‘Varsities must go beyond traditional degree, keep focus on innovation’

INdian universities must desperately displace beyond their traditional role as degree-granting institutions and germinate into innovation-driven ecosystems if the rural area is to establish globally competitive institutions, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) vice-president Dr Sekar Viswanathan said at the HT Future Ed Conclave 2025 held in New Delhi on Thursday .Speaking during a session on global models of higher education, Viswanathan pointed to leading universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford and Tokyo as examples India should learn from, noting, “These are universities where entrepreneurship is embedded in the education system.” He added that innovation at these campuses is treated as a culture rather than being confined to a single department.Viswanathan outlined what differentiates varsities such as MIT, Stanford and Tokyo from conventional universities. Across these institutions, he said, the defining feature was “co-creation, not just signing MoUs.”At MIT, he said, research outcomes are judged by their real-world impact, with entrepreneurship forming part of the core curriculum. “The university there is seen as a startup factory,” he said, pointing to structured technology transfer systems and long-term partnerships with companies such as IBM, Boeing, Google and Shell.Stanford , he said, has given rise to some of the world’s most influential technology companies, including Google, HP, Cisco, Yahoo and Nvidia. “The question we need to ask ourselves is, can we give birth to a Google from our universities here in India?” Viswanathan said.Turning to Asia, he described the University of Tokyo in Japan as a key role model, citing its close collaboration with Japanese industry giants such as Toyota, Sony, Hitachi and Mitsubishi in areas ranging from AI and robotics to smart mobility and energy systems.“Indian universities must make innovation horizontal across campuses, reward commercialization and interdisciplinary research, strengthen technology transfer offices and align research with national missions and global goals. Without these changes, Indian institutions risk falling behind as global competition in higher education intensifies,” he said.He cited examples from across the US, Europe and Asia, including Harvard, Berkeley, Oxford, Cambridge, Tsinghua University and the National University of Singapore, highlighting how each has built strong innovation ecosystems through translational research and close collaboration with industry.Viswanathan said leading universities across the globe have become centres of research, entrepreneurship and policy influence, supported by deep industry connections and a focus on solving societal problems. “We need to do the same thing in India,” he said, adding that universities must focus on producing job creators, not just job seekers, and serve as anchors for regional and national development.Lauding the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Viswanathan said the policy had clearly signalled a shift towards early and continuous skilling and allowed for a “gradual and very seamless graduation of the learner” from school to higher education and the world of work. He added that NEP 2020 also reinforces the idea of multidisciplinary learning and innovation-led education, aligning India’s schooling and university systems with global best practices where “entrepreneurship is embedded in the education system.”