Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati launches initiative to attract more foreign students

GUWAHATI: The Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) is implementing special initiatives to attract foreign students to pursue higher education at the institute.

At present, 29 foreign students are enrolled in the institute from nine different countries, including the UK, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Syria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Cameroon and Seychelles, stated a press release.

IIT-G has been ranked at 384 by the QS World University Rankings 2023. It has gained the rank of 37 globally in the 'Research Citations per Faculty.'

A Joint Degree PhD Programme (JDP) has been initiated under which a student who gets a PhD degree from IIT-G and a partner institute abroad spends at least 12 months at each Institute during the programme, and more such JDPs are likely to be offered in the near future. The institute is also actively inviting 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.

Highlighting IIT-G's vision to become a global educational institute of excellence, its Director Prof TG Sitharam said, "With rapid internationalization 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 at IIT Guwahati and get an opportunity to pursue research in a world-class environment."

The Institute is currently part of six foreign exchange programmes. These include: Joint Academic Programme (M Tech) in Food Science and Technology with GIFU University of Japan as the partner; Joint PhD Programme with GIFU University of Japan in Mechanical Engineering; Joint PhD Programme in Bio Informatics with Heidelberg University of Germany, BSBE; Collaborative PhD Programme with the Curtin University of Australia in Civil Engineering; Collaborative PhD Programme with National Institute of Material Science (NIMS), Japan; and Joint PhD Supervision Programme with Shantou University, China

Highlighting the initiatives of the institute, Prof Mihir Kumar Purkait, Dean (Alumni and External Relations), IIT Guwahati, said, "To excel as a global leader, IIT Guwahati 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 we are hopeful that with small steps we will march ahead in becoming a destination for international students."

The institute aims to further improve the number of foreign students by taking specific steps, including the Exchange Research Work Programme, which accepts applications from foreign nationals registered for a PhD degree in a recognized institute/university who are officially sponsored by that institute/university to carry out research work or to avail a laboratory or other facilities at IIT-G for a period not exceeding two semesters are accepted as visiting students (with IIT-G roll number) under the MoU.

The admission of foreign nationals under the MoU is in accordance with the terms and conditions spelled out in the MoU agreed to between IIT-G and the partner university/institution concerned. Students arriving under the MoU are not charged tuition fees.

There is also a Course Work Exchange Programme, under which foreign nationals registered for a degree in a recognized foreign institute/university, who are officially sponsored by that institute/university to carry out course work at IIT Guwahati for a period not exceeding two semesters (one year), are accepted as exchange students (with IIT Guwahati roll number) under the MoU.

The admission of foreign nationals under the MoU is made in accordance with the terms and conditions spelled out in the MoU agreed to between IIT Guwahati and the partner University/Institution concerned. Students arriving under the MoU will not be charged tuition fees.

Thirdly, there is the Project Work Exchange Programme. Foreign nationals registered for a UG/PG/PhD degree in a recognized institute/university who are officially sponsored by that institute/university to carry out project work or to avail of a laboratory or other facilities at IIT-G for a period not exceeding two semesters are accepted as visiting (with IIT-G roll number) students under the MoU. Students arriving under the MoU are charged tuition fees.

IIT Guwahati has actively pursued a spot in the international stage, becoming the only academic institution in India that occupied a place among the top 100 world universities - under 50 years of age - ranked by the London-based Times Higher Education (THE) in the year 2014 and continues to maintain its superior position even today in various international rankings and in multiple subject areas.

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