WISER Women felicitated

The first batch of 11 awardees of the Women Involvement in Science and Engineering Research (WISER) programme were felicitated at the Jawaharlal Nehru University today.

The ten women researchers from India and one from Germany holding regular/long-term research positions in academia, research institutions, or industry, selected under the WISER-2022 programme, will receive financial assistance to participate and collaborate in ongoing research and development as well as industry projects. Now, there is no need for them to apply for fresh project grants in the partnering countries.

The felicitation was at the hands of German Ambassador to India and Bhutan Dr Philipp Ackermann and Prof Shantishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Vice-Chancellor of JNU.

Prof Pandit said on the occasion, “Initiation of a programme like WISER would motivate women researchers to excel and take up leadership positions in Science and Technology.”

Dr Ackermann appreciated the women researchers' efforts in niche science and technology areas and said that their contribution would strengthen Indo-German collaborations in science and technology.

According to S K Varshney, adviser and head, International Co-operation Department of Science and Technology, the WISER programme will help enhance parity for gender equality and strengthen excellence in science and technology.

The programme, with a three-year tenure period or till completion of the project, is open to all the areas of STEM and allows the researchers to work on international projects while continuing to stay in India. It will cover one visit per year for a short stay up to one month.

Women researchers are still underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for various reasons. The situation has improved to a certain extent over the last few years, but an imbalance remains, and IGSTC, a bilateral institution established by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Government of Germany to promote Science and Technology collaboration, is trying to address the imbalance. IGSTC Women Involvement in Science and Engineering Research (WISER) intends to build scientific capacity, retain and promote women researchers in India/Germany by utilising complementary expertise in science, technology, innovation, and research partnerships.