Hamburg university seeks Indian link

University of Hamburg, Germany, is keen to tie up with a leading Indian university for research exchange and other partnership programmes.

Karl-Werner Hansmann, vice president, University of Hamburg, said talks with universities of Mumbai, Calcutta and Jadavpur for joint research in field of environmental management and engineering had made some headway.

Hansmann said University of Hamburg would soon select the Indian university in its partnership venture.

Initially the faculty member of the universities will be identifying common area of interest to exchange research findings.

"We are looking for a model of cooperative research where faculties of the two university can mutually benefit from joint research," he informed.

Hansmann will also be visiting University of Delhi.

Faculty exchange will be followed by student exchanges though funding for Indian students could be a problem.

University of Hamburg will ask the selected Indian university to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

"We hope to come back shortly with our proposal as our discussion with the vice chancellors (VC) of both CU and JU have been fruitful," assured Hansmann.

The modalities are yet to be worked out.

Hansmann will visit premiere institutes like the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) on his next visit.

Shamal Sanyal, pro-VC, Jadavpur University, said it would welcome joint activity with the German university.

University of Hamburg already has partnership with institutions like University of St.Petersburg-CIS, University of California, Berkeley, Indiana University, Purdue University and Shanghai second Medical University.