Cambridge University in pact with Infosys

University of Cambridge will be signing a memorandum of understanding(MOU) with India's leading software company Infosys Technology on the 14th of this month, as a part of its initiative, to strenthen ties between India and Cambridge.

Alison Richard, vice chancellor of University of Cambridge said, "We will be signing an MOU with Infosys Technology, next Wednesday, on our visit to Bangalore.We already had informal visits and discussions with the company and I have been convinced by academicians back in Cambridge of the usefulness of such an MOU."

The MOU will primarily explore oppurtunities of research in areas of bio informatics, economics, business and engineering. Prior to this, Cambridge and Infosys were already cooperating in areas of architecture and business and this MOU will try giving the initiatives a concrete shape. This apart, the university of Cambridge is resorting to diversified funding strategies apart from being funded by the public sector, the UK research council and industries. The university has resorted to an aggressive fund raising campaign to raise about 1 billion pound by 2010-12 through philanthropic activities and charitable foundations, while approximately six per cent of the university's operating budget is through endowments.

Till 2008, the university has already raised about 800 million pounds and hopes to complete the process by the summer of 2010 and divert this fund for providing financial assistance to students through scholarships, for supporting the academicians and the staff, for supporting various research activities, infrastructural purposes, seed funding for research projects and also for supporting library collections, science and archealogical museums.

Around 219 Indian students currently study in Cambridge, with about 70 students in the under graduate course.

To usher in more students from India, the university has also started with a Manmohan Singh Graduate Students Scholarship Programme, 'since financial constraints should not stand in way of potential and bright students', added Richard.