A key impulse for this development came from the APAIE (Asia-Pacific Association for International Education) conference in Delhi in March 2025. During the event, Prof. Dr. Markus Westner, Representative for International Programme Development at OTH Regensburg, and Elisabeth Schmid, Head of the International Office, established numerous new contacts with Indian universities. Between March 2025 and February 2026, these efforts resulted in 11 new partnerships. Two additional collaborations with the prestigious IIT Indore and IIT Mandi are currently in their final stages.
The new partnerships span several faculties and disciplines, ranging from Engineering and Computer Science to Business and Management. Their focus includes joint activities in research and teaching, student and staff mobility, and academic exchange. In the future, double-degree programmes in formats such as 1+1 or 2+2 are also envisaged. The new partner institutions are located e.g. in the regions of Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai.
Discussions with the new partners continued in September 2025 at the EAIE (European Association for International Education) conference in Gothenburg. In November 2025, Prof. Dr. Birgit Rösel, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Teaching, and Prof. Dr. Markus Westner travelled to India to deepen the cooperation on site. Their itinerary included Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence and TERI SAS in Delhi, Alliance University and Presidency University in Bengaluru, and the Vellore Institute of Technology in Vellore. On 18 November 2025, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence. Another milestone followed on 4 February 2026 with the signing of a partnership agreement with Alliance University/Bengaluru.
“I am delighted by this systematic approach to establishing highly attractive partners in India for our students and academic staff, while at the same time attracting interested students from India to our international degree programmes, who may then also find employment in the region,” says Prof. Dr. Birgit Rösel.
India has become a particular focus for several reasons. It is a dynamic and fast-growing center for science and higher education with strong strategic relevance. At the same time, Germany and the European Union are increasingly prioritizing cooperation with India. For universities, this opens up opportunities to build sustainable long-term partnerships and attract international talent.
For students and academic staff at OTH Regensburg, this means new possibilities for exchange semesters, internships, project work and joint teaching formats. The partnerships also offer further potential for research collaboration and visiting scholar programmes. OTH Regensburg is deliberately pursuing a strategic and quality-assured approach, with each partnership being developed around clear objectives. The search for suitable partner institutions was supported, among others, by BayIND.
The partnerships are already being actively brought to life. In September 2025, a delegation from IIT Indore visited OTH Regensburg and was welcomed by Vice President Prof. Dr. Birgit Rösel and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Briehm. In addition, several Indian visiting researchers have spent time at OTH Regensburg in recent months, including Dr. Subhamoy Sen from IIT Mandi in autumn 2025 and, earlier, Dr. Ranjan Kumar Barik from the Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute in autumn 2024. Some of these research stays were funded through DAAD scholarships.
“India is a dynamically growing centre for science and higher education. These new partnerships open up concrete opportunities for exchange, joint teaching and research projects – creating real added value for students, academic staff and the region,” says Prof. Dr. Markus Westner.
The cooperation is set to gain further momentum in the summer semester of 2026. Additional delegation visits from Indian partner institutions to OTH Regensburg are expected, along with online meetings to initiate further joint projects. At the same time, seven incoming students from the new Indian partner universities will, for the first time, be studying at OTH Regensburg during the summer semester. At the end of March 2026, Prof. Valter Böhm will also attend a conference at IIT Mandi.
Interested in exchange or cooperation with India?
Students interested in spending a semester abroad at one of OTH Regensburg’s Indian partner institutions can contact the International Office at: outgoing-studyabroad(at)oth-regensburg.de
An overview of the locations of the new Indian partner institutions can be found on the world map on the International Office webpages.
