Australian Varsity to leverage India centre to operate in South Asia

Australia's Deakin University is set to leverage its India centre to expand its operations in South Asia, Vice-Chancellor Jane den Hollander said. The university is also keen to become the knowledge partner for the Government's ‘Make in India' campaign.

The varsity set up an office in India in 1994. "After 20 years of being here, we have decided to expand the operations of India office to include South Asia. We see the internationalisation pillar we have here as a significant strategy for us and we will extend it to South Asian countries such as Mauritius, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and UAE," Hollander told BusinessLine.

Recognising that countries must have capabilities and skills for jobs of their future, she said that the university sees ‘Make in India' very significant at the educational level.

"At the research level, we have started negotiations with one of our research partners and are mulling making a submission to become the knowledge partner for this campaign," Hollander said, adding that the university has already been focussing on areas such as material sciences, agriculture, nanotechnology, health and skills.

There is already a partnership between the university, Indian Oil and Government of India for a joint centre for bio energy, said Ravneet H Pawha, Director-South Asia, Deakin University.

The university has 15 research partners such as Indian Oil, Bharat Forge, Reliance Life Sciences, apart from and 20 teaching partnerships in India which include top IITs, University of Mumbai, Amity University, among others.