The signing of an Agreement between Indian colleges was revealed in a joint statement made following a bilateral meeting between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. New Delhi, India a forthcoming India-US Global Challenges Institute would operate digitally and conduct research in developing fields on the campuses of partner higher education institutions from both nations. The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Indian universities, represented by the Council of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Council), and the Association of American Universities (AAU) to establish the India-US Global Challenges Institute was announced in a joint statement issued after a bilateral meeting between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The institute will bring together leading research and higher-education institutions from both countries to advance new frontiers in science and technology, including collaboration in sustainable energy and agriculture, health and pandemic preparedness, semiconductor technology and manufacturing, advanced materials, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and quantum science, according to the statement. Abhay Karandikar, head of IIT-Kanpur, who will co-chair the new institute, said it will operate "virtually" with a program management office or secretariat in both nations for coordination. Nonetheless, research would be conducted on the campuses of participating institutes, "We will develop multi-institutional research collaborations involving higher education institutions from both countries in the next months," Karandikar underlined that any higher education institutions with competence in various developing sectors will be permitted to participate in various initiatives. "It will not be restricted to IITs alone." These collaboration initiatives will then conduct research over the following three years with specific study aims and outcomes."
Describing the institute's funding strategy, Karandikar stated that the initial $10 million commitment for the institute will serve as a seed grant to kickstart efforts for generating research projects. "As the research begins, we will require further financing." These will be made available by several financing bodies from both India and the United States. and According to Karandikar, the virtual institute would have a governing council with representatives from both countries and will be co-chaired by the countries. AAU president Barbara R. Snyder will co-chair it from the United States. "The institution will serve as a meeting place for partner universities from the United States and India." "We hope that by bringing together the brightest brains from both countries, we will be able to address certain cutting-edge research challenges, which will have the benefit of building an ecosystem of startups and companies,"
The two nations also announced many additional agreements, including the establishment of the New York University-Tandon and IIT Kanpur Advanced Research Institutes, as well as the State University of New York at Buffalo Joint Research Centers and IITs in Delhi, Kanpur, Jodhpur, and Banaras Hindu University, in areas of critical and emerging technologies. And IIT-Bombay joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), headquartered at the University of Chicago, as an international partner. “It is a great opportunity for IIT Bombay to work with the University of Chicago on some of the most critical and evolving technologies our nations are seeing today. Our collective strength will help bring forth impactful breakthrough innovations benefiting the society.
