Kharagpur: IIT Kharagpur, an Institute of National Importance, in collaboration with University of Alberta, Canada, has launched a Joint Doctoral Degree Program (JDP) to create academic exchange between faculty and students.
The program gives the opportunity to undertake research at the partner institution for a period of six months to a year and provides them with international experience and special certification upon graduation. The partnership would include identification of research projects for students to pursue during their doctoral studies, joint supervision, fellowships with financial support in the form of a monthly stipend to cover the cost of accommodation and meals for students during the duration of their visit. The participating students will receive recognition of completing the program jointly with the partner institution through formal notation on their transcripts and parchments.
Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director of IIT Kharagpur said “In the post COVID-19 world, we have to reach out globally and engage actively in a more strategic manner. Further in order to generate intellectual resources in a wide array of domains there is a need to learn from each other’s expertise through such joint programs. It would definitely be advantageous for people from diverse geographies, environment, lifestyle and challenges making our research focus more oriented towards global dynamics.”
While IIT Kharagpur already has similar joint doctoral programs with several Australian universities, this is the first of its kind with a Canadian university. Alberta is the only Canadian university to have established such programs at this time. It has a rich history of academic collaboration with India, holding various partnership agreements to support academic mobility and joint research in place with IIT Kharagpur since 2013.
President Prof. David Turpin of University of Alberta said, “These programs create new opportunities to equip doctoral students with perspectives and skills that will benefit a global society. When we connect with leading international institutions such as the IITs, we’re fueling new capacity for teaching, learning, and research.”
