About iRISE

Inspiring India in Research Innovation and STEM Education (iRISE) is a  collaborative programme between the Department of Science & Technology (DST), IISER Pune, the British Council, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Tata Technologies.

The programme supports the Government of India's objective of building and nurturing an ecosystem that promotes research and innovation in schools and Universities by enriching DST's flagship programme, INSPIRE and INSPIRE Awards-MANAK. The MANAK recognition (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge), executed by DST, aims to motivate students at the higher secondary level. The scheme aims to target one million original Ideas or Innovations rooted in science and societal applications to foster a culture of creativity and innovative thinking among school children. In addition, the iRISE programme provides a platform for industry and academic leaders to come together and strengthen innovation in India. The iRISE programme has four strands , these are, Teacher Development Strand, Early Career Researchers Strand, Thought Leadership Forum, and the CxO Forum.

• The Teacher Development Strand (TDS) focuses on training teachers to understand and implement learner-centred pedagogy in their classrooms better. It aims to nurture a culture of creativity and innovation, besides creating awareness about the Inspire-MANAK programme.
• The Early Career Researchers (ECR) Strand is an immersive programme to empower early career researchers (PhD scholars) to work with industry and create an intense pipeline for R&D engagements in the country. The programme, will hold both online and offline, aims to build 21st-century skills (such as leadership, collaboration, management, communication, diversity and inclusion, resilience, entrepreneurship, and innovation skills) for STEM PhD scholars. This is an eight-to-12-week internship programme in collaboration with industries. It also prioritises getting more women to take up scientific research.
• Third, as a part of this multi-pronged strategy to promote a culture of innovation, the Thought Leadership Forum will bring together leaders from academia and industry to discuss megatrends across the globe and their impact on the ecosystem. The Thought Leadership Forum will create white papers advocating larger policy goals.
• Fourth, the CxO Forum is a unique program where industry and senior academic captains can share the platform. This forum will also be responsible for setting the agenda for the partnership and recognising excellence in applying research and innovation at each level of the collaboration.

One of the goals of this programme is enhancing India-UK biliteral partnership through industry and academia collaboration from both countries.