OP Jindal Global University and Canada's York University sign MoU

Hyderabad: OP Jindal Global University and Canada’s York University signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday for academic collaboration and supporting student mobility between the two countries. The MoU will help increase collaborations that they have in academic programming, research, innovation, entrepreneurship activities and conferences.

As part of the partnership, the two universities intend to focus on student and faculty exchange programmes, short-term study-abroad programmes, dual-degree programmes and collaborative research projects.

York University — Canada’s third-largest university and ranked in the world’s top 40 for its impact on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals — said it was proud to invest in several critical initiatives that will strengthen its ties with India and create mutually beneficial opportunities for talented students and researchers, including an India Immersion Programme with OP Jindal Global University, as “it’s important for Canadian students to understand India, its growth story and the impact of India on the world.”

Prof. Dr Rhonda Lenton, the eighth president and vice-chancellor of York University, said that the university offers high-quality programmes and leadership in world-class interdisciplinary research, such as a CA$ 318-million Connected Minds initiative that will enable industries to bring equitable technologies to market sooner and train the next generation of students.

“There will further be a pan-India entrepreneurship boot camp that will expose talented students to the world’s largest business and consumer market; and the launch of a new global research seed fund that will invest in global research collaborations with leading universities, industries, government agencies and NGOs in priority countries, such as India,” she said.

“Like many prestigious Indian industries and institutions, York is prioritising teaching, research and knowledge mobilisation in areas that will address equity and inclusion. We are the first Canadian university to have a United Nations CIFAL training centre dedicated to promoting intersectoral cooperation on policy development in areas, such as disaster risk, emergency management and humanitarian actions, health, development, environment and climate change and equity, diversity, and inclusion,” she said.

Highlighting the importance of progressive universities in today’s world, Lenton said it allowed them to play a greater role in facilitating global engagement to address incredibly complex challenges — from rising geopolitical tensions, economies destabilised by inflation, and surging temperatures that threaten the demise of our planet — all the while navigating the rapid deployment of advanced technologies such as AI and automation.

“Moreover, India is one of the world’s fastest-growing markets and having our students come here for short entrepreneurship study tours under partnerships is a crucial development,” she said.

Recent data from the Canadian Bureau for International Education shows that nearly 34 per cent of Canada’s international students come from India.

Prof. Dr C. Raj Kumar, founding vice-chancellor of OP Jindal Global University, who announced a slew of joint initiatives as part of the MoU, which include the launch of an India Immersion Programme for Canadian students, said, “There is a need to encourage growth in the number of Canadian students visiting India in near future. This relationship will not only boost the association between our universities but also strengthen the long-term educational relationship between India and Canada.”