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Top brains Paris-bound for research

During his stint with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Maulik Patel studied about materials used for nuclear waste disposal. This coming September he will be off to France to learn more about radiation damages, among other things, at the highly advanced laboratory in Paris.

Sujata Mandal and Manjusha Shelke, both from the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, have been chosen for post-doctoral programmes and will do research in France for six months.

While Sujata is a research associate who will study more on material synthesis -- a subject she has been working on for a couple of years now -- as a scientist, Manjusha seeks to develop collaboration with French institutes during her stay in that country.

These three are among 21 outstanding research scholars who have been selected for the "Sandwich Ph.D. and Post-Doctoral Scholarship 2007-08" programme launched by the French Embassy last year.

An initiative of the Science and Technology Section of the embassy, the programme aims at developing and strengthening cooperation between the Indian and French scientific communities by enabling highly qualified scholars in India, who are in the initial stage of doctoral research or those who already hold doctorates, to carry out research projects of their choice in France.

This year the embassy received 57 scholarship applications from research scholars, of whom 21 were selected for the fellowship on the basis of international publications and the quality and feasibility of the research proposal.

Speaking about the programme, French Ambassador to India Dominique Girard reminisces: "When I came here four and a half years ago, we had a lot of contacts but few bilateral agreements between institutions and little knowledge about them. French labs did not know much about India and her institutions. Now, of course, the levels of knowledge have improved enough to open more and more such scholarship programmes. The French want to access India and her scientists."

"The institutions in the two countries now know what each is working on. The idea is that it is only by cooperation that you progress and it is true for all the other sectors."

Applications are invited for this programme every year in October.

The scholarships cover a wide range of research topics like chemistry, physics, life sciences, biotechnology, nano-technology, atomic research, agriculture and earth sciences.

Applicants choose their own research projects and French host institutions. Spanning from six to 12 months, the scholarship provides full financial support to Indian research scholars for their stay in France, including a monthly stipend, insurance, travel grant and a gratis visa.

-- Parul Sharma

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