Prof. Gupta with BC Premier Christy Clark in India
As a registered delegate of British Columbia Premier Christy Clark and Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk’s trade mission to India, UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Arvind Gupta made the case for post-secondary education partnerships, joint research initiatives, and student exchange between UBC and institutions in India.
Gupta held face-to-face meetings in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi October 12-17 with key academic and industry stakeholders as well as senior representatives of the recently elected Bharatiya Janata Partydian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This trip was an excellent opportunity to build on UBC’s engagement in India,” said Gupta. “I’m very excited about the potential to strengthen our research and learning links in the region.”
During the mission, Gupta marked UBC’s long-term engagement with India by announcing a contribution of a quarter of a million dollars in non-public funds to support merit-based scholarships for Indian students entering UBC undergraduate degree programs. UBC will offer 11 Outstanding International Student awards at $10,000 CAD each, and five International Major Entrance Scholarships, valued at $28,000 CAD each to international students from India who demonstrates exceptional academic achievement, intellectual promise and strong community involvement. The first awards will be tenable for September 2015.
“This contribution will help attract India’s brightest young minds to UBC and will enhance B.C.’s connections with India for the future,” said Gupta. “The UBC community will benefit from these students’ perspectives, experiences and talent.”
UBC also renewed an agreement with the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore. The agreement envisages the exchange of visiting scholars as well as sharing research, information and participating in joint academic conferences.
Quick facts:
- UBC is one of North America’s most international universities, with 10,190 international students from 150 different countries.
- India is the fourth largest source of international students at UBC, following China, the USA and South Korea.
- 453 Indian citizens were studying at UBC in 2013.
- UBC opened its India Liaison Office in New Delhi in 2013 to strengthen the university’s ties to the region.
- UBC has partnerships with a number of top-tier Indian institutions, such as the IIT Delhi and University of Delhi. In all, UBC has 222 exchange partners in 48 different countries.