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Imperial College London Targets $340 Million Research Boost with India, Focusing on AI, Health Tech, and Sustainable Innovation Imperial Global Hub in Bengaluru to Catalyse Breakthrough Innovations in Healthcare and Beyond By Dr. Asawari Savant, eHealth Network - 22 May 2025

Imperial College London has launched its Imperial Global India Hub in Bengaluru, aiming to double Indo-UK collaborative research funding to $340 million by 2030. This strategic initiative is set to significantly impact the healthcare sector in India, especially in areas intersecting with artificial intelligence, biotechnology, health tech, and sustainable innovation.

The Bengaluru hub is Imperial’s fourth global outpost after Singapore, San Francisco, and Accra is envisioned as a powerhouse for cutting-edge research and academic collaboration. It will support a wide array of long-term partnerships, including joint research projects, doctoral training programmes, industry collaborations, and fellowships. Notably, this expansion is not geared towards a branch campus model, but rather a research-driven engagement that capitalises on India’s rapidly evolving innovation ecosystem.

Strengthening Indo-UK Scientific Ties

At the hub’s inauguration, Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College London, emphasised the university’s ambition to bolster its India engagements by at least doubling its existing $170 million research collaboration. Imperial already works with more than 300 Indian institutions, and some of the prominent partners include IISc Bengaluru, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS).

“India is now the UK’s second-largest research partner, with nearly 2,000 joint publications in the last five years. The trajectory of India’s research and innovation is what excites us—it mirrors the energy of places like Silicon Valley and West London,” noted Professor Hugh Brady, President of Imperial College, London.

A Boon for Healthcare Innovation

For India’s healthcare sector, this development offers a promising runway for transformation. The new initiatives, particularly in AI, biotech, quantum computing, and clean energy, are tailored to address pressing global health challenges such as antimicrobial resistance, climate-linked health crises, food and water security, and equitable health access.

The Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Global Faculty Fellowships, launched in collaboration with NCBS and IISc, aim to create a London-Bengaluru AI in Science Network, providing a platform for advancing AI-enabled scientific discovery in healthcare and life sciences.

Supporting the Next Generation of Leaders

Imperial has also unveiled the India Connect Fund, which will support up to 25 joint research projects annually, and the Future Leaders Scholarship, its largest-ever scholarship programme for Indian students. Over the next five years, this initiative will provide financial and academic support to 75 Indian students in STEM and business, paving the way for a new generation of cross-border healthcare and tech innovators.

Moreover, the Global Challenge Lab programme will unite UK and Indian students to collaboratively develop solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), a framework highly relevant to health equity and innovation. A new PhD collaboration with IISc will also encourage Indian and UK scholars to co-develop projects tackling real-world problems in healthcare and other sectors.

Funding the Future

This ambitious expansion is backed by diverse funding channels. Imperial’s internal seed capital will be supplemented by industry partners (like Tata Steel’s decarbonisation effort), philanthropists, and international research bodies, including UKRI, Horizon Europe, and India’s National Research Foundation. Additional support may come from leading Indian scientific agencies such as CSIR, DST, and DBT, depending on project alignment.

India as a Strategic Research Partner

Dr. Elena Dieckmann, Co-director of the Imperial Global India Hub, highlighted India’s readiness for such collaboration: “India’s rapid digital adoption and innovation, evident in platforms like UPI and real-time health apps, align perfectly with Imperial’s focus on entrepreneurship and technology-driven impact.”

For India’s healthcare and life sciences sector, the hub is a gateway to global partnerships, advanced R&D capabilities, and talent mobility. As companies across biotech, diagnostics, medtech, and pharmaceuticals seek smarter, AI-powered solutions, this initiative provides both the infrastructure and intellectual capital to accelerate innovation.

The Imperial Global India Hub signals a new era in UK-India scientific collaboration, with healthcare and life sciences emerging as key beneficiaries. With AI, quantum tech, and biotech at the core of these efforts, Indian healthcare players stand to gain immensely, not just through research breakthroughs but also via talent development, international partnerships, and market-driven innovation pipelines.

This initiative represents more than just academic cooperation; It’s a strategic leap towards solving humanity’s most complex health challenges, together.

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