PROMOTING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BETWEEN INDIA AND THE U.S.
1. The Khorana Program for Scholars is a tripartite arrangement between the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India, the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) and WINStep Forward with an aim to create a dynamic and transformative student exchange program between premier institutions in India and the United States. The program is named in honour of Dr. Har Gobind Khorana, who won the Nobel Prize in 1968 for his work at the interface of Chemistry and Biology.This program provides an opportunity to Indian students (enrolled in Bachelors and Masters programs in in the areas of Biotechnology including agricultural, health and biomedical sciences) to undertake a summer research internship in the United States. Program details are available athttp://www.iusstf.org/story/53-50-Khorana-Program.html andhttps://www.winstepforward.org
2. Along with the mentorship and Lab guidance for a 10 week internship, the host institution (or the faculty host) would need to help defray the costs of housing at least upto $1000 for the duration of the fellowship and to waive (or cover) any tuition or bench fees. Also, the host institution or laboratory is welcome to provide housing in lieu of funds or provide any additional financial support if it so desires.
3. There are no legal documents/grant. The U.S. Partnering Organization is WINStep Forward https://www.winstepforward.org/. The Founder/Director of the Khorana Program, Prof. Aseem Ansari (ansari@biochem.wisc.edu; Webpage:https://biochem.wisc.edu/faculty/ansari is a Professor at UW Madison.
5. Until last year, Khorana Scholars were placed through the CIC Universities, but this year, to enable a larger number of Universities to be a part of the program, we asked the students identify their own mentors across all US Universities based on matching research interests.
6. Some universities including the University of Wisconsin-Madison are considering bringing Visiting Scholars on a B1/B2 Visa. Khorana and S.N. Bose Scholars going to UW-M will be applying for a B-2 Visa this year which does not involve the process of DS-2019 forms.
7. The English proficiency requirement was pointed out by Prof. Jeffrey Schenker Director MSU Institute of Mathematical Physics who is hosting a Bose Scholar, Priyanga Ganesan. We had written to him stating that the medium of instruction at Indian Universities is English and they would be able to provide a document to certify the same as well as the Scholars’ proficiency in English and he said that it was acceptable. If this would help, we’ll ask Kanmani & Karen to send this to you as soon as possible. Another alternative would be to set up a Skype interview with the students to gauge their English proficiency.