Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, University of Copenhagen | 2,199 followers on LinkedIn. Academically independent Nordic research and resource center. We connect people and institutions with expertise on Asia. | NIAS - the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies - is an academically independent Nordic research and resource center, focusing on modern Asia from a predominantly social sciences perspective. NIAS is an integrated part of the University of Copenhagen with the status of a centre under the Department of Political Science. The study of Asia in the Nordic region is fragmented across many, relatively small, research environments.