Recognizing that clean and efficient energy, environmental protection and energy security are among the biggest challenges facing India and the United States; the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum are committed to tackling these issues by building capacity in these frontier areas. To nurture future innovators and thought leaders in Biofuel and Bioenergy, we are happy to announce the Bioenergy-Awards for Cutting Edge Research (B- ACER) - a dynamic and transformative program developed to nurture contacts between students and scientists from India and the United States.