On Oct 13, 2023: The International Relations Office, IIT Roorkee organized a workshop at Greater Noida Extension Centre (IITR), Greater Noida. The “Indo-German Partnership Workshop” was attended by various stakeholders from Indian & German sides, to enhance scientific cooperation and fortify the bonds between Indian and German institutions. The overarching theme for the event was “Bridging Horizons: Indo-German Scientific Collaboration at IIT Roorkee,” with two distinct sessions.
The first session, titled “German Excellence: Unveiling Scientific Opportunities,” served as a platform to showcase the endeavours, projects, research domains, and plans of various German stakeholders, universities, and funding agencies. Noteworthy representatives from Germany, including DAAD (New Delhi) represented by Dr Katja Lasch and Ms Shikha Sinha, as well as the Indo-German Science & Technology Centre (IGSTC) represented by Dr PV Lalitha Nair, were present. Several prestigious German institutions, such as the University of Potsdam, University of Göttingen, Freie Universität Berlin, and University of Cologne, shared their perspectives. The German participants shared their expectations from leading Indian institutes to reinforce Indo-German cooperation, offering valuable insights to streamline collaborative efforts.
The second session, titled “IIT Roorkee – Forging Pathways to Strengthen Cooperation,” spotlighted IIT Roorkee’s research capabilities, infrastructure, and areas of expertise. It emphasized what IIT Roorkee brings to the table regarding scientific collaboration, resources, and support for building partnerships between Indian and German institutions. Eminent figures from IIT Roorkee, including Prof. Vimal Chandra Srivastava (Dean, International Relations), Prof. Akshay Dvivedi (Dean SRIC), Prof. P. Arumgam (Dept of Physics), and Prof. Ankit Agrawal (DAAD Research Ambassador), provided valuable insights into the institution’s potential for collaboration.
Representatives from the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, Dr. S. K. Varshney (Adviser and Head of International Cooperation) and Dr. Rajiv Kumar, also contributed their valuable opinions during the discussion sessions.
The Indo-German Partnership Workshop was organized & managed by the International Relations Office of IIT Roorkee. The IR Office was represented by Dr. Shantanu Wahal, Mr Waseem Akhtar and Dr. Ravikant Ranjan.
In essence, the Indo-German Partnership Workshop at IIT Roorkee served as an invaluable platform for bolstering scientific collaboration between India and Germany, fostering mutual growth, and setting the stage for future cooperation and innovation.
After the workshop all the participants were invited for networking lunch and continue the discussions further. All the participants agreed to continue the discussions further related to the internationalization of higher education and research collaborations between Indian and German institutions.