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NYU Abu Dhabi and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations Sign Agreement to Establish Visiting Professorship

Collaboration marks first of its kind in the Gulf, and forms part of outreach efforts to establish stronger academic and cultural ties

Press Release

NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) have signed a historic Agreement to establish a Visiting Professorship in Social Science at NYU Abu Dhabi.  Through the partnership, NYUAD and ICCR will collaboratively appoint faculty members from Indian universities to the ICCR Visiting Professorship. The visiting faculty member will spend between 6 to 10 months undertaking research and teaching in the Division of Social Sciences at NYU Abu Dhabi. The agreement aims to promote broader engagement with India, a country that is strategically significant to the UAE. Indians represent the largest expatriate population in the UAE and India is one of the UAE’s largest trade partners. 

The agreement was signed at NYUAD-by-NYUAD Vice Chancellor Mariët Westermann and Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor. NYUAD Provost Arlie Petters, Deputy Chief of Mission to the UAE Sandeep Kumar Bayyapu, and Second Secretary (Press, Information & Culture) Sandeep Kaushik also attended the signing ceremony.

“We are delighted to welcome eminent scholars from India's leading universities to NYUAD. NYUAD already enjoys close educational and cultural ties with India, and we are delighted to enhance the relationship through this visiting professorship. At NYUAD, we are dedicated to upholding the ideals of tolerance and respect, and this includes driving deeper understanding of other cultures and traditions. The relationships between the UAE and India are profound, and as a University in and of Abu Dhabi we look forward to playing our part to enhance academic exchange between the countries. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration and to welcoming our visiting professors from India to our highly supportive and enriching academic environment.”

NYUAD Vice Chancellor Mariët Westermann

NYUAD Dean of Social Sciences Paula England, said: “Cross cultural collaboration is key to building stronger relationships built on mutual respect and appreciation. We are deeply committed to finding a myriad of opportunities to further strengthen our relationships with important cultural institutions such as the ICCR. We look forward to expanding our perspectives and gaining new insights into contemporary India through this meaningful exchange program.”

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a leader in India’s independence movement and independent India’s first Education Minister. It aims to foster cultural relations and strengthen mutual understanding between India and other countries.

About NYU Abu Dhabi

NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 115 countries and speak over 115 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.

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