SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

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Division of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry (KILU), Lund University:

Postal address: Organisk Kemi, Kemiska Institutionen, Box 124,  SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden
Visiting address: Getingevägen 60, Lund
Web page: http://www.organic.lu.se/

Contact person: Professor Ulf Nilsson, phone: +46 (0)46 222 82 18. Personal web page.

Research connected to South Asia:

For several years, Professor Emeritus Lennart Mathiasson has been partner in a major research project on waste management in Kathmandu, Nepal, entitled ”Analysis of Pollutants from City Dump/Landfills in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, with Emphasis on Heavy Metals and Persistant Organics” financed by Sida from 2004. The project was carried out together with Professor William Hogland, Dept. of Technology, Linnaeus University in Kalmar; Dr Lennart Mårtensson, School of Engineering, Kristianstad University; and Dinesh Manadhar, Environmental Public Health Organization (ENPHO), Kathmandu, Nepal. The objective was to characterise leachate with respect to heavy metals and persistent organics from dump sites in Nepal and to compare with Swedish conditions. The efficiency of different geofilters were studied on site in Nepal with respect to pollutant reduction in leach. The information obtained from experiments and workshops was used for building competence in Sweden about waste management in Nepal and for help to improve the local situation.
The Swedish researchers mentioned above, based at three south Swedish universities, formed a research group called Laqua, focusing on water and-waste management issues and focus a significant part of the research and teaching of the group for future work in developing countries. The base of knowledge also includes local socio-economic realities, which will facilitate discussions on how to establish more efficient waste and water treatment systems in the developing countries. The gained competence will be utilised for development of systems, tailor-made for actual sites.
With external funding, the Laqua has developed the Nepal project and established a Swedish Centre of Excellence in Nepal for Support of Development of a Sustainable Society in Nepal, offering among other things a PhD course in International Environmental Engineering Sciences for Eco-Cyclic System. More information about the Swedish Centre in Nepal.

Professor Ulf Nilsson is involved in a collaborative project with a research group at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research – Kolkata (IISER-K). In November 2007, Prof. Nilsson received a three-years grant (2008-10) from the Swedish Research Links programme for an international project entitled ”Synthesis of galactose-hetereocycle hybrids as novel anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agents and of glyco nanoparticles as galectin-targeting tumor markers”, that has been carried out in collaboration with colleagues from several countries, including at IISER in Kolkata. The main collaboration partner on the Indian side has been Assistant Professor Balaram Mukhopadhyay.
More information on the research project.

Witin the framework of the research project, a number of workshops and planning meetings were held both in India and Sweden, the latest one on the Swedish side was held in Lund 10–13 May 2010 with Dr. Mukhopadhyay and two Indian PhD candidates present.
The collaboration has included an exchange of PhD candidates, meaning that Indian doctoral students have been given a chance to make parts of their research work in Sweden. The project will be completed in 2011, with a final workshop to be held in India, and another Indian PhD candidate coming to Lund. The ambition is however to continue the good collaboration that has evolved – resulting in a number of publications and at least one patent – even after the project ends.

Dr. Vishal Rajput is currently working as a post-doc at the department. Previously, another two Indian post-doc researchers worked at the department during the period 2000-2001. They were Sumita Bhattacharyya and Tapes Bhattacharyya.