Dharmendra Pradhan, Johns Hopkins University discuss plans for offshore campus in India

New Delhi (India), November 17 (ANI): Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met with a high-level delegation from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) on Sunday, during which the two sides explored the potential for establishing an offshore campus of the prestigious US university in India.

The 12-member delegation was led by JHU’s president Ronald J Daniels. The delegation also included officials from Gupta Klinsky India Institute (GKII), an internal unit of JHU with a mandate to bring the JHU community with Indian partners through research, education, policy and practice.

During the meeting, the discussion centred on strengthening academic and research collaborations between JHU, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, and premier Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

Pradhan emphasised the potential for collaborations to foster innovation and entrepreneurship among students in both nations, the education ministry said in a statement.

Higher education Secretary K Sanjay Murthy; senior officials of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Ministry of External Affairs attended the meeting.

“Pradhan highlighted the transformative opportunities enabled by the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), which has paved the way for academic collaborations and advancing India’s education sector,” the statement read.

Pradhan appreciated the JHU’s commitment towards building robust partnerships with Indian HEIs, contributing to the global exchange of knowledge, particularly in the areas of dual and joint degree programmes, two-way mobility of students and faculty, and research partnerships in emerging fields like data science, artificial intelligence, and futuristic technologies.

“He emphasised the potential for these collaborations to foster innovation and entrepreneurship among students in both nations. The delegation actively discussed establishing an offshore JHU campus in India,” the ministry informed.

The ministry asserted that the visit by Daniels and the delegation highlights the growing significance of India-US educational cooperation.

As part of their multi-city tour of India, the delegation will visit various Indian university campuses and engage with key government officials and academic leaders.

The delegation included distinguished academicians and administrators such as Fritz W. Schroeder, Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations; Alexander Triantis, Dean of the Carey Business School; Judd Walson, Chair of the Department of International Health at the Bloomberg School; Sridevi Sarma, Vice Dean of Graduate Education at the Whiting School of Engineering; Jon Goldstein, Senior Associate Director of Development for International Programs; and Amita Gupta, Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University and Co-Founder of the Gupta-Klinsky India Institute (GKII).

Prominent Indian-origin faculty from JHU, such as Mathuram Santosham, Professor of Paediatrics and International Health, and Chirag Parikh, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Nephrology, also participated.