An incubation centre was launched on the IISER-K campus in Nadia’s Mohanpur last week in an endeavour to encourage science and technology-based entrepreneurship and start-ups among youngsters in the eastern and north eastern parts of the country,

The IISER-K will act as the chief patron of the incubation centre, titled Research Innovation and Scientific Entrepreneurship Foundation IISER, which is slated to act as a nodal hub for creating job opportunities and strengthening the local economy.

The department of science and technology (DST) has promised to provide all necessary support and funds of Rs 13 crore to the incubation centre, which has been developed and registered as a company under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2018.

Sources said RISE had been inaugurated last week by IISER director Professor Sourav Pal. The incubation centre has begun functioning temporarily at the Pre-Fab III building located at the southern end of the campus in Mohanpur.

“The DST, despite its assurances, has not released the fund apparently because of Covid-19. We hope to begin work once the funds are received,” an RISE official said.

To begin with, officials said, RISE will organise short-term workshops, facilitating interactions between industries and academia.

“In real terms, the incubation centre will act as a transmission unit of interdisciplinary research initiative for human benefit. We will use local resources with grassroots-level innovation and explore the marketing opportunities encouraging the young generation for entrepreneurship,” said Professor Ayan Banerjee, attached to the department of physical sciences of IISER-K and one of the directors of RISE.

An official in the ministry of human resources development said the government expected that the science and technological research initiatives should be aimed for a better future for the country. “We are aware of it,” said another official of RISE.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address at the Indian Science Congress in Imphal, had drawn a road map refining the meaning of ‘R&D’ as research and development of the ‘Nation.”

RISE intends to offer management training, business consultation and assistance in business plan creation. It also helps in setting up companies ensuring business viability and eventual success of the start-ups, IISER authorities said in a communication.

“Our objective is to serve as a key player in the creation of an innovation eco system in Bengal utilising the intellectual property of IISER-K and other higher educational and research institutes in Kalyani and adjoining areas,” one of the directors of RISE said.

“The incubation centre is located in an area mixed with rural and urban populations. We have a lot of potential at the local level with a host of top institutes like National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, AIIMS, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (BCKV) located around us.

We would like to collaborate with them for transmission of research output and to lay the foundation for entrepreneurship in the area,” Professor Banerjee said.

“We have already tied up with some of these institutes. We are hopeful that this will help us a lot and explore new avenues in developing entrepreneurship,” he added.

To mark the launch of the RISE, a Kalyani-based start-up launched ‘Corocross’, a non-alcoholic and water-based hand-sanitiser that has been certified by DBT-THSTI, which is capable of destroying Sars-Coronavirus2 and other bacterial pathogens with 99.99 per cent efficacy, a RISE communication stated.