A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between IIT Guwahati and IIT (BHU) Varanasi on 27^th November. Under this MoU, IIT Guwahati and IIT (BHU), Varanasi will start Joint Doctoral Programme in July 2021. Directors of both the Institutes, Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati, and Prof. Pramod Kumar Jain, Director, IIT (BHU) said that this is the first time in the country that two IITs have come together to offer a joint degree programme.

The idea of a joint PhD programme was originally proposed by Prof. T.  G. Sitharam in 53^rd IIT Council Meeting held on 27^th September 2019. The vision behind this is to build a “Network of Excellence” of all IITs rather than each one striving to become a “Tower of Excellence”. The IIT Council accepted the proposal to start Joint Degree Programs. Through this academic collaboration, both the institutes are expecting a significant boost in high quality research and foundation for further academic collaborations.

Under the National Education Policy (NEP2020), such educational reforms and academic collaborations between premier educational institutes will promote multidisciplinary academic programs and research for encouraging and promoting a knowledge-based economy of the country. IIT BHU is considering starting a Joint MTech program on similar lines to provide multi-institutional and multidisciplinary MTech programs. IIT Guwahati has also agreed to be part of this initiative.