Indian students in bio-tech, bio-energy and medicine in top research institutions, including IISc, are having it good as UK's funding for bio-projects this year has touched £6m. 

IISc and IIM apart, IIT Delhi too now has largesse from UK - a three-year, £3-million grant, co-funded by Research Council UK, and the Indian Department of Science and Technology. The grant has been made to Aston University and IIT Delhi.

The project will focus on bio-energy technology and business solutions for both countries. Researchers will grow biomass using wasteland and waste water to provide energy for heating in the UK and energy for cold storage and food processing in India.

The aim is to deliver sustainable decentralised bio-energy for both the developed and developing worlds, through the collaborative ventures.

The projects are a matter of prestige as the UK has awarded them to China as well. The overall funding involving the three countries comes to £12 million. 

The projects have been commissioned as part of the Science Bridges Award instituted by the UK government.

The first Science Bridges was funded by the UK government in 2006 to support collaborations between the UK and USA. The idea was to commercialise research results and undertake proof of concept studies. The award has now been extended to include the emerging super-economies of China and India.

"This set of awards has been made to UK institutions with extant research links with the US, China and India to accelerate the deployment of research knowledge, deepen and strengthen current research links, enable the acquisition of new skills and encourage wealth creation," the UK research council states. 

Lord Drayson, minister of state for science and innovation in the UK, has told the Council that the collaborations have the potential to provide solutions to important challenges facing the UK and the world, in areas such as sustainable biofuels, food and water security and healthcare.

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