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IIT Kharagpur in collaboration with University of Alberta, Canada has launched a Joint Doctoral Degree Program (JDP) to create academic exchange between faculty and students.
The program gives the opportunity to undertake research at the partner institution for a period of six months to a year and provides them with international experience and special certification upon graduation. The partnership would include identification of research projects for students to pursue during their doctoral studies, joint supervision, fellowships with financial support in the form of a monthly stipend to cover the cost of accommodation and meals for students during the duration of their visit. The participating students will receive recognition of completing the program jointly with the partner institution through formal notation on their transcripts and parchments.
“In the post COVID-19 world, we have to reach out globally and engage actively in a more strategic manner. Further in order to generate intellectual resources in a wide array of domains there is a need to learn from each other’s expertise through such joint programs. It would definitely be advantageous for people from diverse geographies, environment, lifestyle and challenges making our research focus more oriented towards global dynamics,” said Director IIT Kharagpur, Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari.
While IIT Kharagpur already has similar joint doctoral programs with several Australian universities, this is the first of its kind with a Canadian university. UAlberta is the only Canadian university to have established such programs at this time. It has a rich history of academic collaboration with India, holding various partnership agreements to support academic mobility and joint research in place with IIT Kharagpur since 2013. Apart from IIT Kharagpur UAlberta has engaged in similar collaborations with IIT Bombay and IIT Roorkee.
“These programs create new opportunities to equip doctoral students with perspectives and skills that will benefit a global society. When we connect with leading international institutions such as the IITs, we’re fueling new capacity for teaching, learning, and research,” said President Prof. David Turpin.
The collaboration has been mobilized by two IIT Kharagpur alumni, Prof. Anandaroop Bhattacharya at the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur and Prof. Amit Kumar at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, UAlberta.
Prof. Anandaroop Bhattacharya, Associate Dean, International Relations, remarked, “IIT Kharagpur is delighted to enter into the Joint Doctoral Program with University of Alberta. The partnership between the two institutions has a very strong foundation through student research internships, research collaborations and joint supervision of students. The joint Ph.D. program will make the partnership even stronger.”
Dr. Amit Kumar, who is the Interim President of Engage India: Association of Professors has been working closely together with University of Alberta International to help establish the JDP.
“Engage India was launched in April 2019 with the aim of promoting academic exchange and relations between U of A and India,” shares Kumar. “Our membership has expressed considerable interest in collaborating on joint research with Indian partners as well as recruiting high quality graduate students from India. The Joint Doctoral Degree Programs with the IITs will help us accomplish both of these goals,” he added.
Contacts:
Project Information: Prof. Anandaroop Bhattacharya, adeanir@adm.iitkgp.ac.in
Institute Related: Prof. B N Singh, registrar@hijli.iitkgp.ac.in;
Media Outreach: Shreyoshi Ghosh, shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in
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