![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.imperial.ac.uk\/imperial-people\/files\/2025\/05\/250404_Imperial_Global_India_Directors_011-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Dr Elena Dieckmann and Professor Sanjeev Gupta are the Academic Co-Directors of Imperial\u2019s Global India Hub* which launched in May 2025.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr Elena Dieckmann is a Lecturer in the Dyson School of Design Engineering whose research covers the recycling of unconventional and difficult waste materials, such as feather and mining waste.<\/p>\n
Elena has collaborated on several projects in India, including an ongoing piece of work with Professor Monto Mani, Indian Institute of Science, looking at the upcycling of photovoltaic panels. She has also supported several PhD students on exchange programmes between India and the UK.<\/p>\n
Professor Sanjeev Gupta is Professor of Earth Sciences in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, with a research focus on how landscapes have changed over time. His work covers diverse topics including marine geology, archaeology and planetary science.<\/p>\n
Sanjeev was born in the city of Agra and moved to the UK as a child. He has many family members still living in India, with whom he is very close, and he maintains several professional partnerships in the country. He is currently collaborating with researchers at IIT Kanpur on a project about flood hazards in the Ganga basin and has facilitated several student exchanges between the institutions.<\/p>\n
Sanjeev is excited about what we can learn from India about research and innovation, and the development of exchange programmes between the two countries. He said: \u201cImperial Global India is a new initiative which will bring together collectively all the separate interactions that we currently have between researchers and students between Imperial and India.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a great potential for us to combine different ways of thinking about solving problems for humanity, as well as providing opportunities for students to learn about living and working in a different country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena added that India has a huge pool of talent, with over 1.5 million engineers graduating each year, and said it\u2019s essential to engage with them and develop a strong, two-way exchange of talent. \u201cWe want to create a new paradigm for scientific leadership, where researchers and innovators are comfortable moving between different contexts and creating impactful innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena said that she sees the hub as a gateway to combine efforts and make it easier to work with the scientific ecosystem in India, adding that the hub will support the establishment of new infrastructures for existing and new links with industry. \u201cWe\u2019re keen to link up in the fields of AI, healthcare and climate science. We already have some strong links with industry in India, for example the Tata Steel partnership, and it\u2019s important that we build on this work to create value for companies who will be working with us in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n