London, Sep 4 (IANS): Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the vice chancellor of Cambridge University, will lead a senior university delegation to India for a series of meetings and events with Indian academics and decision-makers, the Asian Lite newspaper reported.

This will be the sixth visit to India by Borysiewicz, a distinguished clinical researcher and virologist, since his appointment in October 2010.

The university, which is committed to achieving an ambitious expansion in the breadth and depth of research collaborations with Indian academics, is hosting its biggest gathering of Indian alumni at New Delhi's Taj Mahal Hotel on Sep 18. Titled "Global Cambridge: India" the event will be a day of lectures and panel discussions with eminent figures including Lord Karan Bilimoria, Sir Mark Tully, M.J. Akbar, British High Commissioner Sir James Bevan and Karan Thapar.

Borysiewicz will open the new New Delhi head office of Cambridge University Press India on Sep 20. The delegation will also visit Mumbai and Bangalore.

Consistently ranked as one of the world's leading universities, Cambridge has strong historic and contemporary links with India. Founded in 1209, the university comprises 31 autonomous colleges that admit undergraduates and provide small-group tutions, and 150 departments, faculties and institutions. Strengthening Cambridge's engagement with India remains at the forefront of the university's international strategy.

For more than 150 years, the university has attracted scholars from India, with many of the country's leading figures - academics, industrialists, scientists and politicians - having benefited from a Cambridge education. Academics and students from India have helped shape the modern world and define its global connectivity.

In recent decades Cambridge has been fortunate to attract significant investment to strengthen its partnership with India. Notable examples include the Jawaharlal Nehru Professorship of Indian Business and Enterprise, the Manmohan Singh Scholarships, the Tata Steel Professorship of Metallurgy and the Cambridge Hamied Visiting Lecture Scheme.

Indian institutions and Cambridge are becoming major partners in world-leading, cutting-edge research in areas of greatest importance to India's continued development in areas such as education, advanced manufacturing, nanotechnology, innovation, health and food security.