Nordic Centre in India Consortium (NCI)

Last updated: 17 May 2013

Web page: http://www.nordiccentreindia.com/

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


2013 NCI summer courses on Contemporary India and Nature–Society Interface

The Nordic Centre in India university consortium organises two short term summer courses for Nordic students in India during the summer 2013, one based at Hyderabad and the other at Bangalore. The courses are as follows:

NCIContemporary India. An Interdisciplinary Introduction Course. This course is being held for the 11th year at the University of Hyderabad during the period 30 June – 27 July 2013. It 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.

ISECApproaching the Environment in India. Issues and Methods in the Study of the Nature-Economy-Society Interface. This course is being held for the 7th year at the  Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) in Bangalore during the period 7 July – 3 August 2013. Capacity: 22 students, getting an introduction to recent theories and methods in the study of contemporary environmental issues in India.

Both courses are available in the 7.5 ECTS variant and the 10 ECTS variant. The course structure remains the same with the exception of additional coursework for students opting for the 10 ECTS variant.
Typically each member university within the NCI consortim has their own deadline, so there is no general overarching deadline for receiving students nominations. But NCI wants to receive the names of interested students and their details by March 31st, 2013 so that the students, host institutes, and NCI have enough time to make practical arrangements for the course. Interested students can also independently approach NCI if they have missed their university deadline.
Given the unequal demand among the member universities and with the goal of filling all the seats being offered in the three courses NCI has changed the limit of nominations. The number may be more than just three students as was the earlier practice. If there are more students than required for the course NCI will look at member university/institute representation and the academic qualifications of the competing students to finally decide who gets selected.
More information on the NCI web page, http://www.nordiccentreindia.com/
or directly from the Programme Manager, Ms. Christabel Royan.


NCI summer course on Demography, Gender and Reproductive Health

IIPSFor the sixth year, the Nordic Centre in India (NCI) consortium offered 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 was entitled “Demography, Gender and Reproductive Health. 
An Introduction to Population Studies in India”, and was 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.
The course will not be repeated during 2013.


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. 


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.