Networks in India
View from the Charminar Monument overlooking the city of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh in the southern part of India. Source: Eva Tiemann
Students in India are interested in getting information about Freie Universität. Source: Eva Tiemann
Freie Universität’s liaison office in New Delhi supports and facilitates academic exchange with its Indian partners. Its doors are open to students and scholars in India who are interested in the excellent teaching and research opportunities at Freie Universität.
News from Nov 12, 2012
The liaison office in New Delhi maintains partnerships with selected universities in India. It recruits Indian graduate students interested in working on a doctorate in Germany, and it supports members of Freie Universität in planning and implementing conferences and other events on the subcontinent.
The main areas of cooperation with the University of Delhi and the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi are in the humanities, political science, and cultural studies. With the University of Delhi there is also a joint project in chemistry, which has been going on for more than eight years. An international research training group, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) was set up in collaboration with the University of Hyderabad to study Functional Molecular Infection Epidemiology. The group investigates, for example, factors responsible for the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases such as malaria.
Joint Projects for Sustainable Development
Education for sustainable development is the goal of cooperation between Freie Universität and TERI, The Energy and Resource Institute. The joint project German-Indian Sustainability and Climate Change Dialogue was initated in 2008 by the Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU). It serves as a platform for decision-makers, scholars, and environmental leaders from Germany and India, as well as for student exchange. In October 2012 work was begin to set up the Indian-European Multi-Level Climate Governance Research Network, which serves as a platform for researchers from Freie Universität Berlin, the TERI University, Jadavpur University, Pondicherry University, and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to work jointly on climate change policy in India and Europe.
In August 2012 an agreement was reached with Pondicherry University that Freie Universität would provide support in developing a graduate program in European Studies and in providing German instruction for students. There are also collaboration projects with other research institutes, in particular with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Roorkee, but also with the IITs in Delhi, Chennai, and Bombay, as well as with the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Bangalore, all related to current research in computer science.
Exchange Programs
An important role is played by the network of Freie Universität along with its partner institutions in the Erasmus Mundus Program. They include the Anand Agricultural University, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, the Jadavpur University, the Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the University of Delhi, the University of Kerala, and the University of Pune. As of 2012 Freie Universität is participating in a new project within the Erasmus Mundus program called Asia Regional Project. It has resulted in two new institutional partnerships with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. The project duration is four years.
Alumni Meetings
The first official meeting of Freie Universität alumni in India took place in New Delhi in November 2011 with 40 persons attending. A second meeting followed in October 2012, which was part of the activities associated with the official opening of the German House for Research and Innovation in New Delhi. Annual meetings are now being planned in various Indian cities. The meetings will focus on specific topics from fields where there are existing research collaborations between Freie Universität and Indian partners.
The liaison office in New Delhi is headed by Ulrich Podewils. It was set up in 2008 in the German House, which in 2012 became the German House for Research and Innovation (GHRI).
The international network of Freie Universität comprises seven liaison offices that support the university’s researchers by providing access to regional expertise and local contacts. The focus of the offices varies according to location.
