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| Maria Crommett, associate vice-president, global affairs, South Florida University, US, and Dibrugarh University vice-chancellor K.K. Deka (right) sign the agreement in Dibrugarh on Friday. Picture by UB Photos |
Jorhat, Feb. 24: The CSIR North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) here, the University of Science & Technology, Meghalaya, (USTM) and other institutions under the ERD (Education Research and Development) Foundation signed an MoU today for collaborative research and development.
CSIR-NEIST is a constituent establishment of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
The ERD Foundation, an NGO established in 2005 that operates in Meghalaya and Assam, is committed to promote technological education, research and accelerate the nation building process. It runs a number of educational institutions including USTM.
The MoU was signed by CSIR-NEIST director P.G. Rao, ERDF chairman and USTM chancellor M. Hoque.
Rao said as NEIST and ERDF were working towards the same goal of regional development by focussing on the region’s youth, it was felt that synchronising their efforts and endeavours would multiply the achievements of both organisations.
“NEIST and ERDF will now come together in all development activities by sharing resources, organising regular programmes, in which scientists from NEIST would get an opportunity to work together with faculty and research scholars from USTM and ERDF institutions, and evolve new strategies for joint action in all kinds of research, development and project implementation to make the region scientifically and technologically vibrant. In a similar way, the faculty and students of USTM and ERDF institutions will have the advantage of exposure to the latest developments in research and development at the NEIST,” Rao said.
The director added that one of the main objectives of the agreement was to motivate upcoming science students, technocrats, research scholars and teachers to contribute towards research and innovation for scientific and technological development.
“This step will also help us prepare for the government’s Look East Policy in the eventuality that borders with southeast Asian countries open up, as both organisations are working to develop competent human resources in the region with focus on value addition to natural resources available in the region,” he said.
The Northeast is a biodiversity hotspot in which opportunities would be explored for utilisation of these resources for the scientific and economic growth of the region.
CSIR is the largest scientific body in the country and CSIR-NEIST is a multidisciplinary research and development organisation covering bio-sciences, agro-technology and rural development, chemical sciences, environmental sciences, earth sciences, engineering sciences, and material sciences, among others.
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