"The trip was very rich in insights, impressions and interesting contacts, which will certainly help the University of Passau in its endeavours to expand and intensify relations and cooperation with Indian universities and to attract Indian students to Passau. The University of Passau already has some very long-term and strong partnerships with Indian universities, which we can now expand upon. I experienced a very positive spirit of optimism, both in terms of the economic sector and the education and research sector. India is very interested in shaping this new era together with strong partners from abroad. We should definitely take advantage of this opportunity", says Professor Jan Schumann, Vice President for Research at the University of Passau.
"Even though India is a hundred times larger than Bavaria, we are partners at eye level and we have the same ambitions: We are focussing on talent and want to develop the technologies of tomorrow. To this end, we will work even more closely together in the higher education sector, because India has enormous potential for our universities in particular. Our aim is to enable highly qualified applicants to come to Germany even more quickly", emphasised Blume in the Indian capital New Delhi.
The delegation discussed an exciting idea with India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan: "A dedicated Bavarian International Campus in India would be a perfect match", said the Science Minister. At the Ministry of Science and Technology, perspectives relating to the key technologies of the future were discussed. The aim is to work together on energy research, quantum technology and AI and to connect the start-up scene in Bavaria and India even more closely.
"For the University of Passau, such a project would be very interesting and we would be happy to contribute our experience from similar projects, such as the Turkish-German University in Istanbul", comments Vice President Schumann.
The trip, which culminated in a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Taj Mahal, was organised by the Bavarian-Indian Centre for Business and Universities (BayIND). BayIND has been coordinating exchanges between Bavarian and Indian higher education institutions for more than 15 years and, as a service centre, supports companies in their search for interns or in the coordination of research projects.