Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute

**Mission** **The Mittal Institute connects Harvard and South Asia**. With over two billion people facing shared challenges and opportunities, South Asia offers unique opportunities for interdisciplinary research, capacity building, and informing policy across a wide range of fields. The Institute works with faculty members, students, and in-region institutions and experts to advance and deepen the understanding of critical issues shaping South Asia and its global impact. Harvard University formally recognized the South Asia Institute, which later became the Mittal Institute, as an academic institute in 2013, signaling the University’s longstanding commitment to the region and the beginning of an exciting new era for South Asian studies at Harvard. The Mittal Institute now serves as the premier center on regional studies, cross-disciplinary research, and innovative programming pertaining to South Asia. **Goals** - Facilitate **scholarly exchanges** among Harvard faculty and students, international South Asia specialists, visiting academics, and public figures from South Asia. - Sponsor **lectures and conferences** at Harvard and in the region by distinguished academic, governmental, and business leaders whose work contributes to a better understanding of the challenges facing South Asia. - Support **Harvard students**’ engagement with South Asia through grants for student organizations and for language study, research, and internships in-region. - Build intellectual bridges between Harvard and South Asia by supporting **faculty and scholars with grants and fellowships** for research. - Build a **community of stakeholders** committed to building scholarships on South Asia at Harvard and in the region. **Countries we work with:** Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and diaspora populations from these countries