This week the President of the University of Twente (UT), Victor van der Chijs, spent time in India fostering relations between the University of Twente and several important universities and industry partners. With him were the dean of Engineering Technology, Geert Dewulf, and International Affairs officer, Jelle Ferwerda. Furthermore, Jelle Nijdam, Counsellor for Science and Technology at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands joins the delegation during their visit.
During the visit, the University of Twente has signed extensive MOU’s with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Madras and the IIT in Karaghpur. The agreements specify the intended exchange of staff and students, and joint educational programmes. Furthermore the existing research ties in the area of Engineering, such as maintenance engineering, rubber technology, and biomedical engineering are continued and intensified.
“Using existing research collaboration as a jumping board, the UT is now taking important steps towards joint educational programmes with well-respected research universities in India”, says Van der Chijs. “As we share a number of industry partners, we will build our network including industry partners.”
Rich history
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are long-standing partners of the University of Twente. The visited IITs were amongst the first of their kind, founded by the Indian government in the 1950-ies. They focus on academic research in the areas of engineering and technology, with a strong societal focus. As such a clear link in focus exists with the UT mission.
Van der Chijs: “With these internationally renowned research universities we will work on establishing research networks in both India as well as the Netherlands. In these partnerships we will explore the collaborative models we have developed with industry in the Netherlands.”
Learn more about the visit (including a blog from Victor van der Chijs and several photo’s) at the UT Vision2020-website.
