Thales-IIT Delhi sign MoU for PhD fellowship

Defence major Thales and the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-Delhi) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a jointly supervised IIT Delhi-CNRS PhD fellowship programme.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France to India, said a company communique.

"Through this fellowship programme, Thales and IIT-Delhi intend to facilitate scientific collaboration between Indian and French laboratories and boost industrial research by strengthening industry-academia relations," the communique said.

With its presence in 56 countries, and reported sales of euros 14 billion in 2015, Thales is a global technology leader in the areas of aerospace, transport, defence and security markets.

The Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRC/National Centre for Scientific Research) is a public organisation under the French Ministry of Education and Research and is the largest fundamental research organisation in Europe.

Welcoming the MoU, the French envoy said: "France is a country synonymous with creativity and innovation, and is at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies. We are delighted that brilliant Indian students choose to study in France and we wish to welcome many more. The Thales IIT Delhi-CNRS PhD fellowship programme is another testament to the robust scientific cooperation that is such an essential part of the excellent bilateral relations between France and India".

--IANS

rs/sm/dg