“The number of post-graduate students at Cambridge University has doubled in the last decade whereas the number of undergraduate students has increased by 50 per cent,” said Richard.

At present, there are 219 students at the university, of which 70 are undergraduate students and the rest are pursuing post-graduate programmes, Richard added.

The vice-chancellor said the the university provides financial assistance to almost half of its international students, including Indian students.

She added that 13 students can make it to the premier university through Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarship, which was constituted for Indian scholars.

Richard, who is on a 10-day visit to the country, interacted with the members of Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, vice-chancellors of the various universities and the representatives of the Cambridge and Oxford Society Calcutta — an alumni body of the university. Richard is also expected to visit Delhi during her visit.

The vice-chancellor will also sign a memorandum of understanding with Infosys Technologies on January 14 at the IT major’s headquarters in Bangalore.

Set up in 1209, the university will complete its 800 years in 2010 and seeks to raise 1 billion pounds. “However, with the global economic slowdown, the university will be able to raise only 800 million pounds by 2010,” Richard said.