Alberta IITB tieup

The University of Alberta has signed a partnership agreement with IIT Bombay, the leading science and technology institution in India. The agreement will focus mainly on research collaborations in energy and health, but will also allow for some student and faculty exchanges, said Pradipta Banerji, IIT Bombay's former dean of international relations.

"Although the (agreement) is a three-year term, what we are hoping to do is seed something that goes 30 years on its own steam, and faculty-to-faculty interaction is the linchpin," said Banerji, who was in Edmonton this week to work out details of the partnership. "For (graduate) students we can say here's an opportunity for you to have two supervisors and spend time at both institutions."

Banerji said his school has other partnerships with universities in Ontario, but those deals have been plagued with a lack of "action on the ground."

With the U of A agreement, there will be a higher level of commitment to bring scholars together, he said.

"This the first time IIT Bombay has put directed money behind a memorandum of understanding," he said.

"Our faculty thought it was a no-brainer because they have extensive relationships with (U of A faculty) in engineering and science. The U of A is well known for it because they are highly ranked."

The deal is part of a plan by U of A president Indira Samarasekera to attract more students and scholars from India.

IIT Bombay is a science-and engineering-focused institution with 5,800 students, 1,500 of whom are working on PhDs.