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New Delhi: Germany, a
hub of quality scientific research and innovation, is keen to
attract the brightest Indian minds for further studies and
research and has as an incentive made it easier for students to
stay over and work, the country's envoy has said. Another
incentive for students is that German universities don't charge
any fees.
"In Germany you don't pay to study in the universities," Michael
Steiner, Germany's envoy to India, told IANS in an interview.
The students only have to pay for their board and lodging, he
added.
There are at present 6,000 Indian students in Germany, and the
country is eager to attract more, he said.
"Earlier, students who wanted to stay over could not, and this was
a problem. This year, we have facilitated that students keen to
stay over and work can do so," Steiner said. This would be done on
the basis of specific work permits.
And, to give a fillip to Indo-German scientific and technological
cooperation, Germany is setting up an institute in Delhi to
facilitate the exchange of science and innovation, Steiner said,
describing it as "one of the defining pillars of our bilateral
relations".
The German House for Research and Innovation (DWIH), New Delhi,
coming up on Oct 27 near the German embassy here, will help Indian
students wanting to go to Germany and vice versa, as well as
facilitate bilateral research projects, he said.
The DWIH "will be part of the Ivy League from our perspective", he
said.
The ambassador does not foresee language to be a barrier for
Indian students as German universities now offer courses in
English, he said.
"But it is an enrichment to learn the German language... And it
has been observed that Indians are good at learning German,"
Steiner said.
The DWIH will act like a hub for young talents and a house for
scientific innovation, which is one of Germany's strengths, said
the ambassador.
Among the 14 universities and member institutions of the DWIH are
the well-known Heidelberg University, the Max Planck Society and
the University of Cologne.
"The DWIH is mainly an address for facilitating study in Germany,"
he said, adding that there was an increase of 20 percent in the
number of Indian students going to Germany in 2011 from the
previous year.
"This is encouraging, but we expect a further increase," he said.
The DWIH is one of the five set up by Germany across the world,
with the others in Sao Paolo (Brazil), Moscow (Russia), New York
(USA) and Tokyo (Japan)
To a question on how much a student would have to spend to stay in
Germany, Steiner said it depends on the city.
"We have very good universities in small cities. It all depends on
where the student wants to go," he said, adding that staying in
Berlin would be relatively cheaper than Munich.
According to a study by the Indian Institute of
Management-Bangalore, more than 53,000 Indians went abroad in 2000
for a degree and at the end of the decade, the count shot up to
190,000.
The US is the top country having most number of Indian students,
with the UK a close second. Between 2000 and 2009, the number of
Indian students in Europe increased from 3,348 to 51,556, with the
UK seeing a rise from 3,962 to 36,105.
Steiner was full of praise for India's excellence in the field of
IT and German companies' collaboration with Indian firms.
"I have spoken to Infosys Germany and found them pretty
impressive," he said.
Infosys is in collaboration with German IT major SAP, while Wipro
has tied up with Siemens.
(Ranjana Narayan can be contacted at ranjana.n@ians.in)
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