Roles & Responsibilities

Extramural Research (ER)

Research sponsored in academic institutions under the extramural research (ER) scheme focuses on research on phenomena or observations that are not understood, and that lack of understanding is recognized as an obstacle to scientific or technological progress in the broad topic area of relevance to military R&D. The knowledge-base so generated is embodied in high-quality technical manpower and in the new understandings, techniques and design-tools developed through the basic research funded. Such new knowledge can also provide pathways to significant advances in the mission-effectiveness of traditional military roles.

Collaterally with the expanded knowledge-base created, a primary end-result of the research that is funded under the ER is a networked group of qualified people whose expertise resulting from the research can be drawn-upon to build an exploitable area of new technology that has potential military applicability.

ER supports the instrumentality of Memoranda of Collaboration (MoC) between DRDO Laboratories & Establishments and academia. These MoC invariably involve more than one DRDO establishments and cover explorations and investigations on a range of topics within a broad subject arena that generically cross-link the research activities of the collaborating Laboratories & Establishments and the research-disciplines of the selected collaborating academic institution. Such institutional cross-linking is organic, not episodic, and is made operational in an MoC through a management structure which includes in its standing arrangements representation of directors of the collaborating DRDO institutions.

ER also provides financial assistance for organizing conferences/seminars/workshops on the topics related to DRDO's activities.

Intellectual Property Right (IPR)

The IPR Group, presently, provides total support to DRDO scientists in the task of legally protecting the innovations made by them apart from fulfilling its other assigned roles. The primary functions of the IPR Group, presently, can be enumerated in the following:

• Filling of IPR applications including Patents/Copyrights/Design, etc., in India and abroad on innovations made by DRDO Scientists for legal protection to generated proprietary knowledge.
• Promotion of IPR culture in DRDO through conduct of ‘In-house’ Awareness Programmes, Workshops, Interactions, etc. and also Interactions with experts from related agencies and departments.
• Maintaining IPR database, managing of DRDO IPR portfolio and handling oppositions/litigations related to IPRs.
• Providing security directive on Patent Applications referred to DRDO, by Controller of Patents under Section 35 of Indian Patent Act.
• Drafting/Vetting of provisions on protection of IPR in agreements and MOU’s entered into by labs/cluster/organisation on collaborative R&D.
• Evolving DRDO response and other related inputs on various national level IPR issues and on draft Acts, International Conventions and Treaties on the subject.
• Providing active support to DRDO labs/clusters in preparation of IPR applications, patents landscaping and freedom to operate opinions.

Thrust Area/Technology Gaps

Electronics

List of DRDO Collaborated Academic Institutions

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kahargapur, West Bangal
• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru, Karnataka
• University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad
• Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, DIAT Pune, Maharashtra
• Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, New Delhi
• Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology (C-MET), Hyderabad
• Annamalai University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Amrita University, Kollam, Kerala

Guidelines-For-DRDO-Grants-in-Aid-Scheme.pdf(43 KB)