Nalanda 2.0’s mission of making India’s higher education system world-class is all about empowering people and benefitting the society:
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Educating the youth,
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Upskilling and reskilling its professionals,
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Addressing problems that matter to society and industries, and
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Spurring research, innovation, start-ups, and the economy.
With 1.3 billion people in India, which is close to 1/6th of world's population, Nalanda 2.0’s mission is a win-win for India and its people and the global humanity. Make a donation and help advance this important and time-sensitive mission.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation are expected to disrupt industries, jobs, and labor market around the world. Thus, more than ever before, higher education is going to provide a critical foundation for fulfilling lives, careers, and lifelong learning. India is also facing several mega challenges such as food, water, health, poverty, energy, environment, and climate change, which need sustainable solutions now.
Unfortunately, India's higher education is in crisis. (read the link for a detailed case and six key metrics that point to the crisis.) In a post-COVID-19 world, Nalanda 2.0’s mission is more important and urgent than ever before.
What is Nalanda 2.0 doing to advance this mission? Since its inception in October 2016, powered by an exceptional team of Founder & President, Board of Directors, Global Advisory Council, and a dedicated team of volunteers, Nalanda 2.0 is tackling some of the toughest challenges and opportunities facing India's higher education system. It is building a world-class multidisciplinary research university, educating stakeholders, and advising governments.
What are Nalanda 2.0 plans for 2020? Going forward, our primary focus will be to launch the University of the Future in India (UFI)—a first of its kind world-class multidisciplinary research university in India— as soon as possible. UFI will begin by launching the Global Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Once it establishes its premier position in AI, UFI will expand its scope and scale to become a comprehensive and multidisciplinary research university.
UFI and the Global Institute for AI launch timing will be greatly influenced by the impact of COVID-19 on lives and livelihoods. Our next steps include refining our plans to respond to the challenges and opportunities posed by this crisis and then selecting a city, securing land, raising funds for the university, and completing the founding team. As a result of the delay in launch timing, Nalanda 2.0 is raising additional funding to execute these plans, and fund operating expenses. A modest fundraising goal for a potentially outsized impact!
Make a Donation to Nalanda 2.0
There are four ways to make a donation to Nalanda 2.0:
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Pay by credit card or PayPal by clicking on the Donate button.
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Make a donation on Facebook.
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Make checks payable to Nalanda 2.0 and mail it to P.O. Box 14841, Fremont, CA 94539, USA.
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Make a contribution via your company's giving portal and multiply your impact.
Nalanda 2.0 is now eligible for employee-matching program in companies such as Google, Microsoft, Intel, Adobe, Applied Materials, Sony, LinkedIn, Nvidia, Synopsis, Salesforce, VMware, and Apple. Check your company's giving website and multiply your giving to Nalanda 2.0.
Join over 1055 donors who have donated approximately $158,000 starting May 2018 to partially fund this journey. The donors include the Tarsadia Foundation, Deshpande Foundation, Guru Krupa Foundation, Dr. Anand Deshpande and Mrs. Sonali Deshpande, Salesforce #SouthAsiaForce, and hundreds of individual donors from India and the US.
Nalanda 2.0 (EIN 36-4878144) is exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code Section (IRC) 501 (c) (3). Donors can deduct their contributions that they make to Nalanda 2.0 under IRC Section 170.
Listen to a webinar and learn about Nalanda 2.0 and its 2020 plans
May 02, 2020
Nalanda 2.0 made significant progress prior to COVID-19 outbreak and are updating our plans to respond to the new challenges posed by it. In this webinar, we share an update on Nalanda 2.0, its three initiatives of building the University of the Future in India, advising governments with evidence-based policy recommendations, and educating stakeholders, and our future plans.
The panel included Shail Kumar, Founder & President, Nalanda 2.0 and four core team members: Rakesh Misra, Co-Founder, Uhana (acquired by VMware), Deepan Raj Prabakar, Post-Doctoral Researcher, UC Irvine, Hrishikesh Ranjalkar, Principal Engineer Sea6 Energy, and Raj Shekhar Singh, Vice President, Innovaccer. This was followed by audience Q&A.
Help design the University of the Future in India
April 20, 2020
More than ever before, India needs many world-class multidisciplinary research universities. Currently, it has none. An exceptional team of 23 leaders from industry, academia, and research, and entrepreneurs from India, Singapore, UAE, and the US came together in 2018 to build one such university - University of the Future in India (UFI). This is a Nalanda 2.0 initiative. For further details, visit: University of the Future in India.
The goal of this survey is to engage and get feedback from those currently pursuing Phd or have completed Phd. The insights we gather from your responses will help us improve our plans for UFI. The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete. We encourage you to participate in the survey and give your valuable feedback.
Thanks to Salesforce #SouthAsiaForce for donating to Nalanda 2.0
March 06, 2020
Nalanda 2.0 is pleased to acknowledge a gift from Salesforce #SouthAsiaForce at the Benefactor level. This gift will enable Nalanda 2.0 to advance its mission of making India's higher education system world class.
As a nonprofit partner of Salesforce #SouthAsiaForce for 2019-20, it was a privilege for Nalanda 2.0 to engage with Salesforce employees and their families on multiple occasions, and help increase awareness about India's higher education system.
Special thanks to the SouthAsiaForce leadership team, especially Ishwarya Ramachandran, Luanne Sequeira, Chandrasekhar Bellamkonda, Priya Padmanabhan, for driving this engagement. We are also humbled and thankful to over 600 Salesforce employees who made a financial contribution.
Guru Krupa Foundation makes another gift to Nalanda 2.0 for its University of the Future in India initative
December 20, 2019
Nalanda 2.0 is pleased to announce that Guru Krupa Foundation has given another gift to support Nalanda 2.0's initiative to build the University of the Future in India (UFI).
"We are pleased to support Nalanda 2.0's efforts to improve the higher education system in India," said Mukund Padmanabhan, president of Guru Krupa Foundation (GKF). He added, "Education related projects are an important component of GKF's charter, and we look forward to helping Nalanda 2.0 in its efforts to put Indian higher education institutions on the global stage."
"We are delighted to receive Guru Krupa Foundation's gift. The general expense funding support is critical for advancing Nalanda 2.0's mission and its initiative to build the University of the Future in India," said Shail Kumar, Founder and President, Nalanda 2.0.
GKF's gift is at the Benefactor's Circle level. To learn more about the Giving Levels and making a gift visit https://www.nalanda2.org/give-now .
Dr. Sethuraman "Panch" Panchanathan nominated to be the next Director of National Science Foundation
December 19, 2019
We are pleased to share that Dr. Sethuraman "Panch" Panchanathan, executive vice president and the chief research and innovation officer at ASU has been nominated to be the next Director of NSF. He is also on University of the Future in India (UFI) Global Advisory Board.
University of the Future in India: meeting leaders, refining plans, and advancing the initiative.
University of the Future in India (UFI) will have a game changing impact on students, professionals, industry, and the society. UFI's Global Advisory Board completed its planning in Nov. 2018. Since then, Nalanda 2.0's Founder & President Shail Kumar has also been meeting and speaking with faculty members and academic leaders in universities such as MIT, UC Berkeley, Tsinghua, and Stanford to get their advice on the plans.
In the photo with Dr. John Hennessy, President (Emeritus), Stanford University, Turing Award winning faculty member and researcher, entrepreneur, and Chairman, Alphabet, Inc.
Nalanda 2.0 is a Knowledge Partner for Reforming Higher Education in Delhi
Nalanda 2.0 is excited to be the Knowledge Partner with Dialogue and Development Commission for its High-level Committee on Reforming Higher Education in Delhi. The High-Level Committee includes entrepreneurs, and leaders from academia, industry, government, and civil society from India and around the world.
Watch Facebook Live with Nalanda 2.0 Founder & President Shail Kumar
In an interactive Facebook Live session, Shail Kumar, Founder & President, Nalanda 2.0 answered audience questions on:
- Why India needs a vibrant higher education system in the 21st century,
- How India's higher education system is currently doing,
- Why there is an urgent need to transform and make it world class, and
- What Nalanda 2.0 is doing to execute this transformation!
At the Harvard India Conference 2019
Nalanda 2.0's Founder & President, Shail Kumar spoke at the Harvard India Conference 2019. He was a speaker in the panel on "Innovation in Education: Can India realize its demographic dividend", and moderated a panel on "Education: Skills for the new economy".
Amazon Palo Alto hosted Nalanda 2.0 for a talk and interactive session
Amazon Palo Alto hosted Nalanda 2.0 on Jan. 31 for a talk on "Transforming India's higher education system: Why and How".
Interacting with a highly-engaged audience, Nalanda 2.0’s Founder and President Shail Kumar explained the need for urgent and comprehensive reforms and Nalanda 2.0’s 5-point mission for executing this transformation.
Talk at the IIT Leadership Conference in the Bay Area
Read the book that is the foundation for Nalanda 2.0.
Building Golden India: How to unleash India's vast potential and transform its higher education system. Now. (published October 2015) Shail Kumar, Founder & President, Nalanda 2.0 is the author. This book is the fountainhead for Nalanda 2.0's mission, plans, and actions.
The book includes a foreword by Desh Deshpande, Life Member, MIT Corporation, and has received international acclaim from academic and business leaders. In 2017, a US-based Nobel Laureate presented this book to India’s Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi.
Nalanda 2.0 is partnering with QuestionPro. QuestionPro's advanced survey features powers our data intelligence, allowing us to create surveys, collect responses, distribute critical information, and analyze results.