Realising Sustainable Development Goals through Science and Technology Event

Tuesday 17 November 2020, 11 am by Zoom webinar platform

Please register at https://bit.ly/31JgseP 

University India Centre in association with the Faculty of Environment and Life Sciences cordially invite you to attend the Mahatma Gandhi Distinguished Lecture by Dr. Arabinda Mitra, Scientific Secretary to the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India.

Dr. Mitra’s lecture will highlight India’s commitment and concerted role to building value-based international partnership in the use of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for inclusive and equitable social development. The 21st century is witnessing a new era characterized by rapid deployment of emerging technologies in the physical, digital and biological spheres that will transform human life profoundly. Consistent efforts are necessary to utilise the best potential of such technologies, in order to address increasingly complex societal challenges, which are increasingly global in dimension. Countries therefore need to effectively leverage STI capabilities and integrate these into their national strategies for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Dr. Mitra’s lecture will emphasise the need for cross-border academic collaboration as a critical enabler to develop effective mechanisms that are based on scientific transparency and trust.

Dr. Mitra was appointed as Scientific Secretary in the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India in June 2018, with the mandate to develop national missions in S&T, provide synergistic policy interventions, and render periodic advice to the Prime Minister’s office. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Mitra was the Adviser and Head of International Bilateral Cooperation of the Department of Science & Technology (DST). His responsibilities involved overseeing India's international STI engagements with 44 countries across the globe and with Africa. 

Dr. Mitra’s was first appointed as Director in the Department of Science & Technology in 2001, where he proficiently enriched the scope and contents of the DST-NSF cooperation. And later in 2004, Dr. Mitra was appointed as the founding Executive Director of the bi-national Indo-US Science and Technology Forum where he was able to bring a paradigm shift in strengthening the Indo-American cooperation in science, technology and innovation.

In 1998, Dr. Mitra in his role as Programme Manager, Science at the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research in Goa, played a seminal role in formulating the long-term science strategy of the Antarctic mission and established the ice core study laboratory. In 1993, he served as Senior Scientific Officer in the Indian Antarctic Program of the Department of Ocean Development. He has to his credit the planning and launching of several multi-disciplinary experiments in Antarctica. He was nominated as India’s representative to international Antarctic Treaty bodies like SCAR and COMNAP.

Dr. Mitra holds a PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Cambridge (1988). His thesis work was on Rare Earth Element geochemistry of mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems. After completing a Master's in Geology from Patna University, he started his career in 1985 as a research scholar in the Dept. of Geology at Delhi University. In 1987, he joined the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India as a Scientific Officer and was involved in survey and exploration geology of the Himalayas.

Dr. Mitra is the recipient of several awards including Cambridge Nehru Fellowship (1988), UK Overseas Research Scholarship, International Research Fellowship of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and a Fellow of the Geological Society, London. He has been a member of the Indian Antarctic expedition and has undertaken scientific cruises to the Indian, Atlantic, Southern Oceans and the East Sea.