September ** 2022, Punjab/New Delhi: Plaksha University, one of India’s largest collective philanthropic efforts to build technology university of global eminence, has signed an MoU with Cambridge University Press & Assessment to explore academic collaborations.

The proposed collaboration will focus on:

• Supporting Ph.D. students, Research scholars, and Faculty Members to publish articles and manuscripts through academic workshops
• Exploring publishing in Cambridge University Press Journals through various models
• Evaluating possibilities of a Cambridge University Press -Plaksha Science and Technology book series
• Providing Integrated learning assessment and solutions to improve the English language skills of the learner benchmarked against the globally recognized Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
• Examining possibilities of supplying globally recognized Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) programs to strengthen teachers’ teaching and pedagogical skills

This MoU was signed between Prof. Rudra Pratap, the Founding Vice Chancellor of Plaksha University (former Deputy Director of the Indian Institute of Science), and Arun Rajamani, Managing Director, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, South Asia.

Speaking about the collaboration, Dr. Brainerd Prince, the Director of Center for Thinking, Language and Communication at Plaksha University said, "Over the years, universities have designed their courses so that students are upskilled to cope with the fast-paced and tech-enabled business environment. In the last couple of years of the pandemic, most Indian students have been unable to travel abroad. As a result, in these challenging times, partnerships are helping students access the best international education. The Teaching Knowledge Test (OJT) programs will also create a more learner-centric environment in the classroom."

Ajay Pratap Singh, Business Head, Academic, Cambridge University Press, commented on the association, "This association is in line with our mission of strengthening research and enabling an environment where the academic fraternity can exchange knowledge, contribute to emerging academic discourses and being able to publish cutting-edge work. We would like to contribute to early training of researchers and work closely with Plaksha University alongside in giving shape to path-breaking academic and higher education content that will travel globally and foster an enabling environment for scientific learning."

About Plaksha University

Founded by a global community of 100+ technology and business leaders, Plaksha envisions to reimagine technology education and research for India and the world. With strong partnerships with UC Berkeley, Purdue, UC San Diego, IIT Kanpur, and IISc Bangalore, Plaksha aims to nurture and empower a generation of catalytic leaders and create an ecosystem of research and innovation. The university collapses the traditional boundaries of engineering and promotes interdisciplinary learning by combining technology, design and entrepreneurship.

Plaksha is guided by an eminent academic board including Dr. Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean of Penn Engineering, University of Pennsylvania; Venkatesh Narayanamurthi, former Dean of Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Sriram Rajamani, Managing Director, Microsoft Research India Julia Ross, Dean of Engineering, Virginia Tech; Krishna Palepu, Ross Graham Walker Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Sanjay Sarma, Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MIT; and business leaders such as Neeraj Aggarwal, Chairman – Asia Pacific, BCG; Hitesh Oberoi, Co-promoter & CEO, Info Edge (Naukri.com); Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-founder, Fractal Analytics; Manas Fuloria, Co- Founder, Nagarro; Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises; Navin Chaddha, Managing Director, Mayfield Fund; Sujeet Kumar, Co-founder, Udaan.com; Dalip Pathak, Special Limited Partner, Warburg Pincus LLC; CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra; Pramod Bhasin, Chairman, Clix Capital among others. Corporate donors include companies like Bharti Foundation, Havells, HT Parekh Foundation, Mphasis, Axis Bank and Motilal Oswal. The global community of business leaders who founded Plaksha can be seen here.

About Plaksha’s Centre for Thinking, Language and Communication (CTLC):

The Centre for Thinking, Language and Communication (CTLC) at Plaksha University was launched in April 2022 with the vision of enhancing the thinking, linguistic and communicative capacities of engineers and technology students so that they are not only empowered to optimally realize their human potential but are also able to effectively participate in global conversations that seek to solve real-time challenges facing our planet by enrolling themselves in the field of academia, research, entrepreneurship, and the corporate world. The CTLC is designed to offer spaces, opportunities, and products that will deepen and enhance the power of thinking, language, and communication in the students, staff, and faculty of Plaksha University and enable them to develop their personal communication style.

About Cambridge University Press & Assessment:

Cambridge University Press & Assessment unlocks the potential of millions of people worldwide. It provides world-leading academic research, learning, and assessment globally, backed by the first-class teaching and research departments of the University of Cambridge.

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