Centre for Converging Technologies

About the Centre

The Centre for Converging Technologies (CCT) at the University of Rajasthan is conceptualized as a centre to strengthen quality education and to pursue high standard research in the frontier areas of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology & Bioinformatics, Information & Communication Technology and Cognitive & Neuroscience (NBIC) technologies so as to accelerate techno-economic development of the country.

The centre is pursuing the following activities

  • Creating and maintaining a critical mass of Converging Technologies research specialists who can effectively contribute to the need of the industry and society.

  • Focusing on interdisciplinary research in areas like Nanotechnology, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Information and Communication Technology, Cognitive and Neuroscience.

  • Founding a strong training and research base in academia to make an attractive international training ground for Converging Technologies; generating, designing, and applying NBIC technologies in an innovative way.

  • Developing laboratories and facilities to efficiently engineer and design new products.

  • Promoting global level research in allied theoretical Science (logic, data structures and algorithms, computational complexity, database systems, knowledge representations, constraint satisfactions, artificial intelligence, intelligent agents, theoretical computer science and quantum computing), Systems Biology and Metabolomics.

  • Encouraging post-doctoral students in Converging Technologies to uplift the capacity for research.

  • Imparting postgraduate education in Converging Technologies.

  • Collaborating with Industry, National and International Institutes/Universities to augment NBIC research so as to accelerate techno-economic development of the country.

Infrastructure Facilities

The University has received financial support under Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme for creation of the centre on recommendations of Hon'ble Ex-Member of Parliament Late Shri R.P. Goenka. The first phase of Centre's new building has been completed in 2009. It has specifically been designed to meet the requirements of Converging Technologies research and education activities. It has fully networked, well-furnished, air-conditioned, dust and germ free research labs and class rooms. A State of the Art research infrastructure is being created with assistance from various funding agencies and through public private partnership. The government of Rajasthan has announced in budget in 2011 (State Budget Announcement No. 155] a Rs. 13 crore budgetary support to setup a “Centre of Excellence for Nanotechnology” at Centre for Converging Technologies.

In 2014, under the Scheme “National Initiative for setting up of Design Innovation Centers”, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, has approved the establishment of Design Innovation Center (DIC) at Centre for Converging Technologies, University of Rajasthan. The DIC received a total financial support of Ten Crore rupees from Department of Higher Education, MHRD, Government of India and has three spokes namely, Birla Institute of Scientific Research, Jaipur, RK Patni Govt. College Kishangarh and Lachoo Memorial College of Science and Technology, Jodhpur.

In 2014, CCT was awarded a grant of 222 Lacs by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistant Council (BIRAC) to establish University Innovation Cluster in Biotechnology (CIC-B). This is a unique platform acting as the nodal center for budding student entrepreneurs and innovators with industry academia collaboration.

CCT has been selected as nodal centre for the DBT-supported IPLS programme under which a grant of Rs. 10 Crores has been sanctioned by Govt. of India. Sixteen students are being awarded fellowship in last two years of the course under the programme. The phase 2 of CCT building construction has been completed with support under IPLS and from Centre's own fund as it runs under SFS. It was inaugurated by th Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot on 24 January, 2013. Research equipments have been housed at CCT under IPLS program too.

The Centre plans to collaborate with leading International Universities and Research Institutes to foster research in Converging Technologies. Students of CCT have received financial support under Student Project scheme of Department of Science and Technology, Government of Rajasthan. The centre has also achieved a distinction with a few students publishing papers in peer reviewed journals during master course. Students have undertaken training in X Semester at premiere research institutes like BARC, IISc, IITs, IIITs, CSIO, DRDO, NPL, NCL, NBRC, NIMHANS, INMAS, CEERI, SAMEER, DIAT, IGCAR, CGCRI, ISRO. The students have undertaken training at R&D units of leading companies like Reliance Life Science, Reliance Textile, Shalimar Paints, ARCI. Many students are qualifying NET, GATE, JEST and GRE every year during their course.