Varanasi: The Indian Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IIT-Guwahati to start a joint doctoral programme from the next academic session.
This is the first time that two IITs have come together to offer a joint degree programme.
The IIT-BHU spokesman said the joint PhD programme’s idea was first proposed in the 53rd IIT Council meeting conducted on September 27, 2019, according to news agency IANS. The thought behind the programme is to build a ‘network of excellence of all IITs’ rather than each one striving to become a ‘tower of excellence’, the agency said.
The proposal was accepted by the IIT Council to start the Joint Degree Programme, and it will begin in July 2020-21 academic session.
Considering the National Education Policy (NEP-2020), such educational reform and academic collaborations between the premier educational institutes will promote multidisciplinary academic programmes and research for the knowledge-based economy of the country, IIT-BHU director, Prof Pramod Kumar Jain said.