The University of Vavuniya has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) to expand research collaboration and academic exchanges between the two institutions, Newswire reported.
The agreement was signed at the IIT Madras campus in Chennai in the presence of Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, Dr Ganesanathan Geathiswaran. The University of Vavuniya delegation was led by Vice-Chancellor Prof. A. Atputharajah and included senior academic and administrative officials from across faculties and the university’s international affairs division.
According to the Deputy High Commission, the MoU covers research collaboration, student and faculty exchanges, joint academic partnerships and other cooperative initiatives between the two institutions. IIT Madras has consistently topped India’s National Institutional Ranking Framework for engineering and overall institutional categories in recent years, making it among the country’s most-cited destinations for South Asian research partnerships.
Speaking at the signing, Dr Geathiswaran said the collaboration would open new opportunities for innovation and knowledge sharing while deepening bilateral cooperation in higher education. He pointed to the wider trajectory of people-to-people and educational ties between the two countries.
The University of Vavuniya, originally established as a campus of the University of Jaffna and granted standalone university status in 2021, is the northernmost autonomous university in Sri Lanka. The IIT Madras tie-up extends its growing list of international research partnerships and follows a broader push by Sri Lankan universities to embed in regional research networks during the post-restructuring period. India’s High Commission in Colombo separately granted Rs. 7,500 to Jaffna University students earlier this month, reflecting continued Indian investment in northern Sri Lanka’s higher education sector. The University of Jaffna has also pursued UK research collaboration, having signed a global health research partnership with a British consortium in May.
Source: Newswire.
