25-03-27: India has long been the country from which the second largest number of international students (after China) come to Chalmers. There is potential to attract significantly more.
Last week, I visited India as part of a Swedish business delegation, which included representatives from several of Chalmers’ strategic partner companies. Together, we participated in Raisina Dialogue 2025, a multilateral geopolitical conference organised by the Indian government since 2016 as a way to strengthen the country’s global position.
For Chalmers, international connectivity is absolutely central. Our ambition is to compete with the very best, which means we must understand how we are part of the global context.
The conference itself – where speakers and guests are often ministers from powerful world economies – is certainly an interesting setting. It acts as a kind of thermometer for the current global situation, reflecting tensions between China and the United States and the ambivalent stance of various countries towards the Russian sphere of interest.
However, India’s importance goes far beyond the hosting of compelling conferences; we are talking about the world’s most populous nation and the fifth largest economy, which may already this year surpass Japan’s GDP and move up to fourth place.
The vast population – India is 150 times more populous than Sweden – and the enormous growth are hard to fully grasp. The difference in scale is not only quantitative but also qualitative in terms of how one approaches product development, production, and entrepreneurship. This is highly valuable for Swedish engineers to learn from, just as engineers in India have much to learn from us.
Swedish industry has had a strong presence in India for many decades, and this close collaboration is extremely important in today’s rapidly changing world. It also provides opportunities for Chalmers to cooperate with India alongside our strategic industry partners.
As mentioned earlier, Sweden has long been attractive to Indian students, and there is tremendous potential to attract even more. Although hundreds of thousands of Indians study each year at domestic technical universities, the proportion who go on to become engineers is significantly lower than among Swedish youth.
If, for example, we could establish a good system for scholarships, there are many individuals with the potential to excel in our programmes. Chalmers’ collaboration with strategic industry partners opens up strong integration with the Swedish labour market, and if Swedish regulations and systems allowed more of them to remain in the country, it could make a significant difference to our talent supply.
It may seem distant, but these are thoughts that need to be considered – especially in light of the Swedish STEM strategy in which many in our field have placed great hope.
I am convinced that our efforts to inspire Swedish children and youth to pursue science and technology must be complemented by an ability to attract talent from other parts of the world. The needs are simply too great.
At the same time, it is positive if many of the engineers trained in Sweden return to India, perhaps with jobs in Swedish companies. This is not about engaging in parasitic “brain-drain” – with a balanced proportion between those who stay and those who return, there are great benefits for both countries.
Martin Nilsson Jacobi, President and CEO of Chalmers University of Technology
Footnote:
Chalmers has strategic partnerships with around ten of Sweden’s most important industrial companies. Delegates from the partner companies Saab, Ericsson, and Volvo Group participated in the trip. The work with these long-term collaborations is described here: strategic partnerships
Under the headline "President’s perspective" the President and CEO for Chalmers University of Technology, shares his reflections on current topics that concern education, research and utilisation.