Leading scientists and researchers from Australia and India will receive funding, as part of a joint multi-million programme to undertaken cutting-edge research in a wide range of fields, including information and communication technology, vaccines and marine science. The funding under the Australia- India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF), the governments of Australia and India will support 15 new collaborative projects and eight joint workshops.

Of the total Australian commitment of AUD 64 million, the Australian Government has already given AUD 5.06 million for these research projects. The Government of India will fund the Indian teams' participation in the research projects.

Speaking to the media, Australia's High Commissioner to India Patrick Suckling said that, the partnership will enable leading scientists of both countries to collaborate on pioneering research.

"We are supporting a diverse array of work; from using new diving robots to better understand the Indian Ocean, to research on a hybrid canola crop to increase yields - even a project on how to use cloud computing to help with disaster management," Suckling was quoted as saying.

He said the AISRF is Australia's largest science fund with any country and one of India's largest sources of support for international science.

"The substantial scientific outcomes emerging from this program are significant and long-term links between researchers of both countries."

He further added that the joint research programmes will enable deeper collaboration and linkages between top universities and institutes of both Australia and India which is already growing.

The partner institutions from Australia include the University of New South Wales, The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, Macquarie University, Queensland University of Technology, CSIRO and Deakin University.

Meanwhile, partner institutions from India include the Indian Institute of Science, IIT Bombay, National Institute of Oceanography, Punjab Agricultural University, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and Christian Medical College, Vellore.

The Australian Government's Department of Industry, Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education which oversees the fund says the AISRF helps Australian researchers from public and private sectors to participate with Indian scientists in leading edge scientific research projects and workshops. It supports the development of strategic alliances between Australian and Indian researchers.

Competitive funding under the programme is available under four categories covering a range of science and research priority areas. These include, Indo-Australian Science and Technology Fund, Indo-Australian Biotechnology Fund, Grand Challenge Fund and Australia-India Fellowship Fund.

Reports say the funding will support several projects, including research on: Using robotic tools to characterise the Indian Ocean's changing biogeochemistry; Nanoengineering autoantigens to prevent and treat autoimmunity; and Modelling environmental change in a warming world for semi-arid landscapes.

Several other projects supported by the fund are in other priority fields which include renewable energy, biomedical devices and implants, nanotechnology, bioremediation, food and water security, and astronomy and astrophysics.