Kortenaerkade 11 2518 AX Den Haag
Tel	:	070 - 426 02 60
Fax	:	070 - 426 03 99
Email	:	nuffic@nuffic.nl
Web	:	www.nuffic.nl

CIRAN is part of Nuffic's department for Development cooperation. Nuffic's theme 'Development cooperation' directs most of its activities towards developing countries and countries in transition. Nuffic aims to strengthen higher education institutions in these countries by helping to increase their capacities for developing human resources and conducting research. Nuffic's ultimate aim is to contribute to cultural, economic and political development throughout the world.

To these ends, Nuffic's department 'Human Resource and Institutional Development' advises government agencies, donor organizations and institutes for higher education and research; manages fellowship programmes and programmes that support inter-institutional cooperation; and works to enhance the international dimension of Dutch higher education.

Nuffic administers a number of fellowships programmes related to development cooperation on behalf of national and international donors, such as the Netherlands ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the European Commission, UN-organizations, overseas governments and private organizations.

The NPT (Netherlands Programme for the Institutional Strengthening of Post-Secondary Education and Training) has replaced three institutional cooperation programmes: the MHO (Joint Financing Programme for Cooperation in Higher Education), HOB (Programme for Cooperation between Dutch Universities of Professional Education and Educational Institutions in Developing Countries for the benefit of Primary Education), and SPP ( SAIL Projects Programme). These three programmes are being phased out.

Indigenous Knowledge is an integrated, online information system that offers annotated links to websites -publications, organisations and networks, databases- managed all over the world. Furthermore it features news and announcements, and also some search facilities.

Indigenous Knowledge WorldWide (IKWW) is a newsletter with focus on Indigenous Knowledge (with a special attention to the relation with higher education). It contains short items about courses on IK, news from the field, research, book reviews, calls and conferences, organizations and networks.

The MHO programme aims to support and strengthen institutions for higher education in developing countries. The characteristic feature of the MHO programme is the mobilization of Dutch expertise through the establishment of long-term inter-institutional linkages between one institution for higher education in a developing country and several Dutch institutions for higher education. These linkages are a means of institution building and knowledge transfer

One of the MHO partners in India is the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), India.