Indian woman to lead prestigious German research institute

India born Amrita Narlikar, presently with the University of Cambridge, has been named the new president of the world renowned German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg.

Her term is set to begin on 1 October 2014. She has also been appointed by the president of the University of Hamburg (UHH) as a professor in the Department

of Economics and Social Sciences of that institution, according to a release from Germany's Foreign Office made available here.

Probably the only research institute of its kind, GIGA is an independent, federally and state funded social-science research institute that studies the most important global issues and analysis the impact of policy perspectives of the non-Western world upon

global governance.

It analysis political, social and economic developments in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and combines this with innovative comparative research on

international relations, development and globalisation, violence and security and political systems. On the basis of this research, GIGA advises political, economic and social decision-makers.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was visiting India last week, congratulated Narlikar on her selection as GIGA's new president, saying: "With her selection, an excellent scholar with noteworthy international expertise will lead the research institute", which, he said, has been making significant contributions to the formulation of German foreign policy for 50 years.

A world class researcher in the area of international relations, Narlikar is a senior research associate at the Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford and founding director of the renowned Centre for Rising Powers.

Narlikar's research expertise lies in the areas of rising powers (particularly India), multilateral negotiations and international trade. Her work on the World Trade Organization has offered coalition strategies for developing countries - and also directions for reforming the institution.

"Her research on international negotiations offers ways in which the West can negotiate more constructively with the rising powers," the release said.

Narlikar served on the first Warwick Commission on the reform of the multilateral trading system, has given expert testimony to the European Parliament, and is currently a member of the World Economic Foru''s Global Agenda Council on Emerging Multinationals.

Narlikar grew up in India and graduated with a B.A. (Hons) from St Stephen''s College and an M.A. from the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi in 1996. Prior to arriving in Cambridge she held a permanent lectureship at the University of Exeter and a visiting fellowship at Yale University and a visiting professorship at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles.