CHENNAI, India, Feb. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — India’s No: 1 Ranked institution, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), has established a new entity, IIT Madras Global Research Foundation (IITM Global) which was launched by Dr. S. Jaishankar, Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs, Government of India, on 2nd January 2026.
At the event, a key strategic partnership with Durham University to establish an ‘IITM Global’ Centre at Durham was announced. It will serve as a gateway for the institute’s academic, research and innovation outreach across the United Kingdom and Europe.
IITM Global as a charter to transform the institute into the world’s first multinational university and position it as a globally networked hub for education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The collaboration will focus on joint research, startup exchange and high-impact academic and skilling programs, leveraging the complementary strengths of both institutions to co-create globally scalable models of innovation and education.
Addressing the IITM Global launch event at IIT Madras Campus on 2nd Jan 2026, Dr. S. Jaishankar said, “An IIT Madras Campus in Tanzania is a way by which Indian Foreign Policy has leveraged the capabilities of an Institution here to make a huge impact. In ten years from now, think how many Students of Africa would have passed through its portals. Look at the impact that we would have on the minds of people who, in their own countries, would be economic and technology leaders. We are a human resource power and we should play to our strengths. We now have the capability to start doing so. When institutions of excellence in the country start going abroad, the business of foreign policy gains a huge addition to our arsenal. This is something very transformational.”
The proposed IITM Global Centre at Durham will anchor collaborative research through Joint Centres of Excellence in priority areas of global relevance. These include Sustainable Technologies in partnership with the Durham Energy Institute, and HealthTech and Biotechnology in collaboration with the Wolfson Research Institute.
The centre will pursue co-developed research programs supported through competitive grant proposals to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Innovate UK, and India–UK bilateral funding initiatives, with thematic focus areas spanning artificial intelligence, advanced materials and public policy–linked innovation.
Through IITM Global and its UK partnership with Durham University, IIT Madras aims to deepen international collaboration, strengthen innovation pipelines and create new pathways for globally relevant research, education and entrepreneurship.
Widely recognised as India’s leading institution for higher education, IIT Madras is ranked #1 Overall and #1 Engineering Institute in India’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), #180 in the QS World University Rankings and #56 in the QS Asian University Rankings. The institute hosts one of the world’s most comprehensive research ecosystems, comprising 18 academic departments, 15 Centres of Excellence, and 23 research centres.
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