Pune varsity gets social science project under Indo-US plan

A social science project under the "Obama-Singh 21st Century Knowledge Initiative" has been awarded to the University of Pune which will team up with the University of Massachusetts in a joint exercise.
The institutional partnership project, aiming to develop "appropriate research and analytical tools", was recently announced under the second round of OSI and will be sanctioned a grant of around USD 250,000 to be utilised over a three-year period, said University of Pune (UoP) Vice-Chancellor Wasudeo Gade.
"The project awarded under the initiative will develop appropriate research and analytical tool and build institutional capacity and generate policy directions for a genuine synergy between shared commitments in equity and excellence in higher education," he said.

The programme, 'Inclusive Universities - Linking Diversity, Equity and Excellence for the 21st Century', will focus on how diversity and excellence are essential to innovation and progress in multi-cultural democratic societies.
Undertaken by the US and Indian Governments, the initiative envisages strengthening of collaboration and building of partnerships between the institutions of higher education of both countries.
The UoP project is the first in the country in the field of social sciences under the initiative, which was finalised between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama a few years ago.
"The project will involve, among other things, facilitating interactions among research teams, collection of demographic data and exchange of study material," Gade noted.