Saurabh Gupta
I found that UNESCO-IHE is not one of the best’ Institutions, but is ‘the best in the world’, related to water and sanitation. If you have a passion to study in the field of water, this is the place to gain a broader perspective and think globally.
Saurabh Gupta is from India and he is studying Water Management at UNESCO-IHE. He worked as an Engineer in the Ministry of Water Resources at the Government of India, where he was involved in several national and international projects which were in Mozambique, Myanmar and Cambodia and were related to groundwater, water development and water management. Saurabh resigned from the government of India to start his own NGO ‘Shuddhi’, which means purification.
Saurabh describes how he first heard about UNESCO-IHE: "I was applying for an Erasmus Program to study Master’s in Europe, there I found that UNESCO-IHE is playing a prominent role in water related education and science. I looked at the website and applied.'' He is studying at UNECO-IHE with an NFP scholarship (Netherlands Fellowship Program).
Saurabh, already obtained a Master degree (2012-2013) from the University of Bristol in Water and Environmental Management. He studied at the University of Bristol with a Chevening scholarship. He comments, “After my studies I found that I had developed more passion for solving water-related problems. I wanted to delve further into the water sector, so decided to do a second Masters. I found that UNESCO-IHE is not one of the best’ Institutions, but is ‘the best in the world’, related to water and sanitation.''
Why did he choose to study in the field of water? "If you want to study further in India, it all starts with an examination. I was selected for civil engineering and could start a Bachelor’s. In the course Environmental Engineering, I scored a ten out of ten, which motivated me to study Environmental Engineering further.''
Saurabh on the teaching style: ''The teaching style is different in a sense that it is more developed and more comprehensive. The approach is very holistic. The professors are among the best in the world: they have a lot of experience and good knowledge about the subject. There is also more one-to-one contact and they are good at communicating their knowledge to students. At UNESCO-IHE I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of people from different countries. If you have a passion to study in the field of water, this is the place to gain a broader perspective and think globally.''
Saurabh on his goals when he graduates from UNESCO-IHE: "I plan to go back to India and to take on more (international) projects for my NGO."
Saurabh is a member of the Student Association Board and fulfils the role of Treasurer. ''I wanted to take on this opportunity, be the voice of the students and organize events that have a positive impact. My responsibility is to organize social and sports activities and take care of all the finances. In the near future we would like to organize a cultural or technical event to which we can invite students from other Universities to present their ideas related to water.''
Saurabh on Delft: ''I absolutely love it, it is very beautiful, serene. I like the ducks in the canal.''