QUEEN’S IN INDIA – MAJOR EVENT HELD IN NEW DELHI 
20 June 2019
The 5 Star Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi was the location for a very special Queen’s University Belfast reception and dinner last month (03 May), attended by over 40 guests including graduates, in-country educational agents, senior University staff and other key stakeholders in India.
The evening was the culmination of a 2-day visit to India by a University delegation which included the President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Greer, Professor Margaret Topping, Dean of the Graduate School, Isabel Jennings, Director of Marketing, Recruitment, Communications and Internationalisation and Professor Michael Alcorn, Dean of Internationalisation for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Among VIP guests at the event was Sir Mark Tully, a 2011 Queen’s honorary graduate (DLit), who worked for the BBC in India for over 30 years.
Welcoming guests, Professor Greer said: “Currently we have 185 Indian students at Queen’s and 100s more have passed through the doors of the University over the years.
“Alumni have returned to India to impact on all aspects of society here – from university vice-chancellors, deans and researchers, to business and industry leaders ranging in subjects from health care and polymer processing, through to journalists and policy makers.
“Our graduates address key global problems and initiatives – food and cyber security, health, advanced manufacturing – and these remain at our core of our mission at Queen’s. Global challenges; things that will make a real difference to society.
“We want to transform people’s lives, through education and skills, through research and innovation that can grow the economy, through social responsibility that can make a real difference and make the world a better place.
“To do that we need even more international students, because that diversity of thought is critical; it is key.
“Currently, we have 2,500 students from 78 countries at Queen’s. We want to attract the best brains to the University, to allow us to make that real difference that we aspire to deliver for the world.”
During the visit, his second to India since taking up the role of Vice-Chancellor last summer, Professor Greer signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Vinod Kumar Jain, Vice-Chancellor of Tezpur University in Assam. The MOU means the two universities will explore mutually beneficial opportunities over the next five years in the areas of joint supervised doctoral programmes, which will allow students from Tezpur to begin PhD study at Queen’s as soon as this September.
A number of other universities and research institutes were also represented at the reception, including: Tanuvas, the Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology (IGIB), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), PSG and Lovely Professional University. Discussions were initiated with these institutions around research collaborations and opportunities for student and staff exchange for study, research and teaching.
The affection and commitment for Queen’s on the night was evident from the many contributions of graduates and guests. Speaking about the important role of alumni in promoting the University in India, Dr Mark Tully said: “I was deeply honoured when, some years ago, Queen’s awarded me an Honorary Doctorate. I always felt a deep affection for the University and for Ireland of course, both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
“To me, I have found in a very long life that the friendships you make at university are the friendships which last longest in your life. Your relationship with your University is one of the deepest you can form.
“For that reason I am delighted that Queen’s University makes such an effort to keep up with its graduates, to encourage them to maintain their links.
“Those of you who are graduates are your University’s best ambassadors. You will be the people who will fulfil the Vice Chancellor’s wish that more and more people from this wonderful country of India will come to Belfast to study at Queen’s.”
Among several graduates who addressed the gathering was Tara McCartney, BA Anthropology and Philosophy (1994), who is an NGO Director with Shakti Empowerment Solutions in Delhi.
“Things have changed since I studied at Queen’s,” said Tara. “I am delighted that India is now sending wonderful people to Belfast.
“India and Ireland are not so different. Of course, superficially, they look different, but our values, the way we see the world, how we represent our humanity are similar. We place value on family, on culture, on hospitality.
“I think for an Indian coming to study in Northern Ireland you will find aspects of your own culture there in a way you wouldn’t elsewhere. India and Ireland are not so very different.”
Queen’s has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with India over many years. The University established an office in India in November 2014 in partnership with T&A Consulting to strategically target the region as part of its ambitious Vision 2020 internationalisation plans.
His Excellency Kamalesh Sharma, former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, was the University's Chancellor from 2009 to 2014, helping cement relations between Northern Ireland and India which led to the country's investment in Northern Ireland businesses.
The establishment of the India Academic Excellence Award, will offer 15 awards of £7,500 towards the cost of first year tuition fees to full-time undergraduate students joining the University this September.
Those in India wishing to find out more about applying to Queen’s can visit the website or contact Neeta Tyagi, Manager of Admissions & Communications at the University’s India office in New Delhi (Emaar Digital Green Tower A, 4th Floor 416-418, Golf Course Extension Sector 61 Gurgaon, India); telephone: +91 11 4054 6760 extension 103 or email indiaoffice@qub.ac.uk.
Graduates living in India who would like to connect with fellow alumni or keep up with the University’s visits to India, can join the University’s LinkedIn group.
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For more on the University’s alumni activities in India please contact Queen’s Alumni Officer (Engagement), Stephen O’Reilly or phone +44 (0)28 9097 1945.
To submit graduate news items, or for general enquiries about this story, please contact Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office, Queen's University Belfast or telephone: +44 (0)28 9097 5321.
Photo caption: Staff and guests at the India event on 3 May, including Professor Ian Greer (back row, centre), Sir Mark Tully (back row, right) and Tara McCartney (right).
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