IIT Hyderabad & NIMS launch joint centre for materials research

Hyderabad: The Indian Institute of Technology and the National Institute for Materials Science signed an agreement for opening "IITH-NIMS Joint Research Centre" at NIMS on April 6 this year. In 2020 they had signed an agreement on an 'International Collaborative Graduate School Programme', which allows graduate students enrolled in doctoral programmes to stay at NIMS for up to one year for their thesis research works.

According to a press release, "to further develop the joint research with complementary strengths in the materials science field, young faculty members of IITH stay at NIMS with their PhD course students during a sabbatical leave period and conduct sustainable collaboration with NIMS scientists. To perform the sustainable joint research between both institutions, we are pleased to announce that IITH-NIMS Joint Research Centre was launched." The opening of this joint research centre will further strengthen the ties and support future leaders to achieve the best research results in the field of materials science, the release added.

In the first year, two projects that are selected are expected to contribute to the industrial fields (digital information and communication and low-carbon society-related fields) that has strong potential for growth in the country. In future, the joint research centre will contribute to the strengthening of the Japan-India materials technology network, the release stated.

Currently, scientists from both IIT-H and NIMS are preparing for research collaboration after Covid-19 pandemic ends, through online scientific information exchange and provision of samples.