The University of Glasgow has signed agreements with two separate Indian universities to develop closer educational links.

Memorandums of Understanding were signed between Glasgow and the Indian Institute of Science Education Research (IISER), Pune and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar which will see the institutions work together to develop teaching and research links.

Professor Anton Muscatelli, Principal & Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, signed the agreements with Prof Krishnan Ganesh, Director of IISER-Pune, and Prof MK Surappa, Director of IIT Ropar, at a ceremony in London.

Prof Muscatelli said: “Strong international links are essential to Glasgow University’s success in a global market and we are delighted to forge these new links with Pune and Ropar so that together we can expand our provision of first-class teaching and research.”

The ceremony itself was part of a larger event involving several other UK universities and a delegation led by Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Human Resources in the Government of India, who was visiting London to discuss UK-Indian educational cooperation.

The agreement with IIT Ropar, a new institute founded in 2008, was signed by both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities as part of the Glasgow Research Partnership on Engineering (GRPE), a collaborative research programme between the Scottish Funding Council and the four universities in the West of Scotland.

The links were funded through the Prime Minister’s Initiative for Education, which seeks to build strategic partnerships with overseas institutions to ensure the UK remains a leading market in global education.

Both agreements will see efforts to develop exchange opportunities for staff and students, collaborative research projects, as well as looking at opportunities to develop joint degree programmes.

Students from India comprise the fourth-largest number of overseas students at the University of Glasgow.

For more information contact Stuart Forsyth in the University of Glasgow Media Relations Office on 0141 330 4831 or email s.forsyth@admin.gla.ac.uk

IIT Ropar - http://www.iitd.ac.in/iitrpr/
IISER Pune - http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/
Glasgow Research Partnership in Engineering - http://www.grpeng.ac.uk/

First published: 19 January 2010

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