Jointly supervised IIT Delhi-CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research) PhD fellowship scheme announced

New Delhi, 27 September 2016. Thales and Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT Delhi) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a jointly supervised IIT Delhi-CNRS PhD fellowship programme. The MoU was signed in the presence of Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India.

Through this fellowship programme, Thales and IIT Delhi intend to facilitate scientific collaboration between Indian and French laboratories and boost industrial research by strengthening industry-academia relations.
Welcoming the MoU, Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India said, “France is a country synonymous with creativity and innovation, and is at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies. We are delighted that brilliant Indian students choose to study in France and we wish to welcome many more. The Thales IIT Delhi-CNRS PhD fellowship programme is another testament to the robust scientific cooperation that is such an essential part of the excellent bilateral relations between France and India.”

The students to be selected for this fellowship programme will conduct research in both countries under the management of an Indian and a French supervisor respectively from the IIT Delhi and one of the identified CNRS laboratories in France. In the first batch, up to 4 students will be selected for research in advanced electronics, electromagnetics and complex systems engineering.

Speaking on the occasion, Antoine Caput, VP & Country Director for Thales in India said “We are delighted to join hands with IIT Delhi as it marks an important step forward in our endeavour to associate with the finest academic institutes in India. We believe such associations will play a great role in fostering an ecosystem for research and consequently securing innovations for tomorrow.”

Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi said “We are delighted to collaborate with Thales as it will provide an opportunity to our students access to industry leading technologies in some of the finest academic laboratories in India and France. This will surely strengthen industry-academia relations and provide unique opportunities to students interested in researching on technologies with global applications.”
Dr. Srinivas Kaveri, Director, CNRS, India added “We are excited to contribute to Indo-French research initiatives and believe these will play a strategic role in not just creating innovations but also in strengthening relations between both nations. We look forward to collaborating with IIT Delhi and Thales in enabling and guiding the research work of the selected students.”