Melbourne [Australia], August 19: As part of the longstanding partnership between La Trobe University and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), Indian cinema legend and humanitarian Aamir Khan has joined La Trobe’s Chancellor, the Hon John Brumby AO, and the IFFM to celebrate India’s 79th Independence Day.
La Trobe’s partnership with IFFM spans more than 16 years. Partnerships and Innovation: A Celebration of India’s Independence with Aamir Khan, brought together industry leaders, researchers and cultural icons in Melbourne, Australia, on Friday, 15 August, to explore how collaborations drive sustainable development.
The event highlighted the shared goals of La Trobe University and Khan’s Paani Foundation to empower communities through sustainable agriculture, water conservation and food security.
Joining the Chancellor at the prestigious event was Victorian Minister for Veterans, Minister for Small Business and Employment, and Minister for Youth, the Hon Natalie Suleyman MP, Commonwealth Assistant Minister for Citizenship and International Education, the Hon Julian Hill MP and Federal MP Tim Watts.
The event showcased La Trobe University’s collaborative research into food security and sustainability, including ag-tech solutions to improve milk quality, advanced sensor and robotics technologies for water quality monitoring and community-led action plans, such as the Clean River Ganga initiative, alongside efforts to strengthen agribusiness supply chains between India and Australia.
These initiatives closely mirror the Paani Foundation’s work in drought-prone regions of India, supporting farmers in watershed management and sustainable agriculture practices.
“La Trobe University is proud of its long-standing and diverse collaborations with India,” the Hon John Brumby AO, Chancellor of La Trobe University, said.
“Our 16-year partnership with the Indian Film Festival and our growing research ties across the subcontinent reflect our commitment to global engagement, cultural exchange and social impact. This event was a powerful celebration of those values.”
IFFM Director Mitu Bhowmick also reflected on the significance of the occasion.
“India’s Independence Day is a moment of pride and unity, and we were thrilled to celebrate it with our partner La Trobe University, which has supported the festival since its inception. This event beautifully captured the spirit of collaboration between cinema, education and community development.”
La Trobe University’s longstanding partnership with IFFM includes student placements, cultural programming and academic collaborations.
The University has also established the Asian Smart Cities Research Innovation Network (ASCRIN), which supports sustainable development and innovation across India and the broader region.
La Trobe University and India
- La Trobe has been a proud partner of the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne since it began in 2010.
- La Trobe is in the top 1 per cent of universities worldwide. *QS Top Universities, 2025, QS World University Rankings 2026: Top global universities; Webometrics, 2025, Webometrics Ranking July 2025.
- The University has a proud record of educating students from India, with around 11,000 people born in India among its alumni.
- La Trobe University is one of the founding members of the Australia India Institute.
- The IIT Kanpur – La Trobe Research Academy was established in 2020.
- Asian Smart Cities Research Innovation Network (ASCRIN), was founded by La Trobe in 2019 and is now its single largest research internationalisation initiative, with joint investment of more than AUD $43 million (Rs 235 crores). It is a partnership designed to improve sustainability, liveability and efficiency of Asian cities. Partners in the network include Tata Institute of Social Science, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) and Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-Pilani) which includes more than 250 researchers and over 70 joint-PhD projects.
- In 2024, the University announced that it would be establishing a Bio Innovation Corridor with India’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council and the Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre, to support the development of research and innovation.
- In 2025, BBC and La Trobe University jointly organised a 12-week IND-AUS LaunchPad Pre-Accelerator program, bringing together 11 high-potential Indian startups for intensive mentoring, market readiness training and cross-border networking to fast-track their global expansion.
- Also in 2025, La Trobe University will launch the IGNITE LAB, a joint initiative with the BBC to support Indian startups expanding globally. The BBC-La Trobe Continuation Program (Bangalore) will offer a pathway for Australian startups engaging with India via BBC as part of the IND-AUS LaunchPad framework.
- Dignitaries La Trobe University has hosted from the Indian subcontinent include Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi, Kapil Dev, Malaika Arora Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi and, most recently, actor, producer and women’s equality advocate, Shah Rukh Khan.
- La Trobe has awarded two Shah Rukh Khan La Trobe University PhD Scholarships, providing a life-changing opportunity for an aspiring female researcher from India to make a meaningful impact in the world.
- La Trobe University is one of only two universities in Australia teaching Hindi and the only Australian University to teach a subject on the history, music and storytelling of popular Hindi cinema.
- The La Trobe Library collection houses more than 38,000 volumes of monographs, journals, magazines and government publications from India, one of the largest collections in Australia.
Media enquiries
Australia: Robyn Grace – r.grace@latrobe.edu.au, 0420 826 595
India: Achal K Paul – achal@buzzcomm.in, +91 98101 62377
