India, US announce eight educational partnerships

Washington: In a milestone in the educational partnership between India and the United States, eight institutional partnership projects, four each led by either country, were announced for the first Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative awards.

The goal of the initiative is to further strengthen, through faculty exchanges, joint research, and other collaboration, partnerships between American and Indian institutions of higher education in priority fields, including food security, climate change, sustainable energy, and public health, the US State Department announced on Tuesday.

Each project will receive an award of approximately $250,000 that can be utilised over the three-year grant period to encourage mutual understanding, educational reform, and economic growth, as well as the development of junior faculty.

Indian-led Partnerships:

Mahatma Gandhi University: An Interdisciplinary and Community Oriented Approach toward Sustainable Development in partnership with Brown University, Duke University and Plymouth State University.

Banaras Hindu University: Paradigm Shift in Energy Scenario for the 21st Century toward Renewable Energy Sources required for both India and the US in partnership with University of Pittsburgh.

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur: International Programme for Sustainable Infrastructure Development in partnership with Virginia Tech University.

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi: Resource Building for Ecosystem and Human Health Risk Assessment with Special reference to Microbial Contamination in partnership with Drexel University.

US-led partnerships:

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey: Capitalising on the Demographic Dividend: Enhancing Talent Development Capacity for India and the US in the 21st Century in partnership with Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

University of Montana: Impacts of Climate Change and Changes in Socio-Economic Structure on Traditional Agriculture and the Development of Sustainable Communities among Indigenous Populations in partnership with Bangalore University.

Cornell University: Implementing Reformed Curriculum in Emerging areas of Agriculture and Food Security in Two State Agricultural Universities of India in partnership with University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut.

University of Michigan: The Joint Development of a Master's Degree in Education for Health Professions Faculty in the United States and India in partnership with Maharashtra University of the Health Sciences.

The next request for proposals for grants from the Obama-Singh Initiative announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama in November 2009 will be announced in July 2012.