Tata, Yale form alliance for promoting research

Indian conglomerate Tata Group and US' prestigious Yale University have launched a collaboration that will focus on promoting research and its application in fields like network science, data science, healthcare and microbiome research.
Tata has committed to fund the alliance over five years. However the company did not disclose the financial details. The project would foster an intellectual exchange between the university and Tata Sons, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Chemicals.
"The initial aim of the alliance is to expand research and its application in fields ranging from network science to data science to healthcare. During each year of the agreement, Yale will also host visiting Tata scholars, who will actively participate in the research projects," Yale said in a statement issued here today.

The alliance will be led at Yale by co-director of the Yale Institute for Network Science (YINS) Nicholas Christakis.
Yale President Peter Salovey said the alliance "promises to yield novel solutions to some of today's most pressing challenges" by harnessing the intellectual capabilities of each institution.
Group chief technology officer at Tata Sons Gopichand Katragadda said the Indian conglomerate is engaging with world's top research and academic institutions as part of its innovation efforts.

"At Yale, we look forward to the outcomes from the collaboration in network sciences, consumer behavior analytics, and other research opportunities. The Tata Group will enable specific applications for needs including employee change management, customer acquisition, strategies, and digital health," Katragadda said.

The Yale-Tata Alliance will leverage the expertise of Yale faculty and their Tata colleagues to investigate issues of global relevance, the university said.
With a view to leverage the full range of innovative ideas at Yale, a joint steering committee, co-chaired by Katragadda and Christakis, will support key initiatives and invite proposals from faculty across the university, awarding research funds to investigations.
The six-member committee comprises Katragadda, president and chief technology officer at Tata Chemicals Arup Basu and chief technology officer at Tata Consultancy Services Ananth Krishna. Representing Yale are dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Tamar Gendler, co-director of YINS Daniel Spielman and Christakis.