TAU Leadership Visits India

31 January 2023

Visiting Institutional Partners

The first stop was Chennai, where the TAU delegation paid a comprehensive visit to IIT Madras, top-ranked Indian research university and TAU’s strategic partner. TAU and IIT Madras hold an ongoing PhD mobility programs and seed-funded research projects in multiple areas, including Quantum and Urban Studies. TAU President Prof. Porat and IIT Madras Director Prof. Kamakoti agreed to expand the scope of collaboration to Cyber research, a flagship area. Increasing PhD mobility was emphasized as another crucial goal for the post-COVID era.

The visit to Southern India continued in Coimbatore, where TAU visited Kumaraguru Institutions (KI), a group of private colleges that includes Kumaraguru College of Technology (KCT), Kumaraguru College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (KCLAS), and Kumaraguru Business School. TAU and KI explored opportunities for collaborative teaching in Cyber Security, Liberal Arts and Business, as well as setting up a R&D project in Water Treatment and a mentoring program for FORGE, KCT’s startup incubation center. KI President Mr. Shankar Vanavarayar presented a collection of rare Tamil manuscripts collected by KI’s historians over decades, and now displayed in the central library in the heart of KCT’s campus.

TAU delegation then traveled to Northern India to visit Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET) in Patiala, TAU’s long-standing partner and one of the strongest and most dynamic private institutions in India. Together with Mr. Rajeev Vederah, Chairman of TIET Board, Dr. Ajay Batish, Deputy Director of TIET, and the team of TIET faculty and administration, TAU delegates discussed the portfolio of TAU-TIET cooperation that includes joint research Centers of Excellence in Food Security and Advanced Manufacturing, an articulation program with tracks in Engineering and Life Sciences, and other initiatives.

Prof. Ariel Porat meeting partnering institutions and learning about their projects.

One highlight of the visit was the food tasting session of Guava Probi, a healthy and sustainable series of food products made with food monitoring & preservation technology developed by the TAU-TIET Center of Excellence for Food Security team under the supervision of Prof. Yosi Shacham (TAU) and Prof. Moushmi Ghosh (TIET).

The delegation was next welcomed at OP Jindal Global University’s (JGU) brand-new Delhi office by JGU’s Founding Vice-Chancellor and Dean of JGU Law School Prof. Raj Kumar, JGU Dean of International Affairs and Former Ambassador of India to France and Bahrain Dr. Mohan Kumar, and a team of JGU faculty members. Other than excelling in Law, Social Sciences, and Humanities, JGU runs the only-in-India Center for Jewish and Israeli Studies, which has a long association with Tel Aviv University.

The trip continued with a visit to IIT Delhi, one of three public Institutes of Eminence of India.

Rounding off the visit, TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat and Vice President Prof. Milette Shamir joined Dr. Daniel Zajfman, Chair of the Israel Science Foundation Academic Board for a meeting with Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman of the University Grants Commission of India. The discussion focused on further bridging the higher education systems of the two countries and promoting closer research collaboration between India and Israel.

On December 14-15, TAU delegation attended the 15th edition of the India-Israel Forum in New Delhi. The Forum was co-convened by Tel Aviv University, Ananta Aspen Centre (India), and the Confederation of Indian Industry, bringing together leaders and experts from domains of academia, science, venture capital, business, diplomacy, civil society, and politics.

India has become an increasingly important and strategic partner for Israel, and for Tel Aviv University. TAU has a long-standing and successful record of cooperation with Indian institutions and of offering world-class education and research opportunities to Indian students and scholars. In 2022, 30% of all international postdocs at TAU were from India. TAU alumni can be found running successful businesses and employed in private and public entities throughout the country.