ISSUE 41: MARCH-MAY 2006
network of research and training centres/programmes
FRONT PAGE | ARCHIVE |
Plan for new Gandhi peace centre at Madras University
UN University has signed an agreement with one of the oldest universities in India, the University of Madras, to establish the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution. The centre will focus on research and capacity building in peace, conflict resolution and governance to benefit India, south Asia and the world.
 |
|
S.P.Thyagarajan (right), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras and UNU Senior Vice Rector Ramesh Thakur during the signing of a memorandum of understanding for a new peace centre in Chennai. |
The governing council of UNU approved the plan and designated the University of Madras as an associated institution at its meeting in Tokyo last December. Work on establishing the centre will start this year.
"The centre will foster interaction between academia and civil society in areas of peace building and conflict resolution and undertake research in issues of peace and non-violence," said University of Madras Vice Chancellor S.P. Thyagarajan. "The centre will also facilitate collaborative research projects and teaching/training projects in areas of mutual common interest.''
The new centre will focus on peace initiatives and conflict resolutions in the south Asian region and facilitate learning and sharing of experiences with academics, institutions and civil society organisations in other regions.
The pact will open up "productive and cost-effective means of integrating Indian higher education into the globalised world," said UNU senior Vice Rector Ramesh Thakur.
Founded in 1857, the University of Madras has four campuses in the southern city of Chennai (formerly Madras) with some 50 departments and more than 40 external research institutes and centres of excellence. Alumni include two winners of the Nobel Prize for physics and two former Indian prime ministers.
© 2006 United Nations University