The first cohort of Master’s students in Biotechnology under the ILIADE program

VIT vice-president, Dr. Sekar Viswanathan, said that “education and science do not have geo-political boundaries to share knowledge with the rest of the world”.

On Thursday, October 30, at VIT in Vellore, we celebrated a remarkable achievement, the graduation of the first cohort of Master’s students in Biotechnology under the ILIADE program, one of the flagship initiatives of the Franco-Indian Campus in Life Sciences for Health. This Master twinning program was created by the Iliade consortium, coordinated by the Vellore Institute of Technology and the Réunion Island University, together with six other partners (University of Poitiers, Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Louis Lumière University Lyon 2, CSIR-CIMAP, NCBS and JIPMER Hospital).

This moment marked far more than the culmination of two years of study. It represented the embodiment of a shared vision, a vision born from the conviction that France and India, two nations united by their commitment to science, innovation, and human progress, can together build a new generation of researchers and professionals capable of addressing the great challenges of our century: human health, biodiversity, and sustainable development.

Over the past two years, Iliade Master’s students have not only mastered complex scientific knowledge, but they have also learned to work across cultures, to adapt, and to innovate. They have experienced two educational systems, two research environments, and a shared commitment to scientific rigour and human values. Their success demonstrates that the partnership between France and India is not an abstract ideal. It lives through their curiosity, their perseverance, and their talent.

Iliade Master’s students have proven that excellence knows no borders.