Cambridge V-C reaffirms partnership with India on third official visit

Between 7 and 17 January 2010 the Vice-Chancellor and her delegation will travel to Kolkata, New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and, for the first time, Pune.

The visit will build on her previous visit last January, strengthening and celebrating important relationships with leading institutions for teaching, research and policy, and with alumni and industry in India, enhancing the ever-deepening and widening Cambridge-India partnership.

Cambridge’s links with India are long-standing and historical and they are developed today at all levels, from undergraduate students studying at Cambridge to researcher exchange programmes and distinguished visiting professorships.

Cambridge flourishes in academic areas that are aligned with Indian national priorities, making it an attractive partner for industry, researchers and students alike.

As a university with a global outlook Cambridge wants to expand existing partnerships and build new opportunities with academic, business and political communities that extend well into the 21st Century.

Highlights of the visit will include a keynote lecture on 12 January at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, as part of the UK Science in India lecture series, entitled “Catalysing innovation: the role of universities”; a high-level seminar on Industrial Sustainability in Mumbai led by the University’s Institute for Manufacturing and Indian collaborators; meetings with key Indian academic and industry partners and gatherings of alumni in each of the five cities.

The delegation will attend cricket matches in New Delhi and Mumbai as the Cambridge University Cricket Club play quality Indian sides. It will be the first time that CUCC has toured India, thanks to generous sponsorship of Cipla and its Chairman Dr Yusuf Hamied.

There is an historic link between Cambridge University cricket and India going back to the greatest names, Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji and his nephew Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji, who both won cricket Blues at Cambridge University before going on to play for Sussex and England, and Mohammad Jahangir Khan who went on to captain India in the late 30s.

The University has supplied England captains who have led tours to India including Tony Lewis who captained in 1972-73 and who will be in India to follow this tour. Match venues will include Roshanara Gardens in Delhi on Sunday 10 January and Bombay Gymkhana in Mumbai on Friday 15 January.

The Vice-Chancellor’s delegation will include Mr Michael O’Sullivan, Director of the Cambridge and Commonwealth Trust which provides financial assistance for overseas students at Cambridge, and Professor Dame Sandra Dawson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, who chairs the Cambridge-India Partnership.