The Helmholtz Association has long worked together with research institutions in India and considers this cooperation to be of outstanding importance. With its vast pool of highly qualified scientists and students and numerous well-equipped laboratories, India has enormous scientific potential. In 2007 representatives of the Helmholtz Association signed three new agreements with research institutions in India to expand their fruitful cooperation in the areas of medical, environmental and energy research. 

Cooperation Agreement with Anna University on Energy Research

While accompanying Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel on a trip to New Delhi, the Helmholtz Association’s President, Prof. Jürgen Mlynek signed a cooperation agreement with Anna University in Chennai, which was represented by its Vice Chancellor, Prof. D. D. Viswanathan. The agreement serves to intensify cooperation in energy research – the big issue for all industrial nations. After all, the issue of climate protection is primarily an energy issue, and in order to get climate change under control we have to solve the problem of energy supply.

Memorandum of Understanding with the National Institute of Oceanography

Climate research is a further area in which cooperation is to be expanded. Thus Professor Mlynek signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa – the largest marine research centre in India – and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven agree to cooperate in the field of biological oceanography. In particular, the scientists plan to examine whether targeted “fertilisation” of the oceans with iron will promote the growth of algae which could capture CO₂. Two experiments carried out on board the research vessel Polarstern will be followed by a third to be jointly conducted by Indian and German researchers in spring of 2009, with both sides sharing costs equally.

Jawaharlal Nehru University to Participate in Virtual Research Centre

Professor Mlynek also signed an agreement along with the Rector of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Prof. Rajendra Prasad, allowing scientists from this distinguished research university to join the newly established Indo-German Science Centre for Infectious Diseases (IG-SCID). Launched in the spring of 2007, the IG-SCID is a virtual research centre where scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research work with Indian colleagues in five different areas of research on infectious diseases. The costs for the virtual research centre are shared equally by the Helmholtz Association and the Indian Council of Medical Research.  

Cooperation Agreement with the Indian Council of Medical Research

The Helmholtz Association and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) plan to expand their cooperation in biomedical research. The President of the Helmholtz Association, Professor Dr. Jürgen Mlynek, and Professor Nirmal Ganguly, Director General of the ICMR signed an agreement affirming this intention in 2006. The ceremony, held as part of a German-Indian economic summit at the Hanover Trade Fair, was attended by such high-ranking guests as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. Scientists from both organisations will initially concentrate their efforts on biomedical health research, and on cancer and infectious diseases research, in particular. A key element of the agreement is an exchange programme between ICMR and Helmholtz researchers. The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig is leading the project on the Helmholtz Association side.

For the time being, the Helmholtz Association plans to focus on expanding those projects where scientists have been collaborating successfully for some time and that have particular medical relevance. These include the investigation of the mechanisms of streptococcus infections which cause scarlet fever, angina and tonsillitis. If not treated properly, theses illnesses can result in potentially serious secondary complications such as rheumatic heart disease. In addition, Indian research partners are participating in a worldwide consortium to develop a vaccine against hepatitis C that is being coordinated by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As part of the project, a hepatitis centre will be established in Delhi, where researchers will investigate, among other questions, which genetic factors determine why the infection leads to cancer in some people and not in others. Both diseases are widespread in India. Worldwide, 15 million children develop streptococcus infections every year, with half a million dying as a result. Over 170 million people in the world are infected with hepatitis C, most of them in the developing world.