The University of Gibraltar is capitalising on its unique geographical location to raise its profile in global higher education, according to its inaugural vice-chancellor.

Daniella Tilbury, who was officially installed as vice-chancellor at a ceremony in London in September, said that the young institution was perfectly placed for ¡°international brokering¡±, which she believes is as crucial for an institution as focusing on its local offering in the current uncertain economic times.

The university officially opened in September 2015, at a cost of ?10 million, and Professor Tilbury said that she is staggered by the pace at which things have developed in such a short time.

¡°We had 261 students last year, which was 45 per cent higher than our predicted numbers,¡± she told Times Higher Education. ¡°We had students of 13 different nationalities, mostly from the regional area. We want to top our numbers at 1,215 in five years. We¡¯ll probably hit that in year three.

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¡°Our student numbers are healthier than anticipated. It¡¯s [all about] the diversity of the courses that we want to have in our portfolio, and making sure we have the right partnerships.¡±

The university offers four undergraduate programmes, three business courses and one in nursing, which are delivered in conjunction with the University of London¡¯s international programmes, and Kingston University and St George¡¯s, University of London, respectively. Gibraltar?also offers PhDs by research and ¡°PhDs by publication¡±, and it is finalising arrangements for a master¡¯s in marine science in conjunction with the University of Seychelles.

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Despite having 82 per cent local students in its first year, Professor Tilbury said, the university¡¯s ¡°offer isn¡¯t [solely] for local students¡±, and Gibraltar¡¯s aim is to build on its strategic position ¨C as a British overseas territory situated between Europe and Africa ¨C to solidify its position in the international higher education sector. Because of this, she said, she was less worried about the effects of Brexit than a UK university vice-chancellor might be, although she shared the?universal concerns about access to research funding.

¡°We¡¯re not going to be as challenged, and we¡¯re the gateway to Africa,¡± she said. ¡°Africa has got the fastest-growing demographic in terms of potential students in HE. We have Spanish, French and English [people] as common practice in Gibraltar, and obviously all of that will facilitate a lot of the international brokering.

¡°We¡¯ve had a lot of interest from Asia, [but] it feels right for us to start brokering partnerships in Africa ¨C because of our proximity, because of our history and intercultural connections.

¡°Our geography, our history, our intercultural history of Gibraltar would assist us in becoming an international university. We¡¯re in an ideal location to bridge communication and collaborative projects across the continents ¨C within and outside the EU.¡±

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She added that the university was not ignoring Europe in its vision for internationalisation and had already had ¡°a lot of interest from Spanish universities¡± and institutions from the UK.

¡°Staff from Spanish universities want to come to the university to develop professional qualifications, language proficiency, because we¡¯re so close,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ve got several Andalusian universities less than an hour away. There¡¯s lots of interest for collaboration with the University of Granada, and we¡¯ve been talking to the University of Bath about ways in which we can link together in terms of sports provision.¡±

The establishment of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Centre of Excellence at Gibraltar is a mark of how quickly the university has developed its international strategy.

When its plans were announced in February, Gilbert Licudi, Gibraltar¡¯s minister for education, said that the centre would ¡°enhance the reputation and international reach of the university¡±, placing it at the ¡°forefront of training and discussions on all aspects of global trade development¡±. Professor Tilbury said that it was already doing work to ¡°support international collaboration¡±.

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Over time, Professor Tilbury said, she saw the University of Gibraltar becoming a ¡°very specialist¡± institution.

¡°We¡¯re anchored in Gibraltar with a sense of history, a sense of place that will slowly work its way through our academic expertise,¡± she said. ¡°Although we¡¯re responding to need and expectation, that will distil into strong areas of academic excellence, locating us as experts in key issues [like the] Commonwealth, Mediterranean studies¡­international politics.

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¡°We have an intuitive sense that there are some unique components to our offering that have an international remit.¡±

john.elmes@tesglobal.com