Press Release Deakin University and IIT Hyderabad signup for a

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Press Release

Hyderabad: March 31, 2021

Deakin University and IIT Hyderabad signup for a Joint Doctoral Program

The joint doctoral program is expected to commence in July 2021 with an enrolment of 10 PhD students in

its 1

year.

Deakin University (Deakin) and IIT Hyderabad (IITH) first signed an agreement for research collaborations in

2015, and since then, the association has only grown stronger. IITH is a partner in the Deakin-IITM, Centre of

Excellence on Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (CoE). The two institutions have forged a very strong

partnership in this domain through the CoE. To harness the full potential of both institutions, they are now

entering into an agreement to offer a Joint Doctoral Program (JDP) in a wide range of subjects/disciplines,

including (but not limited to) Materials and Smart Manufacturing; Affordable Healthcare; Food, Environment,

and Agriculture; Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science; Cyber-Physical Systems;

Infrastructure and Energy.

The agreement was signed in a virtual event by Alfred Deakin Professor Julie Owens (Acting Vice-Chancellor,

Deakin), and Prof. B. S. Murty (Director, IITH), in the presence of Prof. Pinaki Prasad Bhattacharjee (Dean,

International and Alumni Relations), Prof. Saptarshi Majumdar (Dean, Academics) from IITH, Professor Bas

Baskaran (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research), Professor Peter Hodgson, Ms Ravneet Pawha (Global Vice

President and CEO, S Asia), and Kopal Chaube Dutta from Deakin University, along with other officials from

both institutions.

The Salient features of the agreement are:

1. Candidates with BTech/MTech degrees are eligible to apply for the JDP provided they meet the

necessary entry requirements. The selection will be made through a joint interview process. Upon

selection into the JDP Program, the candidates will be jointly supervised from day one by supervisors

from both IITH and Deakin.

2. Successful candidate(s) will spend between 3-12 months at Deakin depending upon the research

requirements.

3. IITH will provide the regular PhD fellowship to the students during their stay at IITH and when the

students travel to Deakin, they will get a stipend, paid fortnightly, to increase the total equivalent

stipend to $A28, 600 per annum. In addition to the above, Deakin will provide a full tuition fee waiver

for up to 4 years and a top-up stipend of $A150 per month for 3 years while they are at IITH.

4. Each candidate will be assigned a Supervisory Team at Deakin and Doctoral Committee at IITH.

5. Once the candidate meets all requirements for a PhD, he/she will be conferred PhD by both the institutes

with two separate certificates with a noting that doctoral award is conferred under the JDP HDR (Higher

Degree by Research) program between the institutes.

Alfred Deakin Professor Julie Owens (Acting Vice-Chancellor, Deakin) expressed happiness at Deakin and

IITH in formalizing this program and hoped that this collaboration will benefit students and both the

Institutions. “As one of Australia’s largest universities, Deakin has strong global linkages, world-class research

and, most importantly, an educational portfolio that blends the best of campus and digital delivery into a

highly supportive and personalised student experience. Deakin is committed to working with IITH to bring this

knowledge to combat the great challenges of the community and countries”, added Alfred Deakin Professor

Julie Owens.

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This association is aimed at developing successful academic and research collaborations in the areas of

common interest and complementary capabilities. It seeks to harness the synergy at both institutions to

propel excellent research.

Outlining the benefits of the program with Deakin, Prof. B. S. Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad said, "IITH

had a wonderful journey in the last one decade and has established itself as a strong force in its teaching and

research. Deakin comes along with four decades of academic and research excellence. Through this MoU,

both IITH and Deakin will explore new avenues in the field of teaching and research through synergy to scale

newer heights of excellence and will prove to be a winning quotient for the benefit of the society at large.”

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About Deakin University

Established in 1974, Deakin University is one of Australia's leading tertiary education providers and is ranked

in the top 1% of world universities (ARWU). It has won numerous awards and teaches over 60,000 students

each year offering students world-class programs and endless opportunities. Deakin University offers world-

class courses delivered from 14 schools, across 4 faculties. With 78,000+ high-achieving online graduates, it

is the #1 university careers service in Australia & the #1 university in Victoria for student satisfaction. Deakin

University was the first international education provider to set up an office in India in 1994. It is currently the

most engaged Australian Provider across education, training, research, capacity building and consultancy

initiatives with academia, industry and Government. It has established premier partnerships in India to

transform education and research into beneficial community outcomes, to produce world-class graduates

and contribute to the growth and sustainability of the communities.

To know, please visit: https://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin

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About IIT Hyderabad

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) is one of the six new Indian Institutes of Technology

established by the Government of India in 2008. In a short span of 12 years, the institute built on an imposing

578-acre campus and has been ranked among the top 10 institutes for four consecutive years in the NIRF

released by the Ministry of Education, GoI. IITH was also ranked under Top #20 in the recent edition ARIIA

on indicators related to ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development’ among students and faculties. IIT

Hyderabad has 237 full-time faculty, 3,397 students of whom 20 per cent are women, nearly 200 state-of-

the-art laboratories and five research and entrepreneurship centres. The Institute has a strong research focus

with more than Rs. 500 crore of sanctioned research funding while PhD scholars account for about 30% of

total student strength. IITH students and faculty are at the forefront of innovation with more than 5500

research publications and 100+ patent disclosures, 300 sponsored/ consultancy projects and 50 industry &

academic collaborations.

To know more, please visit: https://www.iith.ac.in/

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Please direct all media queries to:

Mrs. Mitalee Agrawal | Public Relations Officer, IIT Hyderabad Cell: 8331036099 / Email: [email protected]

Mr. David Das, Email: david.das@deakin.edu.au, Call: +91 11 26544715

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You can view all press release/ note from IIT Hyderabad at https://pcr.iith.ac.in/pressrelease.html