IIT Kharagpur goes international

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur will now bring in professors and scholars from foreign universities besides offering joint PhDs with top international institutes.

Under the Shri Gopal Rajgarhia International Programme which was launched on Wednesday, at least 10 professors from some of the world's leading universities would come to the Kharagpur campus each year for few months.

Similarly, around 30 talented international scholars would be invited each year to conduct research activities at IIT, Director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti told PTI.

He said they are already in talks with leading universities from the US, Europe, Australia, and Japan.

Under the joint PhD programme, students would be awarded with the doctorate by IIT-Kgp and an international university.

"The students will study at both the places. There will be international workshops and activities with the foreign university," Chakrabarti said.

The international programmes will start from the January session.

The institute's distinguished alumni Gopal Rajagarhia of the 1968 batch has donated Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) for funding the initiative.

"I was always keen to give it back to IIT.

“Its international ratings are poor because of low international exposure.

“With this programme, we want the IIT to make its presence felt in the international arena so that its ranking improves as per our Vision 2020," Rajgarhia said.

At present around 200 PhDs are awarded by the IIT each year which they hope to take it to 400.

"We want around 25 per cent of PhDs to be joint PhDs.

“We will also be getting foreign students to study here for such joint PhDs," director Chakrabarti said.   

Besides student and faculty exchange, the IIT is adding an international component to its courses by offering micro specialisations with a foreign collaborator.

They have already started the International Summer Winter Programme wherein students and faculties from India and abroad are participating.

Image: IIT Kharagpur; Photograph: Rediff Archives