The University of Birmingham is partnering with the Government of Maharashtra to set up a specialist Research and Innovation Hub to tackle challenges in key state priority areas including agriculture and healthcare, using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Shailendra Deolankar, Director, Higher Education, Department of Higher and Technical Education, Government of Maharashtra and Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to begin work on establishing the centre.

Working with strategy partner Ernst & Young, the agreement brings together three state public universities including Kavayitri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon; COEP Technological University, Pune; and Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, during the initial phase of the project.

As part of this initiative, the Department of Higher and Technical Education has also constituted a Maharashtra Responsible Research and Innovation Taskforce (MSRRIT) to effectively track the research activity in the state, ideate on interventions to improve the quality of research and build Standard Operating Procedure (SoPs) for conducting research as well as collaborating with other international and national bodies.

The partnership aims to develop a rich environment of collaborative research between the University of Birmingham, and the state-funded universities in the fields of AI and Data Science. There will also be opportunities for PhD research