Growing academic ties: IIT Kanpur, BHU figure in Indo-US bilateral talks

Indian and US higher education institutions, including IIT Kanpur and BHU Varanasi, have collaborated on academic partnerships in critical and emerging technologies. This collaboration was highlighted in a joint statement issued by India and the US during the G20 Summit. The partnership includes the establishment of the Indo-US Global Challenges Institute, which will address strategic research programs and interdisciplinary solutions. The initiative aims to tackle economic, environmental, and technological challenges that affect both countries' security and prosperity.

Lucknow Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden hailed the growing academic collaboration between Indian and American higher education institutions even as the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, figured prominently in a joint statement issued by India and the United States after the bilateral talks between the two countries on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his meeting with US President Joe Biden in New Delhi on September 8. (Courtesy PM Narendra Modi Social Media Handle)

A number of multi- institutional collaborations in academics took place in the bilateral meeting on Friday evening. The US President is in India to attend the two-day G20 Summit that got under way in the national capital on Saturday.

The Indo-US Global Challenges Institute that will work in a virtual mode will provide a platform for addressing strategic research programmes that require interdisciplinary solutions in critical and emerging technologies.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the Association of American Universities (AAU) president Barbara Snyder and IIT Kanpur director Abhay Karandikar on behalf of IIT Council representing Indian universities in India on Friday.

A 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 Centre in critical and emerging technologies.

The joint statement reads, “Both leaders (Modi and Biden) also welcomed the growing number of multi-institutional collaborative education partnerships... in the areas of critical and emerging technologies.”

Prof Karandikar said, “In these centres, we will be initiating large number of dual PhD programmes in multiple domains. IITK students will get global exposure. The PhD degree will be awarded by both IITK and NYU.”

In a groundbreaking initiative, IIT Council on behalf of all higher educational institutes in India entered into an MoU with the Association of American Universities (AAU) to establish and seek support for the Indo-US Global Challenges Institute.

The institute will seek to address some of the most consequential economic, environmental, and technological challenges that have the potential to affect the security, prosperity, and stability of both countries.

The institute will be a virtual network of partner universities and provide a platform for addressing strategic research programmes that require interdisciplinary solutions in critical and emerging technologies such as sustainable energy and agriculture, health and pandemic preparedness, semiconductor technology and manufacturing, advanced materials, telecommunications, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum science.

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 enterprise.