German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s (BMBF) Green Talents — International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development has identified 25 young researchers who will tour Germany to participate in a science forum and spend time researching with an institute there for up to three months.
Before we speak to some of the recipients, let us dig a little into the background of the competition. “The idea of sustainability plays a very significant role in Germany. This is why BMBF came out with the Green Talents competition in 2009 to promote Germany’s strength as a centre of research and innovation as well as to foster and intensify a global exchange of ideas in sustainable development. The awardees themselves gain first hand information about Germany’s renowned research landscape during the science forum and their research stay. This enables them to consider their field of research from different angles while also building up or strengthening their professional networks,” says Andrea Fischer, Energy Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany.
Divya Pandey, 27, one of the winners from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, has been estimating carbon footprints of different agricultural systems. “I have been studying agricultural and cultivation practices, green house effects, identifying practices that induce more productivity, etc,” she begins on her work.
Says another winner Ram Avtar, 29, who holds a PhD in forest remote sensing from Institute for Sustainability and Peace, United Nations University, Japan, “My research focus is on sustainable ecosystem services, disaster management and environmental science. In order to stop our forests from degrading at an alarming rate, we need to bring out policies that reduce emissions to a great extent.”
Another winner, Sohail Ahmad’s thrust area is city planning, in which he holds a PhD from School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada. “Government needs to encourage citizens to use public transport more. Indian streets should boast more of non-motarised transport even if it means we are visiting an earlier era,” he grins. Details at www.bmbf.de/en.
— shilpa.vasudevan@newindianexpress.com