Penn State is looking to expand its international ties by partnering with Indian universities, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), based out of Mumbai, reports DNA.

Michael Adewumi, vice-provost for global programs at Penn State said, “Currently, the partnerships are ad-hoc and at an individual faculty level. Our faculty is engaged with faculty across India on specific projects. But, we now want to create long-term, institutional-level collaborations.”

Penn State is looking primarily at teaming up with these universities in expanding their research programs internationally. Penn State currently spends about $800 million on research annually.

Penn State officials will be visiting the various cities throughout India to conduct a thorough evaluation of its potential partnership prospects, including Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

“IIT Bombay is another institute where we want to explore collaborations,” said Nirmal Pal, regional director for India, Smeal College of Business at Penn State.

This is the latest in Penn State’s plan to expand its global reach. The university is also looking for partnerships with universities in Latin America, Africa, China, the middle east and other areas of Asia.

“Three years back, we made a strategic decision to become a global university and to achieve that we need to have external, global reach,” said Adewumi.

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