Opportunities for students from the Duabi campus of BITS Pilani (Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani) to work with scientists at ICBA will continue with the extension of a partnership between the two institutions. Recognising the importance of practical, real-life scientific experience to complement academic studies, BITS Pilani was keen to ensure that their students could continue to undertake projects supervised by ICBA scientists.
The ICBA Director General, Dr Ismahane Elouafi, accompanied by two senior scientists, Drs Shoaib and Rao, met with Professor RK Mittal and Drs DJ Shariff and Neeru Sood from BITS Pilani, on 15 October 2012 to flesh out potential areas for future collaboration, including biotechnology and different engineering programs. Future possibilities included ICBA scientists working as Adjunct Professors in BITS Pilani for certain courses in Biotechnology and ICBA research associates enrolling in the PhD program. On behalf of the BITS Pilani Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bijendra Nath Jain, Professor RK Mittal invited Dr Ismahane to visit their main campus in India.