Press release: Göttingen University seals additional cooperation projects with China and India

Nr. 240/2011 - 10.11.2011

(pug) Göttingen University has expanded its contacts in Asia and has sealed additional cooperation projects with high-ranking universities in China and India. Envisioned for the neurosciences, social sciences and humanities is an especially close collaboration with the Fudan University in Shanghai, one of the three leading institutions of higher education in China. The existing cooperation projects with Nanjing University and Peking, the oldest university in China, are being expanded further: A “Göttingen-Nanjing Forum” for the humanities will be set up in Nanjing and for computer sciences in Peking. Cooperation projects in the humanities, social sciences and life sciences have been agreed with the Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru universities in India.

“Göttingen University’s international cooperation projects give us outstanding opportunities to promote collaboration between scholars, academics and researchers – not to mention the multiple exchange options opening up for students,” notes University President Professor Ulrike Beisiegel. “We have reinforced our excellent contacts in research and teaching, and now want to build up a long-term academic exchange with our Asiatic partners.”

Apart from university cooperation projects, Göttingen University has also signed an agreement with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR). The ICCR will help set up a chair for the Bengali language and culture at Göttingen University’s Centre for Modern Indian Studies (CeMIS). Funding has been granted for two years. “For the future, we are additionally planning a closer collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) in Pune. This institute is comparable with our Max Planck Institutes, pursuing high-level research in the natural and life sciences”, stated Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne, Vice President of Research and International Affairs at Göttingen University.

Starting in 2012, Göttingen University will also maintain a liaison office in the German House for Research and Innovation (GHRI) to be established in New Delhi. This will be alongside other German institutions of higher learning and organisations the likes of the Max Planck Society, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). “In future, the GHRI will act as important interface between German and Indian science and business. That is why this is so very attractive for the entire Göttingen region,” Prof. Casper-Hehne added.

Additionally, a potential model for establishing an Academic Confucius Institute in Göttingen has been agreed with Hanban, an organisation that reports to the Chinese Ministry of Education. The aim is to set up the institute in cooperation with the Centre for Modern East Asian Studies (CeMEAS) at Göttingen University, where not only courses and events can be held for the further and continuing education of Chinese teachers, but where language courses in Chinese can be offered as well. Hanban operates over 320 Confucius Institutes worldwide.

Apart from its academic and scientific joint ventures, Göttingen University is planning additional mutual activities with its Asian partners: Occasioned by the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of India, Göttingen University and other German institutions of higher learning will be presenting themselves in seven Indian metropolises – from autumn 2011 to autumn 2012. Forty years of diplomatic relations between Germany and China in 2012 will be incorporated into the jubilee events celebrating the University of Göttingen’s 275 years of existence.

Contact address:
Professor Hiltraud Casper-Hehne
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Vice President of Research and International Affairs
Wilhelmsplatz 1, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
Phone +49 (551) 39-4320
E-mail:hiltraud.casper-hehne@zvw.uni-goettingen.de
Website: www.uni-goettingen.de/en/110984.html