India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and the UK’s University of Warwick are to form a partnership to collaborate in the study of Law, Governance, Social Studies and the Arts.

Both universities have strategies to develop a small set of core partners for meaningful international collaboration. JNU and the University of Warwick will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on their new partnership on 11 November on the JNU campus in New Delhi. The MoU commits both institutions to a three year programme of active collaboration through their respective Institutes of Advanced Study in 5 academic areas:

• Language, Literature and Culture Studies

• Social Sciences including Philosophy

• Arts and Aesthetics including Theatre Studies

• Law and Governance

• International Legal Studies

Pro-Vice Chancellor for Teaching, Learning and International Affairs, Professor Michael Whitby, will sign the MoU on behalf of the University of Warwick. Professor Ramadhikari Kumar, Rector, JNU will sign on behalf of JNU.

However the JNU and Warwick researchers are so eager to move the partnership forward that they have already mounted a joint JNU-Warwick Social Sciences’ foundational workshop at the University of Warwick’s Institute of Advanced Study on 3–4 November. That workshop was attended by Professor Niraja Gopal Jayal, from JNU’s Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, who said:

"The JNU-Warwick Social Sciences' foundational workshop has provided a platform for meaningful and productive collaboration between two of the world's leading research universities. There are long-standing links between individual scholars in both universities, and the MoU will provide an opportunity to build upon, expand and institutionalize these in very promising ways."

The University of Warwick’s Professor Whitby said: "This new partnership will provide exciting international insights and opportunities for UK and Indian research teams already regarded as leading lights in legal and cultural studies."

Notes for editors:

JNU is Named after the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is one of India’s premier institutes of learning. JNU’s main focus is research and the postgraduate courses that it offers are therefore research-oriented. Jawaharlal Nehru University was established through an Act of Parliament in 1969. The objective behind the establishment of the institution was to have an educational body that promoted the study of principles of national integration, social justice, secularism, and democratic way of life, international understanding and scientific approach in solving the society’s complex problems.

The University of Warwick is a uniquely successful, UK University. Despite its relative youth, it was founded in 1964. It is now one of the UK’s leading universities, with an acknowledged reputation for excellence in research and teaching, for innovation and for links with business and industry. In the last government Research Assessment Exercise, Warwick was rated fifth in the UK for research excellence; in the media league tables, it has consistently maintained its position in the Top Ten; applications for undergraduate places currently stand at around 30,000 for 3,000 undergraduate places.

For further information please contact:

Peter Dunn, Press and Media Relations Manager
Communications Office, University House,
University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 8UW, United Kingdom
email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)24 76 523708 Mobile/Cell: +44 (0)7767 655860

PR84 6th November 2008