‘Strathclyde has the secondhighest number of Indian students in Scotland’

Professor Atilla Incecik, associate principal and dean of the faculty of engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow was in India last month as part of a Scottish Government delegation to promote educational and research links between India and Scotland. Strathclyde has a long history of welcoming Indian students and is home to the second-largest group of Indian students in Scotland, besides having the biggest Engineering faculty in Scotland. Professor Atilla Incecik spoke about Strathclyde’s ambitions in India, the links it is forging with Indian partner institutions and how it is attracting Indian students to Glasgow with a range of exciting new programmes. Edited excerpts:

What makes the university of strathclyde popular with indian students?

The University of Strathclyde is committed to ‘useful learning’ and offers a range of programmes in subjects such as finance, international management, engineering and computer science that are geared towards providing career-minded individuals with the skills they need to succeed in their chosen profession. Our unrivalled links with industry offer students the chance to work with relevant businesses in their field of study and gain vital experience through Internship opportunities.

We also have a strong focus on entrepreneurialism at Strathclyde which provides all our students with access to a wealth of facilities and support to help them start their own businesses.

What has been the intake of indian students over the last 5 years?

We have seen an increase in the number of Indian students coming to Strathclyde over the last five years, driven partly by an overall increase in interest in Scotland as a study abroad destination, given its global reputation for high-quality teaching and research, welcoming message and the growing strength of the rupee against the pound. At the University we have been able to adapt existing programmes, and create new ones, to fit the needs and demands of an international audience.

This is done in consultation with industry to ensure that the programmes are relevant to the international and Indian job market. Data Analytics/big Data, Quantitative Finance and a range of programmes across sustainability and environmental engineering have contributed to this growth. Strathclyde is very proud to currently have the second-highest number of Indian students in Scotland.

Tell us about your collaboration with the Tata institute of social sciences (Tiss) in Mumbai and Teri school of advanced studies (sas) in new delhi. What do you hope to achieve by this collaboration?

Future Cities is a key research focus for the University of Strathclyde. Through our work we aim to make a tangible impact on how the world’s cities adapt and develop to meet the demands of modern life in a sustainable way which enhances our prosperity and quality of life. The collaboration with TISS and TERI enables us to combine our expertise to specifically look at the challenges faced by India’s fast-growing cities to come up with tailored solutions. Our partnerships aim to look at how India’s cities of the future can meet the demands and requirements placed on them through smarter approaches to policy and design.

What are some of the courses at strathclyde that attract international students? and what are the scholarship opportunities available to students from india?

Business and engineering programmes continue to be the main attractions for Indian students at Strathclyde, though we are also growing our numbers in science, health and social sciences subjects. We have more than 131 different types of scholarship open to Indian students to help cover the costs of their studies.

During our trip to India we launched five new Scottish Government-funded scholarships for Indian students studying on our MSC Global Sustainable Cities.

The Biomedical Engineering Celebration Awards for India offers £6000 pounds to well-qualified applicants from India who are entering any of the taught postgraduate programmes in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in September 2018. More details can be found at: https:// www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/scholarships/