Holding a Unique Position in the Indian-German Higher Education Landscape
The Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS)
The Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS) conducts research to address the defining sustainability challenges of our time, broadly disseminates its findings and resulting knowledge, and offers students and scholars opportunities for international study and research.
It was founded in 2010 in collaboration with RWTH at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras). Since then, the center has received funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the “A New Passage to India” initiative of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Additional funding comes from the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology (DST) and industrial partner Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen. Other important partners of the IGCS are Leibniz University Hannover, TU Berlin, and CAU Kiel University.
A Long Common History
IIT-Madras and RWTH Aachen University are uniquely positioned in the Indian-German higher education landscape. Their shared history dates back to 1959, when RWTH supported the founding of IIT Madras.
The jointly managed IGCS has long since been an essential and established center at IIT-Madras, dedicated to fostering the development of sustainability solutions that will secure the livelihoods of future generations.
In its explorations of promising ways to achieve sustainability, the IGCS focuses on collaboration, research, and teaching in the following areas:
- Energy
- Water management
- Waste management
- Land use
It provides grants for individual research stays and internships in India and Germany for master’s students, doctoral candidates, and established researchers. Applications for these scholarships can be submitted all year round. Since its foundation, the IGCS has facilitated more than 900 exchange visits.
Supporting Social Entrepreneurship
In addition, the IGCS organizes annual summer and winter schools at IIT-Madras and the German partner universities. The two-week programs offer intercultural training, lectures, excursions, and group work. Participants receive a grant for travel expenses and their stay. The next summer school will be held from July 22 to August 2, 2024, at RWTH and is dedicated to “Regenerative Urban Futures.”
Calls for applications are always announced on the IGCS website.
The IGCS also supports social entrepreneurship for climate protection through a collaboration with the company motan, which manufactures equipment and systems for plastics production. The annual IGCS-motan workshop offers a unique opportunity for students interested in sustainability and innovation. Through the #SustainabilityChallenge dedicated to the ‘Reduce | Re-Use | Recycle | Recover’ concept, participants are encouraged to present entrepreneurial ideas that will revolutionize sustainable practices in plastic consumption and turn their innovative concepts into actionable solutions for a more environmentally conscious future.
– Author: Lisa van Aalst
