Nordic Centre in India (NCI)

29/09/2026

We’re very happy to welcome Trym Roedvik, PhD Research Fellow at the Centre for Global Sustainability, i Oslo (UiO), to India for his research stay. 🇮🇳

Trym is carrying out fieldwork in Telangana, where his research focuses on change in the poultry sector — looking at how new technologies are adopted and spread, and what those changes may mean for disease control and economic development.

During his stay, Trym is academically affiliated with long term of Hyderabad.

NCI is pleased to support his research journey to India, and now that the groundwork is in place, the focus is on the research itself — engaging with the sector, learning from the field and developing the project through first-hand experience in India.

We wish Trym a productive, interesting and rewarding time in Telangana, and all the very best with his fieldwork.

29/09/2026

We’re very happy to welcome Nina Besemer , a master’s student at i Oslo (UiO), to India for her field research. 🇮🇳

Nina’s research explores how new cookstove technologies are influencing women’s everyday cooking practices and daily life in Odisha. During her stay, she is academically affiliated with KIIT - Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology in Bhubaneswar.

NCI has been glad to support Nina in getting her research stay in place — from identifying the right academic connection and facilitating her affiliation, to helping with the visa process and practical preparations.

We wish Nina a rewarding, interesting and memorable time in India, and all the very best with her fieldwork. 🌿

14/09/2026

✈️ 🇮🇳 🇩🇰 𝗔 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘀

We are delighted to see - Scandinavian Airlines lines returning to India with a new year-round, nonstop service between and , beginning this October.

The route will operate five times a week, strengthening connectivity between India and Denmark while also offering convenient onward access across Scandinavia, Europe and North America.

✈️ First Copenhagen–Mumbai flight: 1 October 2026
✈️ First Mumbai–Copenhagen flight: 3 October 2026
✈️ Frequency: Five flights per week
✈️ Aircraft: Airbus A330

For the Nordic Centre in India, stronger connectivity between India and the Nordic region is always very welcome news. Easier travel helps bring our universities, students, researchers, businesses and communities closer together and creates new possibilities for academic mobility, collaboration and exchange.

It is especially exciting to see SAS returning to India after 17 years and reconnecting Scandinavia and India with a nonstop service.

Welcome back to India, SAS! 🇮🇳🤝🇩🇰

Read more:
https://www.sasgroup.net/newsroom/press-releases/2026/sas-to-launch-highly-anticipated-nonstop-copenhagenmumbai-route-on-october-1/

SAS is delighted to announce that all operational and practical preparations are in place, and flights are now officially ready for takeoff. Starting October 1, 2026, SAS reconnects Scandinavia and India with a nonstop year-round route between Copenhagen and Mumbai.

13/09/2026

We are delighted to highlight Seng Bu, a doctoral researcher at TAPRI – Tampere Peace Research Institute, University , , and a research affiliate at Don Bosco University Guwahati (ADBU), .

Seng Bu’s doctoral research explores the lived experiences of Myanmar communities in India, with particular attention to everyday cultural and creative practices and the community knowledge expressed through them.

Her research affiliation with ADBU has been facilitated by Nordic Centre in India - India under the Memorandum of Understanding between NCI and Assam Don Bosco University.

For NCI, this is also a wonderful example of what our institutional partnerships in India can make possible: helping researchers from our member universities establish meaningful academic connections, engage with relevant regional expertise, and develop their research within a supportive institutional environment.

We are very pleased to have been able to facilitate Seng Bu’s affiliation and wish her the best!


Christabel Royan ILika K. Jimo James Famkima Riju Sharma

26/08/2026

📢 Funding opportunity for Indian researchers travelling internationally

The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) offers International Travel Support (ITS) to eligible researchers based in India for participation in international scientific events abroad.

The scheme can support researchers travelling to present an original research paper, chair a session or deliver a keynote address at an international conference, seminar or symposium. Researchers under 35 may also be eligible for support to attend workshops, short-term training programmes and schools abroad.

Support can include economy airfare, airport tax and visa fees, with eligible young researchers also able to receive registration support of up to ₹50,000. Applications must be submitted 60–90 days before the start of the event, so advance planning is important.

For researchers in India looking to strengthen international networks and participate in global academic forums, this is well worth keeping on the radar.

🔗 More information and application details:
https://anrfonline.in/ANRF/its

International Travel Support (ITS) Scheme provides financial assistance to Indian researchers for presenting a research paper in an international scientific event (conference, seminar, workshop etc.) held abroad. In addition, support is also provided to young scientists (age limit below 35 years as....

07/08/2026

The Nordic Centre in India was pleased to participate in the Times Study Abroad Conclave 2026, joining a discussion on what comes after graduation for international students.
For students entering a Nordic university, career preparation need not begin only when the degree is coming to an end.
Many Nordic universities are connected to wider ecosystems of research, innovation and collaboration with industry and society. Depending on the programme and institution, students may have opportunities during their studies to engage with research, applied projects, companies, internships, entrepreneurship, thesis collaborations and professional networks.
This means that, alongside choosing the right academic programme, international students can benefit from asking early: What opportunities exist beyond the classroom? How does the programme engage with the wider professional environment? What experience and relationships can be built during the degree? And which additional skills may help broaden future career options?
Academic achievement is important, but an international education can offer much more: opportunities to develop professional experience, intercultural understanding, independence and networks that may remain valuable long after graduation. The Nordic higher education system offers all these and more!
Thank you to Times Internet and the Times Study Abroad Conclave 2026 for bringing together a thoughtful discussion around the international student journey.

07/08/2026

Research isn't always about finding answers. Sometimes it's about learning to listen.

We're delighted to feature Naomi Ellinor Kvalstad-Luraas, a Master's student from who has been conducting six months of ethnographic fieldwork in through the collaboration between and .

Her research explores women’s everyday lives, community and cultural expression in Hyderabad, using traditional Qawwali as a lens to understand these experiences.

✨"My hands wear pencil smudges, yellow curry caught beneath my nails."✨

A beautiful reminder that fieldwork is made up of countless ordinary moments that become extraordinary through reflection.

We're proud to support students whose work builds bridges between cultures, universities and communities.

03/08/2026

What does meaningful internationalisation in higher education look like today?

A recent University World News article by Betty Leask, Giorgio Marinoni and Hilligje van’t Land makes a compelling case for moving beyond a narrow understanding of internationalisation centred primarily on student mobility.

Mobility remains important. But it reaches only a small proportion of students globally. Fair and inclusive internationalisation also means asking who participates, who benefits, what institutions learn from one another, and how international perspectives can become part of teaching, research and campus life even for students who never cross a border.

The article highlights approaches such as Internationalisation at Home, virtual exchange and COIL, while also asking universities to think critically about whether their international partnerships are genuinely diverse, reciprocal and mutually beneficial.

These are questions that resonate strongly with the work of the Nordic Centre in India.

At NCI, mobility is one important part of what we do — from semester and short-term study opportunities to practice placements and academic visits. But our work increasingly extends beyond mobility: supporting institutional partnerships, connecting researchers and academic communities, creating opportunities for collaborative education, facilitating dialogue between Nordic and Indian higher education institutions, and helping institutions understand the academic and societal contexts in which their partners operate.

This can mean a Nordic student spending a semester or undertaking a practice placement in India, but equally a researcher finding a new collaborator, a faculty member developing a shared teaching initiative, or institutions building relationships that continue long after an individual mobility experience has ended.

For us, Nordic–India higher education cooperation is strongest when it is not simply about moving students from one country to another, but about building relationships that allow knowledge, perspectives and ideas to move in both directions.

That also means creating different points of entry into internationalisation — through classrooms, research collaborations, institutional networks, virtual engagement and sustained partnerships — so that international cooperation can reach more people and create value on both sides.

As universities reconsider what internationalisation should achieve in a rapidly changing world, perhaps the question is no longer simply:

“How internationally mobile are we?”

It is also:

“How much of our institution has genuinely become international?”

A timely reflection on what fair and inclusive internationalisation can — and perhaps should — look like in practice.

Read the full University World News article here:
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20260724111027244

28/07/2026

**International students are increasingly being recognised not simply as students — but as an important part of Denmark’s future talent base.**

The board chairs of Denmark’s eight universities have jointly called for the country to welcome more international students, highlighting the contribution they make to Danish society, business, innovation and international engagement.

Their message is particularly relevant at a time when Denmark continues to need highly qualified graduates in areas including engineering, IT and fields connected to major societal priorities such as healthcare, security and the green transition.

The numbers help explain why.

According to Danske Universiteter, 44.1% of international university graduates are still living and working in Denmark two years after completing their degree.

An analysis undertaken for DTU also estimates that an international master’s graduate from DTU who remains in Denmark and works there throughout a 45-year career contributes around DKK 38 million to Danish GDP through earnings. The analysis also estimates a substantial positive contribution to public finances over the same period.

Denmark is also creating more opportunities for international students. Under the university reform, Danish universities can establish 1,100 additional English-language university study places annually between 2024 and 2028, rising to 2,500 annually from 2029 — including in fields where there is particular demand for highly qualified talent.

For the Nordic Centre in India, this conversation resonates strongly with work we are already doing.

Through our **Study and Work in Denmark** initiatives in India, NCI works with Danish universities and partners to help Indian students — particularly those in STEM, engineering and technology — understand not only the opportunity to study in Denmark, but also the connections between higher education, innovation, industry and future careers.

Our first Study and Work in Denmark roadtrip brought this conversation directly to students in India last year, and we will return this September with another series of engagements focused on STEM study and career pathways in Denmark.

The aim is not simply student recruitment.

It is about helping students make informed choices, connecting Danish universities with talented students in India, and building stronger links between education and the skills and innovation ecosystems that both countries need.

As Danske Universiteter has emphasised, international students strengthen Denmark’s connections with the wider world.

For Nordic–India higher education cooperation, that relationship can — and should — work in both directions.

Read more from Danske Universiteter:
https://dkuni.dk/debatindlaeg/kronik-landets-otte-universiteter-i-faelles-opraab-der-skal-uddannes-flere-internationale-studerende-i-danmark/

Bragt på berlingske.dk Af Margrethe Vestager, bestyrelsesleder DTU, Carsten Gomard, bestyrelsesformand ITU, Merete Eldrup, bestyrelsesformand KU, Dea Forchhammer, fungerende bestyrelsesformand RUC, Lilian Mogensen, fungerende bestyrelsesleder CBS, Birgitte Nauntofte, bestyrelsesleder Aarhus Univers...

27/07/2026

**An important change is coming for international students considering Iceland.**

From autumn 2027, public universities in Iceland will be able to charge tuition fees to students from outside the EEA/EFTA and Switzerland.

The change follows legislation approved by the Icelandic Parliament in June 2026 and marks a significant shift in Iceland’s approach to international higher education.

For prospective students from India and other non-EEA countries, a few points are important:

• The new tuition regime will apply from **autumn 2027**.
• Students beginning their studies in autumn 2026, as well as students already enrolled, will not be affected.
• PhD students and students holding permanent residence permits in Iceland are exempt.
• Tuition fee levels have **not yet been determined** and may vary between programmes.

Until now, Iceland has stood apart within the Nordic region in not charging tuition fees at its public universities to students from outside the EEA.

For the Nordic Centre in India, developments such as this are an important reminder that the Nordic higher education landscape is continually evolving.

One part of NCI’s work is helping students and institutional partners in India understand these differences — not only between India and the Nordic countries, but also **between the Nordic countries themselves**.

Tuition models, scholarship opportunities, residence regulations, post-study pathways and the structure of higher education can vary considerably across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

For students, having accurate and up-to-date information matters when making decisions about where and what to study.

And for universities, understanding these changing policy environments is equally important when building sustainable international partnerships and mobility opportunities.

We will continue to follow developments around the implementation of Iceland’s new tuition-fee system, including the fee levels that individual universities eventually announce.

More information from the University of Iceland:
https://english.hi.is/study/apply/university-fees

Students at the University of Iceland do not pay tuition fees, only an annual registration fee.