IIT Kharagpur's agreements with Australian univs for jt study

IIT Kharagpur has signed agreements with the universities of Melbourne and Newcastle in Australia for joint study programmes.

From the semester beginning in July full time Dual Doctoral Programme (DDP) will be rolled out in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, an IIT KGP statement said here today.

The MoU with the University of Newcastle is focussed on joint academic and research programmes, joint supervision of doctoral and masters students and other exchange and knowledge sharing initiatives.

The institute already has collaborations with two Australian universities - Wollongong and Curtin, for Dual Doctoral Degree Programmes.

Commenting on the new collaborations, IIT KGP Dean of International Relations Baidurya Bhattacharya said, "We are delighted that the University of Melbourne, the top ranked Australian university, will now be our partner in grooming a very select group of doctoral students from our two countries.

"In the coming semesters IIT Kharagpur will see several more dual degree programs coming up with leading universities from around the world," he said.

Apart from doctoral programmes, the universities will be working on joint research problems.

"An industrially advanced nation like Australia and a leading technological university like IIT Kharagpur with its own self-contained campus have a lot to offer to the growing Indian cities as far as infrastructural developments in smart cities are concerned," Bhattacharya said.

"We are looking forward to working on a project wherein we can develop a model for Indian smart cities," he said.

In recent times, Australian universities have been a favourite destination for Indian students. IIT Kharagpur has been instrumental in forging collaborations with several globally reputed varsities in the continent.