With a view to further developing existing partnerships, Vice-Chancellor Professor Jutta Emes welcomed two international delegations last week. Representatives from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Dhanbad and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) met the members of the new Rectorate for the first time.
“Future areas of collaboration have already been outlined with guests from the departments of Mining Machinery, Mining and Computer Sciences at the prestigious IIT Dhanbad. As part of this mutual exchange, we are planning guest lectures from the 2026/2027 winter semester onwards, followed by joint PhD programmes,” says Professor Carsten Drebenstedt, who is already collaborating with the IIT and the “Central Research Institute for Mining and Fuels” (CIMFR) in Dhanbad.
The aim now is to take the collaboration to university level. This includes, amongst other things, a Memorandum of Understanding between the two universities, an agreement on partnership in the international Master’s programme in Advanced Mineral Resource Development, and an application for membership of the Heritage Network India – Europe.
Further collaborations are also set to be established with the Kenyan Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). To facilitate an initial meeting between the Rectorate and JKUAT, Professor Henning Zeidler accompanied the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Administration, Professor Bernard Ikua: “We are already working closely with JKUAT, particularly in research, and are now also developing joint teaching formats – currently, as part of a DAAD project that has just been launched, a curriculum on additive manufacturing (‘CREATES’).”
To identify further areas of collaboration, Professor Ikua introduced eight colleagues from the departments of Mechatronics, Biosciences, Marine Technologies and Information Technologies at TUBAF. Based on an initial exchange between TUBAF and JKUAT professors, joint research topics are to be discussed and projects developed.
