On February 20, 2024, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) orchestrated an event for taking forward the proposed Indo-U.S. Global Challenges Institute. The convergence brought together the Association of American Universities (AAU) and multiple Indian institutes.

Professor Abhay Karandikar, Secretary of DST, Govt. of India chaired the meeting, accompanied by Ms. Barbara R. Snyder, President of AAU as the co-chair. .

The American contingent consisted of Ms. Barbara R. Snyder, President of the Association of American Universities; Mr. Robert J. Jones, Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Mr. Pradeep Kumar Khosla, Chancellor of the University of California, San Diego; Ms. Linda G. Mills, President of New York University; Mr. Satish K. Tripathi, President of State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo; and Mr. Sunil Kumar, President of TUFTS University.

The Indian institutes were represented by IISC Bangalore, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Bhubneswar, IIT Ropar, and IIT Tirupathi. Professor Dhirendra S. Katti and Professor Adrish Banerjee from IIT Kanpur participated in the meeting.

This collaboration marks a pivotal step forward in joint R&D in critical technologies by institutes in both countries besides extensive student and faculty exchange -both aimed at building a strategic Indo-US research ecosystem.