The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi is looking to enrol 500 international students to its new International PhD Fellowship Programme over the next five years, with enrolled international students paying fees on par with those of their Indian counterparts.
“The cultural diversity that will happen because of this step will go a long way in generating new research ideas“
The institute has already begun promoting the program across a number of countries including the Maldives, Russia, Canada, Taiwan, Italy, France, Sweden, Egypt in a bid to encourage some of the brightest minds from around the world to study there.
According to a Times of India report, in addition to paying similar fees to Indian students, international students on the IPFP will receive a stipend of Rs 31,000 (£334.81) for the initial two years and Rs 36,000 (£388.81) for the remaining period of their research.
“We are now aggressively focussing on internationalisation of education being imparted at the Institute,” said director of IIT Delhi, V Ramgopal Rao.
“Currently, we have as many as 100 foreign PhD students, which is about 1% of total PhD students at the campus, but we want to raise it to 10% in the next three years. IPFP is a way to reach that target.”
Rao explained that there is no yearly quota for admitting students, with a goal of admitting 400 Indian and 200 international PhD students in the upcoming academic year 2019-20.
He said that in the past, international students have tended to opt for private universities for research and PhD programs as there is a notion that IITs are tough to get through.
“For IPFP admissions, we will be adopting the American way of admissions, which is well-accepted and popular,” he said, adding that international students will go through interviews on Skype and will be required to produce reference letters at the time at the time of admission.
“Having meritorious PhD students coming to IIT Delhi from all over the world will not only enhance the quality of research happening at IIT Delhi but will also help India develop its soft power across the world.
“The cultural diversity that will happen because of this step will go a long way in generating new research ideas,” he added.
