Indo-US Global Challenges Institute: IIT Council, Association Of American Universities Come Together
As the G-20 Summit gets underway, India-USA collaborations have deepened in the education sector. In a groundbreaking initiative, IIT Council, the governing body responsible for all of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), on behalf of all higher educational institutes in India entered into an agreement with the Association of American Universities (AAU) to establish and seek support for the Indo-US Global Challenges Institute. The intent to set up the institute had been announced in June this year, during the US visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Institute, according to a statement from IIT Council, will seek to address some of the most consequential economic, environmental, and technological challenges that have the potential to affect the security, prosperity, and stability of both countries.
The Institute is expected to be a virtual network of partner universities and provide a platform for addressing strategic research programs that require interdisciplinary solutions in critical and emerging technologies such as sustainable energy and agriculture, health and pandemic preparedness, semiconductor technology and manufacturing, advanced materials, telecommunications, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum science.
The joint Indo-US Global Challenges Institute Governing Council will develop an organizational framework to promote research collaborations, create knowledge sharing platforms, work towards resource mobilization, and ensure inclusive growth of research enterprise.
The agreement was signed by Prof. Barbara Snyder, President of AAU and Prof. Abhay Karandikar on behalf of the IIT Council representing all higher educational institutes of India.
In another significant partnership, IIT Bombay has joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange as an international partner. This will give shape to a shared vision of a global quantum economy catalyzed by a bedrock of India-US cooperation.
Another collaborative institutional partnership has been formalized between the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur to launch the New York University-Tandon and IIT Kanpur Advanced Research Center in critical and emerging technologies. Additionally, multi-institutional Joint Research Centers involving the State University of New York at Buffalo and IIT Delhi, Kanpur, Jodhpur, and BHU are also being setup in the areas of critical and emerging technologies.
