Indore (Madhya Pradesh): IIT Indore is conducting a joint Research Capacity Building project with the University of Plymouth (UoP), a leading university in the United Kingdom (UK). This is a landmark initiative taken by the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) and the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) to promote international student exchanges between India and UK. IIT Indore is among one of the 11 universities which have been selected for the project.The project is jointly led by Prof. Sandeep Chaudhary from IIT Indore and Dr. Boksun Kim from UoP, UK. Prof. Suhas Joshi, Director, IIT Indore said “The project is focusing on inspiring the researchers of tomorrow in sustainable concrete construction. As a part of the project, the students will be learning international best practices on using recycled aggregates and trained to implement them in the construction industry. In this project, 10 students from IITI with 10 students from UoP will take part in research training, including a one-month-long international exchange program. At present, a team of 02 faculties and 08 students from UK is at the Institute as part of the project.” The joint Research Capacity Building project is designed so that emerging engineers can be trained to specialise in sustainable construction practices. While the Indian Government has been trying to promote sustainable solutions, like use of recycled aggregates, the construction industry is still finding it hard to adopt them for general construction. One of the reasons for this slow uptake is that the current workforce lacks the relevant skillset or the motivation to adopt sustainable construction practices. This lack of skilled and motivated workforce inspired Prof. Chaudhary to jointly design this program with Dr. Kim, who has been working on similar concepts in other Southeast Asian countries.  Prof. Chaudhary said “This program provides an excellent opportunity for undergraduate students to experience international standards of research and training at an early age. The project is expected to inspire more student exchange programs focused on preparing a skilled workforce motivated to bring about sustainable changes in our community. The project is designed to prepare highly motivated and skilled engineers who can bring on-ground sustainable changes in the construction industry.”This is the first time that the Institute is conducting an international exchange program at this scale for undergraduate students.