What are some of the recent research initiatives undertaken by IITB-Monash Research Academy and in what way can it benefit Indian research scholars?The Research Academy, which is nine years old, was launched in 2008 to run a joint research PhD programme between Monash University in Australia and IIT Bombay (IITB) in India. The academy is a joint venture company and a not-for-profit organisation. It runs joint PhD programmes across all branches of engineering sciences, humanities, social sciences and industrial design. Currently, we have 185 students in the academy and 60 students have received their PhD degrees. What is unique about this venture is that it provides students with a dual badge degree. This means they get a PhD degree with both Monash and IITB seals. As a part of this programme, students typically spend three years in IITB and one year in Monash University with each student being jointly supervised by at least one professor from IITB and another from Monash University. A look at some of the emerging areas where our scholars are engaged will give one a better idea about the nature of their research. In the field of waste management, scholars are carry out research on how to manage municipal waste and the kind of value addition that will emerge on treating such waste; in areas pertaining to agricultural waste, the scholars are engaged in extracting valuable food ingredients from vegetable and fruit waste in the fruit pulping industry; and in the field of biomedical devices, a lot of work is being done to incubate low cost medical devices and materials for surgical implants, among other areas. How has this partnership helped India-Australia research ties?If you are looking at the global standing, both institutions are highly placed in the global education map. The academy provides an opportunity to collaborate between the supervisors of both institutions in a structured manner leveraging the high quality talent that exists for PhD programmes in India. Often, many of the challenges facing India and Australia are common, such as waste to wealth, sustainability, energy resource management or even issues like dealing with mining waste. The two institutions with significant capability in the engineering, sciences and social sciences can address these challenges and collaborate in a meaningful way.Could you define IITB Monash’s role in furthering such ties?We want to build on the Australia-India research partnership and increase the scale of the PhD programme. Our aim is to increase the number of students to 250 (from 185 students currently). We would also like to see more of industry participation from India and Australia. We are making efforts to make the partnership at the academy more reciprocal. So far, we have had only Indian students but from this year-end, we are likely to have three-four Australian students in the academy as per the joint guidelines of PhD programme of the academy.How can an international research experience at the academy enable students to gain a competitive edge in the global market?The academy provides students with the best research infrastructure at both the institutions, and in a sense, prepares them for a culturally diverse workplace. This is becoming almost a norm where students, when they complete a research programme, are expected to be employable in multiple geographies. The PhD programme prepares them for such an experience. Students who are selected at the academy are working on cutting-edge problems that both countries (India and Australia) basically face. We have multiple sources of funding both from government and industry as well as from Monash University and IITB. With 185 scholarships being provided at the academy, it means every student receives full financial support during the entire duration of their PhD programme, including their one years’ stay at Monash University.What kind of placements can students expect on completion of their PhD programme at the academy?In the current year, we have graduated around 16 students. It takes typically four-and-a-half years for students to complete their PhDs at the academy. Of the 60 students that have graduated with PhD degrees, roughly 30% have been placed in the industry and the remaining 70% have secured positions in academia. We have been very successful in getting our students recruited as faculty members in IITs. Looking at international placements, we have a number of Fellows in post doctoral programmes in institutions across the globe. Some of our students have also been recruited in multinational companies across India.In the present-day curriculum, there is a lot of emphasis on industry intervention and innovation for institutions to stay relevant. How has the academy adapted to this changing dynamics?We are proud of the strong linkages that the academy has with industry. Around 30% of the programmes in the academy are funded by this sector. Working with industry brings in an element of innovation and gives scholars the opportunity to work on technologies that are of relevance to the market.