University of Birmingham hopes to get GIAN funding for faculty

NEW DELHI: The University of Birmingham, one of UK’s oldest universities, is looking to increase its share of Indian students and strengthen its partnerships in the country. Adam Tickell, provost of the university, was in India last week, giving shape to the initiative.

This week, the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Panjab University and Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC) to facilitate an exchange of ideas, visits of faculty, scholars and students.

The university hopes to get its researchers funded through Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet educational project Global Initiative of Academic network ( GIAN). "We are hoping some of our academics will get funding under this project and come and teach here. For this, we have identified nearly six students," Professor Tickell told ET.

He said that such partnerships always result in better science and that is what these recent MoUs are meant to explore. Currently, the university plays home to about 138 Indian students studying across various subjects and has over 50 research relationships with Indian institutions