In focus: The work of the DWIH New Delhi in 2022

Extensive virtual networking

What projects are being carried out at the Forschungszentrum Jülich in the field of energy? Where can you find interesting PhD positions in the field of green hydrogen? What are the current discourses on science communication, open access, gender equality and research funding in India and Germany? The virtual Indo-German Research Day of the DWIH New Delhi, held for the second time in 2022, scored brownie points by providing targeted information on current science policy issues. 32 institutions and 26 speakers participated from India, Germany and other countries, and informed doctoral candidates, researchers and people from the science management fields about research opportunities in Germany and interdisciplinary cooperation in international projects. “Research institutes, universities and think tanks from Germany and India introduced themselves at the open event, where researchers could directly talk to them,” reports Aadishree Jamkhedkar, Head of Programmes at the DWIH New Delhi. “The successful interaction and commitment of approx. 1,000 participants was reflected in more than 4,000 messages exchanged on the event platform.”

Research collaborations for SMEs

In 2022, the DWIH New Delhi along with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft focused on a topic that has so far received little attention with two events: Innovation and technology cooperation for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) between India and Germany. “We held discussions with the target groups in both countries for about a year and a half in order to go into the depth with a two-part event and to generate the most concrete results possible for SMEs,” explains Aadishree Jamkhedkar. In April 2022, a moderated virtual discussion was held with an Indian and a German expert on transfer between research and industry. The open event provided basic information about the structures of technology-oriented SMEs in both countries, as well as about the challenges and pragmatic approaches for cooperation. Then in June 2022, selected experts from research-based industry and research institutes met in New Delhi and Berlin, in a closed group discussion. These groups then networked on-site and virtually and exchanged concrete information about possible transnational research cooperation for and with SMEs. Key results of the discussions of these working groups will be published in a paper, thus closing the information gap.

Pilot project Innovators Connect – Tandem

The DWIH New Delhi has been become particularly creative over the past few years with it’s events in the start-up sector in order to provide early support and opportunities for internationalisation and development for science based start-ups. The driving force here is the Innovators Connect series. After intensive research and preparation this series was enhanced in 2022 by integrating another thematically focused event format to it: Innovators Connect – Tandem. At the core of the series, which was launched along with five incubators – two from India, and three from Germany – is a two-week immersion programme for young researchers and early-stage start-ups from both countries. A total of ten participants from Germany and India were connected in German-Indian Tandems in August 2022. “It was important to us to foster co-creation,” emphasizes Aadishree Jamkhedkar, Head of Programmes. In one of the Indian partner incubators, the Tandems were then given the opportunity to work on specific start-up ideas or on new innovative solutions of global relevance. This was accompanied by presentation of information about market access and start-up systems in both countries, as well as on intellectual property rights and funding opportunities.

Strategically strong on social media

The DWIH New Delhi’s communication strategy for social media is becoming more and more successful. In 2022, delivering targeted content continued to be more in focus than pure event announcements. For the DWIH’s scientifically oriented target group, topic-specific news was curated and disseminated. Furthermore, the news was presented with recognizable branding and tailored to the respective social media channels. In particular, the LinkedIn page of the DWIH New Delhi performed above average in terms of reach. In 2022, substantial reposts of articles and commentaries on its LinkedIn page testified the success of the strategy, which has been built over several years and tailored to the target group of DWIH New Delhi.

A valued partner

In 2022 the DWIH New Delhi was invited to twelve events organised by partner institutions to participate with a contribution to its concepts and contents in the form of panel discussions, keynotes addresses and lectures, with a focus on presenting the Indian and German research and innovation landscape to the audience. Thus, the strategically oriented networking carried out over the last two years as well as the focus on developing content clearly paid off for the DWIH New Delhi in 2022. The DWIH New Delhi is now perceived as an important stakeholder in India in topics of research and innovation.

Bettina Mittelstraß