IIT Council signs MoU with AAU to form Indo-US Global Challenges Institute

At the G-20 Summit in New Delhi, India-USA collaborations have deepened in the education sector. In a joint statement following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden ahead of the G20 Summit, the two leaders have welcomed several multi-institutional collaborations between the two countries.

In a groundbreaking initiative, the IIT Council on behalf of all higher educational institutes in India entered into a MoU with the Association of American Universities (AAU) to establish and seek support for the Indo-US Global Challenges Institute. The intent to set up the institute was announced in June this year, during the US visit of PM Modi. The MoU was signed by Prof Barbara Snyder, President of AAU and Prof Abhay Karandikar on behalf of the IIT Council.

The joint Indo-US Global Challenges Institute Governing Council will develop an organisational framework to promote research collaborations, create knowledge-sharing platforms, work towards resource mobilisation, and ensure inclusive growth of research enterprises.

In another significant partnership, IIT Bombay has joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange as an international partner. This will give shape to a shared vision of a global quantum economy catalysed by the bedrock of India-US cooperation.

IIT Bombay Director, Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri, said, “With a strong bond being built between India and US academia, as evident from the joint declaration by the top leaderships in both the countries, it is a great opportunity for IIT Bombay to work with the University of Chicago on some of the most critical and evolving technologies our nations are facing today. Our collective strength will help bring forth impactful breakthrough innovations benefiting the society.”

In addition to quantum, UChicago and IIT Bombay will collaborate and conduct joint research in fields such as climate, energy, advanced microelectronics, artificial intelligence and data science.

Another collaborative institutional partnership has been formalised between the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, and the IIT Kanpur to launch the New York University-Tandon and IIT Kanpur Advanced Research Center in critical and emerging technologies. Additionally, multi-institutional Joint Research Centers involving the State University of New York at Buffalo and IIT Delhi, Kanpur, Jodhpur, and BHU are also being set up in the areas of critical and emerging technologies.

A novel initiative of academia-startup partnership, under the India-US Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), was recently kicked off through a Joint Accelerator Programme workshop with Indian startups and multiple higher educational institutes. This initiative aims to engage startups in developing innovative solutions to mutual defence technology challenges in India and USA.

Happy with the partnerships, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that this is a sign of the growing relationship between India and the US in education, research and skill development. He said these partnerships are also in consonance with the priority set by the G20 Education Working Group under the Indian presidency to enhance academic and research collaborations among G20 countries.