Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, accompanied on his visit to IIT Delhi on Feb 27 by a high-ranking government delegation from his country, officially endorsed the New Zealand Centre at IIT-Delhi and recognised the growing research connections between the New Zealand universities and IIT Delhi.
Earlier this month a delegation of New Zealand university academia through a MoU with IIT Delhi had announced the New Zealand Centre at IITD to strengthen New Zealand’s education ties with India.
Deputy Prime Minister Peters said, “Education is one of the key pillars bilateral relationship between New Zealand and India. The New Zealand Centre at IITD will seriously enhance our joint efforts in the education of science and technology.”
The New Zealand Centre is deemed to be a focal point of academic activity for all eight New Zealand Universities and IIT Delhi. All eight New Zealand universities feature in the top 3% worldwide by the QS World Rankings. The participating universities for the New Zealand Centre include: The University of Auckland, AUT University, Massey University, Victoria University of Wellington, University of Waikato, Lincoln University, University of Canterbury and University of Otago.
Some of the initial projects identified as part of the academic discussion earlier this month include Medtech, Cyber Security (along with AI & Data Science), Cancer Genomics, Robotics & Automation and Waste-Water Treatment. The Centre will host visiting researchers and academicians, act as a forum for diplomatic and trade dialogue among different sectors, and support student mobility.
