Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, will enter into a memorandum of understanding with the National Institute of Technology-Tiruchi, according to Subra Suresh, president, NTU.
Speaking to reporters here along with Mini Shaji Thomas, Director, NIT-T, Mr. Suresh said that a team from NIT-T recently visited NTU and explored the possibilities of academic collaboration. It had been mutually decided to have an academic understanding. It could be joint research on various fields, student and faculty exchange programmes. Further discussions were needed to design a framework of understanding which would be beneficial to both institutions, he said.
Mr. Suresh said there was already a mechanism to accommodate students of NIT-T in NTU for a brief period of their academic careers and it could be strengthened. The NTU had collaboration with more than 100 universities and higher learning institutes in the world, including IIT-Madras. It was good to note that both the NTU and the NIT-T had Siemens Centre of Excellence. The proposed collaboration could be based on maximising the available infrastructure to find out innovative technologies in various fields.
India had a number of renowned institutions, including IITs, NITs and All India Institute of Medical Science. The institutes, which were focusing on teaching initially, had turned their attention to research. India was also investing heavily in research in the last 20 years. It was a good sign on educational transformation.
To a question, Mr. Suresh said that the NTU was holding the top rank among youngest technological universities in the world. It was made possible due to a combination of factors. A well-established and transparent policy framework, mission statement, unbiased system of project selection, focus on research, student and faculty diversity, external perspective, autonomous status on academic programmes and faculty recruitment and setting up exclusive funding agencies were some of the reasons. Several higher learning institutes in India had potential to become a part of an elite group. They could take a cue from the success of NTU, he said.
