Jindal Global University represents Indian Universities at WEF, Davos
JGU will sign Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland
· Founding Vice-Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar is only Vice-Chancellor from India at Global Meet at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos
· Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar outlined the transformative role of Indian Universities
Davos: Founding Vice-Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar advocated the need of Indian Universities to focus on building leadership and imagination with a stronger focus on sustainable futures while speaking to a global audience at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland from 21-24 January 2020. He is the only vice chancellor from India invited to speak at Davos this year and addressed three separate sessions. The Theme of WEF 2020 Annual Meeting is Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.
Elaborating his thoughts, Professor (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar said “Indian Universities need to focus on building leadership and imagination with a stronger focus on sustainable futures. The sustainability framework should permeate all aspects of institution-building among the Universities of the world. Indian Universities can play a global catalytic role for promoting sustainable futures given the significant demographic situation that prevails in India. This is further underlined by the fact that more than 850 million in India are less than 35 years of age and India’s life expectancy has increased to 71 years.
“These include providing representative access, particularly to marginalised groups of citizens; balancing such access with the provision of university environments that are of global standards; helping our students bridge gaps in communication and thinking skills that can meet the requirements of globalised careers and roles; and perhaps most importantly, institutionalising efforts to identify and correct social and economic disparities,” he added.
At Davos, JGU will also be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the University of Zurich (UZH), Switzerland for cooperation in higher education and research. The University of Zurich is the largest and one of the oldest Universities in Switzerland with distinguished presence and excellence in teaching and research. Founded in 1833, the University of Zurich is currently amongst the top 100 Universities in the world as per the Times Higher Education (THE) and QS World University Rankings.
Remarkably, only 11 global university vice chancellors/ presidents have been invited to be a part of this WEF – Davos round table. These universities are:
1. Australian National University, Australia
2. McGill University, Canada
3. Imperial College London, UK
4. University of Waterloo, Canada
5. University of Zurich, Switzerland
6. O.P. Jindal Global University, India
7. ETH Zurich University, Switzerland
8. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland
9. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
10. University of Sydney, Australia
11. National University of Singapore, Singapore