29 students already enrolled for higher studies
GUWAHATI, July 28 (PTI/IANS): At least 29 students from nine countries have enrolled in IIT-Guwahati as the authorities are implementing special initiatives to attract foreigners for higher studies at the institute, an official release said on Wednesday.
The foreign students enrolled in the premier institute at present are from the UK, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Syria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Cameroon, and Seychelles, according to the IIT-Guwahati statement.
The institute is actively inviting more foreign national students for admission in courses across all disciplines of engineering, sciences, humanities and social sciences, design, healthcare and medicine, management and interdisciplinary areas, it said.
“With rapid internationalisation of the education sector, IIT Guwahati shall gain a strong foothold across higher education institutes worldwide and can play an active role in mitigating challenges associated with global issues.”
“Students, on the other hand, will gain by obtaining the quality education that we offer here and get an opportunity to pursue research in a world-class environment,” Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati director Prof TG Sitharam said.
He also highlighted the institute’s vision to become a global educational centre of excellence.
The institute is currently part of six foreign exchange programmes, including a joint academic initiative (M Tech) in food science and technology with GIFU University of Japan as the partner, and a joint PhD project in bioinformatics with Heidelberg University of Germany.
BSBE collaborative PhD programme with the Curtin University of Australia in civil engineering, another collaborative PhD project with National Institute of Material Science (NIMS), Japan and a joint PhD supervision programme with Shantou University of China, and a joint PhD initiative with GIFU University in Mechanical Engineering are also offered.
IIT-Guwahati dean (Alumni and External Relations) Prof. Mihir Kumar Purkait said, “To excel as a global leader, the institute must attract the best and brightest brains from around the world, and retain home-grown talent within the limits of our country.”
It is a challenging job but the authorities are hopeful that they will march ahead in becoming a destination for international students with small steps, he said.
The institute looks to improve the number of foreign students by taking specific steps, including exchange programmes related to research, courses and projects, the release said.
It has been placed at 384 by the QS World University Rankings 2023 and has gained a rank of 37 globally in the “research citations per faculty”.
