Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics & Science Explores TCD-India Collaborations

Posted on: 26 November 2010

The results of a new initiative, initiated by the Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Science (FEMS), which aims to explore possible collaborations with universities and institutions in India, were recently announced. As part of the initiative a fund of €50,000 allocated by the Faculty Dean, Professor Clive Williams, was established to promote student and staff exchanges with the aim of stimulating research interactions. The fund will, on a matching funds basis with the schools and institutions in the scheme, provide support for some or all of the costs of successful exchange proposals.

Following a call for research driven India-TCD initiatives, the selection panel consisting of Professor Mike Coey, Professor Mani Ramaswami and Professor Linda Doyle who were chosen to be representative of FEMS research breadth, decided on a number of successful bids for funding. The selection criteria included scientific importance of work; sustainability of interactions and its correlation with the College research strategy.* Recipients of the award included:

Professor Darina Murray, School of Engineering, Research topic: Energy Efficient Impingement Jet Cooling of Hot Surfaces with IIT Roorkee.
Dr Jan-Henning Dirks, with Professor David Taylor, School of Engineering, Research topic: Insect cuticle – from the micron to the cosmos with the Indian Space Research Organisation & IITs.
Dr Paula Murphy, School of Natural Sciences, Research topic: The mechanical regulation of bone development: the mechanisms underlying mechanical regulation of gene expression with IIT Kanpur.
Dr Quentin Crowley, School of Natural Sciences, Research topic: Understanding Crustal Evolution of the Early Earth: The Singhbhum Craton, India with the Presidency College, Kolkata.
Dr Mike Peardon, School of Mathematics, Research topic: Ab initio determination of the spectrum of charmed baryons in lattice QCD, with Tata Mumbai, Bombay.

Further educational links were being forged with India this week (22nd – 27th November) as Provost, Dr John Hegarty led a delegation there, visiting leading universities.

Commenting on the significance of the visit TCD Provost, Dr Hegarty said: “The purpose of the Irish visit to India is to strengthen links between Trinity College, and similar top-ranking Indian universities and institutes across a range of disciplines in the sciences and the humanities. A key objective is also to instigate bilateral cooperation in the fields of teaching and research, including the exchange of students and staff at all levels.”

As part of the visit, a strategic partnership will be signed with Dehli University, promoting collaboration in relation to research and student exchange.

*A second call for proposals for India-TCD FEMS initiative is now open with a closing date of April 1st 2011. Interested staff and students from FEMS are invited to submit proposals for funding to the Faculty Dean via Vickey Butler, butlerv@tcd.ie.