PAU TEACHER RECEIVES FULBRIGHT AWARD TO WORK IN US

Dr. Anil Kumar Sharma, working as Assistant Director (TV) in the Centre for Communication and International Linkages has been selected by the Foreign Fulbright Scholarship Board (FSB) in Washington DC and approved by the United States Department of State\'s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the Government of India (GOI) for a Fulbright-Nehru Environmental Leadership Programme Fellowship. Dr. Sharma will work for four months from September, 2010 at Albama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn University-College of Agriculture, Auburn, Albama with Dr. Paul Mask on the Project, \"Transfer of Technology System in Agricultural Universities from US\". Dr. Sharma is the youngest scientist to have successfully bagged the Fulbright fellowship.



Dr. Manjit Singh Kang, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, who himself had been a Fulbright Scholar, has congratulated Dr. Sharma for this coveted honour. The Fulbright programme is the flagship international educational exchange programme sponsored by the US Government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and of other countries, said Dr. Kang adding that the programme operates in over 155 countries, worldwide. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic merit and leadership potential in their fields. Dr. Kang said that since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late US Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright programme has given approximately three lac students, scholars, teachers, artists and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. The Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in government, science, the arts, business, philanthropy, education and sports, said Dr. Kang adding that 40 Fulbright alumni from 11 countries have been awarded the noble prize and 75 alumni have received Pulitzer prizes. Dr. Kang had been motivating the PAU faculty to compete for this coveted award through lectures and discussions.



Dr. Jagtar Singh Dhiman, Additional Director of Communication said that the exposure gained in US through training and hands-on experience on different systems of technology transfer by Dr. Sharma will prove immensely useful in strengthening the science communication at PAU. The placement of US researchers to work at PAU and vice verse speaks of enhanced international linkages, he said.



Meanwhile, Ms Heidi J. Exline, a Master\'s student in Urban Planning at Hunter College in New York City has been awarded a Fulbright US student programme scholarship to India in Economics to conduct study at Punjab Agricultural University. She will be conducting research with Professor Kamal Vatta of Department of Economics and Sociology at PAU for a period of nine months to understand the effects of malnutrition and hunger on different household types. Ms Exline, who is already at PAU, said that after completing her research \'The Effects of High Food Costs on Indians\', she will develop a project team with the support of PAU to conduct community food assessments (CFA) in Punjab and Uttrakhand. The CFA will consist of a process of interviews, focus groups, and surveys with local food vendors and community residents that will provide information about their food access and nutrition rated challenges and accesses. The study will analyze factors affecting availability, utilization and access to food, said Prof. Vatta adding that the comparative analysis of Punjab with 28% population below poverty line (BPL) and Uttrakhand with 40% population BPL will help understand how to mitigate some of the effects of food prices and food price spikes in relation to people having access to food within their communities.



Dr. Kang welcomed Ms Exline and said that the PAU will provide her every support and cooperation.
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