A delegation from the University of Exeter attended a bilateral research symposium at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore earlier this month.

Exeter strengthens collaboration with IISc-Bangalore

Six faculty from the College of Life and Environmental Sciences and six from the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences travelled to Bangalore to explore research synergies with scientists from one of India's most prestigious higher education institutions. The symposium developed themes identified by an IISc-B delegation visit to Exeter in July 2010.

A diverse array of research collaborations will be developed by both institutions in the months ahead.  For example, faculty from the University of Exeter's Centre for Ecology and Conservation led by Prof Tom Tregenza are developing projects on mating systems in endangered black-buck antelope, lizards and fruit flies as well as the ecology of turtles in the Andaman Islands.  Aerospace faculty led by Prof Chris Smith are working on two projects involving wave propagation, thermal distortion and spectral elements.  The two institutions are also looking to establish an exchange of PhD students.  Exeter is already funding a split site PhD with IISc-B in biosciences.

Commenting on the trip, Prof Tom Tregenza said, "We were delighted to return to IISc-B and visit our colleagues, the degree of overlap in our interests and ambitions is remarkable.  There are a whole bunch of areas where either party has already developed a particular technique or system that the other can use, and integrating this knowledge to develop new joint projects is going to be very exciting.

Date: 21 February 2011