Reception for alumni of Welsh universitiesPeter Noyes

A Reception for alumni, and education, industry and business contacts of universities in Wales will be held at the Leela Palace Kempinski in Bangalore on the evening of 19th March 2011. 

The event is being arranged by the Welsh Assembly Government in conjunction with the British Deputy High Commission and will be hosted by the Deputy High Commissioner, Richard Hyde. Dr Thanga Prabhu, an alumnus of Swansea University has accepted the invitation to attend as Special Guest. 

This follows a similar Reception held in Delhi last year at which 100 alumni met a delegation from Wales at the High Commissioner’s residence for a reception to celebrate Wales’ national day.

Since the visit in 2010, universities in Wales have been continuing to explore opportunities in research, teaching and commercialisation and to build on the wide ranging links that already existed between universities in Wales and India.

Dr Peter Noyes, Chair of the Wales International Consortium of universities, will attend the event as Chief Guest to represent the higher education sector in Wales.  Looking forward to the event Dr Noyes said:

“We are very proud of our Indian alumni and the place they are taking in making India one of the leading emerging economies in the world. These alumni are also at the heart of the developing relationship between Wales and India which has already seen the formation of numerous prolific partnerships ranging from cutting edge Low Carbon Research to the recent first ever Wales-India film student exchange between New Delhi’s Asian Academy of Film and Television (AAFT) with students and tutors from the Skillset Screen & Media Academy Wales. “

The event will be an opportunity to highlight the emphasis that Welsh universities place on collaboration with industry and business. 

Further information:

For enquiries about Wales and its links with India contact Avik Debnath on Tel: +91 11 2687 2161

For enquiries about business opportunities with Wales contact Dr Kant Singh on Tel: +91 23 3953 7229

Dr Peter Noyes: Chair, Wales International Consortium (http://www.walesinternationalconsortium.com) and Vice Chancellor University of Wales Newport (http://www.newport.ac.uk) 

Current and recent developments in the higher education sector in Wales/ examples of existing partnerships with India

Bangor University has a wide range of links with Indian institutions: For example, Professor Jane Raymond of the School of Psychology works with University of Allahabad.

Professor Keith Alan Shore, School of Electronic Engineering has links with Pondicherry University, Berhampur University and the Bombay Atomic Research Centre. He supervises a PHD Student from India, has published Joint Papers with links in Pondicherry University and Berhampur University and is in the process of developing research collaboration with BARC.

Cardiff University has a number of formal links:
The School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Asian School of Journalism in Chennai in July 2009. The parties have agreed to establish a route for progression of students from the Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism of the College to the MA in Journalism at the University. The ACJ is accepted as the best institution for the study if Journalism in India and has extensive links with the burgeoning media industry.

Cardiff Business School signed an agreement with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-C) Calcutta in 2006. It included a broad range of aims:
•           exchange of faculty members and postgraduate students
•           exchange of academic information and materials
•           organisation of joint business and industry management training programmes
•           joint research programs and conferences
•           guest lectures by faculty members

There have been a number of visits by both sides.

Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences has a long standing link with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad (CCMB).  Sir Martin Evans signed the original agreement with the Centre with main focus on joint research and short term scientific visits.

Cardiff School of Engineering signed an MoU with Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISB) in 2005. The areas of collaboration cover research, development, education, training, transfer of technology and dissemination of knowledge on a long term non-commercial basis.  Exchange of students is one of the key areas of co-operation between the two institutions

Two successful bids under the WAG funded UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), have both been awarded to the School of Chemistry, partnering IISB and National Centre for Cell Science, Pune.

The Cardiff School of Engineering (lead), the University of Surrey and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine were successful in securing INTERACT EPSRC funding in 2005-06 to run the "Sustainable Groundwater Management in Rural India" project. The aim of the project was to establish collaborative links between India and the UK in the above thematic area.

Cardiff’s School of Engineering also has a strategic partnership with Corus (now owned by Tata Steel). In 2008, the School of Engineering and Corus launched a £1.2 million Centre of Excellence to research Corus’ energy optimisation and the management of process by-products to enable reuse in the steel making process, or alternative use. Involving medium and long term research and the provision of training for their process engineers and technicians, the partnership will further improve the competitiveness of the steel industry in Wales, initially over a three year period. Tata the steelmaker is the sixth largest steelmaker in the world with a production capacity of over 27 million tonnes.

Indian Law Programme: For several years Cardiff Law School delivered a programme of training for young academics from key law institutions in India.  The staff came to Cardiff for a month long programme of activities.  The programme was supported by the British Council in India and has been partial accountable for the high reputation of the Law School in India. This project is no longer running however.

Next Generation India Project – Cardiff Business School: Two students from the Business School (Adam Fergusson and Nicola Venn) spent the summer of 2008 working in Indian businesses in Delhi and Pune respectively.  Both thoroughly enjoyed their experiences. This project was operated by the UK India Business Council and was open to only Cardiff Business School and Said Business School.

Glyndwr University
Glyndwr University has active teaching partnerships with Rajagiri Higher Education College in Kerala and DSI Higher Education College/  Sagar Group in Bangalore.

Swansea University
Swansea University has a range of research and teaching partnerships in India, including joint degrees in Business Management, Business Communications, Engineering, Media, and Computer Science with Christ College Bangalore (2+2 articulation, student exchange), and St Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore, (hosts of Study in India programme for Swansea students, proposals for staff exchange and articulation), Presidency College Bangalore and Manipal University, Mangalore.

Swansea University has secured two of only three awards issued as part of the Student Mobility strand of the Prime Minister’s Initiative (PMI2) awards, funded by WAG and HEFCW. The funding will support the University’s summer 2010 Study in India and China programmes. The bids highlighted the importance of study and work experience for UK students in both China and India, countries the PMI2 initiative has identified as key in which to build strong strategic partnerships.  The PMI2 funding will allow for a substantial rise in the number of Swansea University students able to participate in the programme piloted initially in China; this year it is expected that 45 students will have the chance to travel to China to experience Chinese language and culture at one of three Chinese universities, or to India where they will combine lectures at a partner college with voluntary work at a rural development centre and with city-based charities. Alongside the Study in India programme, a number of internships have also been planned within high profile companies including GE Healthcare and Thomson Reuters, allowing students to gain work experience and first hand working knowledge of a specific industry; and putting them in a prime position for employment following their studies. 

Two Swansea University alumni are sharing their success by helping current Swansea students with the internship opportunities to greatly enhance their employability prospects. Dr Thanga Prabhu studied for an MSc in Health Informatics at Swansea University from 2003 to 2005. He is now Clinical Director at GE Healthcare IT India, based in Bangalore. Last year he assisted the University in establishing their international internship programme, offering a three-month placement at GE Healthcare. Third year student Ramya Mohan Raj, studying for an MEng in Computer Science was selected as the first Swansea University GE Healthcare intern and spent June-August last year working with the company in Bangalore.

Professor Vanessa Burholt, Director of the Centre for Innovative Ageing, Swansea University, has extensive links in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala where she is interested in private housing (extracare) developments. She has also worked with HelpAge India (Delhi) and Universities in Patiala, Punjab, and Baroda, Gujarat on a research project funded by the Department for International Development. She has been part of a British Council link introducing a Master programme on Ageing in the Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune, Maharastra.

Swansea Metropolitan University
SMU was invited by the Sikkam government to attend visit and an education fair in 2007 and is now developing franchise links for Indian students. 

The University of Glamorgan’s primary research links in India relate to Professor Alan Guwy and his team in their Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC). There have been a number of key recent developments following Alan’s participation in the “Indo-Uk Dialogue On Low Carbon Technologies For Decentralised Power Production” in March 2008, including:

 

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC)
The Cardiff School of Management has an agreement with Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore. Professor Brian Morgan of Cardiff School of Management has recently returned from India where he held discussions with educational organisations and businesses in Delhi and Bangalore.
The main aim of the visit, which was supported by the British Council and now defunct International Business Wales, was to develop the Memorandum of Understanding between UWIC and the globally recognised Indian Institute of Management (IIMB) in Bangalore. Also at the heart of the discussions with the IIMB was a proposal to provide a ‘customised MBA’ for international companies in India that have a significant base in Wales or the UK.

Two students from UWIC have been accepted at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) as part of a student exchange programme. Robert Jones and Mehul Penani, who are students on UWIC’s MBA programme at the Cardiff School of Management - itself one of the biggest in Europe – will be studying at the Indian business school for one semester.

The exchange programme is part of UWIC’s strategy of forming strong global links with other institutions and businesses. The University also aims to bring international experience to Cardiff for the benefit of the local economy.
University of Wales Newport signed an MoU with Osmania University, Hyderabad, in June 2009.  The University also signed an agreement with the Media Arts & Science College (MASC) Chennai in September 2010.

Collaborative projects
Low Carbon technologies programme: the project, supported by the Assembly Government and British Council India, aimed to develop collaboration on low carbon technologies between universities in Wales and research institutions in India.  The first phase of the programme in January 2009 saw academics from Welsh HEIs involved in the Low Carbon Research Institute (LCRI) visit to counterparts in India; representatives were from Cardiff, Swansea, Glamorgan and Glyndwr. The reciprocal visit by Indian academics took place in July 2009. 

The first ever Wales-India film student exchange has taken place between New Delhi’s Asian Academy of Film and Television (AAFT) with students and tutors from the Skillset Screen Academy Wales. Film-maker and lecturer Philip Cowan (UW Newport) and Paschall de Paor (Glamorgan) held masterclasses in a range of film-related topics to AAFA UG and PG students.