Universities Australia Solutions Summit: Dr Geetika Madan Patel of Parul University as Panellist on India-Australia Growth, Vice Chancellors of All Australian Universities at the National Convention Centre, Canberra

The Universities Australia Solutions Summit is the premier national forum for collaboration across higher education in Australia. Its tagline: Big ideas. Bold conversations. Real solutions. It brings together 1,000+ leaders including vice-chancellors and chancellors of all Australian universities, senior parliamentarians, business leaders, researchers, and international education specialists. The Summit takes place at the National Convention Centre, Canberra. The Summit Dinner is held at the Great Hall, Parliament House, Canberra, with the keynote delivered by The Hon. Jason Clare MP, Australia’s Minister for Education. Over 42,500 Australians voted in the Shaping Australia Awards People’s Choice category announced at the dinner. Nine Australian universities rank in the QS World Top 100. The Summit is where the leadership of all of them convenes.

Growth can be figured out and seen at the session’s discussion. The session was titled as ‘ Opportunity for Growth’ at the summit of Australia India. The one hour session at the National Convention Center had discussion on India’s economic and social trajectory, and the shift in how the world approches education.

The panellists were:

• Dr Geetika Madan Patel, Vice President and Co-Founder, Parul University, Gujarat, India
• Dr Ashwin Fernandes, Executive Director and Chair, QS India, and Vice President QS for Africa, Middle East, and South Asia
• Dr Raj Singh, Bennett University’s Vice Chancellor, Greater Noida, India
• The Vice Chancellor and President Professor Adam Shoemaker from Victoria University,

Australia gave an important session. Many great leaders, business owners, and education specialists attended the event. Dr Geetika Madan Patel was a panellist on that stage, representing Parul University alongside the head of QS India, the Vice Chancellor of Bennett University, and the Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University (Australia).

Dr Geetika Madan Patel is the Vice President and Co-Founder of Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India. She serves as Medical Director for the Parul Group of Hospitals. She has played a pivotal role in establishing numerous medical institutions and hospitals under Parul University and is closely involved in the core administration of university academics, directing efforts towards quality-centric initiatives, innovation, imparting futuristic skills, and creating better opportunities for students. She established the Social Responsive Cell, a dedicated foundation at Parul University working in health, education, and women’s development campaigns. She has received the Icons Award in Healthcare and the Top Women Edupreneur Award.

Under her guidance, Parul University has achieved NAAC A++ accreditation with a 3.55 CGPA (the youngest university in India to achieve this in its first assessment cycle), published Alzheimer’s research in Pharmaceuticals (Impact Factor 4.8), expanded its research portfolio under a Springer Nature License Agreement, and built an international network spanning 120+ institutional partnerships across six continents.

Dr Geetika shared publicly after the session: It was an absolute pleasure participating in a compelling discussion on the Australia-India relationship and the opportunities for growth during the Universities Australia Summit. It was great to see both public and private universities in Australia actively engaged in the conversation. There could be no better time to enhance the academic cooperations and partnerships between India and Australia with great synergies lined up in the areas of student and staff mobility, research and innovation collaborations and more structured transnational collaboration partnerships. Thankful to Austrade for this initiative.

Dr Geetika Madan Patel’s presence at the Summit was part of the Indian University Founders and Vice Chancellors Mission to Australia, an exclusive, invitation-only delegation led by Austrade (Australian Trade and Investment Commission). Only 7 Indian institutions were selected. Australia hosts such a delegation only with India, no other country. The mission covered four cities (Sydney, Canberra, Gold Coast, Brisbane) across five days, engaging with 16+ Australian institutions including the University of Sydney, Australian Catholic University, Western Sydney University, Griffith University, Bond University, the University of Queensland, the Department of Education Australia, TEQSA, the Deputy Indian High Commissioner, and the Canberra Innovation Network.

Dr Geetika arrived five days before the formal programme began and stayed for 11 days total, the longest of any delegate. She held bilateral meetings at Western Sydney University, where she met a Parul University student currently enrolled in a 2+2 Agriculture programme, and at Charles Sturt University, where three Parul University students are studying Computer Science Engineering. These are active student mobility programs, not MOUs waiting for activation.

Full delegation details: 4 cities, 16 institutions