IIT Delhi, JNU Collaborate on Courses and Research Initiatives

• IIT Delhi, JNU sign MoU for credit transfers, joint research.
• Joint seed fund, PhD co-supervision to boost collaboration.
• Plans for shared research park align with NEP 2020.

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote academic and research collaboration.

This partnership is their effort to turn the closeness into a large-scale sharing of resources, thus, making possible the exchange of credits and joint research projects. JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit mentioned that each institution’s strength is to be used in the best way and added that students from either institute can earn credits for courses taken at the other. Unlike the 2017 MoU that saw very little implementation, both sides are determined to act this time.

A joint working group led by the deans of both the institutions will be formed to monitor the progress of the collaboration every six weeks. Initially, the collaboration will focus on sharing of credits, and departments will volunteer to participate in the programme depending upon their readiness for the same.

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Ashwini Agarwal, the Dean of Research and Development at IIT Delhi, made public the launching of a joint seed fund to encourage research collaborations, especially in areas like artificial intelligence and quantum mechanics. PhD scholars will also be assisted by having the faculty from both the institutes for their joint supervision.

The universities will make use of areas where they complement one another such as JNU’s expertise in biology and media studies and IIT Delhi’s engineering skills. The institutes plan to co-invest in research infrastructure, aiming to have a shared “research or innovation park” consistent with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

JNU’s Animal House, a facility for ethical animal-based research, will be open for researchers from IIT Delhi. Even though the main entrances are about two kilometers apart, you can walk through the gates that are inside and get to the campuses which are within walking distance thus making collaboration easy.