The Tata Group for the first time is partnering with various international universities at the group level to bring Tata group companies ahead of global competition through top-end research.

Led by Tata Sons’ two-year old Group Technology Office, Tata Sons and Tata companies, including TCS, Tata Chemicals, Tata Communications, Tata Steel, and Jaguar Land Rover, have entered into collaborations to fund research and development opportunities in partnership with the world’s leading academic institutions, including Harvard University, Yale University, the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and the Royal Society, UK.

The financial support, exceeding $25 million, will be spread over time, in line with the tenure of the individual alliances with the institutions. The Tata partnership with academic institutions is part of a global university collaboration programme of Tata companies and is aimed at supporting university faculty and students through funded research programmes, sabbaticals, fellowships, and engagements with university leadership, as well as studying long-term research outcomes related to key market needs.

“We have identified technology trends that drive risks and opportunities for the Tata group companies. We are collaborating with leading universities to leverage these trends and develop global first products and services,” Gopichand Katragadda, Group Chief Technology Officer, Tata Sons, told BusinessLine .

“We will be adding to this list another three universities, which would be global universities and the amount of funding going to each university is approximately similar,” Katragadda said.

With Harvard University, Tata Sons, Tata Communications, Tata Steel, and JLR have established a six-year research alliance. The Harvard initiative will bring together the capabilities of Harvard’s scientific research enterprise with those of the Harvard Business School. Some of the initial areas of interest are soft robotics, advanced materials, and sensor technologies. Tata employees nominated as fellows will participate in the Harvard Business School’s Executive Education courses, while contributing to the funded research projects.

“This initiative will harness the power of research that crosses traditional academic boundaries, leading to more rapid discovery and the development of new products and services that address real-world problems,” said Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber.

At Yale, Tata Sons, TCS and Tata Chemicals have set up a five-year alliance in the areas of network sciences, consumer behaviour and other research opportunities of interest. Tata companies will enable specific applications for needs including employee change management, customer acquisition strategies, and digital health.

“We are especially grateful to partner with a company as highly regarded as Tata,” said Yale President Peter Salovey. “By harnessing the intellectual capabilities of each institution, the alliance promises to yield novel solutions for some of today’s most pressing challenges.”

Another strategic research engagement is the five-year alliance with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, in the area of Advanced Materials. The lead Tata company in this collaboration is Tata Steel. Tata Sons will provide support through participation in the technical and governing bodies of the collaboration. The vision is to set up a self-sustaining research centre in Advanced Materials Technologies for the Tata group.

The collaboration with the Royal Society, UK, announced in June 2016, is a fellowship funding with participation from Tata Sons, JLR and TCS. The funding is aimed at establishing nine Tata University Research Fellowships in physical sciences and engineering over 10 years. These fellowships will provide early career scientists, with the opportunity to build independent research careers. The first Royal Society Tata University Research Fellows are due to be appointed in October 2016.

comment COMMENT NOW