Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham was selected to coordinate Indian efforts for the prestigious Indo-European Union Exchange Program, Erasmus Mundus II. University Politecnico Di Torino, Italy will coordinate efforts on the European side.
During Erasmus Mundus I, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham was an active participant, not only sending several students and faculty members to partner universities in Europe, but also welcoming European students to its campuses.
This time, the consortium includes 18 universities, 9 from India, and 9 from Europe. IIT Delhi and Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata from India are participating as are premier universities from Europe such as Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, France; Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden and Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy.
With a funding of 3 million Euros, students and faculty members from these universities will be able to study or undertake research as exchange scholars in any other university in the consortium.
The program will support a total of 126 Indian students and research scholars. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham will serve as the nodal point for the promotion and quality control of the program in India, including the selection of Indian students.
As part of these responsibilities, the Amrita Center for International Programs hosted a three day kick-off event at the Coimbatore campus during November 7-9, 2012.
Representatives came from University Politecnico Di Torino, Italy; Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden; Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy; Aachen University, Germany; Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain and University of Bologna, Italy.
Indian participants included representatives from Anna University in Tamil Nadu; Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, Gujarat; Kakatiya University in Andhra Pradesh and Pune University.
The attendees exchanged ideas on how to promote the program, select and evaluate students and become all-inclusive partners.
“The main objective of the exchange program is to foster institutional cooperation and mutual recognition among European and Indian Higher Educational Institutions through a transfer of knowledge and good practices to create open-minded and internationally experienced students, research scholars and staff,” explained the organizers.
“It was a great experience meeting all the partners. We were impressed by the outcomes of this meeting. We hope to continue working with Amrita to provide positive educational and cultural experiences through this partnership,” stated Bianca Buttiglione, Project Manager from University Politecnico Di Torino, Italy.
Other international participants concurred.
“The Amrita campus is very peaceful. Wonderful colleagues and hospitality that we will never forget,” shared Alphonso Lourdu-Doss, Regional Advisor for India from Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
“I wish I could spend more time here,” averred Silvia Carosso, Project Manager from Politecnico Di Torino, Italy.
Interested candidates can submit applications during November 30, 2012 – February 18, 2013. More details will be available soon on the website of the Amrita Center for International Programs.
SEE ALSO
The Hindu – Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham to Facilitate Student Exchange Programme(link is external)
November 15, 2012
Coimbatore Campus
