Aiming to strengthen its academic collaboration, Delhi University today signed a MoU with Russia's MV Lomonosov Moscow State University to offer new and "exciting" possibilities in research and development fields.
The MoU was signed by Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University Dinesh Singh and Rector of Moscow State University Viktor Sadovnichy in presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a five-day visit to Russia to attend the celebration of country's victory in World War-II against Germany.
"In keeping with the spirit and action of Indo-Russian cooperation at the University of Delhi for the last 68 years, this MoU will open new and exciting avenues for academic participation," a statement said.
The MoU will establish a wide ranging collaborative relationship in academic development, faculty-student exchange and research.
Two more MOUs are under discussion at the Delhi University (DU) to be concluded with the Russian State University of Humanities, Moscow and Tomsk State University, Tomsk for cooperation in different academic areas.
The Department of Russian language at DU, the first in the country, was inaugurated on October 2, 1947 at the initiative of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
With an aim to involve researchers working in basic sciences, India and Russia in 2007 launched the Basic Science Cooperation Programme to support joint research in the areas of basic sciences, including Mathematics, Medical Sciences, Telecommunications and Computer Sciences.
The programme generally supports about 20 to 30 joint research projects annually for 2 years with annual funding equivalent to USD 20,000 from each side to each project.
The joint research proposals are invited every year through joint calls. Seven joint calls were announced until last year.
The programme has so far supported 20 joint seminars and meetings and 182 joint projects, resulting in 1,190 joint publications (an average of 11.6 papers per project).
Indian scientists are the first authors in at least 108 publications. These projects have successfully connected 79 institutes located in 42 cities across India and 94 institutes in 25 cities of Russia.
