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June 13, 2012
Partnerships between American and Indian Institutions of Higher Education
Photos: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers remarks at the U.S.-India Higher Education Summit at the George C. Marshall Center in Washington, D.C. on June 12, 2012 (State Department Photos).
In a milestone in the educational partnership between India and the United States, the U.S. Department of State today announced the eight institutional partnership projects below 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. Each project will receive an award that can be utilized over the three-year grant period.
U.S.-led Partnerships:
• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Project Title: Capitalizing on the Demographic Dividend: Enhancing Talent Development Capacity for India and the U.S. in the 21st Century
Partner Institution: Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
• University of Montana
Project Title: Impacts of Climate Change and Changes in Socio-Economic Structure on Traditional Agriculture and the Development of Sustainable Communities among Indigenous Populations
Partner Institution: Bangalore University
• Cornell University
Project Title: Implementing Reformed Curriculum in Emerging areas of Agriculture and Food Security in Two State Agricultural Universities of India
Partner Institutions: University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad; and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut
• University of Michigan
Project Title: The Joint Development of a Master’s Degree in Education for Health Professions Faculty in the United States and India
Partner Institution: Maharashtra University of the Health Sciences
Indian-led Partnerships:
• Mahatma Gandhi University
Project Title: An Interdisciplinary and Community Oriented Approach toward Sustainable Development
Partner Institutions: Brown University, Duke University and Plymouth State University
• Banaras Hindu University
Project Title: Paradigm Shift in Energy Scenario for the 21st Century toward Renewable Energy Sources required for both India and the U.S.
Partner Institution: University of Pittsburgh
• Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Project Title: International Program for Sustainable Infrastructure Development
Partner Institution: Virginia Tech University
• Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Project Title: Resource Building for Ecosystem and Human Health Risk Assessment with Special reference to Microbial Contamination
Partner Institution: Drexel University
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama announced the Obama-Singh Initiative in November 2009 as an affirmation of their commitment to building an enhanced India-U.S. partnership in education.
To implement this initiative, the Governments of India and the United States established a bi-national Obama-Singh Initiative joint working group (JWG). The JWG provides the final approval for all grants awarded through the Obama-Singh Initiative.
• The “Proposal Submission Instructions” and the “Open Competition” for the next round of the Obama-Singh Initiative grants will be announced in July 2012 by University Grants Commission (UGC), Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110002, India.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
• UPDATE - 1
University Grants Commission (UGC), India, has invited applications for Post Doctoral Fellowships for Indian Scholars in United States for 2012 under Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative 2012.
Objective: The objective of the Fellowships is to provide the Indian scholars an opportunity to have international collaborative research opportunities and training in advanced techniques and technologies in emerging fields, thereby furthering their research capacity and ability to contribute to higher education with global perspective and forging long-term relationships with distinguished experts in these fields in USA. These fellowships would be called Post Doctoral Fellowships for the year 2012 to be awarded by University Grants Commission, India.
Number of Fellowships: 300
Important Date: The application must be submitted in the ‘online mode’ latest by July 11, 2012.
• [According to a communication from SECRETARY, UGC, the last date to apply has been extended to 18th August, 2012.]
Eligibility Criteria:
• The applicant should be a permanent teacher in a university/institution recognized by UGC under 2(f) and 12B of UGC Act.
• The applicant should possess at least 60% marks or equivalent in the post-graduate degree.
• The applicant should possess a PhD degree in respective academic discipline (Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Science, Engineering, Technology, Agricultural Sciences) or MD/MS/PhD in Medical Sciences.
• UPDATE - 2
Aiming to improve the quality of education across all colleges and universities, India will soon come up with a regulation that will inform students about their academic rights and entitlements.
• According to the University Grants Commission, or UGC - the apex regulatory body for universities in India - it is working on a Students’ Entitlement Regulation. The regulation will apply to public and private universities alike.
The regulation will specify the academic rights of students, such as the minimum number of lectures to be held, access to quality laboratories, the presence of adequate books and reference material in university libraries, and sporting and accommodation facilities, among other areas.
The UGC also plans to create a portal where students can post shortcomings of their campuses and provide a real picture of different campuses in terms of academic matters.
According to the UGC chair, Professor Ved Prakash, students must have complete knowledge about their rights relating to learning, the living environment, physical activities, entertainment and sports facilities. “Once the regulation comes into effect, a student can complain if any specific right or entitlement is being violated,” Professor Prakash said.
• UPDATE - 3
US-India Institutional Partnership Grants
The United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) has announced an open competition for the support of projects through the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative (OSI). OSI aims to strengthen collaboration and build partnerships between American and Indian institutions of higher education.
• Accredited US post-secondary educational institutions meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 U.S.C. 501©(3) may submit proposals to support the program’s goals of encouraging mutual understanding, facilitating educational reform, fostering economic development, and engaging civil society through academic cooperation with Indian post secondary educational institutions.
Submission Deadline: November 1, 2012.
Exchange activities may include but are not limited to curriculum design, research collaboration, team teaching, focused series of exchanges, seminars, among other activities. Activities should be designed to develop expertise, advance scholarship and teaching, and promote reliable, long-term communication between partner institutions.
• Proposals in the following fields are eligible: Energy; Sustainable Development; Climate Change; Environmental Studies; Education and Educational Reform; Public Health; and Community Development and Innovation.
• UPDATE - 4
English language weekly magazine INDIA TODAY has ranked India’s top 50 universities, out of a total 160 surveyed.
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 6:34 AM | Link to this Post
