July 23, 2018
IIT-D is planning investment of US$365 million over the coming five years in augmenting research and other infrastructure and capabilities
The premier institute aims to double the count of enrolled PhD scholars to 5,000 over the coming five years, including 1,500 from outside India
The measures by IIT-D is backed by the Government’s steps to improve India’s ranking in the global academic arena through the ‘Study in India’ initiative
While there were over 165,000 Indian students enrolled in colleges abroad, there were over 45,000 foreign students in India during 2015-16
The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) is inviting foreign students for PhD programmes on full scholarships, according to media reports citing an official statement on July 23. The announcement by the director of IIT-D, V Ramgopal Rao, comes days after the prestigious institute received the Institute of Eminence (IoE) status from the Indian Government. At least 500 PhD scholarships, including a mix of fellowships and assistantships, will be offered to foreign students over the coming year. This is likely to be followed by similar measures covering graduate and undergraduate courses. The institute also aims to bring in new international faculty members. Meanwhile, IIT-D will be spending around US$365 million over the coming five years in augmenting research and other infrastructure and capabilities.
The scholarship for PhD research is aimed at starting off foreign students inflow into India, following which the move will be withdrawn, Mr Rao said in an interview to The Economic Times. Currently, the 23 IITs across India do not offer scholarships to foreign students. The move will help in improving research and academic prowess of the institute. The IoE status has already made IIT-D eligible for increased autonomy and funding from the Government. The institute has around 9,000 students, including around 2,500 PhD scholars, out of which around 100 are from outside India. It aims to increase its PhD scholar base to 5,000 over the coming five years, including 1,500 from outside India. The scholarships offered to foreign students will be at par with that offered to their Indian peers and will not hurt seat distribution.
These measures by IIT-D has been enabled by the Government’s steps to improve India’s ranking in the global academic arena through the ‘Study in India’ programme. The programme aims to boost the number of inbound international students in India, doubling the nation’s market share of global education exports from less than 1 per cent to 2 per cent. The Government has approved a budget of more than US$23 million for the ‘Study in India’ programme over 2018-20 which will be primarily spent for promotion activities. To raise interest, scholarships for meritorious students have been offered in the range of 25 per cent to 100 per cent. While there were more than 165,000 Indian students enrolled in colleges abroad, there were over 45,000 foreign students in India during the financial year 2015-16.