McMaster continues engagement with Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute

McMaster University and Shastri Indo Canadian Institute (SICI) have a long history of collaboration, promoting academic exchange and research partnerships between Canada and India. SICI is a unique bi-national organization, mandated by the governments of India and Canada to promote, facilitate and nurture academic linkages, collaborations & exchanges, research partnerships, and networks on the bi-national corridors. 

This year a student from McMaster’s Faculty of Engineering received and completed the Shastri Student Research in India Fellowship providing an opportunity for the student to get exposure to international and interdisciplinary research practices involving Indian universities under the supervision of Indian faculty members at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in Mumbai, India. “It was a wonderful experience to collaborate with people from other universities, in different countries. My lab at McMaster University has the same research focus as my host Indian lab. However, each lab has its approach, which was very beneficial to me since I could adopt their platform to run my experiment. My supervisor and colleagues were supportive and kind and helped me to complete the project. I also tried my best to convey my knowledge and skills to them and in general it was a great collaboration. I found many new friends and hopefully, we can collaborate on future projects. Some of my colleagues in my Indian host university aimed to come to Canada for their higher education and perhaps we can meet again at McMaster.” said the awardee.  

McMaster was also excited to have Dr. Chandrima Chakraborty represent the University at Shastri Bilateral Education Forum: Bridging Borders with Academic Collaborations, held in March in Delhi, India. During the two-day education forum, participants had the opportunity to engage in dynamic, face-to-face discussions to exchange ideas, expertise, and innovative solutions for academic collaborations, strengthen and expand your institution’s international partnerships and global academic footprint and gain strategic insights and frameworks for impactful and sustainable academic collaborations.  

“Bridging Borders with Sustainable Academic Collaborations was highly pertinent at this challenging time in India-Canada diplomatic relations. The face-to-face conversations with Indian institutions were incredibly valuable in understanding key areas for possible collaborative academic initiatives. It allowed me to make professional and personal connections with academic institutions and discover shared institutional priorities. The interactive workshops offered insights on how comparable Canadian postsecondary institutions are engaging with India as well as how to achieve sustainable academic collaborations with Indian and Canadian institutions discussing the various obstacles and innovative solutions for collaborations and partnerships.” said Chandrima, reflecting on her experience during her visit.