A project initiated and funded by the French government bringing together over 60 French and Indian universities, research institutions, labs, hospitals, start-ups and corporates to jointly develop and deliver higher education and research programmes in the field of life sciences for health. This diverse and wide-spread ecosystem is poised to become a pole of attractivity in the Indo-Pacific region for cutting-edge research, development and innovation across the ‘One Health’ paradigm, while demonstrating the indispensability of France and India in the collective response to global health challenges. Youth, educational formation, research and innovation lie at the heart of the endeavor.

Objectives

  • Meeting bilateral cooperation objectives for health and medicine, education, research and people-to-people exchanges

  • Mobilizing the expertises of the most prestigious research institutions of both countries to develop cutting-edge research and innovation

  • Engaging academia, industry and governments of both countries through a shared ecosystem to facilitate an integrated and transversal approach to addressing global health challenges

  • Enriching the research and academic environments of both countries by promoting the cross-mobility of students, faculty and researchers across the Indo-Pacific region

  • Offering innovative joint academic and research programmes to students from the Indo-Pacific region

Key Figures

Know more

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed the vulnerabilities of health and healthcare systems worldwide, the need for comprehensive research, development and innovation efforts in tackling global health challenges has become more significant than ever before. Considering this critical need and the existing scientific collaborations and priorities identified during bilateral talks, the creation of a Franco-Indian network of excellence was envisioned to catalyse Franco-Indian research and scientific cooperation actions in the thrust areas of health and life sciences leveraging the scientific prowess of both nations and fostering linkages across academia, industry, governments, civil society and national borders in the Indo-Pacific region.

A call for projects was published in mid-April 2022 by France [Read here], inviting proposals from French higher education institutions to join this network of excellence, from which 9 projects were short-listed. Soon after, a networking workshop was organized in New Delhi on 27th and 28th June 2022 by the academic and scientific cooperation service of the French Embassy in India, assembling over 40 Indian and 20 French higher education and research institutions and more than 100 researchers and faculty to meet and discuss potential linkages with the shortlisted projects [Read here]. From this event was born new consortiums of French and Indian partners to further strengthen the networks proposed in the shortlisted projects. The final applications were submitted in September and 4 projects were selected in October to share a funding of over 900,000 euros offered by the French Ministries for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Higher Education, Research and Innovation. This initial funding allocated for 2 years, 2023-2024, can be used to cover travel expenses and scholarships for students and faculty-researchers, costs relating to the organization of events, workshops, promotions and communication etc.

The selected projects cover a wide range of research fields– Digital Health, Biotechnology, AI for Health, Therapeutic Innovation, One Health, Public Health Policy, Innovation in Pharmaceuticals and Natural Products, Sports Sciences, Cancer, Immunology, Virology, AMR Neurosciences etc. – complimented by start-up incubation and ties with industry.

The long-term aim of the campus is to confer degrees at the Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral levels in association with research and innovation programmes. Considering the existing academic opportunities in France and India, and the wish to quickly link teaching, research and innovation activities, dual degrees at the master’s level are expected as a realistic short-term goal.

This ambitious project finds its place in the Horizon 2047 roadmap charting 100 years of Franco-Indian cooperation and is boosted by the Letter of Intent for cooperation in Health and Medicine signed by the two nations on 14th July 2023, on the occasion of PM Modi’s visit to France as the guest of honor at the French national day celebrations. [Read here]

Franco-Indian Collaborations

Integrated Health

Sorbonne University X
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, AIIMS Delhi

Create a transversal and multidisciplinary Franco-Indian virtual campus to meet the new and developing needs of our societies, through research in fundamental biology with applications of engineering, chemistry, physics, modeling, applied mathematics, bioinformatics, human and social sciences.

BIOSANTEXC

Network of 4 École normale supérieure (ENS) X
Network of 7 Indian Institutes of Science, Education and Research (IISER)

Respond to societal challenges that relate globally to health (infectious diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancers) through a complex and multidisciplinary approach (neurosciences, genomics, ecology, bioinformatics, sports sciences, social sciences).

ILIADE

Université de La Réunion Universités de Poitiers, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université Lumière Lyon 2 X
VIT Vellore, JIPMER Pondicherry, CIMAP Lucknow, NCBS Bangalore

Promote the emergence of a platform around the analysis of the pharmaceutical properties of plants through the application of the most advanced techniques using artificial intelligence and more.

CFI

Université Côte d’Azur X
IISc Bangalore, IIIT Delhi, Ashoka University

Be at the heart of research and training in molecular biology and therapeutic innovation with the support of innovative tools of bioinformatics and artificial intelligence.

Related articles