Partnership will encourage global classrooms, research collaboration and student exchange opportunities - Plaksha plans to make e-Cornell courses available for its students

April 25, 2023, India: Plaksha University, a university which is reimagining technology education and research in India, with cutting-edge technology programs and Cornell University, the only university in the US that is both an Ivy League and a Land Grant institution recently announced an MoA to facilitate international academic exchange, develop academic and scientific relationships, and support collaborative research activities.

This partnership aims to create high impact opportunities by bringing together faculty, students, alumni of both universities as well as their local communities. The two universities are poised to launch a two-way student exchange program, wherein Cornell students will have the opportunity to visit Plaksha and Plaksha students will visit Cornell. Plans for Cornell faculty to visit Plaksha campus for workshops to enable research collaborations in the fields of clean energy and digital agriculture were also discussed. Both universities shall undertake collaborative teaching in a bid to foster a truly global classroom environment.

The MoA was announced by Prof. Rudra Pratap, the Founding Vice Chancellor of Plaksha University, and Prof. Wendy Wolford, Vice Provost for International Affairs, and Robert A. and Ruth E. Polson Professor, Department of Global Development, Cornell University yesterday at the Mohali campus.

Commenting on the association, Prof. Rudra Pratap, Founding Vice-Chancellor, Plaksha University, said, "We are proud to have established this partnership with Cornell University. It perfectly aligns with our goal of addressing global grand challenges. This collaboration will allow our faculty and students to access top-of-the-line research facilities at both institutions, co-create innovative programs in education and research, and work together to address the complex challenges of our society. It is an outstanding opportunity for our students to hone their practical skills, gain experience of working in culturally diverse teams, and contribute to their personal and professional growth."

The partnership will also enable the institutions to mutually explore:

• Visits by and exchange of faculty members, students, and research scholars
• Joint research, exchange of information, and development projects and publications
• Internship opportunities for students at laboratories of the respective institutions
• Research projects related to global challenges

Speaking about the partnership, Wendy Wolford, Vice Provost for International Affairs; Robert A. and Ruth E. Polson Professor, Department of Global Development, Cornell University, stated, “The vision behind this new university, Plaksha, is inspiring—the leadership team, faculty, staff, and students are all 100% committed to interdisciplinary. tech-focused research and teaching collaborations around grand challenges. Cornell has a lot to learn from Plaksha, and we are excited to be exploring collaborations at multiple levels. I am very grateful to Ashish Gutpa, one of Plaksha’s founders, for introducing me to the university—it was an immediate fit, not least because the vice-chancellor RP is a Cornell alum himself. RP well understands both universities and the enormous potential for collaboration.”

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.