25 January 2024

Cardiff Metropolitan University and the University of South Wales will engage with three state universities in Bangalore - Mangalore, Raichur and Tumkur - to offer capacity building across entrepreneurship and innovation, and cyber security. These projects will be supported by the state council and will aim to strengthen academic expertise and teaching practices at the state universities.

To further strengthen ties with Karnataka, Global Wales has partnered with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) - one of the leading institutions in the state, and in India. Under this partnership, Cardiff University, Swansea University and Cardiff Metropolitan Universities will collaborate with peer academics from IISc across the themes of additive manufacturing, life sciences and cyber security.

In 2022, the Global Wales board identified Karnataka as one of two priority states for India under the Global Wales III programme. Since then, Global Wales has developed a relationship with the Karnataka State Council, which is a nominated higher education body under the Karnataka state government and state universities.

In June 2023, a delegation of vice-chancellors from Karnataka state institutions, alongside representatives from the state council in Karnataka, visited Wales to develop engagement with Welsh universities. During the visit, Welsh universities met with the vice-chancellors of five Karnataka state universities to identify opportunities for developing partnerships. The partnership funds will support the progression of these discussions into collaborative outcomes.

Gwen Williams, Head of the Global Wales programme, says of the Karnataka partnerships:

‘It’s been a pleasure to see Global Wales engagement with Karnataka state flourish over the past year. I’m delighted by the response from institutions, both in Wales and Karnataka, and am excited to see these partnerships come to fruition.

‘Partnership projects for both the Karnataka state universities and Indian Institute of Science will take place between January and June 2024. This coincides with the Welsh Government’s, Wales in India campaign for 2024.’