The main building of IIT Bombay. Photo: IIT Bombay
The clock tower is the centerpiece of the campus and a popular meeting place for students. Photo: IIT Kharagpur
The Nalanda Academic Complex is the main building of the university. This is where all lectures take place. Photo: IIT Kharagpur
The old academic building that became the IITKGP in 1951. It now houses the Nehru Museum of Science and Technology. Photo: IIT Kharagpur
A place of creative collaboration: the Indo-German Research Center at IIT Kharagpur. Image: Arnab Moitra
The premises of the Indo-German Collaborative Research Center. Here, research is conducted on the topic of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Photo: Arnab Moitra
In these facilities at the IIT Kharagpur Campus, researchers develop technologies for sustainable transport systems Photo: Arnab Moitra
After four successful years, the IGP project ended on December 31, 2024.
We thank the DAAD for funding the project.
At the end of 2020, a major new international partnership project kicked off: With Exploration. An Indo-German Partnership (IGP), a project funded by the DAAD and the Indian University Grants Commission, TUM and the two Indian Institutes of Technology Bombay and Kharagpur join forces to push forward research in the highly topical fields of climate, environment, energy, mobility, and transportation.
TUM has maintained close partnerships with IIT Bombay (IITB) and IIT Kharagpur (IITKGP) for almost 20 years. As part of the IGP project Exploration and under the leadership of Prof. Miranda Schreurs for the areas of climate, environment, and energy and Prof. Constantinos Antoniou for the topics of mobility and transportation, new and sustainable formats for different institutional spheres are being developed.
The aim is not only to intensify the institutional exchange between the researchers and scientists of the three institutions, but also to open up new opportunities for interaction in the future, especially for their young talents and administrative staff.
Climate, Environment, and Energy
Germany and India have much to share and learn from each other when it comes to sustainable development. Whether it is dealing with challenges related to water – floods as well as droughts – climate change, biodiversity loss, or plastic waste, to increase impact through cooperation is large. Cooperation between TUM, IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur in the fields of Environment, Energy and Climate Change seeks to bring together faculty and students who want to make a difference by contributing to social, political and technological solutions. A particular focus will be placed on climate change and water management from a socio-political-technical perspective. Initial cooperation has resulted in guest lectures and student video projects.
Mobility and Transportation
Germany and India have complementary expertise in the area of mobility and transportation, which they also strive to use effectively to further strengthen their institutions' leading role in this field. One example demonstrating such close cooperation in higher education is the Indo-German Collaborative Research Center on Intelligent Transportation Systems, which was founded in 2018 by TUM and IIT Kharagpur. Within the IGP research group on Mobility and Transportation, this cooperation is being extended to also include IIT Bombay. The initiative brings together German and Indian students and researchers from all three universities to jointly develop novel ideas and address significant issues, such as anticipating emerging mobility solutions, safety verification for cooperative, connected and automated vehicles, and energy use reduction in relation to transportation.
Funding opportunities within the framework of Exploration
Due to current travel restrictions, IGP funding opportunities will not be available until 2022. Information about calls for proposals will be announced on this website. We would be happy to add you to our e-mail distribution list for IGP funding programs. To do so, please send an e-mail to igp(at)tum.de.
Researchers
Our IGP project is designed to explore new synergy potentials in Indo-German academic collaboration. These will be further developed during Exploratory Research Workshops and reciprocal research visits. At an annual TUMxIIT Research Forum, the IGP research groups will present and discuss their scientific findings and strengthen the dialogue with external stakeholders.
TUMxIndia Research Mobility Grants as well as TUMxIndia Exploration Grants support the IGP projects of senior researchers and postdocs.
Young talents
For master's students and doctoral candidates, the IGP project will create new spaces for exploration: Through various initiatives such as thematic conferences or competitions, young talents will strengthen their scientific competencies and build their own networks in an international environment. Travel grants – available from 2022 – will help the young scientists to actively participate in the current research activities of the IGP groups and will support their participation in field trips or other thematically relevant short research stays.
Administrative staff
MUSE – Mumbai/Munich Staff Exchange: This staff exchange program, developed specifically for the IGP project Exploration, is designed to further advance the internationalization of university administration which is firmly anchored in the TUM Agenda 2030. MUSE will create valuable opportunities for administrators from the three partners to exchange and build their international competencies and share best practices on institutional internationalization, inclusion, and governance issues. MUSE will launch in fall 2023.
With a representation in India starting in 2011 and the opening of a liaison office in Mumbai in 2014, TUM intensified its efforts to expand its relationships with Indian universities and research institutions in the country.
Of our nine Indian partners, IIT Bombay and IIT Kharagpur are among the oldest. TUM signed its first partnership agreement with IIT Bombay back in 2003. Since then, a successful student exchange and a number of research collaborations have been established, mainly in the fields of hydrology, media technology, climate and environmental policy, automatic control and management.
The partnership with TUM's top publishing partner in India, IIT Kharagpur, dates back to 2004. Particularly intensive research cooperation exists in electrical engineering, information technology, and engineering sciences. On June 19, 2018, TUM and IIT Kharagpur also sealed the establishment of a joint Indo-German Collaborative Research Center on Intelligent Transportation Systems on the campus of IIT Kharagpur. The center will serve as a platform for German and Indian scientists and industry in the field of transportation research.
Following completion of the first program phase from 2016 to 2020, Germany and India extended the Indo-German Partnership in Higher Education Programme (IGP) for a further four years at the end of 2019. Together, India and Germany are investing seven million euros in projects designed to strengthen existing academic ties and create new opportunities in Indo-German academic cooperation.
With its 2020 concept Exploration. New Opportunities in Indo-German Academic Cooperation, TUM was among a small group of successful applicants.
With the help of funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Indian University Grants Commission (UGC), the three successful IGP project partners TUM, IIT Bombay, and IIT Kharagpur will join forces to expand research collaborations in the areas of climate, environment, energy, and mobility and transportation, addressing entrepreneurial and innovative dimensions.
The Kick-off Workshop for Exploration was held virtually on November 25, 2020 due to travel restrictions. The project leaders of all three partners Prof. Constantinos Antoniou and Prof. Miranda Schreurs, Prof. Swati Patankar and Prof. Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay gave brief overviews of their respective research priorities.
High-ranking representatives of the partner universities and the DAAD were also present:
- Prof. Juliane Winkelmann, TUM Senior Vice President (International Alliances & Alumni).
- Prof. S. Sudarshan, IIT Bombay Deputy Director - Academic and Infrastructural Affairs
- Prof. Baidurya Bhattacharya IIT Kharagpur Dean International Relations
- Katja Lasch, Director of the DAAD New Delhi
After the presentations, the 65 participating scientists met in two virtual workshops: Here, possible cooperation formats on the topics of climate, environment and energy as well as mobility and transportation were concretized and initial joint research agendas were formulated.
On December 17, 2021, an online research forum on the topic Climate policy & action: national and local dimensions in Germany and India with experts from TUM, IIT Bombay, and other renowned research institutes was held as part of the IGP program.
The event highlighted current actions, implementation challenges, and future opportunities for research collaboration. Students from TUM and IIT Bombay presented their current projects at the forum.
Walking Together: Indo-German Dialogue on Common Risks and Shared Pathways to Sustainability
The second TUM x IITB Research Forum was held in Munich on October 31, November 2, and November 3 2022. Faculty members, administrators, researchers, and students of TUM & IITB delivered presentations on various research topics such as coastal sustainability, flood and drought governance, electric vehicle grid integration, climate politics in Germany and India, and sustainable mobility.
From July 1-3, 2024, TUM Prof. Constantinos Antoniou and IIT Kharagpur (IITKGP) Prof. Siddhartha Mukhopadhyay will conduct a three-day research forum at TUM which will entail a day-long workshop followed by two days of presentations and discussions on Information & Energy Technologies for Sustainable Urban Mobility. Expert researchers from both institutes as well as industry representatives will provide deep analyses and explore the many opportunities in this pressing topic.
Download the Research Forum agenda.
Between 2022 and 2024, three IGP Winter Schools were held in India, hosted by IITB.
The first IGP Winter School was organized on the Localizing Climate Action on Floods and Droughts theme in December 2022. It included online and on-site lectures and a week-long field visit to the Kuttanad region in India’s southern coastal state of Kerala. Eleven students from TUM and eleven from IITB participated in the program. They immersed themselves in the coastal region's unique context, conducting flood safety surveys in Kuttanad with support from local community volunteers and NGOs. The cohort represented diverse disciplines, including social sciences, engineering, bioeconomy, and architecture students. Policy-relevant recommendations from the survey were presented to local decisionmakers.
The second IGP Winter School was organized on the theme of Localizing climate action: water, energy, and climate policies in India and was held in December 2023. Over ten days, participants attended lectures on water, sanitation and hygiene, power, and climate challenges and subsequently conducted field research in Alibagh, on India’s western coast. Thirty students from diverse backgrounds from TUM and IITB participated in conducting household surveys on sanitation infrastructure, water quality, energy, and disaster management, with support from local community volunteers and NGOs. The survey findings were presented to the District Magistrate and district administration officials in Alibagh.
In December 2024, 16 Master's and doctoral students from five different TUM Schools took part in the IGP Winter School entitled From policy to practice: Innovative pathways to sustainable environmental services in the Global South. During their stay in India, they explored transformative approaches to combine policy and practical implementation of sustainable environmental services in a world of climate change. Participants benefited from a unique combination of theoretical learning and practical field research that provided them with valuable insights into specific challenges and tailored solutions for pressing environmental issues in the Global South.
With the IGP Summer School in Munich, we heralded the grand finale of the Indo-German Partnership Project which ends on December 31, 2024. For the first time, PhD students from IIT Bombay came to TUM to discuss how to build a climate resilient future by exploring critical aspects of governance, water management and climate resilience programs.
Through a combination of classroom and engaging site visits, participants gained comprehensive insights into the pressing issues of fresh water and wastewater management, as well as effective strategies to improve climate resilience. The program offered an esteemed faculty lineup, featuring top-notch professors from renowned institutions such as TUM, MIT, IIT Bombay, and IIT Kharagpur. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to embark on a captivating field trip to various sites in and around Munich, further enhancing their practical knowledge, for example:
- Recycling Center (Abfallwirtschaft plus) in Langwied, followed by a talk on Zero Waste in Munich
- Waste Water Management in Munich
- Fresh Water Management Projects in Munich
IGP leads as guests on the TUM IL3 podcast
In the fifth episode of the TUM Global series, Prof. Antoniou from TUM and Prof. Mukhopadhyay from IIT Kharagpur were guests on the TUM Institute for LifeLong Learning (IL3)podcast to provide expert insights into the field of intelligent transportation systems. Among other things, they introduced the Indo-German Collaborative Research Center on Intelligent Transportation Systems, which was jointly established in 2018, and explained how the combination of Indian and German expertise can help achieve better and more sustainable transport systems.
Listen to Intelligent Transportation: Bengal to Bavaria on Spotify