Published on: Saturday, 09 October 2010

In a major development, CIT has engaged with the University of Pune (UoP) to extend significantly the extent of its international engagement in India. A formal agreement between CIT and UoP to participate in joint PhD supervision and joint development of programmes, at levels up to and including taught masters and structured PhD, has just been signed.

L - R Front row: Dr Raghunath Shevgaonkar, Vice-Chancellor, UoP; Dr Brendan Murphy, President, CIT; signing the addendum to the 2008 MoU between CIT and UoP Back row: Mr Billy Kelleher, Minister for Trade and Commerce; and His Excellency P.S. Raghavan, Ambassador of India to Ireland.

Michael Loftus, Head, Faculty of Engineering and Science, CIT, commented that “the signing of this agreement represents the culmination of the efforts of CIT and UoP over a number of years to build an international relationship of strategic value to both institutions. This extension of our cooperation provides a platform for our students, staff and industry stakeholders to participate in an initiative which integrates education, research and innovation in a truly international context. India’s importance in global affairs is rising continuously and CIT’s stakeholders now have the opportunity to engage with some of India’s leading institutions in a very meaningful way. This development aligns fully with the 2006 Ireland-India Government-to-Government Agreement on Scientific and Technological Co-operation and the related 2009 Programme of Cooperation on Science and Technology.”

This initiative has been led on the Indian side by the Vice-Chancellor of UoP, Dr. Raghunath Shevgaonkar, who travelled to visit CIT with Dr. Vasudha Garde, Director, International Centre at UoP, at the beginning of this week. As part of an intensive schedule for this visit, Dr. Shevgaonkar reviewed at first hand CIT’s educational facilities, research centres, business incubation hub and innovation ecosystem infrastructure. He observed that “UoP and CIT have complementary strengths in their respective approaches to research, innovation, teaching and learning. Through the extension of our cooperation, we hope to build an innovation ecosystem that is truly international in nature and fully aligned with the development needs of India and Ireland.”

Head of Research at CIT, Dr Niall Smith, commented that “UoP is recognised globally as a leading university. It is well known for its leadership in the internationalisation of education and for its progressive educational policies and visionary outlook. We are very satisfied with the quality of our engagement with UoP thus far and we look forward to creating new opportunities for both CIT and UoP in the future. CIT has continuously refined its integrated research and innovation strategy over recent years and is now recognised as a leading innovation hub, as evidenced by the international innovation and entrepreneurship awards won by its students and the recognition it has been accorded within the EU for its support for high potential start-up businesses. The signing of these agreements will add to our capacity to internationalise further what we have already achieved.”

The extension of the cooperation between the institutions was marked by the formal signing of an addendum to the 2008 Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions. The signing ceremony was witnessed by His Excellency P.S. Raghavan, Ambassador of India to Ireland, and Mr. Billy Kelleher, Minister for Trade and Commerce. Also in attendance was Mr Prashant Shukla, Chairman of the Ireland India Council, Mr Brendan O’Regan, CEO of Zenith Technologies (strong supporters of this initiative) and a number of invited guests.