University of Southampton Delhi to launch 30 courses over next decade, expand to STEM, health, arts: Provost

As one of the first UK universities that has set up a campus in India, University of Southampton is moving into its second year. Started its operations in July 2025 at Haryana’s Gurugram, the university – also India’s first global top 100 university – is preparing for its second batch in August 2026. Eloise Phillips, academic provost for its Delhi campus, during a conversation with Careers360, talks about new courses, outreach, robust governance and academic rigour. She also spoke about setting up a campus in India, its challenges, hiring, localising the curriculum in Indian context and many others. Edited excerpts:

Q. University of Southampton became the first institution licenced by the UGC to open a campus in India under NEP 2020. How did that regulatory journey unfold?

From the outset, the university worked closely with the relevant regulators, including the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission (UGC). We wanted to ensure that all our plans are aligned with the UGC vision for foreign universities in India. The process started in 2024 and involved detailed discussions around academic quality assurance, governance structures, the programmes and student outcomes. Southampton’s global reputation and commitment to maintaining the same academic standards across all our campuses helped ensure clarity and confidence through the approval process. It has been a very positive experience so far.

What influenced the location choice, and what does it mean for student experience and job opportunities?

For us, Gurugram was a strategic choice because of its location and proximity to important businesses and innovation hubs. It allows students to be close to a wide range of industries, multinational companies, start-ups, and young professionals in Gurugram International Tech Park.

This proximity enhances opportunities for industry engagement. We have a number of major companies nearby, making internships, guest lectures, and collaborative projects easier. Students are learning in an environment where academic knowledge closely connects with real-world industry practice. It creates a more practical, real-life learning experience for them.

Being close to Delhi also means being close to regulators, conferences, and major events taking place in the capital.

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Q. How did Southampton approach enrolment in August 2025, and how has the first batch shaped up?

The students are now in the second semester of their first year. We launched six programmes in the first year – four undergraduate and two postgraduate. These included BSc computer science, BSc business management, BSc accounting and finance, and BSc economics, along with a masters in international management and a masters in finance.

In the first intake, we had around 120 students across all six programmes. Around 60% of our students come from Delhi-NCR and 40% from other states. We have students from all over the country, including the South, the Northeast, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai contributing to a lovely diversity on campus.

Our masters programmes are one-year full-time degrees. Students are currently in their second semester and will submit their dissertations at the end of August this year. We follow a two-semester structure in a year. Our next intake will be in August 2026, and we are currently taking applications for that cycle.

We have a strong growth plan for the next 10 years, but for the first intake we intentionally kept the cohort modest to ensure academic quality and a strong student experience. Over the longer term, the goal is to steadily expand enrollment, with plans to double intake year-on-year as the campus grows.

Q. What made you introduce these courses specifically?

The initial portfolio of programmes was designed to reflect areas of strong global demand, with relevance to India’s evolving economy and sectors where there is significant need.

Courses in business, finance, economics, and computer science are closely aligned with industry demand, as well as student interests. We also focused on programmes that represent Southampton’s academic strengths and the disciplines for which the university is globally recognised. However, we plan to develop more than 30 programmes over the next 10 years across multiple sectors. We aim to gradually expand into health, STEM and arts programmes.

We are launching an arts-related programme called BSc in creative computing in August 2026. It combines coding and computer science with creative disciplines and arts. So, for students interested in graphic design, dance, or arts more broadly, it brings all of those together.

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Q. How do you ensure parity in assessments, faculty quality, academic standards, degree and curriculum?

This is a key part of my role as a provost. My responsibility is to protect the brand and maintain academic quality. We have several executive boards within the campus involving members of the senior leadership team. All of these feed into the campus executive board, which then reports into a joint management board above that.

British universities place a strong emphasis on governance, so we have replicated a robust governance structure here as well. The university maintains academic standards through its global quality assurance processes. We ensure that the curriculum is consistent in design, assessment processes are exactly the same as in the UK. We often try to align exam timings as well. We also follow the same moderation procedures.

We have the same external examiners across all our courses that ultimately go through the UK exam boards. Just as students’ marks in the UK go through the examination boards for approval, our students’ marks are presented through the same processes here in India.

As the lead for the campus, I sit on several governance bodies at the main UK campus, including the senate and the international executive board. This ensures a two-way flow of information. Any curriculum redesigns or academic changes introduced in the UK are implemented here as well.

For example, Southampton is launching an AI module for all students from September this year, and that will also be available to students here in Delhi. Those joining from August 2026 onwards will go through that AI module. Responsible AI is an area where Southampton has significant expertise.

We also have extremely high-quality teaching faculty. Most of our faculty have participated in immersion visits to Southampton. They work closely with equivalent module leaders, programme directors, heads of department, and deans in the UK, as well as colleagues in Malaysia.

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Q. What kind of student community and campus life infrastructure exist here?

The entire environment has been thoughtfully designed to support both academic excellence and personal well-being. It includes large seminar rooms, a large lecture theatre, spaces with breakout rooms attached so that students can work in smaller groups. Our focus is on technology-enabled, interactive, and interdisciplinary learning, and the building itself has been designed around that philosophy.

According to visitors and some of our alumni the library feels exactly like the one in Southampton. Students also have access to a range of thoughtfully planned social and recreational spaces. We have soft seating areas, hangout spaces, quiet workspaces, and a library with multiple study rooms. The Tech Park also offers sporting and fitness facilities.

We place a strong emphasis on holistic development. Students have also created several clubs and societies, including dance, book, and finance clubs.

The Business Technology Hub also allows students to engage closely with industry partners, due to our location within the Tech Park. We also run an official alumni mentoring scheme, through which around 40 students are currently mentored by the Indian Southampton alumni.

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Q. What are your hiring criteria? Did you face any challenges?

We have actually received a high volume of applications for all our job advertisements. So the challenge has really been managing the volume of applications.

We follow exactly the same transparent recruitment processes as we do in the UK. Positions are advertised formally, including across job platforms, social media channels, and professional networks. Applicants are required to submit an application form along with their CVs. All staff members must either have experience with, or a strong understanding of, international and UK curricula. Faculty are selected specifically on that basis.

We look for academics who have worked in international settings and who understand UK pedagogical approaches, which are based heavily on flipped classrooms and interactive learning. But we also have staff from Australia, the US, Europe, and other international systems.

We follow a rigorous longlisting and shortlisting process, using strict criteria to assess expertise, background, skills, and overall fit for the university. Candidates then go through interviews, and appointments are made based on performance throughout that process. We are likely to more than double our current staffing intake next year.

Q. What changes have you made in your curriculum to make it relevant for the Indian audience?

Our curriculum at Southampton has always had a global perspective. Even within UK universities, particularly in areas such as business education, teaching already draws on examples and case studies from around the world. The global approach is already embedded within our curriculum because of the university’s international outlook. From the outset, we were intentional about ensuring that the curriculum remains globally benchmarked while also reflecting the Indian context.

The curriculum is exactly the same as it is in the UK and Malaysia. However, we do localise elements of the teaching to reflect the regional context through Indian case studies, local business scenarios, and region-specific challenges, which are directly embedded into classroom teaching. Faculty members use contemporary Indian examples across areas such as technology, sustainability, healthcare, and entrepreneurship. By contextualising global theories within the Indian environment, students are able to better understand how these ideas operate in practice within one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies.

Equally important is the role of industry. As we are located within a major business hub, many industry professionals regularly come to campus for guest lectures and collaborative engagement.

Q. What is the fees for each programme? Any scholarships?

Undergraduate degrees are completed over three years, while postgraduate degrees are completed in one year, following the standard UK model. Our undergraduate programmes cost approximately Rs 13 lakh per year. Postgraduate programme fees vary depending on the course and range from around Rs 16 lakh to Rs 23 lakh for the August 2026 intake.

We also offer a number of scholarships. These include 100% Delhi presidential scholarship, future talent scholarship, cambridge scholarship award, merit scholarship and additional bursaries for students.

We offer one fully-funded presidential scholarship for a UG and PG student each. The remaining scholarships and bursaries are offered at varying levels of financial support.

Q. Placements have been a key concern for other foreign campuses.

We recognised from the beginning that employability is a major priority in India. Because of that, employability was built into our planning process right from the beginning.

Even during the early stages of setting up the campus, we were leveraging the relationships and industry connections the university had built in the UK that are also present in India. That has remained a key priority for us.

For example, when students join us for their two-week induction, one full week is dedicated specifically to employability and skills development. Students also participate in industry engagement sessions throughout the year through our “successful futures” programme, which all students are enrolled in.

For our postgraduate cohort graduating this year, a large number of students have already secured opportunities with major firms, either through internships leading to placements or through direct job offers after graduation.

We have also established Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with several major companies, including Deloitte India, Investec, Conviva, Knight Frank, Narayana Health, and Ambit.

We also run an innovative initiative called Student Innovation Placement (SIP). It is a non-credit programme where students receive certificates of participation. Under this model, companies bring real business problems to students who work on them for over four to six weeks and then present their solutions back to the employer. Throughout the process, they receive mentorship both from industry professionals and faculty members. Students are also required to complete a 500-word reflection outlining what they learned from the experience.

We run similar initiatives in Southampton in the UK as well, although on a smaller scale.

Q. What else is in the pipeline?

For next year, we are adding BSc computing and software engineering, MSc economics and MSc data science. We are also exploring programmes in law, engineering, STEM, health, AI, and psychology. We already have faculty from highly ranked Indian universities and will continue recruiting internationally. The university’s long-term ambition is to grow the Delhi campus to around 5,000 students by 2030.