Poor students to get chance for research in Canada

Meritorious science and technology students belonging to “non-affluent” families in India will soon have an opportunity to participate in a 12-week long collaborative research programme at the Canadian universities.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is in process of giving a final shape to the modalities of the collaborative research programme with the Canadian universities.

Undergraduate Indian students of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, whose annual family income is up to Rs 10 lakh, would be eligible to apply for their selection under the programme.

“Other eligibility criteria and selection process will be notified after final approval of the modalities of the programme,” sources in the council told DH.

The programme will be implemented under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed earlier this year between the AICTE and Mitacs-Canada, a non-profit organisation, jointly funded by the Government of Canada, along with provincial Canadian governments, academic partners and research partners.

The MoU, signed between the AICTE and Mitacs-Canada for a period of five years starting 2018, intends to support up to 300 undergraduate students “each year” from the “eligible” universities in India under the programme.

To start with, the AICTE's executive committee at its recent meeting approved the plan for selection of at least 100 students from the higher education institutions in India.

It also approved the allocation of a total of 3,00,000 Canadian dollar (CAD), 3,500 CAD per student, as the AICTE's contribution to the joint collaborative research programme with Mitacs-Canada.

AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe presided over the executive committee meeting.

As per the MoU, Mitacs-Canada will also make its contribution “on an equitable basis” towards the implementation of the programme.

Indian students will be sent to Canada for collaborative research under the Mitacs' Globalink Research Internship program.

“Overall, the MoU intends to develop long-term linkages between Indian and Canadian research communities with an aim to provide students from non-affluent families in India the opportunity to engage in research collaboration with the Canadian universities and promote in them a research-oriented career,” according to the AICTE.