St Stephen's, Madras Univ tie up with top French Univ

New Delhi, Jan 27 (UNI) Sciences Po Paris -- a top French research university in social sciences-- has entered into partnerships with St Stephen's College, Delhi and the University of Madras.

Under the agreements, three students each from St Stephen's and Madras University will go to Sciences Po to study for a full year, and similar number of students from the French university will come to study in the two Indian institutions.

The number of students under the exchange programme will be increased in the near future.

The agreements were signed last evening by the Madras University Vice-Chancellor, the Principal of St Stephen's and Sciences Po President Richard Descoings who accompanied French President Nicolas Sarkozy on his two-day State visit to India.

On the occasion, the Sciences Po India Alumni Association was also formally launched.

Sciences Po has already entered into similar agreements with Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, University of Pune, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata.

As part of the agreements, more than 20 French students come to study one full year in India, and a similar number go to France to do research at Sciences Po.

Sciences Po is attracting Indian students by introducting courses in English and increasing the number of scholarships.

Last year, it launched the Indian Economy Chair, with the support of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

The university is a member of the Global Public Policy Network, along with Columbia University, London School of Economics and National University of Singapore.

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