Melbourne, 03 February 2021: The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc) has signed a joint PhD agreement with the University of Melbourne, becoming the latest partner in the Melbourne-India Postgraduate Academy (MIPA).
MIPA is a joint PhD program between the University of Melbourne and elite Indian research universities including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, Madras, and Kanpur, and now the IISc. So far, 20 graduate researchers have jointly enrolled in the MIPA.
Under the new agreement, IISc and University of Melbourne will co-fund up to 10 joint PhD candidates each year for the next five years.
PhD candidates enrolled in the MIPA are jointly supervised by academics at the University of Melbourne and one of its Indian partners. Candidates can spend at least 12 months in each institution, and upon successful completion of their PhD, graduate with two testamurs.
University of Melbourne Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Mark Hargreaves said the new joint PhD agreement builds on the University’s partnerships with India.
“The new joint PhD agreement will enable the University of Melbourne to further strengthen its ties with top research institutions in India,” Professor Hargreaves said. “MIPA will afford opportunities for academics from IISc and Melbourne to work across varied fields of study on significant research and research training projects.”
IISc welcomed the new agreement with the University of Melbourne.
“We are excited about this program with University of Melbourne,” said Professor Govindan Rangarajan, Director of IISc. “In fact, this is our first Joint Doctoral Program agreement with any foreign university and we are glad that it is happening with one of our strongest and long-term partners. IISc would be happy to extend its complete support for the success of this program and our partnership.”
Initially, IISc partnered with the University of Melbourne in the Melbourne-India Postgraduate Program (MIPP), a predecessor program to the MIPA.
To date, several MIPP and MIPA collaborations have been awarded prestigious Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) grants funded by the Indian Government.
MIPA Director Meenakshi Arora said the joint PhD agreement will provide new opportunities to further accelerate and deepen research collaboration with IISc.
“I look forward to witnessing the growing collaboration between staff and graduate researchers, working together to solve some of the most wicked global problems” Associate Professor Arora said.
