IMPERIAL COLLEGE TO LAUNCH RAJIV GANDHI CENTRE
(10 October 2006)

Meeting today in advance of the India-UK investment summit, the Rector of Imperial College London, Sir Richard Sykes, and Mr. R Seshasayee, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, linking their two organisations. In addition to the CII agreement, the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will be created and hosted by Tanaka Business School.

This initiative, signed in the presence of UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling, and Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry, Kamal Nath, acknowledges the importance that each government attaches to the development of close links in the fields of science and innovation.

Under the terms of the Memorandum, the CII and Imperial College will cooperate and collaborate in various sectors, including drugs and pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, healthcare, automotive infrastructure, information and communications technology, energy and the Environment. Stakeholder groups will be created with representatives from academia, industry and governmental organisations in order to identify potential collaborative projects in technology transfer, innovation and innovation management.

In addition to the CII agreement, the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will be created and hosted by Tanaka Business School, renowned for its excellence in these two fields. Named after the former Indian Prime Minister and Imperial College alumnus, with the permission of Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the new Centre will help Indian and British companies improve performance in innovation management.

The Centre will permit the cross-fertilisation of ideas between science, engineering, medicine and business and will take full advantage of Imperial’s extensive experience of the commercialisation of research as well as Tanaka Business School’s innovation management and entrepreneurship expertise. With the engagement of British and Indian companies and higher education institutions as partners, the Centre will create a platform for education, networking and collaboration in the respective markets, as well as joint research. The Confederation of Indian Industry will play a key role in engaging Indian partners in the project.

During the event, Sir Richard Sykes, Rector of Imperial College noted that: “India is fast becoming one of the economic wonders of the twenty-first century and we believe that the world can learn much from its experience. India’s economic success will increasingly depend on wealth creation through knowledge and hi-tech interaction with the global economy and we feel that this historic agreement between Imperial and the Confederation of Indian Industry will help pave the way towards a more innovative corporate environment and increasing interaction between the bright new hopes of our two countries.”

ABOUT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

Imperial College London is a leading science-based university in Britain, whose reputation for teaching and research attracts 11,000 students and 6000 staff (6,000) each year. Imperial College’s Tanaka Business School is a provider of business education and research, focusing primarily on innovation and entrepreneurship, finance and healthcare management. The School offers full-time and executive MBAs, Master’s programmes in Finance, Risk Management, International Health Management, Actuarial Finance and Management; and a Doctoral programme.