The Australian university, which is set to begin teaching at a branch campus in GIFT City in Gujarat, has worked with Symbiosis for over 20 years. Under the new partnership, Deakin will offer a dual degree and an accelerated master’s program with Symbiosis in the areas of business administration & analytics and liberal arts.

President and vice-chancellor of Deakin University, Iain Martin, recently travelled to India to confirm the plan alongside SIU chancellor and founder and president of Symbiosis Society, S B Majumdar.

“Deakin and Symbiosis have always upheld their commitment to foster global learning and growth outcomes, as well as excellence in research that drives positive impact for international communities,” Martin said at a ceremony in Pune.

“Taking our partnership of over two decades forward, we shall continue to achieve our goals of education beyond borders and mutually beneficial collaborations, which form the cornerstone of bilateral linkages between Australia and India.”

The partnership with Deakin has offered Symbiosis students opportunities in global learning, skilling and research, Majumdar continued.

“Much has already been achieved and with the current extension of our partnership we look forward to brighter prospects of student/faculty mobility, knowledge engagement and exchange and enhanced multicultural understanding and global citizenship,” he said.

Under the new agreement, students at the Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies in Bengaluru will be able to articulate into Deakin University in Victoria, Australia.

The 2+2 program will allow students to benefit from “Deakin’s global linkages and world-class research and Symbiosis’s vibrant learning ecosystem”, the partners added.

The accelerated master’s program will allow Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts students to progress into the Deakin University program after seven semesters at the school in India.

The five-year program offers students the opportunity to earn both a four-years bachelor’s degree from Symbiosis International (Deemed University) and a master’s from Deakin.

In two decades, the partners have built a strategic alliance, featuring a Deakin HUB at Symbiosis International (Deemed University) which was launched in 2022.

Deakin also revealed hubs at OP Jindal Global University and Chitkara University that same year.

“The new offerings will extend brilliant opportunities for ambitious Indian students”

The university’s South Asia operations commenced in 1994 in New Delhi, India, which it says makes it one of the first overseas education provider to set operations in the region.

Deakin and Symbiosis have also collaborated on internationalisation of curriculum, women’s entrepreneurship research alliance and mobility.

“The new offerings will extend brilliant opportunities for ambitious Indian students to access international academic resources and to global career outcomes,” the partners added.

“The ease of mobility and accessibility is being facilitated by the two institutions in alignment with their commitment towards providing quality education, skilling and research pathways to help shape successful future outcomes for Indian students.”