On 22 November, an official ceremony at the Indo-French Cell for Water Sciences (CEFIRSE) sealed a four-year partnership between the Indian Institute of Science and 6 French organisations, including IRD.
During an official ceremony in Bangalore on 22 November, the CEFIRSE (Indo French Cell for Water Sciences) became an International Research Project with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), IRD, CNRS, Paul Sabatier University, INRAE, Sorbonne University and Toulouse Capitole University as institutional partners.
L'accord-cadre concernant la CEFIRSE signé entre la France et l'IISc
© Indian Institute of Science
This event was the occasion to inaugurate the new CEFIRSE premises at IISc but also to award the medal of Knight in the National Order of Merit to Prof. Rohini Godbole, Physicist and Honorary Professor at the IISc High Energy Centre, for her scientific contribution to bilateral partnerships between France and India, and the promotion of women in science. The inauguration of the new premises was conducted by the Consul General of France in Bangalore, Thierry Berthelot and the Director of IISc, Govindan Rangarajan in the presence of the CNRS Representative in India, Srini Kaveri, Jean Riotte (Director of Research at IRD) and Sekhar Muddu (Professor at IISc), coordinators of the CEFIRSE, as well as a delegation from the Paul Sabatier University and the French Institute in India.
The Indo French Cell for Water Sciences was created in 2000 by the IRD and the Indian Institute of Science. It became an IRD-IISc International Joint Laboratory in 2009, and the partnership was extended in 2014 during the second phase of the LMI to other Indian institutions and French organisations, including INSU (CNRS), Paul Sabatier University and INRAE, until 2018.
The Indian newspaper The Hindu wrote an article on this subject