London, Aug 25 - A group of Indian students has just returned home after visiting Queen's University, Belfast, as part of a unique scholarship programme to develop Indian scientific research leaders of the future.

The 32 students from the Jahwaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) and Amity University spent three weeks at Queen's University, which is a member of the Russell Group comprising Britain's top 20 research-intensive universities.

Queen's India Welcome Scheme was created to allow Indian science and technology students to develop research leaders of the future and experience life and work in Belfast, said the university, which recently appointed Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma as its vice-chancellor.

Sharma succeeded Senator George Mitchell who stepped down in March following his appointment to head the US' peacemaking efforts in the Middle East.

The visiting students got to work alongside scientists from Queen's who have invented the world's first low-cost technology to provide arsenic-free water to affected areas in eastern India and devised a new electronic filter which will lead to more accurate global weather forecasts and a better understanding of climate change.