A guiding principle of Queen’s University Belfast in the United Kingdom, is the recognition that knowledge knows no boundaries. The forging of international partnerships is central to the realisation of the University’s vision.

Queen’s delegates, on their recent visit to India, announced the expansion of the ‘Queen’s India Welcome Scheme (QIWS)’, a Scholarship Programme for select institutions in NCR including Amity University and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) amongst others.

Queen’s India Welcome Scheme is designed to help develop research leaders of the future. Following the scheme’s expansion, 30 scholarships are now on offer for Indian students to come to Queen’s University Belfast. To be eligible for QIWS the student must be in his/her third year of undergraduate study prior to commencing the scheme this year and must be studying one or more of the following subjects: Social Sciences, Humanities, Medicine, Sciences, Information Technology.

Those selected for the scholarship will attend Queen’s University for a period of three weeks and will engage in a range of academic, cultural and social activities in Northern Ireland. They will experience life as postgraduate research students in a vibrant and international setting, working alongside specialist researchers.

The total cost of participating in the Queen’s India Welcome Scheme is GB£1500 and covers all of the following: tuition fees; accommodation and meals at the University; cultural activities; transport within Belfast; excursion to the world famous Giant’s Causeway.

Talking about QIWS, Dr. Satish Kumar, Director of Queen’s India Initiative said: “Queen’s has long and established links with India and our recent trip reinforces our commitment to engage with its higher education sector on mutually beneficial initiatives. Queen’s announced the QIWS last year as a part of its Centenary Celebrations to further strengthen its relationship with India. In June 2008, under the first QIWS, Queen’s welcomed 20 undergraduate students from the Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) in Kolkata. This year we have met key influential institutes in Delhi as part of preliminary exercise towards an integrated approach of education partnerships between Universities and schools in India and Northern Ireland. We will be selecting 30 students as per the eligibility under the scheme and they will be visiting Queen’s in July this year.”

Talking about Queen’s other India Initiatives, Dr. Kumar said that during this year’s Queen’s University Belfast’s India Lecture Series, former President, A.P.J. Kalam will be awarded an honorary degree by the University. He will deliver his lecture as part of his acceptance speech after the conferment.

Other leading Indian scholars taking part in the lecture series will be eminent Indian historian Professor Romila Thapar and well-known economist, Professor Deepak Nayyar. Professor Romila Thapar will give two lectures entitled ‘Changing Interpretations of Early Indian History’ and ‘Perspectives of a Religious Conflict? & Mahmud’s Raid on the Temple of Somanatha’ and Professor Nayyar will give lectures entitled ‘India’s Unfinished Journey: Transforming Growth into Development’ and ‘Economic Reforms in India: Understanding the process and learning from the experience.’

A member of the leading Russell Group of the UK’s top 20 research-intensive universities, Queen’s first formed the India Lecture Series as part of its centenary celebrations last year. The lecture series is integrated with the schools and research clusters within the University and is the first step towards the establishment of the Institute of Indian Studies at Queen’s.

Queens University India Commitment:

Queen’s partnership with India encompasses not only science & medicine but also literature, history, engineering, communication technology & ecology. Indian Staff and research scholars from India at Queen’s have contributed significantly to research collaborations, and have highlighted the key achievements of Queen’s in India. Queen’s hosts a number of Indian delegations each year and academic staff has visited India many times, thereby fostering and developing research, educational and cultural links.

National Institute of Immunology, Delhi – A research partnership in the biomedical sciences associated with cancer research and cell biology and experimental medicine. The partnership includes split-site studentships, staff exchanges and a biennial international conference. This partnership is supported by the Department of Biotechnology, India.

University of Hyderabad – Collaborations relate to literature, language and translation. There are staff exchanges and student exchanges at undergraduate and postgraduate level with particular emphasis on the impact of English literature on South East Asian writing. During this summer, ten Queen’s students spent four weeks at Hyderabad, and earlier in the year, Hyderabad’s Head of English, Professor Sachi Mohanty visited Queen’s in the first semester of last year, followed by several of his students.

Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU), Kolkata – A broadly-based programme of research partnerships with particular emphasis on Electronic Engineering, Information and Communication Technologies and Environmental Engineering, particularly linked to water supply. The partnerships feature spilt-site studentships and staff exchanges. Further Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with BESU has set up ‘The Eastern India Water Research Centre (EIWRC), to provide arsenic-free water. Queen’s researchers leading an international team, has developed this trial plant in Kasimpore, near Kolkata, which offers chemical-free groundwater treatment technology to rural communities for all their drinking and farming needs.

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