An Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IITR) delegation, led by Director Prof KK Pant, visited the University of Potsdam (UP) in Germany to discuss and accelerate their partnership in higher education, research and collaborations.

The visit was made possible through the invitation of Professor Oliver Gunther, President of UP and facilitated by IITR’s International Relations office and an international Indo-German Cooperation project. The IITR delegation consisted of Director Prof KK Pant; Dean of International Relations, Prof Vimal Chandra Srivastava; Prof P Arumugam (Professor Physics); Prof Ankit Agarwal (Hydrology, Lead Project Investigation of Indo-German Project); and International Relation Office representatives, Dr Ravikant Ranjan and Mr Ravi Kumar.

Besides, Prof Oliver Guenther; Dr Regina Neum-Flux, Director, International Office; Marita Bohning, Strategic Advisor to the Vice President for International Affairs; Prof Axel Bronstert, Chair of Hydrology and Climatology, Institute of Environmental Science and Geography and Dr Jurgen Mey, Scientific Coordinator Co-PREPARE, Coordinator Research Focus ‘Earth and Environmental Systems’ joined the meeting.

Director KK Pant of IITR proposed to host faculty members from UP under various programs at different levels, open to both young and experienced faculty members.

Both institutions agreed to exchange young professors and scientists to share knowledge and research experience, even participating in teaching at the partner institute.

The President of UP conveyed that the visit provides an opportunity to look back at the relationship and cooperation and strengthen it further.

They also discussed their cooperation in hydrology, climatology, and disaster management among others and how to diversify and expand collaboration further.

Based on their excellent cooperation, joint projects, joint publication records, and regular student and faculty mobility, UP and IITR agreed to consider each other as key partners and establish a virtual foci centre.

This will help in securing better administrative support to structure collaboration programs and joint funding opportunities in other research areas such as clean water, green energy, and carbon capture and utilization.

During the meeting at the New Palais Campus, both institutions discussed strengthening their existing Joint Masters Exchange Program and proposed enhancing the PhD Exchange program while working towards an undergraduate exchange program.

This meeting marks a significant milestone in the partnership between IITR and UP, and both institutions look forward to a fruitful collaboration that will benefit their students, faculty, and research initiatives.