Canada offers $4m in grants to Indian students- TNN, Nov 10, 2010,

Canada offers $4m in grants to Indian students

TNN, Nov 10, 2010, 02.35am IST

NEW DELHI: Eight Canadian universities on Tuesday announced a series of scholarships worth four million Canadian dollars for Indian students. The investments include the new Globalink Canada-India Graduate Fellowship. Six memoranda of understanding were also signed between Canadian and Indian educational institutes.

The eight Canadian universities will provide graduate fellowships for top Indian students who wish to pursue a masters or PhD in Canada. The Globalink Canada-India Graduate Fellowship Program will give up to 51 scholarships valued at more than 3.5 million Canadian dollars for Indian students who have participated in the MITACS Globalink program in 2010.

The scholarships were announced by Stephen J Toope, president and vice-chancellor of the University of British Columbia, in the presence of HRD minister Kapil Sibal and Canada's minister of state for science and technology Gary Goodyear.

Peter McKinnon of the University of Saskatchewan (UofS) announced the inaugural disbursement of $150,000 from its international partnership fund to establish a new partnership between the UofS and Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, in the areas of public health and toxicology. Guru Angad Dev University has also committed an equal amount for the project.

David Barnard of the University of Manitoba announced a new partnership with Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology and the ministry of food processing industries. Both the sides will contribute $100,000 each to train six scientists and offer scholarships.

Six MoUs were also signed. These included one between the University of British Columbia to renew a long-standing student mobility agreement with IIT Delhi, which involves undergraduate engineering students spending time at each others' institutions. Another MoU was between the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Amal Jyothi College of Engineering to jointly offer a Bachelor of Applied Science in Nuclear Power degree.

Speaking on the occasion, Sibal underlined the importance of technology solutions which are affordable for the common man. He hoped that the collaboration between the Canadian and Indian universities will help in this goal.

Later this week a delegation of heads of various British universities along with David Willets, minister of state for universities and science, will meet Sibal to forge collaboration between Indian and British institutions.