During the 2011-2012 academic year, close to 6000 Indian students have made Germany their academic home. That makes India  number 11 in the list of countries seeking Germany out for higher studies, according to the German Embassy in New Delhi.

Here’s some good news for Indian students interested in Germany. The German government has come to town with  the German House for Research and Innovation (DWIH) in New Delhi. The DWIH promises to be a ‘one-stop shop’ for students, researchers and potential partner institutions that will provide information on higher education in Germany, the country’s research landscape and funding sources. New Delhi is one the five DWIH hubs along with Sao Paolo (Brazil), Moscow (Russia), New York (USA) and Tokyo (Japan).

{credit}Photoalto{/credit}

As part of its inaugural on October 27, 2012,  the German Embassy and the German Research Foundation (DFG) will have, what they call, the “Grand Science Slam”. Young Indian researchers from all fields of science can showcase their best and most interesting scientific projects. The fields they can chose from are medicine or physiology, “green” life sciences, physics or mathematics, geo sciences, chemistry and process engineering or engineering, informatics and social sciences. Shortlisted participants will publicly display complex scientific concepts in a very simple form either by way of a  talk, a play or even a musical performance. Two winners will be awarded a fully paid learning opportunity to work in the research group of an eminent researcher in Germany. The event will also feature the ‘Leibniz Lectures’ by two German speakers and scientific talks by two Indian scientists.

In times to come, DWIH expects India’s scientific influence to grow in the international arena. That is one of the reasons it chose New Delhi for setting up one of its hub. Leading German education and research bodies such as the Freie University, the Max Planck Society, Julich Reasearch Centre and University of Cologne are expected to collaborate with Indian scientific institutes and organisations through the DWIH.

A couple of years back, the two countries came together to set up an Indo-German Science and Technology Centre which currently handles a few projects in agricultural sciences and alternative energy sectors. The centre “catalyses innovation centric R&D projects by synergising the strength of research/academic institution and public/private industry from India and Germany”.

Good times coming for Indo-German science and research collaborations.