IIT Delhi Goes Global, Set To Open Campus In Abu Dhabi

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, is planning to establish a campus in Abu Dhabi.

An agreement was signed between India's Ministry of Education and the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Saturday (15 July).

The Abu Dhabi IIT will be the institute's second international campus. Recently, IIT Madras signed an agreement to establish a campus in Zanzibar.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan expressed his excitement about the IIT Delhi campus in the UAE, calling it a symbol of the strong friendship between India and the UAE.

IIT Delhi has already started outreach programmes for students in the UAE.

The institute is planning to offer short courses and executive programmes for the industry in the near future. It has announced that starting in 2024, degrees will be offered at IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi.

The courses at the institute will cover a wide range of areas, including energy and sustainability, artificial intelligence, computer science and engineering, healthcare, mathematics and computing, as well as other disciplines in engineering, sciences, and humanities.

The decision to establish an IIT campus in the UAE was announced in August 2022. It was previously outlined in a vision statement jointly issued by both countries in February 2022.

IIT Delhi was selected by the government to execute this proposal, as the institute had previously expressed interest in establishing campuses in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

According to an IIT Delhi statement, IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi will collaborate with key players such as Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, Khalifa University, New York University Abu Dhabi, Technology Innovation Institute, and Hub71.

Through these collaborations, the institute aims to complement the academic, research, and innovation ecosystem in Abu Dhabi.

The goal is to offer complementary programmes, conduct cutting-edge research, and advance the local startup ecosystem.

The Abu Dhabi campus is expected to launch its academic programmes in 2024, offering Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD degrees.