Sorbonne University strengthens its ties with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
From 10 to 12 June, Sorbonne University had the honour of hosting a delegation from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), one of the university’s strategic partners. As part of the Franco-Indian Year of Innovation, the visit marked a new chapter for cooperation between Sorbonne University and IIT Delhi.
Marking the Director of IITD’s first visit to Sorbonne University
The three-day visit began with a bilateral meeting between the President of Sorbonne University, Nathalie Drach-Temam, and Rangan Banerjee, Director of IITD. The discussions provided an opportunity to review the current partnership between the two institutions and discuss the progress made following the trip to Delhi made by a university delegation in February earlier this year. Vivek Buwa, Deputy Director of Strategy and Planning at IITD, and Guillaume Fiquet, Vice-President for International, Socio-Economic and Territorial Partnerships at Sorbonne University, also took part in the meeting, helping to shape a joint roadmap for the coming years.
Students and researchers from Sorbonne University also attended a lecture given by Rangan Banerjee on “India’s Energy Transition and Net Zero Future: Challenges and Opportunities”. Speaking to a full house, Professor Banerjee explored the challenges posed by this global phenomenon. The lecture was followed by a discussion focusing on current opportunities for Franco-Indian cooperation.
Members of the IITD delegation witnessed the cutting-edge expertise of the university’s research infrastructure and platforms during various laboratory visits, including the Paris Institute of Molecular Chemistry and LIP6 - both jointly supervised by Sorbonne University and the CNRS - as well as the Sorbonne Cluster for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI), opening up new opportunities for potential collaboration.
Technical meetings on collaborative initiatives also helped to define the implementation of future projects, such as a joint Master’s and PhD programme.
The Franco-Indian Campus: a unique partnership
Sorbonne University and IITD have maintained strong ties since 2023, linked in particular to the launch of the Franco-Indian Campus, supported by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space. IITD is home to numerous centres of excellence and research areas in health and life sciences which complement those of Sorbonne University. Together, IITD and Sorbonne University coordinate one of the campus’ flagship programmes in Integrated Health.
Today, the project offers numerous mobility opportunities for students, PhD candidates and researchers through interdisciplinary spring schools and joint workshops in the humanities, social sciences, health and biology.
An exciting agenda for Franco-Indian cooperation
The month of June was also marked by other key events linked to India nationally in France, aimed at strengthening Franco-Indian cooperation in the higher education and research sectors.
On 8 June, the Udice alliance for French research universities hosted a network of Indian Institutes of Technology and Science (IITs/IISc) at Université Paris Cité, with the participation of Sorbonne Université, providing a key opportunity to deepen a shared understanding of each ecosystem and to reaffirm the strategic importance of academic and scientific collaboration between the two national networks. This meeting led to the signing of a partnership agreement between the Udice Alliance and the Indian IITs/IISc network during the Indian innovation fair ‘Bharat Innovates’, held in Nice on 14 June.
The Department for International and European Affairs at Sorbonne University supports those wishing to develop cooperation projects in India.