News / University of Bristol
Bristol Uni vice chancellor joins Starmer’s visit to India
The University of Bristol’s vice chancellor, Evelyn Welch, is one of the 126 professionals who have accompanied the prime minister on what he has called the “biggest trade delegation to India”.
Welch’s visit to India follows the university’s announcement of its first international campus in the country’s financial capital, Mumbai.
“When our Mumbai Enterprise Campus welcomes its first students in summer 2026, we will be the highest-ranked university in the UK, delivering both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees to students in India”, Welch said when explaining the intention behind the upcoming campus.
Evelyn Welch visited Mumbai, where University of Bristol are opening its first international campus in summer 2026
The Mumbai Enterprise Campus will be a collaborative effort between Bristol University’s wider network of India partners, including the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
Starmer sees the trade trip to India as a chance for Welch and all other vice chancellors, cultural leaders, CEO’s, entrepreneurs and businesses on the delegation to “seize the incredible benefits” available from a trade deal signed between the two countries in July.
Welch added: “The University of Bristol has always had strong and long-standing relationships with India.
“We also have several prestigious research partnerships with some of the leading universities and research institutes in India, including a recent agreement to develop new working initiatives aligned to areas such as translational research, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurship with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay – one of India’s most highly ranked universities.”
She sees the new campus in Mumbai as a “pivotal transformation in our 150-year history” and a stepping stone towards building a “powerful, globally inclusive future”.
When it opens, the campus will offer a wide range of subjects, including artificial intelligence, data science, computational biomolecular and bio-systems design.
The campus in Mumbai, Welch added, will follow the same principles as their upcoming Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus in Bristol: “Mirroring the University’s new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus in Bristol, which opens in a year, the Mumbai Enterprise Campus will bring together industry, academics, students and local community partners within a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem to deliver impact on a truly global scale.”
All photos: University of Bristol
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