30 IIT-H graduates to get JICA scholarships

Hyderabad: JICA on Thursday announced scholarships for the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) students to study in internationally renowned universities of Japan during the sixth edition of the Academic Fair, organised under the aegis of JICA-FRIENDSHIP project. These Scholarships will be offered to 30 graduating students of IIT-H to pursue masters or PHD and will cover tuition fees and logistics.

“JICA-FRIENDSHIP project has been initiated by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to facilitate development of research networks between institutions of higher learning and industrial clusters in Japan with IIT-H that would lead to excellence in education and applied research in science and engineering”, says Prof Uday Beer Desai, Director IIT-H.

“FRIENDSHIP connotes future researchers at IIT-H to enhance network development with scholarship of Japan. Under the project, scholarships are offered to students of IIT-H to pursue degrees such as PhD at internationally renowned universities in Japan, such as Tohoku University, University of Tokyo, Keio University, Waseda University, Nagoya University, Kyoto University, Ritsumeikan University, Osaka University and Kyushu University,” he added.

In the sixth edition of the Academic Fair, The University of Tokyo, The University of Usaka, The University of Keio and The University of Ritsumeikan along with 23 Japanese Companies participated and shared insights on the various opportunities offered by JICA. Higher education Ambassador of Japan to India Kenji Hiramatsu also, attended the event and delivered his speech to encourage IIT-H students to visit Japan & study there.

Talking about the students who have been absorbed into industry, Prof Uday Beer Deasai, said, “A tremendous progress under the JICA-FRIENDSHIP project was observed; where 37 IIT-H graduates including six students of masters and 31 PhD students were sent to Japan in nine different universities. Among these students, one graduate joined Suzuki, one graduate joined Nisaan and the other joined DRI, which are all very famous and esteemed. 44 Japanese faculties also visited India for academic interaction in December 2015,” as per a source”.

During the Academic Fair, faculty members from the Japanese universities shared with the students at IIT-H the scope for applied research and study, and the academia-industry linkages at the universities where such research is seamlessly applied for industrial development. Speakers at the Academic Fair included Prof. Hiroshi Esaki, Professor, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology and University of Tokyo, Dr. KatsutoshiToda, Chairman & Managing Director, Toshiba Transmission and Distribution Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd.