Date:22/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/07/22/stories/2006072203591900.htm

Back Pune to house institute of science, education research

Our Bureau

Pune , July 21

Pune will now have to its credit a science hub, with the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science and Education Research.

This is a venture of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (SAC-PM), which has recommended that the institution be located at Pune and Kolkata.

Speaking to newspersons, Dr Sivaram, Director of NCL, said that the institute would cater to undergraduate and post-graduate teaching in sciences and would be headed by Dr Krishna N. Ganesh.

In the master's programme, it would admit 100 students in the first year, to begin with, and eventually admit 400.

Dr Sivaram also said that the erstwhile Merado campus of the CSIR has been renamed NCL Innovation Park; it is emerging as one of the new resource centres of the NCL, he added.

It would also house the Venture Centre, a new Section 25 company that NCL will float in the next few months.

The Venture Centre will provide 10,000 sq ft fully built up laboratory space as incubators for start-ups and funding ideas.

It is also proposed to have facilitation functions as well as independent R&D centres of corporates either as standalone facilities or as joint ventures with the NCL.

An investment of Rs 5 crore would be utilised in the next three years for the centre, he said.