Indo-German Centre for Sustainability - IGCS:

Focus on sustainability and environmental research (especially water, land use, urban development, energy and waste management). The focus is on coastal protection in times of climate change).

Agenda

CV Scientific Advisors

Klaus Reicherter

Postition: Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat.
Contact Details
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Klaus Reicherter
Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Neotektonik und Georisiken
RWTH Aachen University
Lochnerstr. 4-20
52056 Aachen
Germany
Rector´s delegate for India
Centre coordinator IGCS (www.igcs-chennai.org)
Tel. +49-(0)241-8095722
Fax: +49-(0)241-8092358
mobile: +49-(0)151-14042497
k.reicherter@nug.rwth-aachen.de
www.paleoseismicity.org
twitter/bluesky: @activefaults
ORCID: 0000-0002-9339-4488

Current Institution: Centre coordinator IGCS (www.igcs-chennai.org)

Synopsis of Research Activities

The main interests of Klaus Reicherter (KR) are neotectonics and geodynamics; neotectonics, palaeoseismicity, tectonic morphology and tsunami deposits. KR has investigated the effects of active tectonics on landforms for more than three decades and has c. 130 peer-reviewed publications. Studyareas are the North German Basin, Spain, Greece, Sicily, FYROM/Albania, Kazakhstan, India, Indonesia, Iceland, Kyrgyz Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Oman, Chile, China, Namibia, Mongolia, US and many other countries. He led several neotectonics and earthquake geological expeditions to many parts of the world, and palaeotsunami expeditions in Oman, Greece and Spain, and already visited the study areas in Crete. He is past vice-president of the INQUA subcommision on Paleoseismology, and member of the IGCP 567 Earthquake archaeology (Archaeoseismology along the Alpine-Himalayan seismic zone) and, head of the selection committee of the German Science Foundation (Geology and Paleontology from 2013-2020). He has edited 6 special volumes on Active Tectonics. And carried out private consultancy work for IAEA in Kazakhstan and Poland, including PSHA. He obtained his Venia Legendi on active tectonics and paleoseismology in 2001, and since 2006 has held a permanent professorship at RWTH Aachen University. He supervised c. 57 PhD students and BSc and MSc theses. KR finally invented the “PATA days”, a bi-annual non-profit scientific meeting on Paleoseismology, Active Tectonics and Archeoseismology, past meetings were in Spain, Greece, Germany, South Korea, Mexico, Colorado/US and New Zealand.Since 2018 KR is centre coordinator of the IGCS, he has been hosting workshops and summer/winter schools since 2016 in IIT Madras and other places (Bangkok etc.), KR is also associate with the ABCD centre.

Recent publications w/r to India

Naik, S.P., Reicherter, K., Kázmér, M., Skapski, J., Mohanty, A., Kim, Y.-S., 2024. Archeoseismic study of damage in medieval monuments around New Delhi: an approach to understanding paleoseismicity in an intraplate region. GeoHazards, 5, 142–165.
https://doi.org/10.3390/geohazards5010007

Bellanova, L., Uphoff, F., Bellanova, P., Engels, N., Prabu, P., Pulipatto Y., Lehmkuhl, F., Schulte, P., Reicherter, K. Schwarzbauer, J., 2022. Contemporay Contamination of Urban Floodplains in Chennai (India). Water Air Soil Pollut. 233:311,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05785-5

Antara Dasgupta

Position: Tenure Track Juniorprofessor of Data Driven Computing in Civil Engineering
Contact Details:
Address: IWW Raum 312, Mies-van-der-Rohe Str. 17, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Work Phone: +492418025916 Email: antara.dasgupta@rwth-aachen.de
Current Institution: RWTH Aachen University, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Institut für Wasserbau und Wasserwirtschaft

Cooperation India-Germany
AD has attended an Indo-German IGSTC workshop on Extreme Heat coorganized by Forschungszentrum Jülich and UAS, Dharwad in India in 2023, as well as a DAAD and ABCD organized transfer workshop in Kerala alongside the WSCA conference in IIT Madras in 2023. Through collaborations originating from these workshops, AD recently submitted a 2+2 funding proposal to IGSTC in cooperation with the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) in Kerala and IIT Delhi. AD also plans a WISER proposal submission in 2025 to intensify the collaboration with IIT Delhi. AD completed her entire education upto the doctoral phase in India at IIT Bombay, including some time abroad through sandwich programs, which has given her an extensive international and Indian network. Working in Germany since her postdoc phase directly afterwards, has equipped her with a keen understanding of the Indian as well as German research and education ecosystems, which she intends to leverage in future to help strengthen collaborations.

Synopsis of Research Activities
Antara Dasgupta is currently a Tenure Track Juniorprofessor of Data Driven Computing in Civil Engineering at the RWTH Aachen University in Germany, where she tries to solve the grand challenges in hydrology using Earth Observation (EO), data assimilation and deep learning. Previously as a Research and Technology Associate at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, she led the assimilation of EO data and physicsbased models for the development of digital twins for improved hazard forecasting and estimation. As a postdoc at the University of Osnabrück, Germany, she also explored the role of deep learning in hydroinformatics and remote sensing to bolster global flood forecasting capabilities. Earlier she evaluated commercial radar satellites for flood monitoring and developed operational radarbased flood mapping algorithms in the industry, as the Senior Radar Scientist at Floodbase, US. AD has won numerous awards and published a number of scientific as well as popular science articles, and was recently recognized as a Rising Star in the Geospatial sector by the Geospatial World Forum. Antara is a strong advocate of EDI in the geospatial sector and coleads the Sisters of SAR Twitter initiative, and also volunteers her time as a member of the steering committee of the Global Flood Partnership and the Early Career HEPEX (Hydrological Ensemble Prediction Experiment) community.

Dr. Fabian Falter

Name: Dr. Fabian Falter
Position: Strategy India
Contact Details: fabian.falter@zhv.rwth-aachen.de; +492418090609; LinkedIn
Current Institution: RWTH Aachen University, International Office, International Strategy

Cooperation India-Germany
Fabian Falter looks after all India-related activities as part of the overall internationalization strategy at RWTH Aachen University. In 1966, RWTH and IIT Madras in Chennai signed the first Indo-German university agreement, which developed into a vivid and very deep strategic partnership. This also lead to RWTH’s sound reputation in India as one of the leading technical universities in Europe. With more than 2,000 Indian students, RWTH hosts one of the biggest Indian student communities in Germany. Furthermore, FF is the Scientific Coordinator for Aachen within the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (ABCD-Centre). FF holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Bonn with a focus on social transformation of Muslim and generally minority communities in contemporary South Asia. He studied Asian Studies / Indology with Hindi and Arabic at the University of Bonn and spent several study and research visits in India. The interest in India was stimulated through a year of civil service (“Zivildienst”) in Central India in 2007/08. FF is also a trained teacher for German as a Foreign Language, an Economist for International Management, did market research on India for Statista GmbH and is a board member of Südasienbüro cum co-publisher of the journal SÜDASIEN (South Asia). Before his position at RWTH, FF was the ‘Partnership Manager Asia & Oceania’ at Universität Hamburg.

Synopsis of Research Activities
FF is interested in contemporary socio-economic developments, politics, and religious/spiritual communities in South Asia since independences – particularly in India. His scientific publication record focused on the transformation of minority communities in India (see below). Since FF is now one of the Scientific Coordinators of the ABCD-Centre, he is currently also focusing on perspectives from Humanities and Social Sciences on “Water Security”.

Selected publications:
(2020) Indien und China – ihre sozio-kulturellen Beziehungen. In: Südasien 40, 4, S. 59-64.
(2019) An ‘Engineer of Social Transformation’? Asghar Ali Engineer’s (1939-2013) Writings on Liberation Theology: Between Social Revolution and Communal Harmony. Schenefeld: EBV.
(2019) Von der Erkenntnis bis zur Revolution – Unterschiedliche Konzepte von Befreiung in Südasien. In: Südasien 39, 4, S. 18-21.
(2015) Islamophobie in Nordindien als politscher Faktor? – Die integrative und desintegrative Funktion von islamophobischen Elementen in ausgewählten Reden von Atal Bihari Vajpeyi (*1924). In: Bonner islamwissenschaftliche Hefte, Schenefeld: EBV. (Masterarbeit)

Participants List

Scientific concept

Working Group: Indo-German Center for Sustainability / RWTH Aachen University

Founded in 1870, RWTH Aachen University is one of the oldest and most reputed technicial universities in Europe. Therefore, it was not surprising that the Indian government looked at RWTH as a role model when West-Germany decided to support the establishment of an Indian Institute of Technology in Madras/Chennai in the 1950s. In 1966, RWTH Aachen University and IIT Madras signed the first Indo-German university agreement and since then have been exemplary close parnters. Exactly 50 years later this reached the status of a “strategic partnership” under the DAADfunded project “Sister Universities” (2016-20). So there was no question that both universities were ready when the governments of Germany and India wanted to combine their efforts for sustainability: 2010 marks the beginning of the Indo-German Center for Sustainability (IGCS).

The IGCS has grown into a flagship project of Indo-German Cooperation in teaching, research and exchange. It is currently supported by DAAD (until end of 2024) through funds of the BMBF and co-financed by the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST). Industry cooperations have been established with Maschinenfabrik Rheinhausen GmbH and motan GmbH. Besides RWTH Aachen University and IIT Madras there are TU-9 universities and CAU Kiel involved on the German side as well as other IITs on the Indian side. Students and researchers are provided with scholarships to carry out research stays and internships in both countries with more than 900 mobilities funded so far. Annual Summer- and Winter Schools on thematic topics provide an opportunity for intercultural exchange and interdisciplinary learning. The alumni of IGCS as well as the institutions form a unique network that assembles around sustainability. Thus, one of the focuses of the working group is “networks”. We’ll discuss advantages and challenges of networks adding the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (ABCD-Centre) as well as the Heritage Network to the discussion.

The scientific work of IGCS is focused on four clusters: Energy, Waste Management, Land Use, and Water Management. Out of these, the working group will focus on “Water and Climate Adaptation” as well as “Circular Economy”, which combine several aspects of IGCS’ work. The members of the working group are going to provide input to one of the three topics (30mins per topic) followed by a discussion with all group members (30mins per topic). All members of the group are either working for IGCS-initiatives or have been affiliated with IGCS and RWTH Aachen’s India cooperations in the past.

The working group aims at highlighting the benefits that IGCS has generated for Indo-German cooperation over the past 14 years and the challenges that have occured. The discussions will contribute to the further development of the center in identifying future fields of collaboration and broadening the network to other players of Indo-German cooperation.