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.
“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.
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.”
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.”
“The IITs and their alumni are probably the finest products coming out of India since independence. While each IIT pursues and attains excellence in its own way, we must remember that individually we are too small to make any sizeable impact globally. Together however, with about 1 lakh students and about 5000 faculty members, the 23 IITs are a sizeable bloc and can compete favourably with the largest university systems around the world. We therefore need to join forces and pursue internationalization in a synergistic manner,” said Prof. Baidurya Bhattacharya, Dean IR, IIT Kharagpur. 
While JEE remains the only gateway available to anyone seeking admission into the IIT system’s flagship undergraduate programs, most IITs have created the mechanism for graduate admission for international students. There was a consensus on enhancing the outreach and information dissemination globally about Masters and Doctoral programs at IITs and promoting foreign admission opportunities. “This will require tapping into the already existing network of academicians and alumni in select countries,” opined Prof. Rakhi Chaturvedi, Dean, Alumni and External Relations, IIT Guwahati. 
The challenge of increasing diversity through international student admission was also discussed from the aspect global ranking of the IITs. In this regard, deliberations were made on the importance of an India-relevant definition of diversity. “We need diversity but we will have to evolve a definition consistent with our country’s ethos of language, culture and food. Our definition of diversity should look to bring diverse thinking to our student populace, including through the presence of international faculty and students,” said Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean International & Alumni Relations, IIT Madras.
Sharing of best practices and networking between International Relations offices for coordination and outreach activities was also proposed. “Such initiatives would help third generation IITs and standardize some of the key operation procedures,” concluded Prof. K. N. Satyanarayana, Director, IIT Tirupati.
The MoU also involves the scope of outreach centers at IIT Kharagpur and Auckland representing various prestigious higher educational institutions of both countries.