Swedish South Asian Studies Network (SASNET) Evaluation

SASNET was originally established with SIDA research funding in 2000. In 2011 the funding ended and SASNET became a special centre within Lund University. During February and March 2015, Neil Webster (DIIS)and Pamela Price (Oslo University)conducted interviews and reviewed in detail the SASNET work reports and other documentation, and on 17th March a final report was submitted to the SASNET Board and the Vice Chancellor of Lund University. In their report, Neil Webster and Pamela Price present proposals as to how they believe SASNET should develop its work from 2015. Amongst their key recommendations are that SASNET should develop a stronger institutional anchoring within Lund University while maintaining the national and international work that SASNET has become recognised for; that SASNET should work around a set of short to medium term objectives in order to facilitate and complete the ongoing transition of SASNET into a special centre at Lund University; and that the management and organisation of SASNET should be strengthened to enable these changes. Regarding the SASNET website, the recommendation is that it should continue as a core SASNET activity, retaining the status of a national resource, while seeking to become an integral part of LUND University’s strategy to promote its own internationalisation.