Bhubaneswar, Feb. 7: The National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) here today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with University of Cologne, Germany, for collaboration on research and training of bachelors, masters and doctoral students. The MoU would also enable exchange of faculty members between the department of chemistry of the university.

Hans Guenther Schmlz, dean, faculty of mathematics, natural sciences, University of Cologne and NISER director T.K. Chandrashekhar signed the MoU. Both the institutions have agreed to extend cooperation to each other in the field of students and researchers exchange to execute joint research projects.

“There will be mutual visits of faculty members and senior scientists for research and teaching purposes, exchange of information and joint research publications and implementation of cooperative research initiatives,” said Chandrashekhar.

“There will also be joint supervision of masters and doctoral thesis besides organising summer school, workshops, symposia with the initiative of faculty members at the partner institutions,” said NISER registrar Abhaya K. Naik.

“Indian students are highly motivated and have the spirit to reach the top. India has begun investing heavily in top science and we believe our association with a national institute like NISER will definitely bring fruitful results,” Schmlz said. “This is the first MoU we have in India and we hope to have more such MoUs with other Indian institutes,” he added.

It is expected that the students and faculty members of both the institutions will benefit by the sharing of their knowledge, work and facilities with each other ultimately enriching their information and skills, he said.

“Indian students have proved to be very good in IT, chemistry and material science,” said Sanjay Mathur, chair, inorganic and materials chemistry of the department of chemistry, University of Cologne. NISER now has 200 students, including 30 post-graduate students, and runs from a transit campus at the Institute of Physics.

Giving details about the progress of the permanent campus at Jatni in Khurda, Chandrashekhar said that the master plan has been drawn and construction would start soon. This happens to be the third MoU signed by NISER. The two other MoUs were signed with Institute of Life Sciences and the Kanungo Institute of Diabetics Specialties on August 10.