The main objective of the project is to strengthen Indo-Pacific studies. As the broad region of Indo-Pacific is getting more and more attention both from policy-makers and scholars, there is a growing demand for better understanding of the region which is provided by the growing research area of Indo-Pacific studies. For the purpose of the project Indo-Pacific studies are defined as a multidisciplinary research area focusing on the political, economic and social developments in the Indo-Pacific region. The concept of Indo-Pacific is derived originally from geography and comprises the areas of two oceans: Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean with exclusion of the coast of Americas and polar regions. Indo-Pacific spans from India and Pakistan, east through Southeast Asian states to China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. There is a world-wide need to build and strengthen Indo-Pacific studies. This demand for deepening of the understanding of the region can be justified as follows. Firstly, it is the region inhabited by over 1/3 of the humankind. Secondly, the countries of the region are developing very rapidly and their impact on global affairs is increasing. From the EU perspective the region is especially important for EU because it represents the biggest export market for the European products. 5 EU HEIs and 2 HEIs from India and Japan will collaborate for 31 months, involving 22 scholars to obtain the following OUTPUTS: -1 curriculum report with recommendations (O1)-22 podcasts recorded to popularize science (O3)-1 Digital, Open Access handbook (O2) with 22 chapters including: glossary, learning outcomes, smart index, exercises, cases, assignments, future reading list, follow-up questions + 1 annex with guidelines for teacher and a guide for self-study (O4)-7 partners will update their curricula and teaching techniques for IPS at MA level-21 educators trained in teaching IPS, will do field trainings in the EU (C7), India (C5) or Japan (C6)-240 students will test handbook chapters in India and Japan (C5 and C6)-90 students will test chapters in the EU (C7)-4 dissemination events OUTCOMES-changing study programs in the EU to establish and support IPS-improving didactic potential of teachers of Indo-Pacific Studies by providing them with innovative didactic tools, competences and recommendations-increasing the number of students specialized in IPS (through teaching) – 350 MA /yearly-increasing the number of scholars specialized in IPS (also through self-study) – 100/yearly-increasing awareness among the general public about the importance of the Indo-Pacific Region – 150 during, 4000 after project has ended.Specific for EU partners:-enhanced networking opportunities for partner institutions and staff-gather teaching materials from the region (C5 C6)All these outcomes are self-reinforcing like a virtuous circle: IPS programs will be active (and relevant) for years to come considering the rise of the Indo-Pacific region regarding global capital flows, trade, services, political influence, development, migration, regional security challenges and global challenges like multipolar great power rivalry (beyond the US-China rivalry), ecology and climate change. These factors in turn will create a growing need (pull factor) that will ensure a stable increase of new specialists on the region, which in turn will reinforce the human capital at HEIs (in the EU and beyond) to study the region, and engage with it professionally, legitimizing its pivotal role in global affairs. This same growing need will attract future funding by policy-makers for HEIs that have successfully adopted IPS. This will be a push factor for those Asia studies that have not conformed to ISP yet and do not focus on the interlinkages of Asia’s ever increasingly connected subregions.Since all outputs are tangible, and available through OPEN ACCESS on various online platforms or e-resource databases (O2). These platforms will receive funding for their upkeep by the coordinator - and the handbook availability in online databases will be guaranteed (by legal contract) by collaborating with a renowned publisher.The MONEY-VALUE of the handbook, which will of course be free in its digital version, will without doubt outcompete many of its future competitors for years to come, especially since at the moment NO handbook on this topic is available. EISIPS scholarly expertise that will be put into its development, cannot be outdone by single institutions, and will not easily be outdone by consortia either without similar funding opportunities