IIT Roorkee and Norwegian Institutes have longstanding research collaboration and researchers from both sides have jointly published more than 80 research papers in the past 10 years. There are a number of ongoing projects between IIT Roorkee and Norwegian agencies, Norwegian Seismic Array (NORSAR), NGI, and the University of Tromso etc.
On April, Ambassador of Norway Mr. Hans Jacob Frydenlund along with a delegation from Norwegian Embassy and Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) visited IIT Roorkee and held a boardroom meeting with the Director-IIT Roorkee along with a group of Deans and faculty members, where the ongoing collaboration was reviewed.
It was pointed out that there are past and ongoing collaborative research projects such as Earthquake Hazard and Risk Reduction on the Indian Subcontinent; Earthquake Risk Reduction in Himalaya with Institutional Cooperation between India and Norway; Indo-Norwegian Institutional Collaboration on Earthquake Engineering between NORSAR and NGI, Norway and IIT, ICARBA project between IIT Roorkee and the University of Tromso, Norway among others which testify the strong research collaboration between IIT Roorkee and Norway. Furthermore, it was stressed in the meeting that the existing collaborations between IIT Roorkee and Norwegian institutes can be leveraged to explore new areas of research partnerships.
Norwegian Ambassador, while stressing on broadening the scope of relationship said: “The ongoing cooperation happening between IIT Roorkee and Norwegian Institutes is step towards building a resilient relation. Moreover, Energy, Environment and Renewable Energy are areas where researchers from IIT Roorkee and Norwegian institutes can look to collaborate besides rock science and tunneling technology. Additionally, as per the Norwegian government mandate at least 50% of the students should attend a foreign institute during their study years. Furthermore, IIT Roorkee could be a good place for students from Norway to have an international exposure.”
Addressing the meeting, Prof. A.K. Chaturvedi, Director IIT Roorkee, said, “Researchers from Norway and IIT Roorkee are working together on multiple projects, over a long period of time. These collaborations should be leveraged to initiate more joint activities between IIT Roorkee and Norwegian Institutes. They could be in the form of student exchange programs, internships, faculty visits etc. Opportunities for involving Norwegian and Indian industries need to be explored. Also, faculty members from the departments other than the ones already collaborating need to be made aware of this long and productive collaboration.”
The meeting among others was attended by, Dean of Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy; Dean of Resources and Alumni Affairs;Prof M K Singhal, Head-Hydro and Renewable Energy; Prof.Mahendra Singh, Prof. N K Samadhiya, and Prof. Priti Maheshwari from Civil Engineering; Prof. Yogendra Singh, Earthquake Engineering, Prof. Ranjana Pathania, Biosciences and Bioengineering; Prof. Ameya Nayak, Mathematics; Dr. Rajinder Kumar Bhasin, Regional Manager Asia, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute; Ms. Marit Marie Strand, Counsellor for Cooperation, Norway Embassy.
