IIT-B partners with five foreign universities to set up institute in New York

The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) will set up a teaching and research institute in the city of New York from next year along with five other universities.

The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) will set up a teaching and research institute in the city of New York from next year along with five other universities.

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The joint bid was put together by Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, City University of New York, Warwick University, University of Toronto and IIT-B – was selected by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

The NYCEDC had initiated a worldwide bidding process last year, inviting institutes to submit proposals for an applied research institute to power local area development and expand their capacity in the applied sciences. IIT’s bid was the second successful one out of seven that were shortlisted. The announcement was made on Monday.

The new institute will be known as the Centre for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP), and will come up in a multi-storeyed building in Brooklyn. It will offer a masters programme in urban science and engineering, shorter executive education and doctoral programmes.

“We wanted to be part of a top research institute,” said Subhasis Chaudhuri, dean of international affairs at IIT-B. “With our interests matching with these other institutes we came up with a shared proposal.”

In December, the NYCEDC had announced one successful bid – a joint proposal of Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

CUSP will have a capacity of 600 students and 50 faculty members, and will be administered by its own board of governors made up of staff from each participating university. However, many modalities still need to be worked out. It is not yet clear how roles and responsibilities will be delegated between the partners. Other issues such as curricula, admission procedures and revenue are also yet to be finalised.