EU's centre of excellence opens at MAHE

Manipal: India's first Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence established by the European Union, was inaugurated at the Department of European Studies (DES) at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to India and Bhutan, Mr Tomasz Kozlowski inaugurated the Centre at a function held at MAHE on Saturday.

“Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence is a commitment and I am convinced Manipal will continue to make progress,” he said. Mr Kozlowski said that Manipal has always been a pioneer in promoting higher education and research in international relations in India in general and European studies in particular.

The award comes with a grant of €1,00,000 to pursue India-EU interdisciplinary studies in culture, literature, education and society. This is the fifth time that MAHE has been awarded grants under the Erasmus+ Jean Monnet initiative. Previous grants have been used for a chair, modules and a project.

Under the present award, the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in India-EU Interdisciplinary Studies aims to strengthen and enhance the educational connect between India and EU. The CoE will host open-to-public workshops on European literature, winter schools for students around the world, and an India-EU Higher Education Meet. Earlier speaking to reporters the Ambassador outlined the EU-India Strategic Partnership, particularly in the area of higher education.  "Since opening the Erasmus programme to third world countries 30 years ago, India is the largest recipient of Erasmus funding.  By directly supporting Indian students, Erasmus has financed close to 5800 scholarships for Indian nationals over the years," he said. About 250 Erasmus alumni are from Karnataka and more than 25 from Manipal University itself.

Elaborating on the EU programmes in India, Mr Kozlowski said, “People-to-people connect and cooperation in higher education are key features of the EU-India Strategic Partnership. Whether it is the India-EU Agenda for Action 2020, Joint Statement at the EU India Summit 2017 or the EU Strategy on India announced on November 20, 2018, both sides are committed to take forward cooperation through such initiatives.”