E-Paper
AU CBCS pens MoU with IIT-H for collaborative research
The two institutions will undertake joint research, student exchange and support the use of high-end equipment
The Centre of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (CBCS) of Allahabad University (AU) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Hyderabad for collaborative research and other academic partnerships.
Under the MoU, the two institutions will undertake joint research, student exchange and support the use of high-end equipment like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) facilities for MSc thesis and PhD level research, AU officials said.
IIT-Hyderabad has faculty members and departments with expertise in cognitive science, particularly TMS and artificial intelligence, as well as machine learning, and AU researchers would gain from them, AU PRO Prof Jaya Kapoor said.
“Our collaboration with IIT-Hyderabad will help in teaching of certain specialised modules for the Masters’ programme at CBCS and research through joint supervision as well as MSc and PhD theses. The MoU will also grant access to equipment in both institutions,” she explained.
Prof Kapoor said that collaboration will strengthen the basic research as well as that in the field of clinical neuroscience using TMS as a therapeutic tool and help better understand the associated neural mechanisms for the plasticity related effects in conditions like Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and depression.
She said that faculty members at IIT Hyderabad have expertise in using TMS combined with fMRI with stroke patients. Such studies could be conducted here at the national neuroimaging facility at CBCS also due to this partnership, she added.
An MoU with a prestigious organisation like IIT Hyderabad will benefit the Centre and University in terms of collaborative research with significant impact in the field of cognitive science and clinical neuroscience, she maintained.
CBCS is the first institute in India to start teaching and researching cognitive science, an interdisciplinary field of study that explores the nature of the mind and intelligent processes. It offers MSc, PhD and Integrated MSc and PhD programmes at Allahabad University.
