PhD workshop in Delhi

Thanks to a bus trip in China and a call for applications for funding from the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU), a delegation of ten people was able to travel to the National Law University, Delhi (NLUD) in India for a seminar for PhD candidates from the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen.

A few years ago, Vice Dean for Education Bjørnar Borvik attended a seminar in China, and while on a bus trip there he met Professor Harpreet Kaur from NLUD, and thus a university collaboration was born. Sometimes, willingness is not enough – we also need financial means. Thankfully, shortly afterwards, SIU announced funding for precisely collaborations between Norwegian and Indian institutions. The Faculty applied, and was granted the funds necessary to realise the project.

In 2015, a delegation from the Faculty of Law travelled to NLUD, and in the autumn of that year, the Faculty received visitors from NLUD. In the spring of 2016, the Faculty hosts two Indian students on exchange, and in the autumn of 2016, two Norwegian students will go on exchange to NLUD. In May this year, a group from the Faculty of Law travelled to NLUD to participate in a doctoral degree seminar. The participants on the trip were Professor Johan Giertsen, Postdoc Torger Kielland, Lill Haukanes, Katrine Rong Holter, Ingrid Margrethe Halvorsen Barlund, Kristian Strømsnes, Karsten Grimstad, Marianne Nerland (all PhD candidates), International Coordinator Nathalie Gaulier and PhD Coordinator Gunhild Brubakken.

Innovation Norway gave a presentation about the business sector and regulations in the business sector, comparing Norway and India.

During a lecture on research methods held by Registrar and Professor Bajpai, the audience also got a taste of the academic differences between the countries. Judging by this lecture and discussion, Indian legal research has more in common with Norwegian criminal sociology and criminology than with the methods used in law.

The programme included the presentation of twelve PhD projects: six Indian and six Norwegian. The aim of the workshop was that one Norwegian and one Indian project were to be more or less in the same field. For each presentation, a panel of two experts in the field had been invited, and both the experts and the rest of the audience participated in the discussion about the projects. The PhDs who participated, and their projects, were as follows:

• Ingrid Margrethe Halvorsen Barlund (UiB): The Relationship between the Commission's Leniency Programme and the Directive on Damages Concerning Breach of the Competition Rules
• Deepika Prakash (NLUD): Anti-competitive practices and consumer welfare: A study of the Indian healthcare industry
• Kristian Strømsnes (UiB): Legal Consequences of Infringement of the Public Procurement Regulations
• Aakriti Kohli (NLUD): Public Procurement and Competition Law
• Marianne Nerland (UiB): What Are the Rules Regulating Non‐Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Working in Refugee Camps?
• Syed Iqbal Ahmed (NLUD): Combating trafficking in persons in South Asia: Need for a human rights perspective
• Lill Haukanes (UiB):  International Surrogacy in a Norwegian Perspective
• Diksha Munjal (NLUD): Commercial Surrogacy- A socio-legal study
• Karsten Grimstad (UiB): The Limitations of Spouses’ Sovereignty over their own Assets
• Preeti Sehrawat (NLUD): Impact of Protecting Multiculturalism on Women’s Rights in India
• Katrine Rong Holter (UiB): Criminal Intent in a Functionality Perspective
• Archana Sarma (NLUD): Computer forensics in criminal investigations: legal challenges in India

The feedback from participating Norwegian doctoral candidates shows that they benefited greatly from the seminar. It was very interesting to experience a different academic culture, and it is always useful to present their PhD project. The students were also tested by an audience that was more active than we are used to in Norway, and perhaps in Europe generally. The PhDs made contacts with Indian professors and doctoral candidates.

The delegation spent four days as guests at NLUD, and the hosts were wonderfully hospitable. Campus includes administrative buildings, classrooms, housing for much of the academic staff, student residences, guest houses, a cafeteria and library. The area is spacious and green, and everyone we met was very welcoming. All in all, the trip was educational, rewarding and very enjoyable.

Travelogue by Gunhild Brubakken