The greater Boston
area has long been at the vanguard of US academia, with Cambridge-based Harvard
and MIT forming a major hub of science, technology and medicine in this
country. Bangalore is at the hub of Indian science, with the addition of
several new institutes of excellence such as the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for
Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR),
and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), which complement the long tradition
at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
A combination of these scientific centers and the high technology industry
centered in and around Bangalore invite favorable comparisons with Boston and
Route 128.
We propose to establish fellowships for research exchange between
Bangalore and Harvard, which would eventually be administered by a natural
sciences department at Harvard, and NCBS in Bangalore. These would send Harvard
upper-level undergraduates to Bangalore for 3-6 months of research and cultural
experience in part of their junior year and the summer before or after it. We
expect to set up complementary programs to bring graduate students from
Bangalore to Harvard for 6 months of research in a partnering laboratory. The
program will eventually be expanded to include postdoctoral fellows and
faculty. Each of these exchanges will be carefully arranged by faculty in both
locations, to ensure that the research experience is meaningful. The strong
pool of students at both sites will be a valuable catalyst for the success of
this initiative.
This idea grew out
of a small joint symposium in Bangalore from August 11-13, 2006 where 5 faculty
members from Harvard University went to talk to their colleagues at NCBS,
JNCASR and IISc (see program here).
The meeting brought out many themes of common interest, and there was
unanimous agreement to support the exchange of students for various periods of
time through funding from all the participating institutions. The program for
Harvard College students supported by the International Innovation Grants
program is one of the earliest and most important steps in this promising
exchange program since it focuses on education in the broadest sense – from the
details of a particular research project to the experience of immersing oneself
in another culture.
To jump-start this program, we sought assistance from the International
Innovation Grants program at Harvard and have obtained travel support several
Harvard College students in summer of 2007. Support for their stay in Bangalore
was provided by the partner institutions in Bangalore. Students were provided
room and board at NCBS for the 10-12 weeks stay.
We are now offering this internship for a second year, and will aim to
send up to 6 Harvard college students to Bangalore in the Summer
of 2008.