IIT Bhubaneswar Signs MoU With AIIMS Bhubaneswar For Collaborative Research

IIT Bhubaneswar signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, for collaborative research and academic interaction among the faculty and scientist of both the institutes, in their core areas, for improving the quality of life through the application of technology.

The MoU was signed by R.V. Raja Kumar, Director, IIT Bhubaneswar and Gitanjali Batmanabane, Director, AIIMS Bhubaneswar and exchanged in presence of Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal, Minister for Human Resource Development (MHRD), Govt. of India, the dignitaries present, the faculty and senior officials of both the institutes.

Ramesh Pokhriya, HRD Minister, expressed his happiness and said, "I am looking forward to fruitful outcomes from this collaboration in the best interest of the society. There is a void in the form of interdisciplinary research work in the areas of domains of institution and another such as between technological institutions and medical institutions which needs to be filled up. All institutes should complement each other, work as a team collaborate for meaningful outcomes in the interest of the society. An agreement to collaborate between IIT Bhubaneswar and AIIMS Bhubaneswar is a good starting. The work should progress well for this endeavour today and would like to know about the progress in the future."

The MoU will be valid for a period of five years from the date of execution and may be extended after mutual discussion. The broad areas covered under the MoU include collaborative research and academic interaction among the faculty and scientist of both the institutes in their relevant areas.

The collaborative research in healthcare is a valuable mechanism for advancing knowledge and strengthening research capacity for smooth dovetailing of skills and expertise. This collaboration will make modern research tools available to both the institutions by providing a unique platform for interdisciplinary research for students and faculty with a goal to improve health care facilities in our country. In the meeting, Director, IIT Bhubaneswar appraised the Hon’ble HRD Minister about the latest developments including the steady progress of the Institute on all fronts.

Speaking on the occasion, R.V. Raja Kumar, Director, IIT Bhubaneswar said, "This MoU provides a plethora of opportunities to work together on a larger domain of Biotechnology application to Health Sciences. Collaboration with AIIMS will help IIT Bhubaneswar in developing our competence in Bio-Engineering and we intend to foster the research in Bio-Engineering, Pro-Biotics and Bio-Medical Engineering. We are thankful to Shri. Ramesh Pokhriyalji, Hon’ble HRD Minister for his gracious presence at the occasion.”

The MoU facilitates the sharing of research information and joint supervision of Doctoral and Master Students of each other for the research programmes. In addition, the MoU also includes regular organizing of joint Symposia, Colloquium, workshops, seminars and conferences on chosen topics and areas to train students in both the Institutes. In the meeting, Director, IIT Bhubaneswar appraised the Hon’ble HRD Minister about the latest developments including the steady progress of the Institute on all fronts.

Maintaining that technology has penetrated rapidly into health care, Gitanjali Batmanabane, Director, AIIMS said. “Technology has become an integral part of health care. There is a need to further the research with the collaboration between the two institutes now will give a technology edge to the research of AIIMS.”