India and United States have jointly agreed for Eight Education Institutional Partnership aiming at strengthening the level of Higher Education in Either Country.  Considered as one of the path-breaking partnership between India and US, it would include Faculty Exchanges and   Joint research on topics like food security, climate change, sustainable energy, and public health.
Each project will receive an award of approximately $250,000 under  Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative awards  that can be utilised over the three-year grant period to encourage mutual understanding, educational reform, and economic growth, as well as the development of junior faculty.
Indian-led Partnerships:
Mahatma Gandhi University: An Interdisciplinary and Community Oriented Approach toward Sustainable Development in partnership with Brown University, Duke University and Plymouth State University.
Banaras Hindu University: Paradigm Shift in Energy Scenario for the 21st Century toward Renewable Energy Sources required for both India and the US in partnership with University of Pittsburgh.
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur: International Programme for Sustainable Infrastructure Development in partnership with Virginia Tech University.
Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi: Resource Building for Ecosystem and Human Health Risk Assessment with Special reference to Microbial Contamination in partnership with Drexel University.
US-led partnerships:Â
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey: Capitalising on the Demographic Dividend: Enhancing Talent Development Capacity for India and the US in the 21st Century in partnership with Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
University of Montana: Impacts of Climate Change and Changes in Socio-Economic Structure on Traditional Agriculture and the Development of Sustainable Communities among Indigenous Populations in partnership with Bangalore University.
Cornell University: Implementing Reformed Curriculum in Emerging areas of Agriculture and Food Security in Two State Agricultural Universities of India in partnership with University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad and Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut.
University of Michigan: The Joint Development of a Master’s Degree in Education for Health Professions Faculty in the United States and India in partnership with Maharashtra University of the Health Sciences.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama announced the Obama-Singh Initiative in November 2009 as an affirmation of their commitment to building an enhanced India-U.S. partnership in education. Each government pledged $5 million for this endeavor, for a total of $10 million.
To implement this initiative, the Governments of India and the United States established a bi-national Obama-Singh Initiative joint working group (JWG). The JWG provides the final approval for all grants awarded through the Obama-Singh Initiative. The JWG will allocate the $10 million over the course of a five year period awarding 8 to 10 university partnership grants annually.
The next request for proposals for grants from the Obama-Singh Initiative announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama in November 2009 will be announced in July 2012.
Meanwhile India and US have begun  their annual higher education dialogue  focused on advanced research and innovation and the role of community colleges in workforce development.
Indian Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are co-chairing the dialogue aimed at promoting and encouraging the vibrancy and depth of the cooperation between the education sectors of the two countries.
The dialogue will identify key areas of educational cooperation, shared goals, and best practices, and will help frame the two countries’ higher education priorities for the year ahead. Several outside experts have joined the government delegations to offer their perspectives.
The education dialogue is one of several dialogues being held on the margins of the third edition of the India-US strategic dialogue here Wednesday.