The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on August 18 with the University of California, San Diego, as a partner for its 350 to 700-bed medical college.
The premier engineering institute initially plans to finance the project with a Rs 800 crore investment it had announced earlier in infrastructure expansion till 2011. It is seeking an additional Rs 1,000 crore for further expansion and more centres of excellence, to accommodate 20,000 students by 2020 from 8,000 right now, among other plans.
According to IIT-Kgp’s director Damodar Acharya, the University of California, San Diego, has one of the best health science faculties in the US . The partnership is both for part-financing the project as well as an academic collaboration.
Explaining why an engineering institute is opening a medical college, Acharya said, "The hospital will be an academic unit of the institute and there will be collaborative research between the faculty of the hospital and our engineering departments."
This, he added, is "expected to bridge the gap between two distinct disciplines of medicine and engineering".
The institute already conducts research related to biomedical engineering, medical biotechnology, development of non-invasive testing devices, reproductive healthcare and medical science and technology. The medical science and technology one is a unique programme in the country under which MBBS doctors are admitted and get a Masters Degree in Medical Science and Technology in three years.
"To boost this research and education programme, particularly in the interface areas of medicines and engineering, the institute is in the process of building this hospital," said Acharya.
To support this hospital, there will be a Centre of Excellence to train paramedical staff and public healthcare specialists. Graduate and post-graduate programmes in medicine will be its natural outcome. Both the multi-speciality hospital and the Centre of Excellence on paramedical training are being set up in a public-private-partnership mode.
IIT-Kgp is also looking for more industry partners to part-finance and set up more centres of excellence like the Bio-fuel Research Centre, School of Engineering Entrepreneurship, Department of Energy Science & Engineering, School of Bio-science and School of Quality Engineering Design and Manufacturing.
"All the new schools will have a substantial contribution from different funding agencies including our alumni," Acharya said.
During the year 2008-09, the institute received a total of 309 reasearch and consultancy projects which were valued at Rs 171 crore. Over 60 per cent of the funds have come from the industries in India and abroad.
