Cambridge University VC for closer ties with India

Vice Chancellor of University of Cambridge, Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, was in the city on Friday as part of a delegation to India to focus on the various collaborations between his institution and Indian institutes that include a few from Bengaluru. He delivered a lecture at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

The delegation will attend key meetings with government officials and members of the academia. It will also interact with the National Centre for Biological Science and the IISc to decide on partnerships.
Speaking on “Global collaboration in the face of global challenges,” Borysiewicz  explained why collaborations were  increasingly important in the recent times.

“Globalisation means that information transfers quickly, policy-makers are impatient to implement them, and yet the evidence that we would accept as scientists are imperfect by the time those decisions are made”, he noted.

 Borysiewicz mentioned the recent formalisation of the India-UK collaboration in crop-sciences –– under which the University of Cambridge and other British research institutions will work with India’s Department of Biotechnology on some of the fundamentals of plant science.

“The ultimate purpose of the initiative is the translation of this fundamental research into sustainable agriculture, improving food security and the lives of farmers,” he said.   He said that he would continue advocating closer collaboration between India and UK and more specifically, between “our two institutions” denoting IISc and the University of Cambridge.

“I will continue to do whatever I can to ensure that the fruits of this closer collaboration make a meaningful contribution to society –in India, in the UK, and beyond,” he said.