Purdue Announces Growing Partnerships in India at an Event with Senator Young and Ambassador Garcetti

Purdue President Mung Chiang shakes hands with (left) Eric Garcetti, U.S. Ambassador to India, and U.S. Senator Todd Young on Friday following the announcements of the first-ever Purdue-India Center for Education and Engagement and the U.S.-India Center of Excellence in Semiconductors, both in India. The afternoon announcement also included plans for joint degree offerings and alumni engagement in India. (Purdue University photo/John Underwood)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University further strengthens its educational partnership with India by announcing its Center for Education and Engagement in the country, as well as a US-India Center of Excellence in Semiconductors together with the India Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, with support from the governments of the US and India. Plans for joint degree offerings and alumni involvement, as well as the new semiconductor center, were unveiled during a fireside chat with Senator Todd Young of Indiana and Eric Garcetti, the U.S. Ambassador to India.

This marks the final chapter in Purdue’s successful 125-year relationship with India, dating back to the first Indian students.

President Mung Chiang announced plans for the Purdue-India centers Friday (Nov. 1) as part of a campus visit and public forum by Young and Garcetti.

The Purdue-India Center for Education and Engagement will give Purdue a presence in India, including a new foundation that will offer joint degrees in high-demand areas including artificial intelligence, data science, semiconductors and business. The degrees are offered in collaboration with strategic partner institutions in India.

The center also provides a central location to further advance the long-standing partnership and provides a direct gateway for government and industry relationships, strategic partnerships with Indian universities, alumni engagement and student recruitment.

“Purdue is excited to expand our long-standing partnership with Indian institutions and companies across a wide range of disciplines,” said Chiang. “Both our new Center for Education and Engagement in Delhi and the new US-India Center of Excellence in Semiconductors, together with IIT Hyderabad and supported by our Indian and US governments, are milestone steps toward expanding this strategic partnership, with many opportunities for our students and faculty and a continued increase in Purdue’s global impact.”

More than 3,000 students from India study on the Purdue campus – the university’s largest international student population – and there are more than 300 faculty, researchers and staff of Indian descent in the Purdue community.

Friday’s announcement follows a series of meetings at the end of September in three Indian cities among a Purdue delegation, Indian government officials, top academic institutions and industry leaders. Discussions focused on educational collaboration, expanding joint research and development initiatives and exploring new opportunities.

“Purdue’s growing connections provide the U.S. and India with the tools for continued global success,” Young said. “This kind of forward-looking thinking can lay the foundation for encouraging two-way trade and investment in the technology sector, especially in high-impact areas such as semiconductors and AI.”

Garcetti received the Purdue delegation in New Delhi in September. Discussions with Garcetti and other Indian government officials that week focused on improving research and education collaboration and how Purdue can work with India to advance mutual interests in developing and protecting critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computers and more.

“Purdue has strong support in India and has also proven its support for Indian industry and academia,” Garcetti said. “Establishing such a presence in India will empower students in both countries and strengthen ties with the workforce and education. I applaud Purdue’s leadership and institutional partnerships that contribute so much to the U.S.-India relationship.”

That mutual support includes Purdue and India’s joint involvement in the new US-India Center for Excellence in Semiconductors. Purdue will actively work with semiconductor industry leaders to scale this bilateral center of excellence with activities to advance collaborative research and workforce development.

As part of Purdue’s three land-grant pillars of research, learning and engagement, the long-term partnership between Purdue and India will help shape the future of technology and education in the years ahead, leveraging key ties between academia , government and industry.

Friday’s announcement is just the latest involving Purdue and India. In May 2023, Purdue has signed an agreement to work with the Government of India to become the premier academic partner in semiconductors, jointly promoting research and development, education and talent development in this vital area.

As part of Friday’s campus visit, Young and Garcetti toured the Birck Nanotechnology Center, home to Purdue research in semiconductors and microelectronics and also home to the 25,000-square-foot Scifres Nanofabrication Laboratory cleanroom – one of the largest academic cleanrooms of the country.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution that demonstrates excellence on a large scale. Ranked among the top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with unparalleled quality and scale. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue in a variety of modes and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition for thirteen years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in its relentless pursuit of the next big leap – including the first expanded urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative – at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.