New Liverpool Bengaluru campus takes shape as provost appointed

The University of Liverpool has appointed Richard Grose as the first provost of its new Bengaluru campus, as the Russell Group institution moves closer to launching its first full overseas branch in India.

Grose joins Liverpool from Queen Mary University of London, where he is a professor of cancer cell biology and a senior figure at the Barts Cancer Institute.

He will take responsibility for the academic leadership, governance and management of Liverpool’s Bengaluru outpost, which is due to admit its first students in August.

The appointment comes months after Liverpool received approval from India’s Ministry of Education to establish the campus, becoming the fourth member of the Russell Group to announce plans for an Indian branch.

The university confirmed the move in May, joining institutions including the University of Southampton, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of York in setting up teaching and research operations in the country.

Liverpool has said the Bengaluru campus will offer UK-accredited undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, with initial programmes including computer science, business management, accounting and finance, game design and biomedical sciences.

“I look forward to working with academic and professional services colleagues to establish our Bengaluru campus as a dynamic student-focused and globally connected centre of excellence,” Grose said.

“Together, we will deliver the world-class education, research, knowledge exchange and enterprise for which the University of Liverpool is renowned, in the fantastic city of Bengaluru, one of the world’s fastest-growing knowledge economies.”

Tim Jones, vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool, said that the appointment marked another step in the institution’s India plans.

“I am delighted to welcome Professor Richard Grose as provost of the University of Liverpool, Bengaluru,” Jones said.

“Richard brings outstanding academic leadership, a strong track record in international collaboration, and a deep commitment to transnational education. His appointment is the latest milestone in our ambition to deliver a world-class University of Liverpool education in India and to further develop the long-standing higher education and research collaboration between our two countries.”

Liverpool has framed the Bengaluru campus as part of a broader effort to deepen collaboration with India’s higher education and research sectors.

The university has existing links in Bengaluru and the state of Karnataka, including partnerships with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences and the Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru, as well as collaborations with industry.

Designed as a “future-ready learning and research environment”, the campus aims to “integrate global academic standards with India’s higher education ambitions”.

Facilities will include smart classrooms, research and innovation spaces, collaboration hubs, specialised laboratories and access to Bloomberg terminals, with the university describing the campus as a fully flexible and integrated learning environment.

The move comes amid a rapid expansion of foreign branch campuses in India following regulatory changes that opened the door to overseas universities.

Alongside UK institutions, universities from the US and Australia have also secured or are seeking approval to operate in the country, with particular interest in cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Gujarat’s Gift City special economic zone.

Liverpool already has extensive experience of offshore provision through Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University in China, which was established in 2006 and is one of the largest joint venture universities in the country. Earlier this year staff at the institution called for more oversight of the campus from the UK base owing to concerns over class sizes, grade inflation and language use.