This makes it one of the first foreign universities to set up a campus in India and to offer Australian degrees to Indians following the University Grants Commission’s draft rules to bring in foreign universities to the country.
UOW will offer a combination of two-year post-graduate and one-year diploma courses, and in a couple of years it may launch courses to cater to students at the undergraduate level.
“We will commence our India operations with a graduate certificate in computing and a Master’s in Computing (Data Analytics) programme, followed by other undergraduate programs,” said Davidson. “We are seeing big customer demand in the undergraduate space but that won’t start before 2025.”
The university may also look at offering a host of courses in other subjects such as business, accounting, finance and technology. UOW will charge Rs 8-10 lakh per annum for the courses, about half that incurred by international students studying at its Australian campus. This will be supplemented by merit scholarships, said Davidson.“We are expecting to start with a batch of about 500 students next year. In the next few years, we plan to take it to 5,000,” she said. The university already has close ties with around 30 Indian universities for research and educational collaborations in the areas of software development, advanced medicine solutions, molecular and life sciences, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity and mining technologies.
UOW is in the process of putting in place a team of faculty, who will be mostly from India. There will also be visiting faculties from the institute’s other centres in Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.
“We are currently engaging with a range of companies across industry sectors in India to explore business internship and later placement opportunities for our students,” said Davidson.
Asked about UOW’s India head, she said, “We are yet to decide the academic head for our India unit but most likely it will be from India.”
The university will also offer students the opportunity to do part of their course in India and another part in Australia or any of its other global branches.
Speaking to ET, the university’s global brand ambassador, cricketer Adam Gilchrist, said, “I will be coming here every year to forge partnerships with like-minded academic and research institutions, industry leaders and governments as well as engage with the students here and to deepen the university’s ties with India.”
