India
Cornell is exploring collaborative opportunities in India with public and private institutions of higher education. We have initiated partnerships with the two universities below and are in conversation with other potential partners.
Ashoka University
Ashoka University is a private, nonprofit liberal arts university established in 2014, offering undergraduate and graduate programs across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences on its 25-acre campus.
The university focuses on providing a multidisciplinary education that transcends the boundaries between the arts and sciences and emphasizes scholarship and research.
Ashoka attracts students and faculty from across the country and world. The university offers an excellent opportunity for exchange students to learn from world-class faculty and explore India to get a cultural understanding of a vibrant country.
About the Ashoka Student Experience
The 4,500 students on campus come from 30 states in India and 27 other countries. Ashoka offers a visiting student program with options for a semester or full academic year. Numerous professional, academic, cultural, and social enrichment opportunities are available.
Research Themes at Ashoka
- Big Data, AI, and New Media: The Mphasis Lab for Machine Learning and Computational Thinking applies machine learning and design thinking to produce world-class research, experiential pedagogy-based modules, and workshops.
- Future Cities: The AIM Smart City Accelerator program is a 20-week program supporting startups that provide solutions for smart cities. The program is a joint collaboration between Ashoka, ISB Hyderabad, and Microsoft India.
- Inequalities and Social Justice: Ashoka faculty and students are undertaking community engagement and social justice research and projects to engage with the local community on development challenges such as education, women's safety, health, and sanitation.
- Sustainable Development and One Health: The Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability focuses on issues related to climate change and sustainability through awareness, research, and advocacy. There are seven areas of focus: Ecology, Conservation, and Climate Change; One Health; Climate and Society; Economics of Climate Change and Sustainability; Climate Change Communication; Environmental Humanities; and Sustainable Communities.
O.P. Jindal Global University
Established in 2009, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) is a private, nonprofit research university and one of only 10 institutions in India to have received the Institute of Eminence distinction. The university seeks to build bridges across nations through its work with national, international, and governmental organizations; NGOs; and business organizations.
JGU is committed to core institutional values of interdisciplinary and innovative pedagogy, pluralism and rigorous scholarship, and globalism and international engagement.
The university promotes academics, research, and collaborations with an international orientation through its diverse global faculty members. The 80-acre residential campus has nine schools: law, business, international affairs, government and public policy, liberal arts and humanities, journalism and communication, banking and finance, art and architecture, environment and sustainability, and psychology and counseling.
About the JGU Student Experience
JGU is a modern residential campus with 9,000 students that promotes a diverse, inclusive atmosphere to nurture socially responsible future leaders. JGU offers varied experiential learning and professional development opportunities for exchange students. Learn more about international students at JGU.
Research Themes at JGU
- Democratic Challenges and Change: The Mahatma Gandhi Center for Peace Studies is dedicated to promoting nonviolence and advancing peace studies through research and knowledge on all aspects of nonviolence. The Centre for Social Theory and Political Research supports research on interdisciplinary issues related to nationalism, democracy, identity, citizenship, and violence.
- Migrations and Mobility: The Centre for Migration and Mobility Studies conducts policy-oriented research on issues related to migration, forced displacement, refugees, and asylum seekers.
- Sustainable Development: The Center on Environment, Sustainability, and Human Development is a transdisciplinary environmental research center conducting that provides students with experiential learning and critical thinking opportunities. The Centre for Sustainability, housed within the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, conducts academic and action research on global warming and climate change.
Cornell Faculty Lead: Sarah Besky
Associate Professor, International and Comparative Labor and Labor Relations, Law, and History, ILR
"Our partners in India offer unique spaces to promote research collaborations and student exchange opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines from across Cornell's colleges and schools. I'm looking forward to working with colleagues in both India and at Cornell to begin materializing these ideas. And I very much look forward to welcoming students and faculty from our institutional partners in India to Cornell. For me, broadening the inclusiveness and internationalism of our community here—and cultivating research and learning that emerges from these exchanges—is one of the most exciting potentials of Cornell Global Hubs."
About the Location
Sonipat, Haryana (Rajiv Gandhi Education City)
Located 30 miles from Delhi in northern India, Rajiv Gandhi Education City is an area under development for institutions of higher education in rural Sonipat, Haryana. Districts in Haryana are sites of Indus Valley Civilization villages dating back 9,000 years. Against this ancient backdrop, construction began in 2012 on the planned education city that will span more than 2,000 acres when complete. About 30 minutes apart, Ashoka and JGU are among 10 institutions currently in the vicinity.
