On 8 July, a delegation from the Rajendra Mishra School of Engineering Entrepreneurship (RMSoEE), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, led by Prof. Bhaskar Bhowmick, Head of RMSoEE, along with Prof. Prabha Bhola and Prof. Titas Bhattacharjee, paid a courtesy visit to the University of Toyama (UT), Japan. The delegation met with President Shigeru Saito, Prof. Geetha Mohan, and Prof. Naoya Wada to discuss opportunities for strengthening academic collaboration and expanding institutional partnerships between the two universities.
The visit followed the academic exchange agreement signed between the University of Toyama and IIT Kharagpur on 26 November 2025, which laid the foundation for collaborative research and student exchange initiatives. Since the agreement, both institutions have actively promoted academic cooperation, particularly through the Graduate School of Sustainability Studies (GRASS) at the University of Toyama and the Rajendra Mishra School of Engineering Entrepreneurship at IIT Kharagpur. During the meeting, the participants emphasized the importance of fostering stronger academic ties between Japan and India and explored ways to enhance researcher and student mobility, interdisciplinary research, and knowledge sharing.
President Shigeru Saito and Prof. Bhaskar Bhowmick highlighted the significance of international collaboration in addressing global challenges through education, innovation, and sustainability-focused research. Discussions also focused on identifying new opportunities for joint research projects, faculty exchanges, and collaborative academic programmes that would benefit students and researchers from both institutions.
Reflecting on the visit, Prof. Bhaskar Bhowmick described it as an exciting international collaboration and expressed his honour in meeting President Shigeru Saito. He noted that the discussions opened several promising avenues for cooperation between the University of Toyama and IIT Kharagpur and expressed optimism about future initiatives. The visit represents an important milestone in strengthening the strategic partnership between the two institutions and is expected to further advance Indo-Japanese collaboration in higher education, research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability.