‘We are committed to training students to be thinkers, leaders and innovators, not just subject experts: Margaret Topping

Why India and why GIFT City?

We were very excited about establishing a branch campus in India. This is the first branch campus that we have established anywhere internationally, and it really made sense to do this in India because of our long history of partnership, be it research collaborations or attracting talent. Setting up the campus in India was a good way to extend our global impact. GIFT City was attractive partly because of its ecosystem which aligns with the Queen’s. In a lot of its programmes, our university focuses on the employability of our graduates. So, to be in an environment where there are 700 plus businesses that align with our strengths made GIFT City seem like an attractive place to establish our presence. Additionally, the wider ecosystem in Gujarat, the pharma industry and other key industries, also aligns with some of our research expertise.

What programmes will be in the offing and from when?

We are proposing to welcome our first cohort of students in January 2026. We will start with offering a number of industry attuned master’s programmes, but our goal, in the long run, is to expand into research culture, PhDs and ultimately to be part of that commercialisation entrepreneurial ecosystem, which is also at the center of GIFT City. These will be one-year master programmes.

When will the admissions open?

We already have an online portal that is active. Interested students can register their interest in the programme.

Are there any important outcomes from the round table virtual meeting with the industries at GIFT City?

Even though I have engaged with the business during my previous visits to GIFT city, the discussions this time were useful. There were representatives from different sectors such as finance and banking. There was a lot of interest in exploring the possibilities of recruiting graduates in finance, financial analytics and business analytics.

How will Queen’s pitch itself among the other international universities in GIFT City even as more are planning to enter the space?

We are delighted to be the first UK university to have established a presence in GIFT City. In terms of how we differentiate ourselves, it is a mix of who we really are and our vision for the GIFT City campus. We do have a very good world university ranking. We’re like 206 in the QS World University Ranking. We are a Russell Group University. We’re also ninth in the UK for graduate outcomes. Now ranking figures and facts are one thing, but what it actually means in practice is that as a Russell Group University — equivalent to the US Ivy League — we’re one of 24 research intensive universities in the UK. And what that means is the quality of the teaching and learning experience for students in GIFT City will be exceptional, because students are being taught by leading experts in their fields, so they are having access to the best possible research. These are important differentiators in terms of our position. We strongly focus on employability at Queen’s. We believe that this is not just about giving our students subject expertise. It’s also about producing future-ready graduates.

We are committed towards training our students not only as subject experts, but as thinkers, leaders, innovators and communicators. It’s all of this that makes the students future-ready. Also, in terms of our vision for GIFT City, it is perhaps a bit different from other universities. We are not just offering master’s programmes… we are investing…we want to be part of the entire GIFT City ecosystem. That ambition to be part of a wider ecosystem and that position to work in partnership with companies in GIFT City will be a key differentiator for students.