On the 19th of September, 2025, a significant milestone in the sphere of higher education and devotional scholarship was marked by the formal signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Institute of Engineering & Management / University of Engineering & Management (IEM–UEM University), ISKCON Māyāpur, and the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre (BRC).
In accordance with the provisions of this Memorandum, UEM University, the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre, and ISKCON Māyāpur have resolved to cooperate in the establishment of collaborative academic degree programmes at the doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate levels. These programmes are envisioned across a broad range of disciplines, including Engineering, Law, Management, Humanities, and the Basic Sciences. The collaboration is intended to serve the mutual interests of all participating institutions by fostering and nurturing a culture of interdisciplinary scholarship, research, and learning, as well as by facilitating joint academic studies, research initiatives, and structured training programmes.
The signing ceremony was graced by the presence of distinguished academic leaders and representatives of the Vaiṣṇava spiritual tradition from the three institutions. Representing the IEM–UEM group were Prof. Dr. Satyajit Chakrabarti, Director of the IEM–UEM group; Prof. Dr. Sajal Dasgupta, Vice Chancellor of UEM Kolkata; Prof. Dr. Biswajoy Chatterjee, Vice Chancellor of UEM Jaipur; and Dr. Arun Kumar Bar, Principal of IEM Kolkata. They were joined by several senior academicians, including Dr. Sanghamitra Poddar, Dean of Alumni Relations; Dr. Malay Ganguly, Dean of Academics; Dr. Rajiv Ganguly, Dean of Science; Dr. Moutushi Biswas Singh, Head of the Department of Computer Science at IEM Kolkata; Dr. Abir Chatterjee, Dean of Research at UEM Kolkata; and Associate Professor Sankar Mondal.
Representing ISKCON Māyāpur and the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre were His Grace Subheksana Dāsa, Co-Director of ISKCON Māyāpur; His Grace Arādhya Bhagavān Dāsa, Secretary of the Māyāpur Board of Education; and Dr. Sumanta Rudra, Dean of Academic Affairs at the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre. The assembly was further enriched by the presence of Ms. Nora Kovács, a student of Bhaktivedanta College in Hungary, reflecting the international dimension and outreach of this initiative.
MoU announcement at the UEM campus.
The conference held before the signing of the MoU.
The MoU being signed by representatives.
The overarching purpose of this collaboration is to cultivate and advance a culture of interdisciplinary academic pursuit, enabling joint research, study, and training programmes that will be of lasting benefit to all participating institutions. This partnership stands as a distinctive and forward-looking model in higher education, harmoniously integrating rigorous academic inquiry with the timeless wisdom and values of the Vaiṣṇava spiritual tradition.
Expressing his appreciation and enthusiasm for the collaboration, Prof. Dr. Satyajit Chakrabarti remarked, “IEM–UEM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre and ISKCON Māyāpur for collaborative, interdisciplinary joint Ph.D. programmes. These initiatives have the potential to assist countless individuals worldwide in pursuing advanced research degrees that integrate spirituality with contemporary fields such as artificial intelligence, management, humanities, sciences, and engineering.”
Emphasizing the spiritual significance of the agreement, His Grace Subheksana Dāsa observed, “This collaboration represents a milestone in the realization of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s vision. Education grounded in devotion must safeguard the integrity of our tradition while preparing devotees and scholars to thoughtfully and competently address the challenges of the modern world.”
His Grace Arādhya Bhagavān Dāsa, who played a key role in facilitating the event, reflected upon the transformative potential of this initiative for ISKCON’s global community. He stated, “Devotees will now be able to come to Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, reside here for several years, and then return to their respective centres with a Ph.D. degree—just as Śrīla Prabhupāda desired. Māyāpur is thus envisioned to develop as an educational hub and academic centre, and Navadvīpa may once again, by providence, reclaim its position as the ‘Oxford of the East.’”
Offering his gratitude, Dr. Sumanta Rudra remarked, “We are deeply thankful for the opportunity to come together in this endeavour. This collaboration marks what we believe will be a historic achievement for the entire Bhaktivedanta Research Centre team.”
The meeting concluded with a shared resolve to commence the first cohort of doctoral scholars in the forthcoming academic session. Planned future initiatives include the constitution of a Doctoral Research Committee, the structured development of curricula and supervisory frameworks, and the establishment of a comprehensive digital archive to support the scholarly work of students and researchers. This pioneering collaboration aspires to establish a new paradigm in higher education, wherein academic excellence is harmonized with spiritual depth, offering scholars a rare opportunity to pursue advanced studies while simultaneously deepening their devotional understanding and commitment.
For further updates on the activities of the Bhaktivedanta Research Centre, readers are invited to visit its official website here and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
The Bhaktivedanta Research Centre respectfully offers its heartfelt gratitude to its esteemed patrons and well-wishers for their invaluable support and contributions:
(List of patrons and supporters retained in full, without alteration, as provided.)
HH Smita Krishna Swami, HH Devamrita Swami, HH Candramauli Swami, HH Radhanath Swami, Hari-sauri Das, Pranava Das, Krishna Chandra Das, Keshava Das, Namamrita Devi Dasi, Radha Giridhari Das, Lila Purushottam Das, Dayarama Das, Radha Raman Das, Gauranga Das, Yudhistir Govinda Das, Dr Suresh Jain, Mrs.Sadhana Jain, Mr.Hitesh Jain, Mrs.Veena Jain, Braja Hari Das, Braja Vilasa Das, Ramesvara Das, Meenakshi Rudra, Raman Reti Das, Bhakti Vilasini Devi Dasi, Anurag Sharma, Aarti Arora, Abhijeet Deulkar, Abhishek Jajodia, Abhishek Mantha, Acyuta Kesava Dasa, Acyuta Lila Das, Adi Purusa Das, Advaita Chandra Das, Ajit Kumar Garg, Akrura Das, Amarender Bilapati, Amritananda Das, Anand Madhava Das, Anand Manaktala, Anand Tirtha Das, Ananda Kumar, Anandini Sundari Devi Dasi, Ananta Acharya Das, Aniruddha Patel, Anisha Ghoorbin Dareeawoo, Anjan Bacchu, Ansul Agarwal, Aristaha Das, Arun Rangachari, Atul Madhava Das, Avatari Chaitanya Das, Balarama Lila Das, Bali Chaitanya Das, Balkrishna Jagdishbhai Darji, Balramkumar Srivasatava, Bharat Shroff, Braja Kripa Das, Braja Prakash Das, Caitanyacandra Dasa, Chaitanya Bhagavan Das, Chaitanya Nidhi Das, Chaitanya Sundar Das, Cintamani Devi Dasi, Damodar Hari Das, Damodar Vilas Das, Darshan Shinde, Darshana Khante, Dashang V Prajapati, Dhananjaya Das, Dr. Amar Shah, Dr. Mohan K Pujar, Dr. Priyank Dhumade, Dr. Shekhar Shukla, Dr. Snehal Donde, Dr.Lakshman Das, Dwarkadhish Das, Gadadhara Chandra Das, Gaura Candra Das, Gauranga Prem Das, Giriraj Das, Girish Balakrishnan, Gopakumar Das, Gopinath Rasa Das, Hare Krishnananda Das, Hari Kirtan Das, Hari Vallabh Das, Haridev Krishna Das, Hercules Pigments Pvt. Ltd., Hladini Gopika Devi Dasi, ISKCON Attapur, ISKCON East London, JABS International Pvt. Ltd., Janardan D. Bahirat, Janardan Das, Jyoti Pravin Purohit, Kalasudha Devi Dasi, Kammal K. Jaiswal, Karan Rakesh Kantliwala, Karishma Peswani, Kirtida Devi Dasi, Koel Colours Pvt Ltd, Krishna Chaitanya Das, Krishna Chandra Das, Krishna Kirtan Das, Krishna Kishore Dasa, Krishna Kumar Das, Krishna Murali Das, Krishna Naam Das, Krishna Sakha Das, Lavanga Mangal Devi Dasi, Lileshwari Devi Dasi, Madhava Chandra Das, Madhava Gauranga Das, Madhu Kumari, Madhusudan Shetty, Mahendra Singh Rawat, Mahendrabhai Patel, Manish Nadkarni, Mokshyalakshmi Devi Dasi, Mukund Ras das, Mukunda-Anghri Das, Murlidhar Das, Nadiya Kishor Das, Nitai Gaursundar Das, Nityananda Vilas Das, Nritya Gauranga Das, Padmanabha Das, Pallavi Subhash, Pankaj Chopra, Prahlad Bhakta Das, Prahlad Priya Das, Pranava Das, Prashant Devatraj, Praveen Krovvidi, Prem Kumari Devi Dasi, Prem Niketan Das, Premorayojan Das, Priyadarshan Das, Radhananda Das, Radharadhya Das, Raja Nagarajan, Rajesh Solanki, Ram Das, Ram Mukunda Das, Ramapriya Das, Ramesta Das, Ramesvara Das, Rasamrita Das, Rasesvara Das, Rasik Nimai Das, Rasikendriya Das, Revati Devi Dasi, Roopendra Singh, Sachi Prana Das, Sacisuta Das, Sadananda Das, Sai Suman, Sakshi Gopal Das, Sanjay Kapoor, Sarang Thakur Das, Sarla Thakker, Satcitananda Das, Satya Sara Das, Satyabrata Mukhopadhyay, Satyaraj Das, Shailen Ramanlal Desai, Shaligram Krishna Das, Shivam Gupta, Shweta Pandey, Shweta Shroff, Shyam Hari Das, Shyam Mohan Das, Shyamlal Das, Sreenivas Gopal Das, Sridhar Gopal Das, Sripati Das, Srngi Das, Subuddhi Raya, Sujit Sen Gupta, Sundarananda Das, Sundari-Radha Devi Dasi, Suresh Amin, Suryakar Mani, Sushil Goyal, Syama Sakhi Devi Dasi, Tushar Bhole, Vaibhav Zade, Vaishali Kamat, Veerchandra Das, Vidagdha Madhava Das, Vidura Das, Vipra Sudama Das, Vishwarup Das, Vishwatma Gopinath Das, Visvakalyana Gaura Das, Vraja Kishore Das, Vraja Raja Das, Vrindavaneshwari Devi Dasi, Yasodanandana Das
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