When President Reginald DesRoches and a delegation of Rice University faculty and administrators traveled to India in November 2024 to launch Rice Global India (RGI), the trip marked the second chapter in a global strategy that has been in development for the past four years. Rice Global Paris, the first chapter, established the university's international academic reputation through teaching and student programs. RGI builds on that foundation by adding a focus on innovative research collaboration and partnerships with India's research and industry ecosystem.
Eighteen months in, that strategy has produced a growing portfolio of work across academic, corporate and philanthropic sectors that reflects a deliberate move from initial presence to active partnership-building. DesRoches will return to India in May to meet with educational and industry partners and continue expanding RGI's footprint and impact with the delegation picking up the thread of agreements, fellowships and research collaborations now in motion and opening conversations on what comes next.
Research partnerships with India's premier institutions
RGI has built strategic alignment with India's leading research institutions including the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a growing group of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). Three joint research projects are now launched and funded under the Rice-IIT Madras collaboration with work advancing in priority areas including energy, artificial intelligence and advanced materials. Active research collaborations with IIT Kanpur and IISc are generating early outcomes including joint publications and faculty engagement that lay the groundwork for future externally funded projects. Conversations are also underway with additional IITs to extend the network in the coming year.
“What we see is remarkable ambition on those university campuses and an appetite to work with Rice University in a number of ways,” said Caroline Levander, vice president for global strategy. “We envision a dynamic and fast-moving set of collaborations across every sector that matters to the university.”
Graduate and undergraduate opportunities
Academic mobility is moving in parallel with the research agenda. IIT Madras is in advanced stages of developing undergraduate and graduate fellowships in collaboration with the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rice, designed to support student exchange, joint research exposure and long-term academic ties. A pilot for co-supervised doctoral training is in development with IISc, creating a structured pathway for joint research and talent development. Rice and IISc are also in discussions on a US-India TRUST Fellowship to support early-career researchers across artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology and energy.
“We have moved from establishing a presence to building an active pipeline of funded research, academic programs and institutional collaborations,” said Sreya Ghose, RGI’s director of partnerships and operations. “Each of these partnerships reflects a long-term commitment, and the momentum we are seeing across sectors tells us Rice is being recognized as a serious research and innovation partner in India.”
Corporate partnerships
RGI is nearing finalization of a structured partnership with Infosys through the InStep program program. The arrangement will give Rice doctoral students fully funded research internships of 16 to 24 weeks in India along with access to Infosys' Applied Research Centers in fields including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cybersecurity and emerging technologies. Participants will work alongside senior technical leadership on industry-aligned research, with opportunities to publish. Additional corporate engagements are being developed to expand industry-linked research pathways for Rice students and faculty.
Foundation discussions underway
RGI is also in advanced conversations with several of India's leading philanthropic institutions including Tata Trusts, the Shiv Nadar Foundation and the Azim Premji Foundation around research-backed programmatic partnerships in healthcare and education. Possible areas of focus include cancer care, digital health and diabetes research with the goal of pairing Rice's research strengths with mission-driven initiatives at scale.
Learn more about RGI on the Rice Global website.