IIT Guwahati to establish Indo-Danish research center with joint postgrad programs

Preparatory to its foreign academic collaborations, IIT Guwahati signed an MoU with University of Southern Denmark (SDU) with a view to launching bilateral cooperation in training, research, and innovation. This is a first among Indo-Danish academic collaborations with both parties agreeing to collaborate on paradigms on green technology as well as paradigms in education in the days ahead.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in good faith between Director, IIT Guwahati, Professor Devendra Jalihal and Dean of Faculty of Engineering at SDU, Professor Henrik Bindslev.

As witnessed by Mr Jrgen Mads Clausen, Chairman, Danfoss and Honorary Consul of Denmark in the Emirates, which again reflects the tight academia-industry interlinkages.

Setting up of an Indo-Danish Centre of Excellence for innovation and translational research at IIT Guwahati

Double Master's and PhD degrees co-supervised with credit recognition in both countries

Student and faculty exchange programs, promoting academic mobility and intercultural exchange

Joint research on green technology, energy efficiency, climate technology, etc., and other matters of mutual concern

MoU also allows scope for combined Master's and PhD degrees that will have students co-supervised but with credits being remitted back to the two schools. Cross-cultural learning and skill enhancement will also be facilitated by faculty and student exchange programs.

"This new partnership will be an expansion of our vision of creating a world learning and research hub," added Professor Jalihal. "We will work on solutions for actual problems with the assistance of SDU and business community partners."

There will be a Joint Steering Committee consisting of academic and industry leaders from all the partners for overall monitoring and coordination of co-operative activities. The committee will strive to source finance and technical assistance from Indian and foreign industries.

The accord is an indicator of the bilateral readiness of Denmark and India towards further intensification of cooperation in technology and education fields.

It's an opportunity for the students to be part of the world research groups and to be in a position to contribute towards solving global issues like climate change and sustainable development.

IIT Guwahati-SDU MoU is the start of more such interactions in the future to come, with the academically more integrated communities coming together and coming up with innovations that touch lives.

The IIT Guwahati research is a multidisciplinary branch of science study in engineering, technology, and social sciences.