Indo-U.S. 21st Century Knowledge Initiative announces fourth round of awards

In a continuation of the educational partnership between India and the United States, the State Department has announced the eight institutional partnership projects below for the fourth round of Indo-U.S. 21st Century Knowledge Initiative awards (formerly known as the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative).

The initiative aims to strengthen collaboration and build partnerships between American and Indian institutions of higher education.

Each project will receive an award of up to $190,000 that can be utilized over a three-year period, with the aim of encouraging mutual understanding, educational reform, and economic growth, as well as the development of junior faculty at Indian and American institutions of higher learning.

U.S.-led Partnerships:

Miami University, OH

Project Title: A training model for culturally competent and evidence-based mental health care for diverse societies

Partner Institution: Christ University, Karnataka

Iowa State University, IA

Project Title: A multi-dimensional approach to meet 21st century retailing education and industry challenges for India and the U.S.

Partner Institution: National Institute for Fashion Technology, Delhi

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, IL

Project Title: Cooperative-competitive, data-driven, operational strategies for extremely resource-constrained settings in emerging economies

Partner Institution: Indian School of Business, Hyderabad

Colorado State University, CO

Project Title: Partnering to sustain India's biological diversity in the context of rapid environmental change: research, education and community outreach

Partner Institution: National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore and Center for Ecological Research, Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore

Indian-led Partnerships:

Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Project Title: Semiconductore Chip/chiplet based novel approaches for efficient Solar-Water Splitting: a) Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation; b) Photo catalytic Hydrogen Generation

Partner Institution: Arizona State University, AZ

Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala

Project Title: Indo-US initiatives on innovative reforms in marine biotechnology education and research, and development of sustainable aquaculture production systems for inclusive economic growth and sustainable development

Partner Institution: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Project Title: Indo-US Collaboration for Training in Environmental Health Sciences

Partner Institution: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Gandhigram Rural Institute, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu

Project Title: Augmenting the curriculum of higher educational institutions with an on-line integrated cognitive-based employability skills assessment system using signal and video analytics

Partner Institution: University of North Florida, FL

In November, 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama announced this initiative as an affirmation of their commitment to building an enhanced India-U.S. partnership in education. Each government pledged $5 million for this endeavor, for a total of $10 million.

To implement this initiative, the Governments of India and the United States established a bi-national joint working group (JWG). The JWG provides the final approval for all grants awarded through the 21st Century Knowledge Initiative.

The next request for proposals for the 21st Century Knowledge Initiative grants will be announced in July 2015. Details will be available at www.usief.org.in/OSI and http://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/5520971_9807232_ProposalUSIndiaIC.