India-EU Study Centres Programme (IESCP)

IESCP web page: http://www.iescp.org/

 The India-EU Study Centres Programme (IESCP), as it is called, was set up by the European Commission in 2008 as an integral part of the India-EU Joint Action Plan adopted in 2005. Its aim was to promote a better understanding of the EU in India and vice versa through academic and other forms of collaboration, and its chief objective both to strengthen existing study centres and establish new ones focusing on EU studies in India as well as on contemporary Indian studies in Europe.
The programme has covered covered the provision of international technical assistance (TA) to existing study centres in both India and EU member states. Such technical assistance is aimed at academic, adminstrative and /or institutional capablities so that they are better equipped to promote and sustain their teaching, research and institutional provision in terms of EU Studies in India and Modern India Studies in the EU. International technical assistance is tailored to meet the needs of individuals centres.
In October 2009, the India-EU Study Centres Programme (IESCP) invited ”Expressions of Interests” from Indian and EU Institutions of Higher Education to strengthen existing EU Study Centres in India, and Modern India Study centres in member states of the European Union (EU). Go for the 2009 Call for Expression (as a pdf-file) 

The India-EU Study Centres decided upon in 2008 were the following:

Centres for Indian Studies in Europe:

– University of Milan (Università degli Studi di Milano), Italy
   Contact Person: Prof. Donatella Dolcini

– Hochschule Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Germany
   Contact Person: Prof. Hans G. Jansen.

– Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University, The Netherlands
   Contact Person: Dr. J.J. L. Gommans

Centres for European Studies in India:

– Department of Politics and International Studies,
   Pondicherry University
   Contact Person: Prof. Mohanan. B. Pillai

– Centre for European Studies; School of International
   Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
   Contact Person: Prof. Ummu Salma Bava

– Department of Political Science,
                                   Mangalore University
   Contact Person: Dr. Jayaraj Amin

– Symbiosis International (Deemed University),
   Gram Lavale, Tehsil Mulshi, Pune District
   Contact Person: Vice Chancellor, Dr. M.S. Raste
   Inaugurated on 10th January 2010 

– Department of European Language, Literature and Culture Studies, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
   Contact Person: Director, Dr. Asha Pande

– Centre for Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu
   Contact Person: Assistant Professor R. Pavananthi Vembulu

The following additional study centres were decided upon in late 2009:

Centres for Indian Studies in Europe:

– ESB Business School, Reutlingen University
   (FH/Hochschule Reutlingen), Germany
   Contact Person:  Prof. Dennis A. De 
   in partnership with:
   – S P Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai, India
   and in association with: 

– Knowledge Foundation, Germany
   Inaugurated on 19 November 2009 

– University of Warsaw, Poland
   Contact Person:  Dr Jakub Zajaczkowski in partnership with
   – Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India
   – University of Hyderabad, India
   – United Nations Development Programme – Bratislava Regional Centre, Slovakia

– Contemporary India Study Centre Aarhus (CISCA), Aarhus University, Denmark
   Contact Person:  Dr. Uwe Skoda
   in partnership with:
    – Allahabad University, India
    – Sambalpur University, India
    – Sri Venkateshwara College, India
    Inaugurated on 12 February 2010 

Centres for European Studies in India:

– Department of Sociology, University of Delhi, India
   Contact Person:  Ms. Rajni Palriwala, Head of the Department
   in partnership with:

  – Ecole Normale Superieure, France
  – Universita’ Degli Studi di Milano, Italy
  – Universität Potsdam, Germany
  – International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS),
      Leiden, the Netherlands

– Centre for Comparative EU Studies,
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M), Chennai
  Contact Person:  Dr. P. Sudarsan.
  Inaugurated on 20th January 2010
  in partnership with:

  – Department of Sociology/School of Social and
     Cultural Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

– Manipal University, State of Karnataka
   Contact Person: Dr Vinod Bhat
   Inaugurated on 17 December 2009 in partnership with:
   – Hochschule Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Bremen, Germany

Mr. Ulrich Podewils presented the IESCP programme. Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot hosted the meeting.

Brain storming
meeting in Paris

SASNET participated in a brain storming/awareness raising workshop on ”Contemporary India Study Centres in Europe: Status & Further Developments” that was held in Paris on Monday 2 March 2009.

The Paris meeting, organised by Sciences Po/CERI (Center for International Studies and Research), was intended to study the current situation of Indian/South Asian studies prevailing in different countries of Europe. Representatives of South Asian studies institutions and networks in UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Spain, Denmark and Sweden were therefore invited to discuss the issue in Paris. The Delhi based team leader of the India-EU Study Centres Programme, Mr. Ulrich Podewils presented the programme, along with Prof. Balveer Arora, former Rector, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. The meeting was presided over by Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot, Sciences Po/CERI. SASNET was represented at the Paris meeting by both Lars Eklund and Stig Toft Madsen.

Roger Jeffery, University of Edinburgh, Scotland	Subrata Mitra, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany	Isabelle Milbert, Graduate Inst. of International & Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
Balveer Arora, Centre for Political Studies, JNU, New Delhi, India	James Manor, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, UK	Lawrence Saez, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK
Julia Schwarzenberger, Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD), Berlin	Errol d’Souza, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, India	Ruth Kattumuri, Asia Research Centre, London School of Economics, UK

During the meeting, it was announced that another five study centres, either on EU in India or India in Europe, will be selected by the project, in addition to 10 already existing study centres. Prospective European and Indian institutions are welcome to apply for this selection. A Call for Proposals was later announced at the project web site. The selection process should be completed during 2009 and support (EUR 300 000 per year) provided from 2010. The deadline for submission of full applications was 10 July 2009.
More information at the IESCP web page. 

Stig Toft Madsen, SASNET, Sweden	Jakub Zajaczkowski, University of Warsaw, Poland