February 15, 2010
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore
 

Twenty-four students from three Amrita campuses — Amritapuri, Bangalore and Coimbatore were selected to spend upto ten months at various European Universities, as part of the European Union’s India4EU program.
 

“The award to Amrita is cumulatively worth the highest among all Indian institutes that applied,” stated Dr. Krishnashree Achuthan. “For students, this is a fully-funded program wherein they have the opportunity to study at participating European Universities.”
 

Selected Amrita students will study at University of Trento (Italy), University of Bologna (Italy), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Aachen University (Germany), Helsinki University (Finland), Helsinki University of Technology (Finland), Grenoble Institute of Technology (France) and KTH, Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden).
 

Also, this year, four students from Europe will travel to India to study at Amrita. Currently pursuing masters programs at European Universities, all four will complete course-work at Amrita that will earn them credits in their programs. Three students will attend classes at the School of Business in Coimbatore, one will study at the School of Biotechnology in Amritapuri.
 

An institution-based mobility and scholarship project, India4EU is organized by a consortium of European and Indian universities. Participating universities include those that offer programs in engineering, management and biotechnology. Projects and scholarships are financed by the European Commission.
 

Simi Pillai, a first-year MBA student at Amritapuri, who was selected to study at the University of Trento in Italy is excited. “This was totally unexpected,” she stated. “I am enrolled to study masters-level courses in management and business consultancy at Trento. I hope to gain good exposure globally and interact with the best faculty.”
 

Others are equally enthusiastic. The students will leave for Europe in a few weeks.
 

Joining them will be several Amrita alumni also. Through a sister program WILLPower (Window India Learning Link Power), coordinated by the Ecole Centrale de Nantes in France, eight Amrita alumni will also proceed to Europe for higher studies. “Our excellent alumni network made it happen,” stated Mr. Gokuldas, Manager, Alumni Relations at Amrita.