The Director of the National Spectrum Centre at Aberystwyth University has travelled to India as part of a prestigious fellowship scheme set up by the Indian government.

Professor Amit Kumar Mishra - an internationally recognised expert on spectrum communications and sensing - spent time at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Hyderabad under the Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty Scheme (VAJRA).

Awarded through the Indian Government’s Anusandhan National Research Foundation, the VAJRA award is designed to recognise the value of international collaborative research in solving complex problems.

The scheme was developed exclusively for overseas scientists and academics to work for up to three months in a year at a hosting Indian public-funded academic or research institution.

Prof Mishra first received the honour when he worked at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

The award was renewed for an additional year, following his move to Aberystwyth in 2024.

Prof Mishra is collaborating with scientists at the IIT Hyderabad on developing systems which use ‘TV White Space’ – the spectrum bandwidth once used to broadcast analogue television but which is now largely redundant.

He said: “I am delighted that my VAJRA faculty award has been renewed for an additional year and look forward to continuing to work with scientists and PhD students in India as well as welcoming researchers here to Aberystwyth in this international exchange of knowledge and expertise.

“Our focus will be on the potential applications for using ‘TV White Space’ in rural areas of India.

“This bandwidth, which has become more available following analogue television’s switch to digital, can be used for a range of other purposes - for example, providing high-speed internet to people living in sparsely populated areas.

“This technology has huge possibilities in other places like Africa where relatively low numbers of people are spread across large geographical areas.”