Chennai:
Three educational institutions in Tamil Nadu, including National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, have been selected for this year's 'Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative Award.'
"The three universities from Tamil Nadu selected under the Indian-led partnerships include: National Institute of Technology, Trichy (partner university: University of Nevada, Las Vegas); Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis); and Annamalai University (Tennessee Tech University)," a release from US Consulate General in Chennai said.
The grant recipients were announced at the US-India Higher Education Dialogue coinciding with the Indian visit of Secretary of State John Kerry last month.
NIT will pursue a project called "Cognitive based Curriculum Development Tool for emerging areas of Computer Engineering and Management Studies for Teaching-Learning Process."
Avinashilingam Institute will take up research on "A Sustainable Response for Home Science and Higher Education for Women" while Annamalai University will work on the project, "Tamil Nadu Energy Futures: Mapping Uncertainties and Remarks," it said.
"Each project will receive an award of approximately USD 250,000 that can be utilised over a three year period, with the objectives of cultivating educational reform, fostering economic growth, generating shared knowledge to address global challenges, and developing junior faculty at Indian and American institutions of higher learning," it said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama had announced the initiative in November 2009 towards boosting partnership in the field of education with each
government pledging USD 5 million.