Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore has been selected for a prestigious Erasmus Plus European Union Project for its internationalization strategy, This project has been funded with support from the European Commission,led by the University of Zaragoza, Spain and the European Policy Development and Research Institute, Slovenia, “The HARMONY project aims to support the modernisation, accessibility, and internationalisation of the higher education institutions in India, Bangladesh and Vietnam and to contribute to the cooperation between the European universities and Asian universities.
The HARMONY project aims to have an impact and trigger reform processes at institutional level in Asian Universities. Top managers of Higher Education Institutions will receive support for evidence-based strategy development and better regulation to move towards the modernisation of the framework conditions for Higher Education in their respective countries.
The project called, “Internationalization and Virtual Exchange: Borderless between EU and Asian Countries,” involves institutions in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and India. From India, besides VIT the University of Hyderabad and the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies will also participate.VIT has received grant amount Rs.68 lakhs for the three-year tenure. The project coordinated by Dr.R.Seenivasan, Professor, CNBT and Deputy Director, International Relations Office , VIT.
The HARMONY project is rooted in the notion of internationalisation at home and strategic management of internationalisation in higher education. The HARMONY PROJECT, through its overall and specific activities and especially outputs on developing and implementing the Internationalisation strategies on Higher Education with main focus on Internationalisation at home issues at institutional levels in each Partner Country, India, Bangladesh and Viet Nam, is addressing the aims and objectives of the Capacity Building action, and particularly “Improving management and operation of Higher Education Institutions and Internationalisation of HEIs”.
The HARMONY project addresses the process of internationalisation of higher Education, focusing on Internationalisation at Home, in Asian countries as the one that requires immediate institutional response and actions. Enabling Higher Education Institutions to strategically manage internationalisation in the provision of education, research, mobility, and services are regarded to be the project’s overall objective and the main underpinning of Partner countries’ accountable and complementary role in EU-Asia cooperation development.
