IIT Council, Association of American Universities sign MoU to set up Indo-US Global Challenges Institute

The Council of Indian Institute of Technology, or the IIT Council, and the Association of American Universities (AAU) Saturday inked an MOU (memorandum of understanding) to establish the Indo-US Global Challenges Institute. The IIT Council signed the agreement on behalf of all the higher educational institutes in India. Although the announcement was made in a joint statement following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi Saturday, the intent to set up the institute was announced during PM Modi’s US visit in June this year.

The Indo-US Global Challenges Institute will study issues that could threaten the “security, prosperity, and stability” of both nations, including economic, environmental, and technological issues.

To address these issues, the Indo-US Global Challenges Institute According to a formal statement, the organization would endeavor to encourage research partnerships, develop knowledge-sharing platforms, mobilize resources, and guarantee equitable research enterprise growth.

According to the official statement, the institute will be a virtual network of partner universities and offer a platform to address strategic research programs needing 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 agreement was signed by Professor Barbara Snyder, President of AAU, and Professor Abhay Karandikar on behalf of the IIT Council.

The Tandon School of Engineering at New York University and IIT Kanpur have formalized yet another cooperative institutional agreement, according to the announcement. In accordance with the cooperation, a cutting-edge research center for vital and emerging technologies will be established.

The State University of New York at Buffalo, IIT Delhi, Kanpur, Jodhpur, and BHU are all participating in multi-institutional joint research centers that are being developed in the fields of critical and emerging technologies, the statement continued.

Saying that these partnerships between the parties are also in line with the priority set by the G20 Education Working Group under the Indian presidency, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said: “This is a sign of the growing relationship between India and the United States in education, research, and skill development.