A numerous delegation from Trentino took part days ago in the India-Italy technology summit in New Delhi, the high-level bilateral meeting organized by the Italian government (Ministry of Foreign affairs and international cooperation, Ministry of Economic development, Ministry for Education university and research, Agenzia ICE) with Confindustria, and the Indian Ministry for Science and Technology and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The summit was an important occasion to explore further collaboration opportunities in science and business between the two countries, in particular in areas that have a significant added value. But it also served to give visibility to the Trentino system of university, research and science communication in an international political context.
ITPAR, the India-Trento Programme for Advanced Research, and Sincrotrone Trieste are two of the most successful examples of collaboration between India and Italy in science and technology.
Both Ashutosh Sharma, Indian minister for Science and technology, and Vincenzo De Luca, director general for Cultural and Economic Promotion and Innovation at the Ministry of Foreign affairs and international cooperation, expressed their appreciation for the programme.
At the end of the technology summit, during the meeting on technological leadership, Italy’s and India’s Prime Ministers Giuseppe Conte and Narendra Modi addressed the audience.
During the summit, Carlo Miniussi (director of CIMeC and project coordinator on the Italian side) and his Indian counterpart Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath presented ITPAR - the India-Trento Programme for Advanced Research.
Other representatives of UniTrento who attended the event are Roberto Battiston (as president of the Italian Space Agency) and the newly-appointed president of the Board of Directors Daniele Finocchiaro, as chairman of the Research and Innovation Committee at Confindustria. The Trentino delegation also included Luigi Crema of Fondazione Bruno Kessler (who participated as expert of renewable energy and head of that division in ITPAR) and Michele Lanzinger, director of the MUSE Science Museum, who was involved in the organization of the exhibition “The beauty of knowledge” and participated as an expert in the Cultural Heritage section. The team well represents Trentino and its strengths, as well as its prominent position on the world stage of scientific and technological research.
The Cultural heritage seminar, which focused on the challenges of conservation and communication, gave MUSE the opportunity to present its approach, which leverages on communication and participation, and to showcase its know-how in research and its commitment to projects involving specific categories of people, paying particular attention to children and disabled individuals. “The beauty of Knowledge” exhibit, conceived and funded by the Ministry of Foreign affairs and international cooperation, was designed by CNR and set up by Italy’s most important science museums: MUSE, the Science and Technology Museum in Milan, Museo Galileo in Florence, and Città della Scienza in Naples. Hosted by the Italian Embassy in New Delhi, it was presented by director Lanzinger to the delegation including Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, the minister for Economic development Michele Geraci and the Indian minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan.
ITPAR – the India-Trento Programme for Advanced Research, funded by the University of Trento with support from the Ministry of Foreign affairs and international cooperation, the Ministry for Education university and research and the Autonomous Province of Trento – has been working since the beginning with researchers from the University of Trento and Fondazione Bruno Kessler on joint projects involving important Indian research institutes.
The collaboration, which also provided incoming and outgoing mobility opportunities at UniTrento for over 200 researchers, so far completed 23 joint projects with 15 Indian institutes, and published over 140 papers in international journals. Five new projects are underway in cognitive neuroscience, microsystems, quantum physics, renewable energy, telecommunications.