Science Gallery Bengaluru partners with Imperial College London to boost innovation

Bengaluru: Science Gallery Bengaluru (SGB) has partnered with Imperial College London to develop new facilities in Bengaluru, in addition to launching a joint fellowship programme and various public engagement activities. 

The partnership aims to drive the exchange of research and talent between India and the UK. This was formally announced by Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, and Jahnavi Phalkey, Founding Director of SGB, on Thursday.

A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed by Jahnavi and Amanda Wolthuizen, Vice-President (Strategic Engagement) at Imperial, the same day.

Officials from Imperial are currently in India as part of the UK delegation led by the British Prime Minister, who is making his first official visit to India.

As part of the initiative, SGB's Public Lab Complex will be diversified and expanded across five existing areas — Nature Lab, Materials Lab, Food Lab, New Media Lab, and Theory Lab — aimed at converting SGB into an idea incubator.

The two organisations will also be co-developing programmes to create a bridge between the Public Lab Complex and the WestTech London innovation ecosystem and Imperial Schools of Convergence Science. Various public engagement initiatives will also be organised as part of the initiative. 

Apart from this, a joint fellowship programme has also been announced. "The fellowship is not restricted to just fellows from the UK and India. It will be open to fellows across the world. We will also have an apprentice programme for young adults to work in the labs with fellows. This will help develop the capacity of young people to be able to learn from these research ideas," Jahnavi told DH. 

Imperial has also applied to establish a liaison office in India, pending approval from the relevant regulatory authorities.