Though the historical past of the establishment dates again over 100 years, it solely achieved degree-awarding powers final yr. Specialising in agriculture and life sciences, SRUC hopes to turn out to be an more and more enticing selection for worldwide college students.
“For a few years, SRUC’s been a sleeping big,” SRUC’s principal and chief government Wayne Powell advised The PIE Information. “Now we’ve awoken and we are able to see enormous quantity of potential in what we are able to provide right here in Scotland.”
Providing worldwide masters applications together with worldwide meals and agriculture enterprise, enterprise consultancy and challenge administration, Powell stated the establishment is “making a future which is far more aligned to what college students for the longer term will wish to do” – with worldwide recruitment efforts largely trying to college students from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and different elements of sub-Saharan Africa.
With six campuses situated round Scotland, SRUC’s Edinburgh campus launched a £1.8 million vertical farming innovation centre in January, making it the primary Scottish greater training establishment in Scotland to create a commercial-sized vertical farm to assist tackle international and native meals manufacturing challenges.
“A few of the issues that we work on are on the nexus of crucial challenges going through society. So how can we feed a rising world?” defined Powell. “How can we assist environmental sustainability?”
He continued: “We’re enthusiastic about attracting college students which have an id and an curiosity in sustainability and the way the sustainability will play out over their lifetimes”.
However whereas sustainability is undeniably a spotlight for the establishment, Powell confused that potential college students are additionally being enticed by curriculums focussing on enterprise – particularly as SRUC runs its personal “profitable consultancy enterprise”.
Now we’ve awoken and we are able to see enormous quantity of potential in what we are able to provide right here in Scotland
Wayne Powell, SRUC
Studying about worldwide agriculture, meals and enterprise in tandem can be a spotlight for applications, “significantly the potential for buying these enterprise abilities as a part of a inexperienced economic system”, Powell stated.
“And our location in Edinburgh [creates] a implausible alternative to come back and reside and work and examine in a fantastic metropolis,” he added.
“There’s one thing right here which goes to be enticing and we’re eager to market that in the appropriate approach and creating the primary cohort of scholars coming into one thing actually particular.”
It comes as Scotland has taken steps to place itself as a beautiful vacation spot for worldwide college students. In late January, the nation’s universities have been inspired to take “collective motion” to advertise Scotland as a examine vacation spot.
In the identical week, Scotland’s first minister John Swinney made the case for a bespoke visa for expert worldwide college students graduating from the nation’s faculties and universities. Nonetheless, it’s understood that the UK authorities has no plans to make good on these ambitions.
