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Seeking to develop a strategic alliance with India in the area of research and teaching, an Australian university has inked agreements with two of the oldest IITs.
New South Wales-based University of Wollongong (UOW) has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-Kharagpur) and the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-Bombay).
According to a statement by the university, a senior delegation from UOW, including the Vice-Chancellor Paul Wellings, was in India to develop these strategic alliances.
Wellings and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) Joe Chicharo formally established a framework for future research and teaching collaboration in complementary disciplines that include mining and related engineering areas while in Kharagpur.
A second MoU was signed at IIT Bombay recently to enhance its existing collaboration in electrical power systems and allied areas, including the integration of renewable energy resources.
International Centre of Excellence in Mining
The two initiatives would build upon the existing collaborations that UOW has developed with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in New Delhi and the Government of Gujarat in the development of an International Centre of Excellence in Mining.
The delegation also visited and met Gujarat officials to further advance the five-year action plan for UOW’s involvement as the international knowledge partner with the new International Centre of Excellence in Mining (iCEM) in the State.
The Gujarat government, through its Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, is establishing the centre with a focus on mining automation and safety.
UOW will be participating with national institutional partners the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) and IIT Kharagpur in the development of the centre.
Apart from this, TAFE Illawarra has also been accepted to become one of the vocational skill partners.
The Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation is currently building a new facility near Ahmedabad and has committed to meet the significant capital costs for the first five years and support operational costs for a further five to 10 years. It will also fund other projects identified as strategic by UOW or national knowledge partners.
The UOW delegation was also expected to visit PDPU in Gandhinagar to sign an agreement that will formally develop both a study abroad and summer programme arrangement.
In the first instance, 20 students as well as a number of staff will visit UOW in June 2014 to undertake a four-week summer programme where they will be exposed to a range of introductory subjects from law, humanities and arts including sociology, political philosophy, international media and communications, research in social sciences and humanities.
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