Tim White, Vice President, International Engagement at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, told sources that the university is looking to strengthen its research and academic collaborations with top Indian universities.

"The most important institutional collaborations NTU has are with IIT Madras and IISC Bangalore, where 50 Indian PhD scholars will be trained at NTU thanks to the generosity of an endowment from Kris Gopalakrishnan," said White.

"Other significant collaborations are in the works with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), and Film and Television Institute of India (FTII)," he added.

"For many years, NTU has sponsored an India Connect programme, which has allowed Indian undergraduates to conduct short-term research in Singapore." "There are numerous direct partnerships between NTU and Indian professors in the fields of science, engineering, social sciences, and humanities," White explained.

India is one of NTU Singapore's most important strategic markets.

"Indian students are in high demand by NTU faculty and researchers." "The countries' long historical and cultural ties, as well as their geographical proximity, make them ideal partners," he said. "Educational collaboration is also an important component of Singapore's larger role as a source of direct foreign investment in India."

On being asked about how the institute facilitates Indian students get jobs locally in Singapore, especially at a time when the global macroeconomic uncertainty and the headwinds is impacting the job prospects of entry level talent, White said: “In Singapore, some 250 companies have laboratories on the campus.

All students have the opportunity to serve as interns with these companies.” “Experience has shown that internships have a high conversion to employment after graduation. In addition, NTU actively trains capable students in entrepreneurship that could allow graduates to start their own company in Singapore to serve the ASEAN and Indian markets,” he added.