Anna University has signed a partnership agreement MERGE under the "Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education" action funded by the European Commission with the University of Genova, Italy.
The Centre for International Relations, Anna University organized Online Webinar on “How to strengthen Internationalization” on 23rd April 2022 at 11:30 AM with the objective to strengthening the institutional capacity in implementing internationalisation. The programme was attended by students, faculty members and research scholars from different universitiesand colleges in Tamil Nadu, India.The webinar was attended by around 36 participants.
Prof G. Nagarajan, Director, Centre for International Relations, Anna University explained the various internationalization carrying out in Anna University. The best practices of internationalization followed in Anna University in terms of signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with foreign Universities, supporting faculty members for presenting papers in international conferences, Inviting visiting professors (Overseas) from abroad for strengthening research, development and teaching advanced level courses at Anna University, student / faculty exchange programme etc.
An Open-ended and thought-provoking question was raised by the students and faculty members. The programme ended with an hour long meeting.
A webinar on "International Collaborations" was held on 08th February 2022 exclusively for the faculty members of Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai with 62 participants registered. Prof. G. Nagarajan, Director, Centre for International Relations, Anna University was the speaker of the webinar who explained the international collaborations with foreign universities in particular the objectives and scope of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with focus on student exchange programme for a period of 6 months to 1 year and faculty exchange programme.
The following were highlighted in the webinar :
He also explained about the visiting professors scheme for taking advantage of sharing their expertise who work in foreign universities for strengthening the research, development and teaching advanced level courses at Anna University.
A brief overview of Double Masters degree programme, Joint Degree programme, Joint supervision of Ph.D. scholars and conduct of seminars/Symposia/Workshops/Conferences jointly and short term internship programme for the students was given.
The availability of various funding oppurtunities from the European Commission and its member countries for carrying out research work was briefed. Further, the work packages of Erasmus programme such as "Enhancing Quality Assurance in South Asia (EQASA)" and an ongoing project "Improving Internationlization Practices in South Asian Higher Education (MERGE)" were also highlighted.
Admission of students under Foreign Nationals (FN) category, Non-Resident Indians (NRI) category and Children of Indian Workers in Gulf Countries (CIWGC) category for Undergraduate degree (B.E/B.Tech.) and Postgraduate degree (M.E./M.Tech/MBA/MCA/M.Arch./M.Plan/M.Sc.) programmes and Foreign Language courses such as German, French and Japanese were also covered as part of the webinar.
Participants were very attentive, interactive and enthusiastic in knowing more on international collaborations.
A webinar on MERGE - Improving Internationalization practices in Higher Education was held on 16th December 2020 and registered by nearly 70 participants all over Tamil Nadu. Prof. G. Nagarajan, Director, Centre for International Relations, Anna University was the speaker of the webinar. The online event's agenda included internationalization where academicians and students from Tamil Nadu reported on typical issues and challenges encountered and the solutions applied by the colleges/universities. The virtual event was facilitated via Google meet and live-streamed.
Prof. G. Nagarajan briefed about the existing cooperation between Anna University and foreign institutions, as well as to help start new programmes of cooperation, especially in the faculty / students exchange programmes, Joint research etc. which will enrich both students and academics between Anna University and foreign institutions.
Prof. G. Nagarajan interacted with students and explained about the opportunity of higher studies in foreign countries and internship / exchange programme as well. He briefed about the Double Masters degree a highly recognized excellence programme run under an official agreement signed in 2011 between Anna University and Ecole Centrale De Nantes, France. Further, he explained the Collaborative Academic Agreement (3 + 1 + 1 programme) which is going to be signed shortly with the University of North Texas, USA. Besides, he also explained about the possible collaboration of projects with foreign universities.
The programme proved to be informative to the target audience in higher education opportunities. The lecture was followed by an interactive session with the students and staff who attended the webinar.
The 2nd Quality & Management Board Meeting was held on 18 November 2020 via Google meet and the following discussions were
The 1st Quality & Management Board Meeting was held on 23rd September 2020 via Google meet. The salient outcome of the meeting is as follows :
The Online Kick-Off meeting was held on 17th and 18th June 2020 via Google meet. On behalf of Anna University, Prof. G. Nagarajan made a presentation highlighting the existing activities in terms of AU Ranking, Joint Research Projects, Equipped Laboratories Etc.
Overall framework of the MERGE project was discussed in the KoM. The meeting focused on the current organization and situation of the international dimension of the institution.