Dutch varsity opens research centre

Maastricht University (UM), based in The Netherlands, inaugurated the Maastricht Education and Research Centre (MERC), in Bangalore today. A subsidiary of the Maastricht University, the MERC will foster academic collaboration with Indian institutions and conduct joint researches of social relevance in India.

On the occasion, Maastricht University also signed MoUs with the National Law School of India University — Bangalore, Indian Statistics

Institute - Kolkata (ISI) and National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Science (NIMHANS) to conduct joint research and also to initiate student exchange programmes.

The MoU with the National Law School will facilitate research collaboration and PhD supervision foremost but not exclusively in the areas of international economic law, environment and climate change, food regulatory, CSR and human rights law and EU law.

Meanwhile, the MoU with the NIMHANS will facilitate educational cooperation for curriculum development, methodological approaches, student assessment; academic and cultural exchanges and joint research programmes.

The MoU with the ISI will also focus on student exchange programmes, academic and cultural exchange along with staff exchange programmes.

Jo Ritzen, President, Maastricht University, said, “India, having evolved as the preferred destination for research and development due to a variety of well-known reasons is of course the natural focus for UM to stretch its wings beyond Europe. Setting up a subsidiary in Bangalore (MERC) is the first step in partnering India ever since it has shown interest to develop partnerships in India in 2007.”

V G Kumar, Executive Director MERC, said, “We want to foster academic collaborations and build on synergies in knowledge. The research that will be built in partnership are necessarily on themes of social relevance in this geography.”

Maastricht University excels in various research disciplines such as cardiology, neuroscience and European trade law. The university offers bachelors, masters and PhD programmes, courses for postgraduates and professionals, as well as tailored programmes in many faculties.

The mandate for MERC is to link UM and its various faculties and research with the Indian society. This is being achieved through partnerships with top Indian academia, education and research institutes, and industry.