The Ambassadors of India and Ecuador Visited Sharif

A meeting was held on December 14, 2016 at Sharif University Presidential Office with the Ambassador of India, Mr. Saurabh Kumar. In this meeting Professor Fotuhi, the President of Sharif University of Technology, was also present. After a brief introduction of SUT, Dr. Fotuhi suggested that the collaboration between SUT and the Indian Institutes of Technology should be followed up as soon as possible. The Ambassador stated that they are eager to hold at least 10 joint projects and 2-3 workshops each year for the students and faculty members of both SUT and the IITs. He also informed the members of the meeting that a workshop for faculty members and professors will be held in IIT Delhi in February and that could act as a starting point for future collaborations. Mr. Kumar further added that in general the Indian government is eager to develop more economic ties with Iran and that there is political desires for both countries to progress in their relations. Following this meeting, for the first time in an Iranian University, SUT also hosted the Ambassador of Ecuador, Dr. German Ortega. The President of SUT suggested that joint degree and graduate programs be held between both countries. He also added that sabbaticals for PhD students would be a good basis for future collaboration and relations could grow from there. Dr. Ortega showed great enthusiasm for some sort of joint programs to be followed up and put into effect. He also showed concern regarding courses being taught in the  Farsi language and was informed that for undergraduate programs the University has a campus on Kish Island where all lessons are taught in English, and for post-graduate programs, which mainly involve research, language is not really an issue at all. Faculty members and students speak fluent English. Dr. Otega also stated that the objective of the government is to improve their universities’ rankings through international collaboration with other universities and explained how the higher education system works in Ecuador. The meeting ended with both parties agreeing to further their collaborations with each other.