Australia’s Griffith University and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) have announced an expansion of their long-standing academic partnership with the launch of a Dual Award Doctoral Programme and plans for a joint research centre at the MAHE campus in Bengaluru.

The collaboration marks Griffith University’s first partnership of this scale in India and aims to strengthen international research, academic mobility, and interdisciplinary innovation between the two institutions.

Under the new doctoral programme, PhD scholars will be jointly supervised by faculty members from both universities and enrolled simultaneously at Griffith University and MAHE. Students completing the programme will receive doctoral degrees from both institutions after undertaking a single jointly delivered research programme.

The universities said scholars will conduct research across both campuses, gaining access to research infrastructure, faculty expertise, and international academic networks in India and Australia.

The programme will initially focus on health and transdisciplinary research, with future expansion planned in engineering, information technology, digital health, sustainability, sports science, humanities, and other emerging interdisciplinary areas.

As part of the partnership, the two institutions will also establish the Griffith–MAHE Centre of Research Excellence at the MAHE campus. The centre is expected to function as a platform for collaborative and high-impact research projects.

Both universities will jointly support a Collaborative Seed Funding Scheme, backed by an initial investment of AUD 100,000 from Griffith University and matched by MAHE over the next three years. The funding will support joint research projects and early-stage academic initiatives.

Speaking on the partnership, Griffith University Vice Chancellor Professor Carolyn Evans said, “Our partnership with MAHE is one of the most significant and enduring international research relationships Griffith has built, and today’s announcement takes it to a new level.” She added that the initiative would provide doctoral scholars access to “the expertise, infrastructure, and networks of two world-class universities.”

MAHE Vice Chancellor Dr Sharath K. Rao said, “MAHE has always believed that globally connected research and interdisciplinary collaboration are critical to addressing the evolving needs of society.” He added that the expanded partnership would strengthen doctoral education while fostering innovation and global knowledge exchange.

The announcement comes as Griffith University marks its 50th anniversary year, commemorating five decades of research and higher education contributions globally.

The phased initiative is also expected to support publications, proof-of-concept studies, international grant opportunities, and future industry collaborations. Both institutions indicated that admissions details for the doctoral programme and the first round of collaborative seed funding projects would be announced later.