New opportunities in biotechnology, nanotechnology, education, business and public health will be created by the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) between South Australia’s Flinders University and three leading universities in India.
The agreements with Amity University Noida in Delhi, Amity University in Jaipur, and Manipal University in Jaipur will be a pathway for Flinders students and staff to experience study and research in vibrant India, while also elevating Flinders as a prime destination of choice for international study for some 150,000 Indian students at the three Indian institutions.
Flinders Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Robert Saint and South Australia’s Investment and Trade Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith are in India for the signing along with Flinders head of medical biotechnology, Professor Chris Franco. Professor Franco and Amity’s Professor Narendra Tuteja jointly lead the Microbiology Technology Institute, an Australia-India Strategic Research Funded project.
Professor Saint says the agreements will boost the profile and reach of the universities in India and Australia.
“These agreements present a fantastic opportunity for Flinders to leverage the best research minds in India in areas of mutual benefit, and establish a productive connection for India with a world top 2% university in Australia,” Professor Saint says.
The deals are described as incredibly timely by Professor Chris Franco.
“India is one of the world’s largest economies and growing fast,” Professor Franco says. “This is the perfect time for a forward-looking university like Flinders to be forging collaborations that will enhance research and student mobility linkages in areas such as medical biotechnology, medicine and occupational therapy, water research and engineering, and nanoscale technology.
“One of India’s largest private universities, Amity aspires to establish its own medical school and Flinders’ much lauded Northern Territory Medical Program could be an ideal model. We’d be delighted to share our expertise in this area.”
State Minister Mr Hamilton-Smith says South Australia has world-class education facilities.
“Today’s MoU signing will promote academic cooperation, mutual understanding and identify areas where staff and students can work together from both universities to promote international excellence in research and teaching in higher education,” Mr Hamilton-Smith says.
“Through South Australia’s international education strategy, Destination Adelaide, the South Australian Government is focused on growing international education, ensuring international students in South Australia have a positive and safe experience, and continuing to promote Adelaide as a learning city.”
The MoUs will reinforce existing links and support the development of new opportunities for expanding collaborative activity between Amity, Manipal, Flinders and the SA Government.
Among other things, they will lead to:
- Joint teaching and research projects
- Visit and exchange of faculty members
- Exchange of students and development of study programs
- Training of and visits by faculty members
- Study abroad programs – joint educational programs, joint supervision of PhD scholars
- Joint consultancy
- Co-hosting and participating in international conferences, symposia and seminars
- Social and cultural programs
The signings also complement the Indian Government’s priority of making education the key driving force of its social, economic and political transformation, as outlined in its national economic Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017).