Symbiosis Centre for European Studies (SCES)

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Symbiosis Centre for European Studies (SCES)
Who We Are

Symbiosis Centre for European Studies (SCES) is a multidisciplinary support department that works with Symbiosis Centre for International Education (SCIE), Symbiosis International Deemed University (SIU). SCES was launched in January 2019 by the Former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, H.E. Mr. Andrej Babiš. SCES liaises with Symbiosis institutes which have been offering academic programs for the past 50 years. SCES lays emphasis on facilitating people-to-people and institute-to-institute connections with Europe, bringing the best of scholarly expertise to India, and encouraging Symbiosis students, faculty, and staff mobility to Europe for research projects and learning through partnerships. SCES is an umbrella support system for all academic/scholarly/generic activities with European nations/institutes.

SCES has been actively working with European partners for Study in India Programs and Erasmus+ projects. SCES has partnered with European Universities in different consortiums under the Erasmus + Programs with an intention to enhance cooperation for facilitating students, faculty mobility and strategic partnerships which in turn will help capacity building and exchange of best practices. Partnerships with Universities in Germany under the DAAD- DIES (Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies) and DAAD-A New Passage to India have facilitated mobility and workshops for promoting internationalisation of higher education. In addition, we have organized Annual Leadership Series & Conferences on contemporary issues focusing on the European Union and its relationship with the world. These forums have witnessed think tanks, diplomats and ambassadors share their insights with SIU students and faculty.

TEAM

Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, Principal Director of Symbiosis Society and Pro Chancellor of Symbiosis International University, is a trailblazer in higher education research and policy, especially in internationalisation of higher education. Symbiosis International (Deemed University) is a globally recognized, multidisciplinary institution hosting over 45,000 students from across India and 85 other countries. Under the umbrella of the Symbiosis Society, the institution encompasses K12 schools, arts and commerce colleges, and cultural museums, promoting diverse educational opportunities.

Ranked 14th among India’s top 25 most powerful women, she has driven innovative strategies in education to enhance global outreach. She has served two terms on the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), significantly influencing higher education policies.

As part of the UGC’s expert group on Global Outreach of Higher Education, Dr Vidya has contributed in the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020, introduced by the Ministry of Education. She also collaborates with the World Bank, the International Association of Universities (IAU), and Muscat University, Oman on various policy initiatives. Currently, she Chairs the FICCI Higher Education Committee (third term) and serves as the Vice President of Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).

Dr Vidya’s influence spans cultural and administrative domains. She is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Indian Museum, Kolkata, a Member of the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC), and serves on multiple government, corporate, and not-for-profit boards, including Emcure Pharmaceuticals and Bajaj Holdings. She has been appointed as the inaugural Chair of the OBREAL Global India Chapter for a three-year term, showcasing her leadership in advancing global education initiatives. With hands-on experience in the field of Higher Education, in the year 2016, she published a book titled “Internationalisation of Higher Education in India.”

She has served as a member of the Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP) Committee under the Ministry of Education. She has contributed to the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Yeshwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, the State Knowledge Advisory Board of Higher Education in Andhra Pradesh and the Sub-Group on Higher and Technical Education and Skill Development under the Chief Minister’s Advisory Council in Rajasthan.

Her relentless efforts have earned her numerous awards and accolades, reflecting her commitment towards higher education research, innovation and excellence. Through her visionary leadership and continuous endeavour, Dr Vidya plays a pivotal role in elevating Symbiosis to its esteemed status and is now focused on shaping the global impact of Indian higher education, particularly through her dedication to the internationalization of higher education.

Dr Nidhi Piplani Kapur serves as the Head of the Symbiosis Centre for European Studies and Head of International Initiatives at the Symbiosis Centre for International Education, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), India. She is a recipient of the prestigious Government of Ireland Research Ireland Scholarship, awarded for her doctoral research at South East Technological University, Ireland, which focused on embedding a culture of Internationalisation at Home (IaH) within the Irish higher education context.

Dr Piplani Kapur represents India as the youngest and only Indian (Asian) elected member of the General Council—the highest governing body—of the European Association for International Education (EAIE), based in the Netherlands. With over 15 years of experience in international higher education, her professional work has focused on advancing Internationalisation in Higher Education through institutional strategy, policy development, and practice-led initiatives, while strengthening research, innovation, and higher education engagement across the EU–India corridor.

At Symbiosis, she conceptualised and established the Symbiosis Centre for European Studies (SCES), which facilitates meaningful, research-driven, and strategic partnerships and projects with European institutions. She works closely with the Delegation of the European Union to India and diplomatic missions of EU Member States to foster collaboration in research, innovation, and higher education. In the course of her tenure, she has led and contributed to projects in close liaison with key national and international stakeholders—including AIU, FICCI, WICCI, the European Commission, the Delegation of the European Union to India, the British Council, and the World Bank—aimed at advancing the internationalisation of Indian higher education.

Dr Piplani Kapur is a recipient of the Europe–India 40 Under 40 Leaders Award (2021), conferred by the Europe India Centre for Business and Industry for her contributions to the Europe–UK–India corridor, and is a Founding Member of the WICCI India–EU Business Council, advocating for stronger India–EU relations with a particular emphasis on women's leadership.

Her areas of research and policy interest include the internationalisation of higher education; Internationalisation at Home (IaH); Internationalisation of the Curriculum (IoC); global and comparative higher education policy; global citizenship education; equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in international education; sustainable internationalisation; India–EU higher education cooperation and knowledge diplomacy.

Neeta Inamdar is a Research Professor at the Symbiosis Centre for Higher Education Research and Policy Advocacy (SCHERPA), and the Dean of the Faculty of Education at Symbiosis International (Deemed University). She worked earlier as Professor and Head of the Manipal Centre for European Studies (MCES), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal.

Prof Inamdar was instrumental in establishing MCES in 2009 and since then led it through the years to make it a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in 2018 that offered the only master’s programs in European Studies in India. Though interested in various aspects of the European economy, society, and culture, she was more drawn to education in Europe – both school and higher education as reflected in the projects she led in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), the Bologna Process, and internationalization of higher education. She is also a recipient of the Jean Monnet module on cultural analysis and European identity (2014-2017) and Jean Monnet Chair (2017-2020). She led the formation of the Association of European Studies in India (AESI) and was the Founding Secretary of AESI.

She believes in people-to-people connections as a means for peaceful coexistence and focuses on research in educational connections between India and Europe. This made her play a key role in the establishment of the Department of Languages in Manipal bringing together young scholars in the teaching-learning of French, German, Spanish, Polish and Italian. By her active involvement in Erasmus programs, she facilitated over 100 mobilities of young Indian scholars to Europe. She also established a Centre for Intercultural Studies and Dialogue that regularly organized Summer and Winter Schools for European youngsters and facilitated their cultural exploration in India.

She has published several articles and also co-edited three books: Internationalization of Higher Education: The Dynamics of Educational Ecology (2019, 2025); Reimagining Border in Cross-border Education (2022, 2023); and Contours of India-EU Engagements: Multiplicity of Experiences (2021, 2025).

In 2022, Prof. Dr. Shashikala Gurpur, was bestowed with the honour of the prestigious Jean Monnet Chair on EU Climate Justice Law, Governance, Management and Policy (EUC-LAMP), funded by the European Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) under the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission. The Jean Monnet Chair culminated as a recognition of over a decade-long experience of Symbiosis Law School, Pune, SIU in European Studies by way of Erasmus Mundus and Erasmus+ Projects, Student Exchange Programmes, Masters Level Specialization, Certificate Programmes and several international collaborations. This is the first Jean Monnet Chair granted to any institution in Western India hence making it a glorious and remarkable milestone for SIU. The Jean Monnet Chair (2022-2025) in 3 years undertook teaching activities: (i) EU Environmental Law (2 ECTS) (ii) Climate Justice, Law, Policy and Governance (2 ECTS) (iii) A certificate programme in EU Climate Justice Law, Governance, Management and Policy (10 ECTS), totally reaching 1073 beneficiaries. Further training the trainers workshops and various side events were organized. Three book chapters published (SCOPUS Indexed), and another edited book is in process. The JM Chair delivered a MOOC (Massive open online course) on “EU Climate Justice Law, Governance, Management and Policy”. The total number of direct beneficiaries from teaching, training and side activities reached 4,860 and the indirect reach of the chair is projected to be more than 3 Lakh audience.

Prof. Dr. (Mrs.) Shashikala Gurpur, with an illustrious career of over 34 years in teaching, research and industry, is with Symbiosis Law School Pune (SLSP) since 2007 as the Director, and Dean, Faculty of law, SIU. She is a distinguished academician and orator, national merit scholar, University topper - gold medalist in LL.M., and holds a Ph.D. in international law. Previously she has taught law in full-time positions at University College of Cork (UCC) in Ireland, NLSIU Bangalore and Manipal University in India. Recently in June 2025, she was appointed as an Honorary Professor at the Irish Centre for Human Rights and School of Law, University of Galway, Ireland. She is also a distinguished visitor and a resource person at West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences for delivering guest lectures, sessions in various workshops, seminars, Ph.D. Researcher’s Colloquium and conferences organized by WBNUJS.

Dr. Gurpur has more than 108 publications (37 Scopus and 10 WoS) indexed in journals, 4 co-authored books, 17 book chapters to her credit and presented more than 335 invited lectures, workshops on Gender literacy, Human rights, Media literacy and seminars across India, Thailand, US, UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Canada and UAE. She is a pioneer of EU Legal Studies in India. She has edited a book titled “International Law in Pursuit of Global Justice Reflections from Contemporary India” published in April 2025 by Routledge (Indexed in Scopus). She is also an editor of the book compendium titled: Rule of Law in Context: Globalisation and Indian Resonances to Sustainable Development (First ed.) Routledge published in Jan 2025.

She is team member of global evaluation and accreditation at the International Association of Law Schools, (IALS). She has guided 16 PhD, 130+ master’s thesis and currently she is guiding 3 PhD scholars. She is the Principal Investigator in the Government of India sponsored SPARC Project 2595 that is carried out in collaboration with Stockholm University Sweden and University of Milan Italy. Besides availing various DAAD grants including the current SDG project from 3 German Universities, she has led as the project manager for SIU (being Partner Institution) in 4 Erasmus+ CBHE Projects: (i) EURASIA (coordinator- Sofia University, Bulgaria); (ii) 21st TEACH SKILLS (coordinator - University of Ioannina, Greece); (iii) CCP_LAW (coordinator - Hue University Vietnam); (iv) ILFM (coordinator - University of Mandalay, Myanmar).

She has successfully led the Symbiosis Law School Pune to be among top 5 in India, achieving robust internationalization, quality academics and research. As a Jean Monnet Chair Professor & being pioneer of EU Legal Studies in India since 2009, the major focus of Dr. Gurpur is to build on current international academic and research excellence for young researchers to enhance their professional competencies and boost their careers. The Jean Monnet Chair Project carried out by Dr. Gurpur was recognized as the good practice and thus invited by EACEA to provide her testimonial for the Erasmus+ Programme Jean Monnet Actions (2021-2027) Call for Proposals 2026 info-session for India in December 2025.

Among various accolades, awards and recognitions received by Dr. Shashikala Gurpur some of the most notable ones are: Recipient of Distinguished ‘Outstanding Women Achievers Award’ from the Society of Indian Law Firm (SILF) Ladies Group (March 2024); featured amongst the illustrious 100 women personalities in the book “The Phenomenal She” launched by the Indian National Bar Association (2022); listed among the 100 legal luminaries of India in 2016 by LexisNexis in recognition of her contributions to Indian Legal Academia; recipient of annual Kittur Rani Chennamma Award, 2018-19 of Government of Karnataka for her excellent achievement in the field of education and contribution to women empowerment; AHRB Visiting Fellow, Edinburgh Law School, United Kingdom; Legal Education Innovation Award conferred by SILF and MILAT in 2011; Certificate of Recognition "My Choice for Equality" by the Global Ethics Forum, Geneva in association with IIM Bangalore in the Global Ethics Forum 2014 Conference, at IIM Bangalore among 10 nominees from 50 countries for taking action towards establishing a more equal, impartial and fair world.

Dr. Gurpur was designated as the Chairperson of Sub-Committee on Legal Education under the CII National Committee on Legal Services in 2025. Dr. Gurpur has been a former member of Law Commission of India. She was a member of Curriculum Development Committee, Bar Council of India and Academic Council of National Judicial Academy, Bhopal and currently, she is a member of the task force on DCE, Ministry of Education, Govt of India.

ERASMUS+ Project

Sr No	Title	Acronym
1	Potential and Validation of Sustainable Natural & Advance Technologies for Water & Wastewater Treatment, Monitoring and Safe Water Reuse in India	PAVITR
2	Development of a Master level programme: 'International Law and Forced Migration Studies'	Development of a Master level programme: 'International Law and Forced Migration Studies'
3	Legal Environment of Doing Business in the European Union	LEDBEU
4	The European Union and the Human Security Paradigm	EUHSP
5	EU Climate Justice Law, Governance, Management and Policy	EUC-LAMP
6	Enhancing Quality Assurance Management and Benchmarking Strategies in Indian Universities	Enhancing Quality Assurance Management and Benchmarking Strategies in Indian Universities
7	European Studies Revitalized Across Asian Universities	European Studies Revitalized Across Asian Universities
8	Teacher training with specialization on life and information technology skills	Teacher training with specialization on life and information technology skills
9	Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education, Developing Content and Language Integrated Learning – Resource and Training Centre for a mulTilingual India - CLIL@India	CLIL@India
10	Risk Management and PREVENTion of AntIbioTics Resistance	PREVENT IT
11	Curricula development on Climate Change Policy and Law	Curricula development on Climate Change Policy and Law
12	Europe-India Collaborative Horizon for Opportunities	ECHO

Beyond Borders Work from Home International Internship Program

Program Overview: The Beyond Borders Virtual Internship Program is a voluntary opportunity designed to offer a flexible and intercultural working environment. Participants will engage in a diverse range of projects that contribute to their professional development while fostering a global perspective. This unique initiative is tailored for students eager to gain hands-on experience in international projects, thereby enhancing their profiles and intercultural competencies.

Key Features:

Flexibility: Participants can work from the comfort of their homes, allowing for a seamless integration of the internship with their academic commitments.

Diversity: Collaboration with students from diverse backgrounds ensures a rich and dynamic working environment, promoting the exchange of ideas and perspectives.

Professional Development: The program focuses on capacity building, research, and innovation in the context of international higher education, providing valuable insights and skills to participants.

Available Roles: Research Associates, Social Media managers, Graphic Designers, Motion Designers

Application Process: Rolling calls for applications are open throughout the year. Interested candidates can find detailed information about the various roles available and application procedures here .

Benefits:

Reach out to us with your latest CV at sces@scie.ac.in to express your interest.

Symbiosis E-Academy on Internationalisation for Educators

We present a series of dynamic capacity-building workshops, meticulously designed to empower staff in both Indian and overseas educational institutions. These three-hour sessions, led by distinguished international experts, delve into cutting-edge themes in internationalization, ranging from embedding Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) to championing sustainability, intercultural competence in curricula, and promoting Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. The workshops, limited to 30 participants each, offer an immersive and interactive experience, ensuring personalized engagement. Participants, upon completion of the assessment and full attendance, receive certificates recognizing their commitment to advancing global perspectives in education.

Symbiosis E-Academy on Internationalisation for Students on on ‘Your Gateway to Europe’ and ‘BC (Before COVID) to AC (After COVID): Unlocking Internationalisation’

This program has been designed for young learners to experience an international setting at home and develop globally relevant skills that will help them in higher education, jobs or any entrepreneurial venture.

The participants will be able to

Develop and broaden their global perspective and foster personal development.
Make new friends from different parts of the world through the international E-buddies.
Learn to communicate in different cultural settings.
Understand cultural nuances and respect cultural differences.
Apply this experience in advancement of their personal career.
Chart out a map for their personal and professional journey.

This program takes place virtually 3-4 times a year with each cycle running for three weeks. Watch out for this space for the next call.

SCES Student Think Tank

The SCES Student Think Tank is a policy think tank under the Symbiosis Centre for European Studies focusing on policy-based research in law, economics, and socio-political matters. The Think Tank aims to provide a platform for students with an interest in European Policy and Research. It aspires to construct a network of students, professors, professionals, scholars, and policymakers who are integrated through their engagement with European policy and affairs.

The think tank also houses the European Horizon Symbiosis Chapter, a student-run Think Tank established by Symbiosis Centre for European Studies (SCES) in 2019. In India, it is the first chapter of European Horizons.

This think tank is only open to students from Symbiosis International (Deemed University). Students can be involved in various cohorts such as research and content, social media, events, blog, podcasts and more. Reach out to us at sces@scie.ac.in to be involved.

VISEGRÁD4 Virtual Student Fair INDIA

Symbiosis Centre for European Studies had partnered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary for its first Virtual Student Fair spotlighting higher education opportunities in Visegrád 4 countries. Students from all over India participated in the fair.

E-SYMPOSIUMS