Theme: How to pursue Higher education in overseas University and Institutes

Date: 24th March 2023

Time: 10:30 pm – 12:00 pm

Number of participants: 100 students

Speakers:

  • DR SUGANYA TAMALAPADI , Regional Officer, DAAD German, Academic Exchange Service, Consulate General of German, Bengaluru.
  • MR. CHANDRAKANTH REDICAN , Academic Engagement Manager, Swissnex In India, Consulate General Of Switzerland.
  • MR. PRADEEP PALANICHAMY , Ph.D STUDENT, Okinawa Institute of Science And Technology, Okinawa Japan.

Brief about the activity:

A Lecture was organized by Department of Biotechnology and Genetics, M S Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce on 24th March, 2023 at Dr Abdul Kalam Auditorium.
The session initiated with the inaugural remarks by Dr Sowbhagya (Assistant Professor, MSRCASC) in which she explained the motto of the lecture to introduce the opportunities of higher studies overseas. The speaker for the session were DR SUGANYA TAMALAPADI, Regional Officer, DAAD German, Academic Exchange Service, Consulate General Of German, Bengaluru, MR. CHANDRAKANTH REDICAN, Academic Engagement Manager, Swissnex India, Consulate General Of Switzerland and MR. PRADEEP PALANICHAMY, PH D STUDENT, Okinawa Institute of Science And Technology, Okinawa Japan. A brief introduction of the guests was given along with their achievements.

The first speaker was DR SUGANYA TAMALAPADI, Regional Officer, The Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) i.e. German Academic Exchange Service directed by the Consulate General of German, Bengaluru. She mentioned about the DAAD organization and its research schemes for higher studies in Germany. She encouraged why they should pursue higher studies in Germany with special features of Germany about the innovations and development in Germany. First, she gave the statistics of International and Indian Students pursuing Ph D in Germany. The students were informed about the eligibility for Ph D as well as Research work. She gave a brief introduction of some important research institutes to approach like Max Planck Society, Liebniz association etc… She also gave an overview about Individual and Structured Ph D, programs, how to identify research topic, research positions and more important how to find a supervisor to get a acceptance letter which fetches the student smooth clearance for VISA. She also emphasized that drafting a synopsis of the proposed proposal is necessary before applying for research. She shared a number of websites and contact details along with short term course structure of 7-12 days with 50€ pp with additional allowances, Research grants for Ph D up to 4 years with fellowship of 850-1200 € per month along with allowances, Bi-national supervised doctoral degree for 2 years with grant value of 1200 € per month with allowances. She even mentioned about the stay privilege at Germany with grant support up to 2000 – 2150€ per month. She concluded her talk with friendly invitation to her regional office with detailed contacts of different metropolitan cities of India, The second speaker Mr Chandrakanth Medicon, Academic Engagement Manager, Swissnex India, Consulate General of Switzerland. In the talk he gave a brief virtual tour to Switzerland with an overview about its heritage in civilization, Industrialization, innovation, and R & D. He listed few reputed Universities like University of Zurich, Basel etc. He informed that students could pursue their higher studies with low tuition fees in high quality public Universities. He also mentioned the Master level and Ph D Program are available in English. He mentioned that Swissnex has six global networks connecting worldwide to connect Indian student with the world. He gave invitation for student to visit his office in Bengaluru. He insisted the students to apply for fellowship allowance of 1800 CHF per month which has the deadline on January 2024. He concluded his talk by inviting students cum faculty research program for 2-3 months duration.

The third talk was rendered by MR. PRADEEP PALANICHAMY, PH D STUDENT, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa Japan. He gave a brief introduction Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology and its heritage. He gave an overview about research disciplines available with well-established lab infrastructure. He also mentioned about the preparation required to apply for Ph D. He even mentioned about the master and Ph D program overview along with internship available. He concluded that self-perseverance is very important to pursue studies abroad.

Dr Sathish Babu, Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology and Genetics, MSRCASC shared his experience of obtaining PhD from Germany and inspired the students by saying that there is need of self-motivation to pursue higher studies abroad. He stressed that constant focus and dedication is needed to realise the dream of getting doctoral degrees from foreign universities.

With so much information delivered to the students, it obviously gave rise to many queries in the minds of the students which all the speakers were happy to clarify. The Q & A Session was followed by with a vote of thanks from Dr Ramakrishnaiah, Department of Biotechnology and Genetics. All in all, the session was focused on motivating the students towards pursuing their dream in abroad.