Working together to tackle global challenges

A recent visit to India by the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir John Beddington to talk about UK and India collaboration on research and innovation got me thinking about some of the fantastic projects that we are currently working on.

Research and Innovation partnership between the two countries is growing from strength to strength, with over £100m of joint funded research tackling global challenges such as climate change, health, and food and energy security.

Energy was mentioned on a number of occasions during Sir John’s visit, which is no surprise as it is an important area of focus for both the UK and India. One topic that has caught my attention since working with the Science and Innovation Network (SIN) is solar energy (maybe it is also due to living in a country with endless amounts of sunshine!). Two research projects on solar energy currently being funded by Research Council UK (RCUK) and Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) are working on developing the next generation of environmentally friendly energy technologies.

The first project is looking at advancing the efficiency and production potential of excitonic solar cells (non-conventional solar cells based on organic and nanostructured materials), and will build on existing research in both the UK and India to develop cheaper and scalable solar cell manufacture. The second is researching the stability and performance of photovoltaics and aims to remove known bottlenecks in materials supply and develop novel device designs that are significantly cheaper and more efficient than current solar cells. Both these projects sound really interesting and promise to have outcomes that could help to provide solutions for the global problem of meeting future energy needs.

Having attended a fascinating lecture by Professor Robin Grimes from Imperial College recently I was also interested in what would come out from the meetings Sir John had about nuclear energy with Professor Grimes and Indian researchers in this field. Joint UK-India work on civil nuclear energy is increasing, with collaborations between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) on a number of projects already underway.  However in addition to this research, interaction with key stakeholders on both sides had led to knowledge sharing on research issues critical to safety and security of nuclear energy.

Renewable and nuclear energy are areas where I expect to see more collaborative research between the UK and India in the future, which can only be a good thing as both countries grapple with the challenge of providing a clean, secure energy supply for its people.