University of Nottingham explores tie-up with Telangana universities

Hyderabad: The Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) hosted a delegation from the University of Nottingham to explore academic and research collaborations with universities across the state. The delegation met Prof V Balakista Reddy, Chairman, TGCHE, on Monday and expressed keen interest in forging partnerships aimed at strengthening higher education and fostering international outreach.

Prof Reddy briefed the visitors on the series of innovative reforms introduced by TGCHE, including curriculum development, industry–academia interface, and student internship programmes, with a strong emphasis on the internationalisation of higher education. He recalled earlier interactions with universities from Germany, Australia and the USA, noting that Telangana is actively pursuing global collaborations to enhance academic excellence. Prof Sriram Venkatesh, Secretary, TGCHE, also participated in the deliberations.

The University of Nottingham delegation highlighted its interest in engaging with clusters of universities in Telangana for academic and research outreach, as well as community-based engagements. Prof. Reddy advised the team to establish a Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Development in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He also suggested setting up an Indian off-campus centre in Telangana to strengthen long-term collaboration.

The proposed areas of cooperation include capacity building programmes, faculty development initiatives, joint research projects, publications, patents, student and faculty exchanges, virtual immersion programmes and collaboration among university incubators. The University of Nottingham, a private institution, has around 35,000 students in the UK, 10,000 in China and 5,000 in Malaysia, with a strong focus on social sciences, engineering, medicine, and STEM education.