Plenary Discussion: Bringing together European research on Contemporary India

Wednesday, 28 June - 19.00-20.30

Lipsius Building, Room 011

Plenary Discussion: Bringing together European research on Contemporary India

European researchers have a well-established forum for presenting their research on South Asia through the European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies (ECMSAS), organised under the auspices of the European Association for South Asian Studies (EASAS). Several effective networks, such as SASNET, have been created to facilitate exchange of research findings and strengthen academic collaboration.

Policy formulation about India (and South Asia) at the European level proceeds with inputs from officials from EU member states, but the academic community has only been involved in an occasional and ad-hoc way. The European Commission has now initiated a network project to facilitate the bringing together of EU-based research on India, entitled Academic Network for European Research on India (ANERI). The network seeks to facilitate policy-relevant research on India, in particular on areas covered within the EU-India Joint Action Plan. The project is implemented by the European Institute for Asian Studies in collaboration with SOGES management consultants. The project team includes Dr Willem van der Geest (teamleader), Prof Kunal Sen (University of East Anglia) and Dr Lawrence Saez (Asia Research Centre, London School of Economics).

At the plenary discussion, the project team will introduce the network initiative. A discussion will be initiated on the scope and opportunities for an active interface between the academic and applied research communities on the one hand and the policy-making circles at the EU level on the other hand. A representative of the European Commission, Mr Mikael Sami will participate in the panel discussion.

The Panel is organized by Dr Willem van der Geest, European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS)

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