- The workshop focusses on application-oriented ideas and yields innovations that benefit both Germany and India.
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee), the International Relations Office, IIT Roorkee recently organised a workshop in IIT Roorkee Greater Noida Centre (GNEC), on 13 October 2023. GNEC is another campus of the institute located in NCR region. GNEC is located in the lush green environment of the Greater Noida equipped with labs, class-rooms, conferencing facility and IT labs. IIT Roorkee had organised ‘Indo-German Partnership Workshop‘ to enhance scientific cooperation and fortify the bonds between Indian and German institutions. The overarching theme for the event was ‘Bridging Horizons: Indo-German Scientific Collaboration at IIT Roorkee’, with two distinct sessions.
The first session, titled ‘German Excellence: Unveiling Scientific Opportunities’, served as a platform to showcase the endeavors, projects, research domains and plans of various German stakeholders, universities and funding agencies. Noteworthy representatives from Germany, including DAAD (New Delhi) represented by Dr Katja Lasch and Shikha Sinha, as well as the Indo-German Science & Technology Centre (IGSTC) represented by Dr PV Lalitha Nair, were present. Several German institutions, such as the University of Potsdam, University of Göttingen, Freie Universität Berlin, and University of Cologne, shared their perspectives. The German participants shared their expectations from leading Indian institutes to reinforce Indo-German cooperation, offering valuable insights to streamline collaborative efforts.
The second session, on ‘IIT Roorkee – Forging Pathways to Strengthen Cooperation’, highlighted IIT Roorkee’s research capabilities, infrastructure, and areas of expertise. It emphasised IIT Roorkee’s strength to bring forth scientific collaboration, resources, and support for building partnerships between Indian and German institutions. IIT Roorkee was represented by Prof. Vimal Chandra Srivastava (Dean, International Relations), Prof Akshay Dvivedi (Dean SRIC), Prof P Arumgam (Dept of Physics), and Prof Ankit Agrawal (DAAD Research Ambassador) who provided insights into the institution’s potential for collaboration.
Representatives from the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, Dr SK Varshney (Adviser and Head of International Cooperation) and Dr Rajiv Kumar also shared their insights during the interactions. The Indo-German Partnership Workshop was organised by the International Relations Office of IIT Roorkee, represented by Dr Shantanu Wahal and Dr Ravikant Ranjan. The discussions further delved into the internationalization of higher education and research collaborations between Indian and German institutions.
Dr SK Varshney, Adviser and Head of International Cooperation, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India remarked that exchange of students and young researchers between India and Germany has increased by leaps and bounds over the past years. Both the countries have recently launch a new initiative on Indo-Greman Research Training Group (IRTG) to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries. Science & Technology Cooperation is one of the strategic pillars between the two countries.
Highlighting the essence of the workshop, Prof K K Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee said, “The Indo-German Partnership Workshop at IIT Roorkee served as an invaluable platform for bolstering scientific collaboration between India and Germany, fostering mutual growth, and setting the stage for future cooperation and innovation. In fact, India ranks second after China in the list of countries with the largest number of overseas students in Germany (as of 2021).”
