The goal of the Indo-U.S. 21st Century Knowledge Initiative (formerly known as the Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative) is to further strengthen the partnership between American and Indian institutions of higher education in fields including food security, climate change, sustainable energy, and public health. They plan on doing this through faculty exchanges, joint research, and other collaborations. Rutgers Education and Employment Research Center (EERC) partnered with the Indo-U.S. Initiative in a project tilted Capitalizing on the Demographic Dividend: Enhancing Talent Development Capacity for India and the U.S. in the 21st century. Through this three year grant period, they hope to encourage mutual understanding, educational reform, and economic growth.
The goals of the Indo-U.S. 21st Century Knowledge Initiative will be best accomplished through academic cooperation and network-building. EERC is working towards building a cohesive community of individuals, groups and institutions who have an interest in India. A series of events took place in June 2013 to facilitate these collaborations. The events included the Academic Leadership Academy hosted by Pennsylvania State University, signing of an MOU by the Indian Consulate and Rutgers University, and a Study Tour during which delegates from India’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences visited Rutgers University and participated in exchange activities to share ideas on education systems and workforce development.
Several new grant activities are now in place to continue the exchange between Indian and US institutions. These include a Pre-Dissertation Program that will allow Rutgers students to go to India for doctoral research, an India Initiative launched by the Rutgers Centers for Global Advancement and International Affair, and a Rutgers-India MBS Program that will help students easily transition from Indian undergraduate institutions to Professional Science Master’s programs. All of the current grant activities are designed by individuals from various university departments and organized by EERC in order to achieve the goals of OSKI and USIEF.
Funded by the United States-India Educational Foundation
