Ohio State, IIT Bombay launch new dual degree PhD program

Ohio State, IIT Bombay launch new dual degree PhD program

Initiative is expected to grow talent in both schools, aid global workforce development

The Ohio State University and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have launched a new partnership to increase the research and academic relationship between the two organizations.

IIT Bombay is a national flagship technical institute in India. It is predominantly an engineering school, with robust research programs in a number of engineering and science disciplines.

A planned new dual doctoral degree program will support exceptional graduate students from IIT Bombay and Ohio State with global educational and professional experience. The dual degree program cements an existing relationship at the PhD level and expands access to industrial partners and research areas of interest. The new program is also expected to grow talent in both schools and aid in global workforce development.

"This new opportunity will help students gain an international experience in graduate education and provide access to new information and perspectives, innovative concepts and methods, emerging research technologies, and unique populations and environments not typically available at a single institution and country," said Balasubramaniam Shanker, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Ohio State

A special advantage of the new dual doctoral degree program is its association with the previously established IIT Bombay-Ohio State Frontier Science and Engineering Research Center, initiated by Ohio State's Institute for Materials and Manufacturing Research (IMR).

The Frontier Center will provide additional opportunities to accelerate students' research in the dual degree program, similarly to its continued funding of doctoral student projects that are jointly developed by faculty through the center. The initial focus of the dual degree program will be collaboration in microelectronics and artificial intelligence.

"This program will offer exceptional education and hands-on research training to graduate students by providing access to complementary strengths, expertise and facilities at both institutions. Along with the vibrant Frontier Center, this program deepens Ohio State's collaboration with a premier Indian university and supports globally connected graduate education," said IMR Executive Director Steven A. Ringel, Distinguished University Professor in electrical and computer engineering.

The goal of the new program is to produce skilled and diverse graduates from Ohio State and IIT Bombay by recruiting and nurturing excellent domestic and international students to the graduate programs.

The program will enable graduate students to pursue part of their PhD graduate course requirements and research work at both IIT Bombay and Ohio State. The dual degree program will satisfy the degree requirements for both institutions within the time period typically required for a single PhD degree from either institution.

The dual degree program is the first of its kind at Ohio State.

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