Harper Adams University and India: Together We Will Make The Difference

Two weeks ago, as UK politicians and business leaders gathered for UK Business Week in London, I was delighted to make my first visit to India as Vice-Chancellor of Harper Adams University. Harper Adams is the UK’s premier university for food production and technology, animal health and wellbeing, we contribute to sustainable, living environments for all of our planet’s inhabitants, not just those of us in the UK.

I was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Harper Adams University 18 months ago, having previously served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise and Governance) of Monash, Australia’s largest University, where I had the privilege of sitting on the Board of the IITB-Monash Research Alliance. Prior to that I was Chief Operating Officer at the University of Warwick in the UK. Both of these institutions harness the intellectual firepower within India, working closely with Indian Government, universities and businesses to increase talent and innovation here in India and their own countries and I am excited about Harper Adams stepping up to do the same.

I believe that Harper Adams University is an extraordinary institution. Since its establishment in 1901, we have made an essential contribution to the agricultural industry, community and the wider economy, both in the UK and increasingly around the world. We have developed from being an Agricultural College, to a University College and to Harper Adams University in 2012 and our new strategic plan provides us with a mandate to becoming a more globally connected university by 2030, and the start of the transition towards achieving that goal is my visit to India this week.

You don’t need me to tell you that we are living through challenging times. Globalisation and the global supply chains we have relied on to feed the world’s population have failed and there is a serious risk that both the UK and India will struggle to maintain self-sufficiency in food and might experience extended periods of food shortage in the years ahead. That’s where the University’s new strategic plan comes in. Our 2030 Strategy is called “Together, We Will Make The Difference”, which highlights our distinctive approach as an impact-driven university. We are not just a can-do university. We go much further than that. We were founded as a ‘will do’ agricultural college, became a ‘will do’ university college and we are now a ‘will do’ university. I believe that we are one of the most impact-driven universities in the world, certainly in the United Kingdom, and that’s something I am extremely proud of. Together – describes the collaborative nature of our university. Partnership has always been important to Harper Adams but, as a specialist institution, to extend beyond what we already do, collaboration with like-minded or complementary partners will be critical. From my conversations this week I sense this approach is extremely compatible with the way things are achieved in India.

Specifically, we want to work with India in three ways. Firstly, through student mobility. The quality and motivations of students here in India is impressive, so too is the achievements and success of Indian graduates. Food security challenges require the best talent and if students in India want to make the difference they are welcome at Harper Adams University. Second, through a broader number of institutional partnerships in India to develop new joint programmes and collaborative research. And third, through knowledge transfer by engaging with industry in India through collaborative research and innovation as well as enhancing skills within the Indian workforce. On Monday, I was in Chennai to visit TAFE, with whom Harper Adams has collaborated since 2017. We are strongly committed to developing our strategic alliance with TAFE and would like to forge similar partnerships with like-minded companies across India

Our refreshed strategy for Harper Adams is mapped out against a background of global turmoil, turbulence and uncertainty. A global Covid pandemic followed by endemic Covid; the war in Ukraine causing disruption to energy and food supplies and enormous energy price inflation; climate change and extreme weather events now experienced world-wide; food price and general inflation, and risks of a more general economic recession - all these have the potential to disrupt world food supplies and food security.

What I do know with absolute certainty is that the people of the UK and India need Harper Adams University more than ever before. We need to build on more than 120 years of dedicated service to our students, and to the farming and food sectors we were created to serve, and shine a light through the current turmoil to a brighter, better future for both of our countries.

Professor Ken Sloan
Vice-Chancellor
Harper Adams University