Two Indians win prestigious research grant for their project in New Zealand

Two India-born academics have won a prestigious research grant in New Zealand to help design public policy on the use of new and emerging technologies such as transgenic s, cloning, and nanotechnology.

Dr Priya Kurian and Dr Debashish Munshi of the University of Waikato in Hamilton were recently awarded a $560,000 Marsden research grant by the Royal Society of New Zealand for their path-breaking project on “sustainable citizenship”

Dr Kurian, an Associate Professor of Political Science, says that potential benefits and risks of new technologies on society, the environment, and the economy have led to both euphoria and protests by citizens. However, the tensions between those who promote these technologies and those who oppose it come in the way of creating sound policies on new technologies that can be implemented.

Our project moves away from treating views on new technologies in oppositional terms. Instead, we are working on a concept of sustainable citizenship which works towards a deliberated set of shared values among people. The project will also train postgraduate students.

According to Dr Munshi, who currently heads the Department of Management Communication at the University of Waikato, New Zealand has a strong academic environment that facilitates both teaching and research. He has won awards for research and is also a recipient of the Vice-Chancellor’s medal for excellence in teaching.

The two Indian scholars came to New Zealand in 1996 and have since been very successful in the academic landscape of New Zealand. Both have written highly-acclaimed books and have published extensively in top-level international academic journals.