​Partnerships


​The Indian Ocean network and research programme has partnerships with many national and international institutions, NGOs and scientific institutes including the following:

  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa

  • Research Centre Indian Ocean, Muscat

  • Tanzanian Antiquities

  • The World Monuments Fund

  • UNESCO, Paris and New Delhi

  • Maldivian Heritage Department

  • Ministry of Egyptian Antiquities

  • National Museums of Kenya

  • La direction des affaires culturelles océan Indien

  • Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale (IFAO), Cairo

  • Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères

  • Google Arts and Culture

  • SOAS University of London

  • Le Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) - Le laboratoire Orient & Méditerranée UMR 8167 Textes Archéologie Histoire

The list below highlights some of the partnerships that have been agreed with the AKU-ISMC.

Catholic university in Portugal, Lisbon

Indian Ocean Archives, History, Cultures and Societies

AKU-ISMC and FCH-UCP will co-deliver a Summer School in 2022 entitled Indian Ocean & Asian Studies Summer School. The Summer School will focus on themes of culture and arts, politics, trade, and Islam. Collaborative research includes a project studying documents from the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (Lisbon).

Ministry of Higher Education Maldives

AKU-ISMC and the Maldivian Government Joint Scholarship

In 2021, AKU-ISMC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Higher Education outlining a Joint Scholarship for up to 5 Maldivian Scholarships each year from 2021 to 2026. The scholarship aims to diversify its student pool and create greater opportunities for people from the Indian Ocean region with the possibility to attend the AKU-ISMC's Master of Arts in Muslim Cultures programme in London.  The MA programme enables young scholars to engage in a unique approach to the study of Muslim cultures that is shaped by research in world cultures, humanities, and social sciences.  This scholarship enables those with the greatest financial need to have a rewarding and worry-free experience at AKU and graduate without the heavy burden of debt.  

Google Arts and Culture

 AKU-ISMC signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with the Google Cultural Institute, a non-profit platform and is intended to showcase partner's cultural content on a non-commercial basis. The Institute which includes Google Arts and Culture is an initiative that partners with museums, archives and other cultural institutions to bring the world's cultural heritage online.  With free tools and technologies, partners can showcase their cultural content making it more widely accessible to a global audience. 

Professor Pradines is currently collaborating with Google by providing expertise, knowledge, and iconography for the platform.  To date, he has provided 17 notices on sites and monuments in Kilwa and on the Swahili Culture in East Africa, and other notices are underway for the Maldives and Pakistan.   ​

German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech)

AKU-ISMC signed a partnership agreement with GUtech to promote and encourage scientific, academic collaboration and academic linkages to enrich the understanding of the Indian Ocean.  The activities include joint research activities, publications and the exchange of academic information and materials in fields of interest to both universities.