Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the University of Sydney to enhance academic and educational exchange and research collaborations.
Besides enhancing academic interaction between the two universities, the MoU shall facilitate two-way mobility of students and announce a call for research seed grant scheme that will build capacity based on collaborative research. Through this collaboration, both the universities intend to identify opportunities for joint activities in areas of mutual interest that address the pressing issues globally.
Fostering research
Stephen Garton AM, Vice-Chancellor and Principal at University of Sydney, and Lt Gen (retd) MD Venkatesh, Vice-Chancellor of MAHE, signed the MoU in a virtual event on Thursday.
In his opening remarks, Garton said that the institutions must explore opportunities to establish joint innovation to promote collaboration and commercialisation activities between Australia and India.
The new collaboration will establish a long-term partnership that could help foster research and mobility. Central to the new agreement will be the recognition of jointly supervised PhD programmes across the proposed research clusters identified by the two universities, he said.
Mutual interest
Expressing his delight at formalising this MoU, Venkatesh said this collaboration will be mutually beneficial bringing the best of academics to scale new heights of excellence enshrining the knowledge triangle of education, research, and innovation.
Amanda Sayan, Director of Partnerships, University of Sydney, said that the university intends to launch a joint ‘Global Strategic Partnership Fund’ to support research and other collaborative activities under this agreement.
Raghu Radhakrishnan, Director of International Collaborations at MAHE, said that in the true spirit of internationalisation MAHE places diversity and adaptability through inclusion in the centre of organisational matters.
He also highlighted government schemes such as Study in India (SII) and Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) for hosting international students and facilitating academic and research exchange.