Cuttack, June 22: The National Law University Odisha has inked deals with several national and international institutions to engage in student and faculty exchange programmes and collaborative research.

The foreign universities include the School of Law, Texas, University of Illinois, Northumbria University, SOAS University of London, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil and the World University of Bangladesh.

"We have taken several measures to mark our presence on the global stage. The university is now a member of the International Association of Law Schools and the Association of Commonwealth Universities," said vice-chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao.

A varsity official said the premier law institute had also been identified for implementation of the Global Initiative for Academic Networks programme in higher education. The Union ministry of human resource development scheme aims to bring in educational reforms by inviting internationally acclaimed academicians for imparting quality education to law students in the country.

Rao said that nearly six foreign academicians, including Jane K. Winn from the University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, and Michael McGuire from the University of Surrey, UK, will visit the institute for taking short-term courses starting from July.

"The programme is expected to be of great assistance for the students not only from the university, but also from other law schools in the state. It will continue for nearly three months starting from July. It will also be helpful for the senior lecturers as they would get comprehensive information about the existing practices and methodology in teaching new subjects on legal education," said a varsity official.

As part of the programme module, what the experts from abroad teach will be recorded and uploaded on the website so that students from across the globe can access them.

"We are also coming up with an advanced library with adequate number of law books, journals and other digital materials in a dedicated three-storey building that will be inaugurated shortly," Rao said. According to sources, the proposed library would come up within the next six months. At present, the existing one has over 13,000 books, 1,793 primary legal texts, including copies of bare acts and law commission reports.