's laboratories to share ideas and carry out experimental work. Earlier this year, Dr Shah and Samrat Sagar, a PhD student from IIT Bombay, visited Imperial to conduct trials with healthy volunteers.  

Dr Kedgley said: “Our collaboration with IIT Bombay has opened new avenues for innovation in healthcare. By combining our complementary strengths and expertise, we can develop more affordable tools that can improve patient care for those with neuromusculoskeletal conditions. This partnership demonstrates how international collaboration can benefit society.”  

Dr Shah said: "The bilateral travel as part of the India Connect Fund not only helped foster a collaboration on the focused theme of 'Remote Monitoring of Upper-limb Biomechanics' between the research groups at IIT Bombay and Imperial, but also aided interactive discussions on the far-reaching applications of such translational research with a wider multidisciplinary audience extending beyond biomedical engineering."