Reif, who is in India on a week-long visit, met PM Manmohan
Singh besides a host of other representatives from industry and academia, many
of whom were MIT alumni.
``We would like to establish collaborations. We believe in
working with collaborators and in so doing making each other stronger. I don't
have any plans to come to India and say we are going to establish an MIT campus
here. That is not the plan," Dr Rafael Reif said. He was participating at
an Assocham-Rai luncheon talk.
Asked whether he is looking to collaborate with institutions
like IIT and AIIMS, Reif said, "I am open to that. The correct next step
is to identify domain areas where collaborations with given institutions might
hold promise."
He made a reference to a three-way collaboration involving
public, private and academic institutions. "It is all open. Whether it is
with the public sector, the government or the private sector. Or it is a
three-way private, public, academia enterprise. I am here to talk and engage
and I would like us to do something together," Reif said.
When asked if MIT was contemplating opening a new campus,
Reif denied that there were any such plans. MIT has never opened a branch
campus, though it does engage in collaborations with institutions around the
world.
Significantly, MIT has recently launched edX a platform that
Reif said would ``revolutionize education'' by providing courses and content
online.
Science and technology minister S Jaipal Reddy, also part of
the event, said the scope of the present collaboration in area of biotechnology
with MIT can be increased to include other areas of mutual interest.
"We have an ongoing partnership with MIT, particularly
in the area of biotechnology. I propose the exchange of scientists from India
to MIT and from MIT to India on highly flexible terms, also an understanding
between CSIR and MIT," he said.
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