IIT-Madras and Singapore-based Nanyang Technological University held the first round of discussions here on a joint doctoral programme to be offered under a pact signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the City State in June.
Water and photonics among others could be key focus areas of the programme, Alumni Community Chair Professor of the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras Prof R Nagarajan told PTI Friday.
Officials of both the institutions met for the first time recently at IIT-Madras since the signing of the memorandum of understanding on June 1 this year during Modi's visit to Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
Various aspects of water such as delivery system, recycling, purification, and photonics among other focus areas were shortlisted during the talks, Nagarajan said.
Meanwhile, an IIT-M release said Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, an alumnus of IIT-M, has agreed to sponsor five students of the institute annually for stay at NTU (upto 18 months) as part of the programme.
IIT-M was already having 18 such joint Phd programmes in association with universities around the world including the U.S.A with the participation 56 Phd students.