University of Manchester visit to India headed by Dame Nancy Rothwell cements ties with top Indian Higher Education Institutions and Industry
Dame Nancy Rothwell, President of the University of Manchester is visiting with a senior delegation from the 3 Faculties of the university to develop existing ties with India and to explore new areas of joint collaboration in education, research and innovation, building on her previous pre-pandemic visit in 2019. The visit underlines the key role of India to Manchester’s ambition to develop global solutions to global problems by collaborating with the brightest and best around the world.
The delegation will visit the Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata which, along with IIT Kharagpur has seen the university contribute to the development of cancer research and treatment in India.
In Bangalore, the delegation will visit the National Centre for Biological Sciences to build on links in areas such as stem cell research, exploring new areas of collaboration including infectious disease and vaccine development. Also in Bangalore, Professor Rothwell will launch a new Joint doctoral degree programme with IISc Bangalore, a first for a UK HEI. The agreement will see mobility of students between Bangalore and Manchester and is a key vehicle for cementing the ties between the two institutions, with potential to increase funding and impact on both sides.
The group will also visit Mumbai, meeting with industrial titans Tata Group and Reliance Industries to explore new areas of translational research, drawing on Manchester’s key strengths in 2D materials, including Graphene, Industrial Biotechnology, Clean Energy and Environmental Science. A key component of all these applications is sustainability.
Professor Rothwell said, “This is such an exciting time to be in India as the possibilities of international travel open up again. Whilst we’ve maintained and grown our links virtually over the pandemic period, there is nothing like the face-to-face contact of a visit to stimulate collaboration. I am particularly pleased be able to launch a new Joint PhD programme with IISc Bangalore, the first of its kind with a UK institution. This agreement will allow for our academic links to grow a long-term partnership, a key component of which will be the development of new technologies for industrial development in the UK and India”.