NIPER Guwahati signs MoU with ASEAN-India Network of Universities on Faculty and Student Exchange, Joint Research

Guwahati: National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Guwahati has signed an MoU with ASEAN-India Network of Universities that will enable the premier pharmaceutical science institute of Northeast India to participate in faculty exchange programme, doctoral student exchange and joint research programs as well as joint PhD research supervision programme with higher education institutions of the ASEAN countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Dr USN Murty, Director NIPER Guwahati signed the MoU with Prof. Abhay Kumar Singh, Vice Chancellor of Nalanda University, the nodal institution of ASEAN-India Network of Universities.

ASEAN-India Network of Universities (AINU) was envisioned and announced by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit at New Delhi in January 2018. It was launched at ASEAN Secretariat Headquarters in Jakarta on August 29, 2022, jointly by India’s Union Minister of State for External Affairs & Education, Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, and Secretary General of ASEAN, Dato Lim Jock Hoi, in the presence of Deputy Secretaries-General of ASEAN, Permanent representatives of the ASEAN Member States, and Vice Chancellor of Nalanda University.

The mandate of the AINU is to build a consortium that will bring institutions in India and ASEAN Member States together for new research in emerging areas of knowledge, to build human capital and a think-tank through joint research and joint PhD research supervision, doctoral student exchange, and faculty exchange. The major focus areas include Engineering, Science and Technology, Policy and Law-making, Trade and Investments, Peace and Security, Sustainable Development, Humanities, Religion, Cultural Intersections and Blue Economy.

Dr USN Murty, Director of NIPER Guwahati, said, “We are excited to join the AINU consortium as it will open tremendous opportunities for our faculty and students. I am certain that the honest vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi in building a cohesion between the higher education institutions in India and the ASEAN member states will become a success and a new knowledge ecosystem in the region will be built to address the region-specific challenges of the 21st century”.

Prof. Abhay Kumar Singh, Vice Chancellor of Nalanda University, said, "AINU provides teaching faculty from India and ASEAN member states with the opportunity for academic interactions. Collaborating through visits to each other's institutions will not only foster better understanding but also lead to broader collaboration and a more comprehensive Asian perspective on knowledge, research, and development".