A growing number of industries based in India are realizing the importance of linking up with educational institutions and sponsoring their academic and research activities. In all first world economies, it is not the government that funds universities and institutions of tertiary education but the ‘industry’.
Businesses fund research and academic activities and ensure that college graduates are employable and become productive from day one at workplaces.
On October 12, software giant Microsoft Corporation’s Indian research operations Microsoft Research announced its decision to enter into a collaborative sponsored research programme with Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The aim of the research project is to enhance computational power in scientific and engineering investigations.
This is the first agreement Microsoft Research has signed in India is part of the company’s global research effort to partner with leading research and academic institutions across the world.
Under the agreement, Microsoft will provide funding and research expertise in the areas of high-performance computing over the next two to three years. Prof. Nagasuma Chandra, bioinformatics faculty, IISc, will be the chief investigator collaborating with Microsoft for biological data mapping projects.
By the end of the project Microsoft-IISc Team hopes to evolve new research tools for integration of biological data which will help improve understanding of biological systems, along with applications in many stages of drug and vaccine delivery.
Prof. R. Govindarajan of Supercomputer Education and Research Centre at IISc will lead another research project on high-performance applications.
Associate Director of IISc Prof. N. Balakrishnan said,
Scientific research requires tremendous computational power and data management technologies. With assistance from Microsoft Research, we can reduce the time needed for scientific discovery and better drive innovations.
Scientific research and development is vital for a country’s progress and advancement. At the same time one cannot and should not expect the government to fund all the research. The government has done its bit by creating world-class institutions for higher education and research.
Now, it is the job of the industry, the ultimate beneficiary of all scientific research, to come forward and sponsor such investigations so that the end results can be converted into innovative products to make life easy for common man.
It is heartening to note that corporations such as Microsoft are coming forward to sponsor institutional research activities. Let us hope that other corporations too come forward and raise the entire floor of research in our country
