Nordic Centre in India Consortium (NCI)

Last updated: 21 May 2012

The Nordic Centre in India (NCI) was established in 2001 as a consortium of Nordic universities and research institutions. The objective is to facilitate cooperation in research and higher education between the Nordic countries and India. Through academic exchange NCI seeks to strengthen Indo-Nordic ties and understanding. In November 2004, NCI got final clearance from the Indian Government to operate in India.

From 2010, the NCI secretariat is based at the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition/Unit of Public Health, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio campus. 

NCI runs educational courses for Nordic students in India at different universities in India (More information about the courses on NCI’s website and below in the end of this section), and has a flat with rooms available to rent in Delhi. The flat can be rented by students, researchers, and other personnel affiliated to the Nordic member universities. Full information about conditions for renting rooms.

The consortium consists of 22 member universities in the Nordic countries (5 in Sweden, 3 in Norway, 4 in Denmark, 8 in Finland, 1 in Iceland, plus NIAS in Copenhagen). NCI aims at supporting collaboration on research and education between the Nordic countries and India. 

More information on the Nordic Centre in India website.

NCI has appointed a new Director to work on a 50% basis from March 2012, Dr. Kristina Myrvold at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University. As Director she is responsible for the daily activities at the NCI, including the follow-up of ongoing programmes as well as to develop new projects according to the directives of the NCI board and general assembly. Journeys to India and within the Nordic countries constitute a regular part of this work.

Kristina Myrvold succeeds Dr. Mirja Juntunen, who has been the NCI Director since 2006, but now has decided to fully focus on her other tasks and plans in the academic world, mainly as a researcher/lecturer at the Division of South and Central Asian Studies, Department of Oriental Languages; Stockholm University. More information about Dr. Juntunen and her research.

Jussi KauhanenSince 2007, Jussi Kauhanen, Professor of Public Health, University of Kuopio, Finland, has been the Chairman of the NCI board. Prof. Kauhanen is also Director for the School of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition at his home university. He succeeded Dr. Neelambar Hatti, Lund University, who was the first chairman of NCI board.

The Nordic Centre in India is engaged in arranging four-weeks 7.5 ECTS summer courses for Nordic students in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai, and also full semester course in Hyderabad (organised by the Study India Programme at the University of Hyderabad). The courses are open to students from all Nordic universities and institutions of higher learning, but students from the NCI member institutions join the course at a much reduced cost compared to other participants.

During the Summer 2011, NCI organised four summer courses. Besides the 'Contemporary India' course again held in Hyderabad, a course titled 'Approaching the Environment' was held in Bangalore (at the Institute for Economic and Social Change, ISEC), and a course titled 'Demography, Gender and Reproductive Health' was held in Mumbai (at the International Institute for Population Sciences, IIPS). A multidisciplinary training programme titled 'Methods and Applications in Social Science Research' was held at ISEC in Bangalore. Each member university nominated candidates and reserves for each course. 

News about Nordic Centre in India, and Kulturstudier


Seven Nordic students accepted for 2012 Study in India programme at University of Hyderabad

NCI Logo
UoH

The Nordic Centre in India (NCI) organises full semester programmes for Nordic students at the University of Hyderabad. The Nordic Centre has made an arrangement with the University of Hyderabad and its Study India Program (SIP) to allow 15 Nordic students to be admitted there, and to take courses on various social science and humanities subjects. The aim of the agreement is to allow Nordic students to study India in India, to give them both a sound academic knowledge of India as well as the experience you only gain by living there. In most cases, the UoH degree should count towards you final degree at your home university. Please note that applicants must come from the Nordic universities that are members of the NCI consortium. The Hyderabad semester last from third week of July to first week of December and from first week of January to first week of May every year. Deadlines for sending in your application: – Spring Semester: November 9th: – Fall Semester: March 15th. More information about the Hyderabad semester programme.
For the 2012/13 SIP programme, seven students from Sweden and Norway have been accepted for studies at Hyderabad University.
At the same time, 63 students from NCI’s member universities in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden have been admitted to the NCI 2012 summer courses in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai.


NCI summer course on Contemporary India at Hyderabad

NCIFor the tenth year, the Nordic Centre in India (NCI) consortium offers a 7.5 ECTS summer course on  'Contemporary India' at University of Hyderabad during the period 1–28 July 2012. The course is tailor-made for 50 Nordic students and introduces issues of politics, culture and economy. It consists of the following five parts:

– Introductory course
– The diversity of India
– The political system and questions of identity
– Globalisation and the economy focusing on the city of Hyderabad
– Development, environment and human rights, and
– Indian literature and cinema.

It is open to graduate and post-graduate students from the Nordic member universities, and they are given board and lodging in an excellent guest house. Applications for the 2012 course should be delivered before 31 March.
More information about the Hyderabad summer course.


NCI summer course on Demography, Gender and Reproductive Health

IIPSFor the sixth year, the Nordic Centre in India (NCI) consortium offers a 7.5 ECTS summer course on demography and gender in India, in collaboration with the International Institute for Population Science (IIPS) in Mumbai during the period 8 July – 4 August 2012. The course is entitled “Demography, Gender and Reproductive Health. 
An Introduction to Population Studies in India”. The course is a multi-disciplinary course that is open for 25 under-graduate and graduate students from the Nordic member universities. Applications for the 2012 course should be delivered before 31 March. More information about the Mumbai summer course.


Full semester Hindi Study Programme in Varanasi, India

From the fall semester 2011, NCI runs a full semester Hindi Study Programme in Varanasi, India. The programme is organised in collaboration with the Gandhian Institute of Studies. The first year, the programme was held from 29th August till 2nd December 2011. It had participants from Aarhus University, Denmark; University of Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm University, Sweden. The programme is tailor-made for the Advanced Hindi students from the Nordic countries. The course has been developed by NCI Director Mirja Juntunen, who is also the Academic Coordinator of the course and Senior Lecturer in Hindi at the Department of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University. The course will again be given in the Fall 2012, and is open for applicants from the NCI Nordic member universities. More information. 


Summer course on environmental issues in Bangalore, India

ISECFor the sixth year, the Nordic Centre in India (NCI) consortium offers a 7.5 ECTS summer course on environmental issues in India, in Bangalore during the period 24 June – 21 July 2012. The course titled “Approaching the Environment in India. New theories and methods in the study of the nature-society interface”, is being organised in collaboration with the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) in Bangalore. It is a four-weeks multi-disciplinary course for 25 graduate and post-graduate students from the Nordic countries, that seeks to introduce students to recent theories and methods in the study of contemporary environmental issues in India. Applications for the 2012 course should be delivered before 31 March.
More information about the Bangalore summer course.


Kolkata workshop on Conducting Fieldwork in Asia

NCI LogoThe Nordic Centre in India university consortium (NCI) held a two-week workshop on 'Conducting Fieldwork in Asia' in Kolkata, India, 5–16 September 2011. The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS) in Kolkata, and the Department of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University. Venue: MAKAIAS premises, IB 166, Salt Lake Sector III, Kolkata.
Mirja Juntunen and Michael Fredholm represented the Divivion of South and Central Asian Studies, Stockholm University at the conference. Other participants included Professor Pradip Bose, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata; Professor Dipak Malik, Gandhian Institute of Studies, Varanasi; Ms Christabel Royan, Programme Manager, Nordic Centre in India; and Professor Ranabir Samaddar, Director, Calcutta Research Group. More information.