Sethuraman Panchanathan at the FIIDS event. / Courtesy Photo

Indian-American computer scientist Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), said that his organization “wants every state in India, both rural and urban areas, to be successful” and that innovation should permeate in all parts of the country.

The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 US states and territories. Founded in 1950, it invests in research, STEM talent development, small companies, and partnerships with large industries.

Panchanathan emphasized the collective interest and shared aspirations rooted in shared values between India and the United States. He highlighted that through partnerships with various Indian agencies, including the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Earth Sciences, the Ministry of Mines, and the Ministry of Higher Education, progress is being accelerated. 

“I call it strengthening at speed and scale, the partnership between India and the United States,” he said. 

Participation in the @FIIDSUSA US-India Summit underscores @NSF's commitment to strengthening innovation ecosystems and addressing global challenges. Together, NSF and India are advancing critical technologies, fostering groundbreaking research, and enhancing societal impact. pic.twitter.com/0WY512J3bV

— NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan (@NSFDrPanch) June 13, 2024

Panchanathan also stated that every year when the Nobel Prizes are announced, it is evident that all the laureates in economics, physics, chemistry, and biology have been supported by the NSF early in their careers and throughout their professional journeys. “The best way of exemplifying NSFs investments is we have invested in 262 Noble laureates so far early in their career. No other agency on planet Earth, whether it is in the US or anywhere in the world, is anywhere close to this kind of an outcome,” he said. 

Panchanathan noted that during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US last year, his first talk was at NSF. Modi participated in a small panel discussion with the First Lady, focusing on the workforce for future industries. 

“NSF has developed a strong partnership with Indian science and technology platforms like the Department of Science and Technology (DST) over many years,” he added. “We have a number of projects funded by NSF and DST where NSF invests in the US researchers. DST invests in the researchers from India. We have a strategic partnership, which now has resulted in two rounds of projects and proposals that have been funded, that brings researchers, students, and postdocs together,” Panchanathan said. 

The Ministry of Information Technology (MEITy) is another major organization in India that promotes science, technology, and innovation activities. NSF and MEITy have a robust partnership, recently releasing several joint projects. 

These collaborations involve researchers from Indian institutions like IITs working with their counterparts at American institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, MIT, ASU, and DU. These joint projects also include industry partners from both countries, he continued. The strands of partnership include NSF-DST and NSF-MEITy. Another significant collaboration is with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), covering various areas such as biotechnology, bioeconomy, biomanufacturing, genomic sciences, ecology, and translational work in bioengineering and rehabilitation devices. These projects are co-invested by NSF and DBT.

Panchanathan highlighted the third trend of partnership between the US and India, which focuses on opportunities for startups and industry collaborations. Additionally, the fourth trend involves the Ministry of Earth Sciences, with a particular emphasis on the critical minerals sector, which is becoming increasingly important for both nations. He views the US-India partnership as a collaboration between two key partners.

Panchanathan mentioned that he would be meeting with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in India this week for the upcoming iCET dialogue. “A few of us are going to see how we can take stock of where we are in terms of building this partnership and stock taking in terms of report cards of progress,” he said.

Panchanathan also said, “We are working on a quad partnership with Japan, Australia, India, the United States, not only on the defense and national security objective but also in terms of how we can advance on societally meaningful and social group kind of projects like AI for agriculture.”