A group of students from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) has voiced strong opposition to the institution’s recent collaboration with Bar-Ilan University in Israel, following the announcement of a webinar on funded research opportunities in chemistry for Masters, PhD, and Postdoctoral candidates. The students who are part of the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle (APPSC), a students collective at IIT-B, have openly condemned the administration’s decision to engage in academic partnerships with Israeli universities, citing the ongoing violence against Palestinians.

In an official communication sent by IIT Bombay’s General Secretary of Academic Affairs (PG), the students were invited to attend a free webinar hosted by Bar-Ilan University-Israel, to explore research prospects. However, this move has drawn criticism from student activists in the campus who argue that the collaboration is inconsistent with the institution’s values of human rights and justice.