ISRO to open Regional Academic Centre for Space at IIT Varanasi

New Delhi, Dec 23: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will establish a Regional Academic Centre for Space at IIT-Varanasi to facilitate short and long term projects at the institute.

ISRO and the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday and the move can help propel the culture of research and development among students, the statement said.

"Under this agreement, ISRO-IIT (BHU) will open the Regional Academic Center for Space (RAC-S) in the institute,” it said.

Short-term projects for B-Tech and M-Tech students from the institute and associate institutes will also be included in this sequence.

"Long term R&D projects leading to the PhD programme will also be offered. Capacity building programmes like conferences, exhibitions and short courses will be organised to strengthen the knowledge base in the field,” the statement added.

The MoU was signed by IIT(BHU) director Prof Pramod Kumar Jain on behalf of the institute and P V Venkatakrishnan, the director of Capacity Building Programme Office (CBPO), ISRO headquarter.

ISRO scientific secretary R Umamaheswaran gave the inaugural address. Jain said the Regional Academic Centre for Space (RAC-S) of ISRO will act as a major facilitator for promoting space technology activities in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. He said IIT(BHU) will act as a catalyst for capacity building, awareness creation and R&D activities of ISRO.

The activities of RAC-S will be directed to maximise the utilisation of research potential, infrastructure and expertise available at ISRO and IIT(BHU), he added.