international outreach – The KGP Chronicle

Enhancing Global Imprint of IIT Kharagpur through Strategic Partnerships

Exploring scaling-up of international outreach initiatives through dynamic and personalized approach as well as unique offerings at the institutional level.

IIT Kharagpur has been scaling up its international relations activities since 2015. From setting up an International Relations Office to the hiring of staff, setting processes and systems and entering new collaborations. The Institute has also been engaging in various strategic partnerships in harmony with India’s global alliances and outreach goals. Recently the Director Prof. V K Tewari along with Associate Dean International Relations Dr. Anandaroop Bhattacharya and executives from the Office of International Relations, participated in three strategic events to augment international relations activities.

India has a long-standing relationship with ASEAN which has received considerable impetus in the past few years especially in enhancing cooperation in the field of Science and Technology. Doctoral-fellowship in India for ASEAN (DIA), an initiative sponsored by the Ministry of Education supported by the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India, organized the online summit, IIT-ASEAN Research Cooperation to provide a forum to engage in discussions on Research & Innovation Opportunities in IITs and ASEAN by reputed scientists/academicians. A diverse range of academic disciplines at IIT Kharagpur was showcased in addition to the usual engineering disciplines. Here, graduate and doctoral scholars from ASEAN may pursue their studies in areas such as Architecture (Ranked first in NIRF, Govt. of India), Mining (among world’s top 50 in QS Subject Rank), Naval Architecture, Law (Ranked among top 5 in NIRF, Govt. of India), Agriculture (ranked by QS as India’s best) Space Technology (have active collaborations with ISRO) and the newly launched Indian Knowledge Systems, the first of its kind in the IIT system where scholarly knowledge from Indian traditions will be explored in the light of modern scientific principles. It is imperative that IITs reach out to the ASEAN nations assertively and put forward the niche areas which are of common interest to both countries.

Another strategic partnership IIT Kharagpur pursuing is the BRICS Network University. In the meeting held by BRICS NU National Coordinating Committee, Dept. of Higher Education, MoE, Govt. of India, the Institute emphasized adding national mission projects to the current thrust areas of Computer Science and Cyber Security, which have a huge potential such as Precision Agriculture, Ecology & Environment, Mining, Water Resources and Architecture.

IIT Kharagpur also participated in a review meeting held under the Study in India (SII) initiative by EDCIL to deliberate on how to make India a more preferred destination in the world for higher education. The pressing point of this meeting was how to increase the inflow of foreign students in India in comparison to outbound Indian students. The discussions included initiatives such as designing a common portal for all foreign applications, focus on building more short term courses, exchange programs, transfer of credits, joint doctoral programs, the introduction of bridge courses; supernumerary quota seats other than AICTE, orientation programs for foreign students as well as the engagement of faculty experts to attract foreign students in India. Deliberations were also made towards setting up international offices at each of the participating institutes to assist the foreign students, creating an alumni network for foreign students, revisiting regulations for foreign interns. Considerable up-gradation is required in the facilitation of foreign students including accommodation with special facilities offering a student-friendly eco-system to help sustain them through the tenure of their programs. Further, it has been felt that offering personalized courses fine-tuned with the needs of foreign students would strengthen the position of India as an international destination for higher education.

Authors: Alivia Nag, Koushiki Mukherjee are executives at the Office of International Relations. The report is based on discussions and deliberations made in March 2021 at three international outreach summits.

IIT Kharagpur and The University of Manchester Launch Dual Doctoral Programme

IIT Kharagpur and The University of Manchester are pleased to announce the launch of a dual award PhD programme which represents the next phase of our strategic partnership. This will serve to consolidate and build on existing research collaborations across a number of thematic areas including environmental geochemistry, biomaterials and Industry 4.0. Students will be jointly recruited and spend time in both Manchester and Kharagpur, benefiting from the expertise, facilities and infrastructure of two globally renowned institutions.

The programme, launching this July, will be open to IIT and IISc graduates from India during its initial phase. Successful candidates will be required to enrol at both institutions spending the first year at IIT Kharagpur with the remaining time on the programme split between The University of Manchester and IIT Kharagpur according to the project requirements as determined by the supervisors and the Joint Programme Board.

Both institutions will be responsible for making their own award but the two components would form a single research experience managed cooperatively by both institutions. The successful doctoral candidates will receive parchments from both Institutions – each prominently mentioning the joint nature of the work and the partner institute’s name.

While IIT Kharagpur has already established similar programmes with universities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, this is the first time such a joint programme has been set up with a British university.

Prof. Baidurya Bhattacharya, Former Dean International Relations at IIT Kharagpur who was instrumental in setting up this programme remarked, “This Dual Award PhD is a unique partnership made possible by the trust and respect we have developed over the years for each other’s research quality and academic standards. Starting from defining the doctoral project, selection and admission of the student, to supervision, thesis work and evaluation, and finally award of the degree, everything is jointly administered. I believe this programme will provide the template for equal partnership between IITs and top British universities in the future.”

As a core component of its international strategy, The University of Manchester is entering into a small number of dual award PhD programmes with prestigious partner institutions around the world.

Professor Stephen Flint, Associate Vice-President International, The University of Manchester, said: “The dual PhD with IIT Kharagpur is testament to the University’s strategic ambitions to build world-class research links with India and to encourage more student mobility between the two regions.” He further added, “The University of Manchester established research partnerships with IIT Kharagpur some years ago and this dual award PhD programme is the next step in deepening our relationship, with academic colleagues in both institutions sharing supervision of the PhD students, who will spend 2 years in Manchester and 2 years in Kharagpur.”

Faculty members from the two institutions will jointly define projects which are approved by a Joint Progamme Board. As per the umbrella MoU signed in 2017, some of the areas for potential joint projects include Biomedical Informatics, Advanced Materials, Smart Textiles, and Earth-Environment-Water Sciences. Several potential collaborations between faculty members of both institutions have already been identified with the encouragement of the development of further collaborations. Under this programme, full and partial funding will be available on a competitive basis for four years for a select number of suitably qualified and progressing students.

For more information visit https://international.iitkgp.ac.in/ or contact ir-office@adm.iitkgp.ac.in

Contact: Office of International Relations, IIT Kharagpur, Email: adeanir@adm.iitkgp.ac.in;

Media: media@iitkgp.ac.in; Facebook: @IITKgp Twitter: @IITKgp Instagram: @iit.kgp

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New Normal Thrust to International Research Outreach

The Ministry of Education has released a grant for the amount of ₹ 80 crores to IIT Kharagpur for the Scheme for Promotion of Academic & Research Collaboration (SPARC) Programme which is aimed to promote international research outreach. The Institute which is the national coordinator of the programme is working along with 450 institutions in India and 470 institutions worldwide since the inception of the programme in 2018.

In 2019-20, more than 300 international experts visited Indian institutions registered under SPARC for various projects and workshops. Close to 400 research proposals have been approved for funding to date. Over 26% of the R&D proposals and international outreach are focused on Emergent Areas of Impact which included areas such as Advanced Electronics and Communication, Advanced Functional and Meta Materials, Structural Genomics and Evolutionary Biology, Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science, Infectious Disease & Clinical Research. This segment was followed by Action-Oriented Research with a 24% accepted proposals in areas including Future of Earth: Green and Renewable Technologies, River, Ocean, Aviation and Space Management Technology, Technology Enhanced Education and Learning, including Assistive Technologies, Agricultural and Food Sustainability, Technologies for Rural and Women Empowerment, Law and Society. Convergence areas of research is another significant segment with 22% proposals in areas covering Transportation and Smart Infrastructure, Affordable Health Care, Advanced Manufacturing, Science and Heritage, Energy and Water Sustainability.

“The data indicates a clear shift towards transdisciplinary research addressing global challenges and cutting-edge research. The insights will further boost international collaboration opportunities for science and technology institutes in India by aligning their thrust areas with global trends,” remarked Prof. Virendra K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur.

The participation from USA, Australia and UK witnessed highest visits covering close to 65% of the international faculty visitors in 2019-20. The slump in 2020 though was expected, work was carried out through online conferences. In one such initiative, IIT Kharagpur organized the International Conference on ‘Emerging Trends in Healthcare Technology in Post-COVID-19 Era’ with expert participation from USA, UK, Australia, Sweden, South Africa, The Netherlands, India and Shri Amit Khare, Secretary, Dept. of Higher Education, Govt. of India.

Following the initial success of SPARC despite the disruptions in 2020, the Ministry has released the funding for phase two of the programme. Earlier this month Shiksha Mantri Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had announced the release of the funds on his social media handles.

Talking about the road ahead, Prof. Adrijit Goswami from IIT Kharagpur who is heading the Pan India coordination of the programme said, “Going online is the new normal roadmap at least for programmes like SPARC and GIAN. While online mode has its drawbacks, on the brighter side it may swell the opportunities especially for those who otherwise find such collaborative work arduous due to extended physical visits.”

“With phase two funding of ₹ 80 crores and the structured format of e-workshops, webinars, online classes and even research in virtual mode, the scope for productive academic collaborations at the SPARC-approved collaborating Institutes look promising,” he added.

Contact:

Project: Prof. Adrijit Goswami, Email: goswami@maths.iitkgp.ac.in; Web: https://sparc.iitkgp.ac.in/

Media: Shreyoshi Ghosh, shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in

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You’re Home: IIT Kharagpur tells international students

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An early morning tweet on Earth Day woke up a few students at IIT Kharagpur. A fellow Kgpian student, pursuing internship at Georgia, Atlanta, USA, had tweeted seeking help from the Indian authorities in the lockdown situation. Her friends from IIT Kharagpur got in action and shared her message on IIT Kharagpur’s social media handle. Finally the stranded student was connected with IITKGP Foundation, the alumni body of the Institute in USA, who are now trying to help her reach out to the alumni in the region.

Few days prior to this incident, another such call was made for some IIT students stranded in Germany and Sweden. The IITs are reaching out to the alumni in the respective region to connect with these students under distress. International students across the globe are sharing their concerns regarding their fellowships/grants, visa status, residency protocols as the world has come to a standstill with COVID-19 Lockdown. But what is happening at the home front? The Kgp Chronicle presents an account of the international students outreach at IIT Kharagpur.

IIT Kharagpur at present is hosting students and researchers from 12 countries – Afghanistan, Bhutan, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. The Institute is assuring its international students making them feel home away from home while facilitating their academics, stay, residency and other protocols.

The Office of International Relations (OIR) has created an online forum to reach out to the students on a daily basis. The Office shares relevant Institute notices on this forum. The foreign scholars are encouraged to share their concerns and these are addressed as much as possible under these difficult times.

OIR also extended assistance towards extension of visa and processing of scholarship to avoid any disruption of stay and other facilities availed by these students. Some students who have gone home after the mid semester examination are being assisted by the Office and their respective embassies to network with the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India to arrange for their return when the semester resumes.

“Several international students are receiving financial aid under international programs run by us and outreach bodies of the Govt. of India. We have ensured that they receive their scholarships on time. We are constantly in touch with the students and are committed towards their wellbeing. With every passing day we assure them there is nothing to worry, like every other student, IIT Kharagpur campus is their home away from home,” Prof. Anandaroop Bhattacharya, Associate Dean, International Relations.

Dr. Than Htike Win from Myanmar who is pursuing research work at the Dept. of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering shared his experience during the lockdown period. As his fellowship period gets over at the end of June 2020, he is trying to progress during this phase, in particular the analysis of his research completed till now and planning to finalize the remaining research work and write the reports.

Solomon Demiss, visiting research scholar from Ethiopia at the Institute’s Dept. of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering has been pursuing his research work through interactions with his guide and fellow team members, reading and writing reports. Solomon was delighted with the gesture of his fellow students to assist him with procuring necessary supplies from the market while he is managing his condition of physical challenge and social distancing.

The students are using this isolation period to extensively improve their knowledge base through optimal use of eLearning platforms. Tamim Boubou, who is pursuing MTech in Control System Engineering at the Dept. of Electrical Engineering, was planning to go home to Syria during the summer recess. But now he is utilising the summer-time by attending online video lectures and taking part in summer projects.

“I actually enjoyed the online video classes, they are more comfortable and in my view are quite interactive, you can record the session and go back to a certain point whenever needed, in short, it is a good experience,” he said. The summer project he has currently undertaken is related to his Masters Thesis Project which is scheduled in the next semester.

Tamim is excited about the online group created by the Office of International Relations for international students where they are being updated frequently with all new announcements.

“Almost everyday we are being checked upon, if there is anything missing that we need, same for all mess and hostel facilities, everyone is so cooperative,” he remarked.

Similar thought is echoed by Charles Munyaradzi from Zimbabwe who is pursuing postdoctoral fellowship in biomedical research. Though he has going through acclimatization with the Indian summers and sceptical about his scholarship as his banking formalities got delayed due to lockdown, he appreciates the regular flow of communication which gives him an assurance in the current circumstances while being in a foreign land.

Several students also plans to seek assistance from the office for renewal of their passport and residence permit, after the lockdown is relaxed and the embassies resume regular operations.

The students are interacting with their classmates online for joint study, research ideas, games. Some of them are putting their extra time to use by testing their cooking talents. The Office has also provided them with home and kitchen appliances which are useful now during the social distancing period.

Contemplating on the impact of the pandemic situation on the internationalization efforts of IIT Kharagpur, Dean International Relations Baidurya Bhattacharya opined,

“At IIT Kharagpur, we understand internationalization to mean presenting our best to the service of humanity, and in turn, to bring what is best in the world into our campus. Just as this exchange includes the movement of people, it equally well involves the give and take of ideas, free thought and knowledge. As we come out of this pandemic, we will see some short term changes. A lot of national resources will be devoted by every country in rebuilding their economies. Movement of people will probably reduce somewhat, and that will include faculty and students. But the free flow of knowledge and goodwill between the home and the world will continue.”

The Dean is planning to strengthen and expand the joint academic programs of the Institute with its international partners, conducting more joint research, proposing for more multi-agency grant applications.

An optimistic Prof. Bhattacharya said, “We will have more online interactions, and we will learn more from each other in how to make the world a safer, kinder and more equitable place – because in the end, we are all in it together.”

Sharing the Best

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IIT Kharagpur and the United States – India Educational Foundation (USIEF) organized a two-day joint workshop for universities in Eastern India themed ‘Igniting Interest to Study in India: Best Practices to Attract Foreign Students on Your Campus’.

USIEF promotes mutual understanding between the nationals of India and the US through the educational exchange of outstanding scholars, professionals and students. The organization has the mandate to organize such outreach workshops to promote both the inbound and outbound flow of students between the two countries.

“Recently we have seen a drop of about 15% in the inbound students to India from USA. We are trying to reach out to universities in India and bridge this gap,” said Dr. Diya Dutt, Deputy Director, USIEF.

The organization has been awarding Fulbright, Fulbright-Nehru, and other prestigious grants and scholarships in almost every academic discipline will now be setting up Nehru Chairs in US universities to enhance interaction not just within the academia but also engagement with the community at large, confirmed Diya.

They are also looking into the scope of improvement in the areas of cutting-edge research and teaching infrastructure and accommodation in which Indian universities can get an edge by meeting the globally accepted standards.

Talking about the initiative, Dean International Relations of IIT Kharagpur Baidurya Bhattacharya said, “We cannot remain an island of excellence. While we have been serving the nation and society it is also our responsibility to join forces with our peer groups, share with them our learning and experience on internationalization and in turn learn from them. Eastern India with its socio-cultural diversity has tremendous potential of becoming a preferred destination for foreign students not just in India but for the entire South Asian region. And the best part is the universities here, have been offering quality affordable higher education which these foreign students seek.”

IIT Kharagpur officials who spoke at the workshop also focused on student facilitation pertaining to admission, terms of degree courses, visa, clearances, insurance etc. and agreements with foreign universities, institutional ranking and international brand outreach activities.

Among the participants were XLRI Jamshedpur, Indian Institute of Engineering Science And Technology Shibpur, West Bengal State University, Presidency University, Jadavpur University, IISER Kalyani and several others. The participants, some of whom were from relatively younger institutions, in an open house were introduced to various initiatives and ideas to improve their international inbound presence. Some of them are already were contemplating on learning from the best practices, such as the idea of Dyuti, a socio-cultural short-term education programme started by IIT Kharagpur in 2019 for foreign students studying in other Indian universities, caught the interest of Dr. Ashis K Pani, Dean Academics of XLRI Jamshedpur who was a participant

Dr. Paramjyot Singh, faculty at XLRI Jamshedpur and a former Nehru Fullbright Fellow said, “these workshops create a great opportunity for knowledge sharing, collaboration and mutual understanding. It’s about we and it’s about a common future for us.”

IIT Kharagpur which is extensively promoting its international outreach to bring in more foreign students for degree and non-degree programmes has already set up a robust international relations mechanism to attract more students.

“Processes, facilities while being the key aspect, most students look for financial support. We launched various scholarship programmes funded by the Institute and alumni especially for SAARC, ASEAN and African students which has I would say affirmatively increased our international student enrolment significantly” added Associate Dean International Relations Anandaroop Bhattacharya.

International Outreach Programme @ VGSOM

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IIT Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management has signed an MoU with Singapore Management University for ‘SMU-IITKGP Inclusive and Immersive Experiential Learning (I2XL) Programme’. The programme is aimed at providing a managerial education and business school experience like no other – one that encourages students to apply classroom concepts in a global business environment. The scope of the MoU will include student projects and immersion programmes, reciprocal exchange of research and teaching staff, research and other collaborations.

The programme is focused on enriching the students with managerial concepts through classroom lectures on portfolio management, alternative investments, innovation and entrepreneurship, and technological adaptation. Another feature of the programme was industry interactions regarding practical challenges in financial markets. The programme has been designed with a two-fold objective – expose students to the dynamics of functioning on an international platform and complement classroom learning with a global business perspective.

Twenty-five students from MBA and Executive MBA of VGSOM participated in this collaborative programme who were selected based on their prior work experience in diverse sectors.

Eminent academicians from Singapore Management University and industry leaders offered experiential learning experience at the first edition of the programme. Another remarkable aspect of this programme was the live industry projects undertaken by the students under the aegis of corporate giants like DBS Bank, Citibank, GSK and niche players like Lendingkart and BondEValue.

Prof. Prabina Rajib, Dean, Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur, on the success of the programme remarked, “We are very proud to include the International Immersion Programme in our curriculum. Its right emphasis on theoretical and practical learning coupled with the unique international exposure it offers the participant makes it a priceless experience. We plan on increasing the number of participants in the years to come to extend this opportunity to all our students, making this a yearly event. We are confident that this collaboration between two institutes of global repute will promote excellence in managerial education globally.”

Students were allowed to showcase their business acumen through a live simulation exercise on Portfolio Management which was both engaging and challenging. The field trip included a visit to the Singapore Stock Exchange with a focus on the global economy and technological adaptation in an exchange. Students further got the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion with Asia’s leading business leaders which gave exposure to the students to understand the Indian business scenario from a global perspective and consider international career opportunities.

Students further worked on challenging business problems requiring leading-edge technological solutions based on a strong understanding of fundamental business concepts. These projects which form a part of the MBA curriculum are currently afoot with mentors from both institutes and respective companies being assigned to guide the students.

“This practical approach based on real-life projects is the singular feature that makes this international immersion programme unique among other such programmes by B-schools in the country,” said one of the participants.

Recounting his SMU-IITKGP I2XL experience, Swastik Paul, a final year MBA student, says, “It was the best part of my MBA journey and gave me an edge over my peers. The interactions with industry experts were extremely insightful which provided me with invaluable professional experience. I highly recommend this programme to all who would like to explore and shape their careers on a global stage.”