Gurugram: UK’s University of Southampton launched its Indian campus in Gurugram Wednesday, becoming the first foreign university to operationalise a full-fledged campus in the country under UGC norms, officials said.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who inaugurated the campus along with Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, termed it a significant milestone in India’s higher education landscape.
The university received a Letter of Intent (LoI) last year under the University Grants Commission’s (Setting up and Operation of Campuses of Foreign Higher Educational Institutions in India) Regulations to set up a campus in India.
“This marks a momentous milestone towards internationalisation of education at home under NEP 2020, and also towards strengthening the education pillar of India-UK cooperation as envisioned in the India-UK Roadmap 2030.
“University of Southampton has set up this state-of-the-art campus within a year of receiving the LoI. I am confident that the campus, with its basket of forward-looking courses and Southampton’s legacy of academic excellence, will emerge as a distinguished institution shaping leaders of tomorrow,” Pradhan said.
He urged the University of Southampton leadership to start STEM courses at the Gurugram campus and added that this campus should aim to become a hub of solutions for global challenges.
“Education has been placed at the heart of India’s development. Through the internationalisation of education at home, India is being envisioned as a global knowledge destination, reviving its civilisational legacy and reigniting its intellectual heritage from Pushpagiri and Nalanda to Gurugram.
“I invite other leading universities across the world to come to India for co-creating ecosystems of innovation, research and education,” Pradhan said.
The new Gurugram campus will offer globally recognised undergraduate and postgraduate programmes aligned with UK academic standards. Students may spend up to one year at the university’s campuses in the UK or Malaysia.
Programmes commencing in 2025 include undergraduate (BSc) courses in Computer Science, Economics, Accounting & Finance, Business Management, and postgraduate (MSc) courses in Finance and International Management.
CM Saini welcomed the University of Southampton to the state and reaffirmed the Haryana government’s commitment to positioning the region as a global education and innovation hub.
“NEP 2020 positions India as a global hub for education, research, and innovation,” he said and emphasised that the UGC has created a streamlined, transparent process to facilitate such initiatives.
“I am confident that the University of Southampton, with its legacy of academic excellence, will offer quality education in critical areas like Computer Science, Economics, International Business, and Management, contributing to India’s priorities in digital innovation and global leadership,” said Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi.
“The new campus would foster collaboration between Indian and international academia, becoming a beacon of excellence and a bridge between nations,” he added.
The first cohort at the India campus includes academically accomplished students from across India and from international locations such as the United Arab Emirates and Nepal.
The university is set to hire over 75 full-time faculty members who meet UK academic standards and will be expected to undertake the University’s Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. These faculty members bring experience from global academic centres in the UK, UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Germany, Japan, and the US.
The University of Southampton has a global alumni network of more than 290,000 graduates, including over 1,700 from India. Many of these alumni are expected to support the India campus by serving as mentors and industry ambassadors.
PTI
