University of Melbourne 4th floor, Arts West Building Victoria 3010 Australia 2010 T: + 61 3 9035 8047 Annual Report F: + 61 3 9035 8050 www.aii.unimelb.edu.au University of Melbourne 4th floor, Economics and Commerce Building Victoria 3010 Australia T: + 61 3 9035 8047 F: + 61 3 9035 8050 Editor: Genevieve Costigan Designer: www.stibbo.com The Australia India Institute is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations c 2011 Contents Introduction Welcome from the Director 2 Report from the Chair of the Board 3 Report from the Deputy Director 4 Background 5 Governance 6 University of Melbourne Strategic Vision 6 4th floor, Economics and Commerce Building Victoria 3010 Australia T: + 61 3 9035 8047 Activities F: + 61 3 9035 8050 Collaborative Research Grants 7 Institutions involved in collaborative research grant programme 10 Grants by priority area 11 Workshops, Seminars and Events 15 Visits and Lectures 18 Cultural Events 19 Student Engagement 20 Government Liaison 22 Australian Partner Universities 23 Communications Identity and website➢ 24 Media report 25 About Us section Board 30 International Advisory Committee 33 Institute staff 34 Programme Directors 36 Financial Report 38 Professor Mattoo’s appointment as the Director of the Australia India Institute was announced in Delhi in Welcome March 2011. from the Director, India and Australia, two great democracies, bound together by shared values and increasingly common Professor Amitabh Mattoo interests, are, I believe, on the cusp of a major transformation in their bilateral relations despite differences on some issues. I see the Australia India Institute as playing a vital role in cementing the relations between these two important players in the international system. In the next three years, we hope that the Australia India Institute will be recognised as a leading centre of intellectual dialogue and research partnerships between thinkers, scholars, analysts and practitioners from India and their counterparts in Australia. This will almost surely contribute to greater sensitivity, understanding and cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two countries. The key words here are dialogue, partnership, understanding and mutual benefit. At the Australia India Institute we will encourage and facilitate meaningful and creative intellectual exchanges, conversations and dialogue between leaders from the two countries on cutting edge issues across a range of disciplines. We hope to promote research partnerships in emerging areas of mutual interest ranging from global commons, governance, economic development and the environment to public health, education and peace and regional stability. We will do so by identifying key institutional partners in both countries. We will make an effort to ensure that these dialogues and partnerships can create better understanding of Australia in India and India in Australia and greater appreciation of each other’s concerns and sensitivities. Finally, we hope that this understanding will form the basis of greater cooperation in areas of mutual interest for the mutual benefit of the people and societies of both the countries. I consider my appointment to be a great honour as well as a great responsibility. But I am confident that we can meet the challenge of building a world class institute in Melbourne with a focus on India. Professor Amitabh Mattoo Director, Australia India Institute 2 As Chair of the Board of the Australia India Institute, I am delighted to write on the occasion of this, the first Annual Report of the Institute. The Institute is a critical initiative Reports of the University of Melbourne in its aim to engage strategically with India, a country which has received far Chairman of the Board – too little attention in the hearts and minds of Australia. The Institute is funded both by the University of The Hon Alex Chernov Melbourne and a grant from the Australian Government’s Department of Education, Employment and Workplace AO QC Relations (DEEWR). The Institute’s independent Board includes representatives from the University of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales and La Trobe University as well as DEEWR and Asialink. The Institute enjoys the support of a strong International Advisory Committee consisting of senior and highly experienced leaders from Australia and India. Since its inception, the Institute has made substantial progress in the implementation of its strategic aims and, with the arrival of the Director, Professor Amitabh Mattoo, is well positioned to achieve its strategic goal as an internationally recognised centre of excellence for intellectual dialogue and research partnerships between Australia and India. In so doing, it will play a key role in strengthening and deepening the relationship between Australia and India. Hon. Alex Chernov AO QC Chair of the Board Australia India Institute Chancellor University of Melbourne 3 • Launch of the Institute’s national funding programme Deputy Director for collaborative research projects with proposals being assessed by our Programme Directors for the six Professor John Webb priority areas: OAM Resources and Environment Regional Relationships Health Education Contemporary India Economics and Business • Launch of three priority collaborative projects for the Institute in the areas of Health, Education and Regional Relationships • Establishment of the Institute Board and International Advisory Committee • Recruitment of core professional staff, including support in India The Institute now has in place a talented team of staff and programme advisors, strong governance through the Board and high level advice through the International Advisory Board. With Professor Mattoo’s pending arrival as inaugural Director, the Institute is poised to become the internationally recognised centre of excellence concerning the multiple dimensions of the Australia India relationship I am pleased to introduce the Institute’s first Annual (please see Governance section for more detail). Report, providing an account of the strategic vision This report captures the Institute’s vision, activities and and activities of the Australia India Institute for outcomes since its establishment. The Institute’s website, the 2010 calendar year. The Institute’s core agenda www.aii.unimelb.edu.au continues to be developed as our is the strengthening of collaborative research and core communications portal, profiling Institute activities, professional links between Australia and India commentary, research programs and engagement with our as well as assisting Australians better understand many partners in Australia and India. contemporary India. I encourage readers to subscribe to our electronic Highlights include newsletter, available through the Institute’s website. Professor John Webb OAM • Success in securing significant funding for the Deputy Director Institute of $8.1 million from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) through the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund. • Completion of the search for our inaugural Director, Professor Amitabh Mattoo, Professor of International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi who will arrive in Melbourne in mid-April 2011. 4 Background The Australia India Institute was established by the University of Melbourne in 2008. The Institute’s mission is to enhance mutual engagement and understanding between Australia and India in the key priority areas of education, business, the economy, and • Resources and Environment - climate change, around scientific, cultural and social issues. food, water, energy security The Institute serves as a crucial part of the strategic • Regional Relationships - diplomacy, security engagement between Australia and India in recognising both the importance of the relationship • Health – public health, biomedicine and and the need for stronger connections between pharmaceuticals Australia and India. • Education – policy reforms, language, India India’s importance to Australia is increasing rapidly. awareness India’s population now exceeds 1 billion people and its • Contemporary India – arts, culture, sport, society economic growth is astounding: during the 2004-2008 period its growth averaged almost nine per cent (DFAT • Economics and Business – trade, markets, data) and, despite the Global Economic Crisis, India’s investment, governance economy is expected to grow at above five per cent, The Institute announced its inaugural Director, vastly outperforming almost all other countries. Professor Amitabh Mattoo, in Delhi in March 2011. India’s strategic role in our region and globally is Professor Mattoo is a Professor of Disarmament also being increasingly recognised. As India rises Studies at the Centre for International Politics, in Australia’s political and economic consciousness, Organisation and Disarmament at New Delhi’s Australians need to become better equipped with Jawaharlal Nehru University and has been a Member knowledge about India so we can contribute to, and of the National Knowledge Commission, a high-level benefit from, the social and economic potential of advisory group to the Prime Minister of India. India. The Institute has five full time staff consisting of a The Australia India Institute was officially launched Deputy Director, General Manager, Communications by the then Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Julia Gillard and Events Specialists and an Executive Assistant. MP at the Australian High Commission in New Delhi The Institute recognised