“We have laid an important foundation for expanding our successful collaboration with IIT Roorkee to include further fields in important future-oriented topics,” said University President Oliver Günther after the talks at IIT. “Both sides will benefit enormously from this cooperation in the coming years – and we will continue to work hard to ensure that it develops into a fruitful Indo-German collaboration at a higher level that can serve as a model for the pioneering role of science as an important component of German foreign policy.”
“Indian universities are increasingly trying to attract international students to their campuses,” adds Katharina Schmitt, head of the International Office at the University of Potsdam, who also traveled to India. “We discussed the possibility of future student mobility between Roorkee and Potsdam, possible fields of study and very practical topics.”
The University of Potsdam has been working closely with IIT Roorkee for many years. There are common research interests in particular in environmental sciences and risk research, which a few years ago also led to cooperation within the framework of the “NatRiskChange” research training group. In addition, researchers from both institutions are working closely together on the environmental science project Co-PREPARE to better assess natural hazards in the Himalayas, such as landslides, flash floods and major river flooding.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Roorkee, India, founded in 1847, was incorporated into the prestigious IIT group in 2001 and is now one of India's top technical universities. Since 2020, researchers from both universities have been working together, for example, on the “Co-PREPARE” research project for the analysis, assessment and prediction of natural hazards in the Himalayan region, which is funded on the German side by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The initiative for “Co-PREPARE” also came from an Indian doctoral student from the “NatRiskChange” research training group at the University of Potsdam, who is now a professor at IIT Roorkee.
Photo: 2025_029_PM Visit IIT2_Foto_IIT Roorkee: The delegation from the University of Potsdam with the hosts at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Roorkee, India. Also present: the President of the University of Potsdam, Prof. Oliver Günther, PhD. (6th from right), and the Head of the International Office, Katharina Schmitt (9th from right). Photo: IIT Roorkee.
Contact: Dr. Silke Engel, Spokeswoman for the University of Potsdam
Telephone: 0331 977-1474
E-Mail: presseuuni-potsdampde
Medieninformation 27-03-2025 / Nr. 029