IIT-Gandhinagar ties up with Nielsen to provide a boost to overseas opportunities for students

The Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (IIT-Gn) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nielsen, a global information and measurement company to provide global opportunities to its undergraduate students. The agreement says that Nielsen will provide funding for multiple Nielsen Awards on a yearly basis at IIT Gandhinagar which would enable the UG students to take part in global conferences, workshops as well as internships, which will enhance their global exposure, a newspaper reported.

A Nielson India official said that there are a lot of meritorious students in IIT Gandhinagar, who can grow into leaders of tomorrow with proper grooming and therefore Nielsen is eager to support such young minds.

Piyush Mathur, president, Nielsen India said that for Nielsen India, IIT-Gandhinagar being the only IIT to offer a course in cognitive science emerged as a favourite since the research firm itself delves into cognitive science for consumer behaviour mapping. Moreover, the openness of IIT-Gandhinagar to work with private institutions too attracted Nielsen to sign the MoU. The candidates who would be short-listed though a screening for internships will receive opportunities to interact with and be mentored by senior executives at Nielsen during their overseas visits.

Sudhir Jain, director, IIT Gandhinagar said that in an increasingly globalised world, the Institute places great emphasis on the internationalisation of its curriculum. Already the institute has a very high proportion of visiting professors from abroad, who bring diversity to the campus and our academic programmes. Nielsen's support will enable them to significantly scale up and expand the range of international opportunities for their undergraduate students. They believe that brings a distinctive edge to their undergraduate experience. Initially 10-15 students may benefit from the MoU, but the numbers are expected to rise in future.