Slowdown hits Cambridge Univ’s £1 billion fund-raising project

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Kolkata: The economic slowdown has effected University of Cambridge’s target to raise £1 billion by 2012 under the Cambridge 800th Anniversary Campaign, launched publicly in 2005. So the vice-chancellor of the university, Alison Richard, came to Kolkata to strengthen the academic cooperation with 40 to 45 alumni of The Cambridge & Oxford Society Calcutta and in the process, raise more fund to fulfil the target.

The visit will build on the success of her visit last January, strengthening and celebrating important bonds with alumni, higher education and business, and celebrating the Cambridge India Partnership.

“Till now, we have raised 800 million pounds through individual and corporate philanthropy, endowments, and charities. But it would be difficult in this current economic scenario to raise one billion pounds; but we are optimistic,” said the vice-chancellor of the university, Alison Richard.

The fund would be used to financially support students and academic staff, set up more laboratories and getting equipment, develop infrastructure, and support research activities. The fund would also be used for supporting library collections, art and anthropology museum, Richard said at an interactive session organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce here on Friday.

The university is going to sign an MoU with software giant Infosys in Bangalore on January 14. The co-operation would be in the fields of bio-informatics, architecture, business and economics. “Infosys and the Cambridge University would be engaged in research works and exchange programmes as well. We already have collaboration with Infosys in the areas of business and architecture. We want to expand it and so we are going to sign the MoU,” said Dame Sandra Dawson, deputy vice-chancellor of the university. Currently the University has 219 Indian students, mostly in the engineering and science-related courses. Of that, 70 are undergraduates, Dawson told reporters. “The number of post graduate students has more than doubled in the last decade and that of undergraduates has risen 50%. We ensure that quality students from India come to us and get quality education,” Richard said.