SRIHER AND COLORADO UNIVERSITY TO OFFER JOINT PROGRAMMES

Chennai: Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research and Colorado State University today formally launched their academic and research collaboration in engineering, biomedical sciences, public health and medical microbiology. The tie up will allow bi-lateral exchange of students, faculty and academic credits. In addition, research collaborations are being planned in rehabilitative medicine, orthopaedic bioengineering, climate change and human health, genetics and molecular biology and medical virology. The Vice Chancellor of Sri Ramachandra University Dr. Uma Sekar and the President of Colorado State University Dr. Amy Parsons today exchanged the MoU at a formal event. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Uma Sekar said that in the last two years the two universities have mapped courses by which SRIHER undergraduates pursuing four year degree programmes would be able to take nine credits at CSU primarily through online modalities. This will enable students to pursue an accelerated masters degree programme at CSU. SRIHER students wishing to pursue six months to one year research rotation at CSU will be facilitated to identify relevant laboratories to execute a duly and bilaterally approved research proposal.
 Faculty level research will be initiated in the five core areas including stem cell and reproductive medicine, biomaterials, climate change and human health, bio-engineering and medical virology. The joint programmes are expected to be rolled out in the next academic year, she added. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Amy Parsons, President, Colorado State University said the MoU paves the way for having twinning programmes between the two universities. CSU she said is a leading composite
research university in the United States with strong funding and offers excellent opportunities for research collaborations. Dr. Kalpana Balakrishnan, Dean Research, SRIHER said the two institutions had signed a MoU in 2022 and faculty at both institutions have been involved in developing specifics of the collaboration. Mapping of curricula has identified programmes and courses that can be flexibly taken by students to accelerate the award of degrees via twinning models. The programmes envisaged are expected to serve as an important input to demonstrate the success of the new national education policy that emphasises on equitable access to high quality education for our students, she added.