The Australian Monash University and Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai will set up the first Indo-Australian Research Institution at the Powai campus.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions was signed by director of IIT Ashok Misra and vice-chancellor and president of Monash University Richard Larkins in the presence of Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday.

The IIT-Monash Research Academy which is expected to be functional in 2007 will be a centre of excellence in research and clean energy, water, biotechnology, minerals exploration and computer simulation.

The independent research academy will be located in a state-of-the art facility on the IIT campus and a separate governing board will oversee its activities, Larkins told PTI.

The Academy will undertake fundamental research, graduate training and industry engagement. "This initiative brings together two world class institutions for training the next generation of scientists and engineers to contribute to the future economic growth of both countries," he said.

While welcoming the development, Misra said, "The opportunity to establish high quality teams of researchers addressing problems of relevance to global industry and community is an exciting prospect."

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