JSIA wins grants from US, Australian governments for research in foreign policies

The Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA) under OP Jindal Global University (JGU) in Haryana’s Sonipat has been awarded two foreign grants – one each from the governments of the United States of America and Australia – for training and research on foreign policies and bilateral relationships between India and the two countries.

In February 2021, JSIA won a prestigious grant from the US state department for delivering a high-quality massive online open course (MOOC) on ‘Understanding US Foreign Policy and US-India Relations'.

The MOOC will be supported by the expertise of faculty at JSIA and other schools of JGU where there are specialists on various aspects related to political, economic and cultural ties between the US and India. JSIA will produce and deliver the MOOC and also liaise with colleges and universities across north India to enrol students in this course.

Under the terms of this grant, the MOOC which will be designed and produced by JGU, will enrol at least 100 college students in the age group of 20-24 years from educational institutions spread across six states and one Union Territory of north India – Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The MOOC, for which video lectures and assignments are being prepared, is expected to be hosted on the Coursera platform and epitomises the larger goals of JGU to raise the stature of online learning in India.

Founding vice-chancellor of JGU C Raj Kumar said, “JSIA is our university's core school for promoting research and training on matters concerning foreign policy and India's strategic partnerships. We are honoured to have received multiple grants from the US and Australian governments and believe that the faith that these two countries have placed in JSIA is a validation of the high academic rigour and quality being promoted in our university.”

In February this year, JSIA and its Australian partner institution, the University of Wollongong, were awarded a sizeable financial grant by the government of Australia, under the ongoing Australia-India Indo-Pacific Ocean initiative, for analysing different aspects of Integrated Maritime Management and Security across the Indo-Pacific region.

Under this grant, intensive joint research on the topic ‘Integrated Maritime Management and Security across the Indo-Pacific: A Framework to Unify the Seven IPOI Pillars’, with a case study to reduce plastic debris in the Indian ocean, will commence in March 2022. It is slated to be completed before the end of June 2023. This project would further enhance understanding between Indian and Australian academia and forge closer ties between the two countries.

The dean of JSIA, Sreeram Chaulia, said, “The two grants will go a long way in catapulting JSIA into a new league, which will combine JSIA's academic strengths with eminent experts and scholars from countries that are strategically vital for Indian foreign policy. Such interaction will also facilitate meaningful research and analysis on various aspects of India-US and India-Australia bilateral relations on critical security-related themes in the Indo-Pacific maritime region.”