KATHMANDU: Kathmandu University (KU), College of Medical Sciences (COMS), Bharatpur, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, and International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) have collaborated on the joint programme in 'Healthcare Technologies' that aligns with the recently devised KU Strategic Plan to 'Internationalisation of Research and Education at KU’.
In offering the joint degree, KU envisions a common branding, and shared resources: both physical, financial, and shared faculty in a manner that upholds the strengths of both the institutions and the benefits arising out of the collaborations are shared.
The joint programme is proposed to address the existing strength of KU in healthcare as well as Engineering disciplines with academic and research excellence of IITH and IIIT-H and the need for competent human resources in Nepal and the South Asian region.
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The representatives from KU, COMS, IITH and IIIT-H signed and exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and letter of agreement (LoA) amid a programme organised in Kathmandu, on June 2. The details and scope of the academic programme and the obligations of the respective parties and the terms of each engagement were specified.
Prof Dr Bhola Thapa addressed the welcome speech. Taking part in the programme, Prof BS Murty and representatives from IIIT, Hyderabad highlighted the collaboration.
Academic Planning Overview:
With the exponential technological advancement in the past decade, tremendous innovations have been made utilising technology for healthcare applications. This has led to an increase in the reliability and accuracy of the systems. In this context, combining prominent fields like healthcare and technology would open new dimensions to explore. Thus, to address the needs and gaps at both the national and regional level, KU envisions offering a KU, IITH and IIIT-H joint programme in "Healthcare Technologies," The existing curriculum on both sides will be reviewed and updated to meet the strength and opportunities.
The programme will be primarily run by the College of Medical Science (COMS) in Bharatpur, Nepal at the Healthcare Technology Innovation Center (HTIC). HTIC will be a state-of-the-art academic and research centre that will carry out research in the medical sector incorporating technology, facilitate the incubation and commercialisation of developed products and run academic research programmes including Master by research and PhD. The Master and PhD programmes will be a quadripartite consortium where the students start off with six months at COMS, then get mobilised to IIIT-H / IITH (as per relevance) for six months, then to SOE for 3-6 months (as required) and finally back to COMS for the remaining period.
Framework of Cooperation with IITH and IIIT-H:
Sustainability The programme will initially run through the seed fund provided by the partner institutions. The immediate source of funding to run the PhD and Master's programme will be generated via external sources through research grants. The HTIC will also incubate startups in the domain of health and technology. One of the sources of money to run the centre in the long term will be the royalty acquired from the successful companies. With the successful completion of a few batches of joint Masters and PhD programme the center will shift towards running Bachelor and regular Master's programme in areas such as Health informatics and Bio-Medical/Bio-Mechanical engineering on self-funding from students, which will make the programme independent in the longer run.
Vision of the KU, IITH and IIIT-H Joint programme collaborations KU has been collaborating with a number of international academic institutions in the past for academic activities by offering joint programmes, conducting joint research and through technology and knowledge transfers and plans to strengthen the international collaboration in the future as well. Kathmandu University, School of Engineering has successfully conducted a double degree PhD based on the cotutelle agreement signed with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Other international double and joint degrees in PhD and Master's levels are also currently being pursued by KU. The successful running of such academic programmes has prompted the need for KU to introduce similar academic programmes in other strategic areas as well. With reference to ongoing discussions between Kathmandu University, the Indian Institute of Technology - Hyderabad (IITH), and the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H), KU holds a primal interest in offering a joint programme in Healthcare Technologies in collaboration with IITH, IIIT-H and plans to begin offering the degree in the coming academic session to meet the needs of Kathmandu University and Nepal's healthcare priorities. KU was established in December 1991 as an autonomous, non-profit, self-funding public university, as higher education institution dedicated to preserving academic quality in a variety of classical and professional disciplines. In a relatively short period of time, KU has been able to develop itself into a distinguished higher education institution in the Nepalese academic domain. Currently, KU offers over 140 academic programmes spread across seven schools. Guided by its motto of taking knowledge and skills "from the campus to the community", the university heavily emphasizes research as a vital component of national growth, international scientific advancement, and teaching and training quality. In line with the University's vision mission and mono, KU has recently devised a five-year strategic plan (2022-2027). Amongst other things, the strategic plan aims to launch several programmes in emerging disciplines based on the assessment of national and international trends in all the seven schools to meet the ever-changing skill and knowledge needs of the market. Furthermore, The University plans to expand and develop essential infrastructures in six main categories; (1) Physical infrastructure, (2) Digital infrastructure, (3) Innovative academic & training Infrastructure, (4) Intellectual property infrastructure, (5) Emotional infrastructure, and (6) Networked infrastructure. With the addition of the new programmes, the five-year strategic plan projects the gross enrolment in the seven schools to increase by nearly 55%. One of the prime challenges that were outlined by the plan was the insufficiency of the physical infrastructures of the University currently, which has seriously limited the possibility of accommodating additional students and incorporating new courses. The expansion plan further necessitates urgent investments in infrastructures to accommodate the growing number of students in the university within the next five years. [gallery columns="1" link="file" size="full" ids="24572"] Finance Minister Janardan Sharma; Education Minister Devendra Paudel; Namgya C Khampa, Chargé d’affaires at the Indian Embassy; Dr Bhola Thapa, Vice Chancellor KU; Suresh Raj Sharma, Founding Vice Chancellor, KU; Dr Subodh Sharma, Registrar of KU; Dr V Natraj Prasad, Director COMS; Nagender K Pampati, Chairman of COMS; Prof BS Murty, Director, IITH were present at the event. READ ALSO:
- A Healthcare Technologies Innovation Center (HTIC) will be established at the College of Medical Sciences (COMS), Bharatpur, Nepal. HTIC will act as a primary base for the Master's and PhD researchers.
- A quadripartite consortium will be created between KU, COMS, IITH and IIIT-H for joint Master's and PhD degree and mobility of students.
- The degree would be awarded jointly by KU, IITH and IIIT-H and the degree certificate would contain the signature and stamp of all the institutions.
- KU, COMS, IITH and IIIT-H would sign the definitive agreement related to the joint programme whereby the details and scope of the academic programme and the obligations of the respective parties and the terms of each engagement would be specified.
- Rules and procedural regulations of all institutions will be fulfilled.
- The necessary clause to the definitive agreement will be mutually discussed and decided to match the interest of both sides.
- A separate general MOU for broader cooperation and an Agreement for specific collaboration for a joint degree programme between IITH, IIIT-H and KU will be signed.
- A physical meeting will be arranged at a convenient time for both sides for further discussions.
Sustainability The programme will initially run through the seed fund provided by the partner institutions. The immediate source of funding to run the PhD and Master's programme will be generated via external sources through research grants. The HTIC will also incubate startups in the domain of health and technology. One of the sources of money to run the centre in the long term will be the royalty acquired from the successful companies. With the successful completion of a few batches of joint Masters and PhD programme the center will shift towards running Bachelor and regular Master's programme in areas such as Health informatics and Bio-Medical/Bio-Mechanical engineering on self-funding from students, which will make the programme independent in the longer run.
Vision of the KU, IITH and IIIT-H Joint programme collaborations KU has been collaborating with a number of international academic institutions in the past for academic activities by offering joint programmes, conducting joint research and through technology and knowledge transfers and plans to strengthen the international collaboration in the future as well. Kathmandu University, School of Engineering has successfully conducted a double degree PhD based on the cotutelle agreement signed with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Other international double and joint degrees in PhD and Master's levels are also currently being pursued by KU. The successful running of such academic programmes has prompted the need for KU to introduce similar academic programmes in other strategic areas as well. With reference to ongoing discussions between Kathmandu University, the Indian Institute of Technology - Hyderabad (IITH), and the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H), KU holds a primal interest in offering a joint programme in Healthcare Technologies in collaboration with IITH, IIIT-H and plans to begin offering the degree in the coming academic session to meet the needs of Kathmandu University and Nepal's healthcare priorities. KU was established in December 1991 as an autonomous, non-profit, self-funding public university, as higher education institution dedicated to preserving academic quality in a variety of classical and professional disciplines. In a relatively short period of time, KU has been able to develop itself into a distinguished higher education institution in the Nepalese academic domain. Currently, KU offers over 140 academic programmes spread across seven schools. Guided by its motto of taking knowledge and skills "from the campus to the community", the university heavily emphasizes research as a vital component of national growth, international scientific advancement, and teaching and training quality. In line with the University's vision mission and mono, KU has recently devised a five-year strategic plan (2022-2027). Amongst other things, the strategic plan aims to launch several programmes in emerging disciplines based on the assessment of national and international trends in all the seven schools to meet the ever-changing skill and knowledge needs of the market. Furthermore, The University plans to expand and develop essential infrastructures in six main categories; (1) Physical infrastructure, (2) Digital infrastructure, (3) Innovative academic & training Infrastructure, (4) Intellectual property infrastructure, (5) Emotional infrastructure, and (6) Networked infrastructure. With the addition of the new programmes, the five-year strategic plan projects the gross enrolment in the seven schools to increase by nearly 55%. One of the prime challenges that were outlined by the plan was the insufficiency of the physical infrastructures of the University currently, which has seriously limited the possibility of accommodating additional students and incorporating new courses. The expansion plan further necessitates urgent investments in infrastructures to accommodate the growing number of students in the university within the next five years. [gallery columns="1" link="file" size="full" ids="24572"] Finance Minister Janardan Sharma; Education Minister Devendra Paudel; Namgya C Khampa, Chargé d’affaires at the Indian Embassy; Dr Bhola Thapa, Vice Chancellor KU; Suresh Raj Sharma, Founding Vice Chancellor, KU; Dr Subodh Sharma, Registrar of KU; Dr V Natraj Prasad, Director COMS; Nagender K Pampati, Chairman of COMS; Prof BS Murty, Director, IITH were present at the event. READ ALSO:
Published Date: June 6, 2022, 12:00 am
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