07 Jul Interview with Prof. Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal & Vice Chancellor, University of Glasgow
What sets Scotland’s tertiary education sector apart on the world stage in 2025 and what are the biggest challenges universities are grappling with in 2025?
Scotland is fortunate to have a diverse higher education sector. We have 19 institutions, including specialist institutions like Glasgow School of Art and the Royal Conservatoire, alongside large research intensive universities like Glasgow and Edinburgh. Both Glasgow and Edinburgh are members of the prestigious Russell Group, the UK’s equivalent of the Ivy League. What sets us apart is this diversity and our strong international outlook. We have traditionally welcomed many international students, including from Europe, though numbers have dipped slightly since Brexit.
But we also attract large numbers of students from the US, Asia and many other countries across the world, creating a rich, diverse community. Our undergraduate degrees are four-years long, similar to the US and European systems, which adds to our appeal. Scotland also excels in research: for a country of our size, we punch above our weight – despite having only 8% of the UK’s population, we receive over 12% of the UK’s research funding, reflecting the high quality of our universities.
For our readers, can you give us an overview of the University of Glasgow, one of the UK’s most prestigious academic institutions and what sets it apart in Scotland?
Over the last 10-15 years, the university has grown rapidly, mainly by attracting more international students. About 35% of our students come from outside the UK, creating a diverse community. We are one of Scotland’s two largest universities and regularly rank in the world’s top 100 by QS and Times Higher Education. We also excel in impact; the Times Higher Education ranked us first in Scotland, second in the UK and 12th in the world for our contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
We have also expanded our campus, transforming the experience for staff and students. We had the opportunity to acquire land adjacent to our existing campus and have since invested around £2bn over the last decade to build new research and teaching facilities, including space for our Adam Smith Business School and for our School of Health and Wellbeing, with state-of-the-art resources. In the 2021 UK research evaluation, the Research Excellence Framework, we ranked top in Scotland for overall quality. We are leveraging this world-class research to transform the local economy through the Glasgow Riverside Innovation District. This initiative creates high-value jobs in areas still recovering from industrial decline, helping to reduce local socioeconomic disparities.
Glasgow is reinventing itself, much like Boston has done multiple times — shifting from shipbuilding to life sciences, FinTech, quantum technology and advanced manufacturing. We are building international partnerships, driving innovation, including through transformative ventures like med-tech spinouts. Just this week, one of our fastest-growing spinouts is opening a new factory which will revolutionize chemical production and accelerate the development of molecules used for medicine.
From engineering and biomedicine to culture and creative industries, we strive to be a hub driving Scotland’s and the UK’s economy. Fifteen years ago, we were a traditional university; now, we are larger, more international and impactful. We don’t just want to be among the best universities globally — we want to be the best for the world.
What major transformations are taking place under the Campus Development Programme, such as the new student accommodation scheme and the Keystone Building? What will the university look like in the next decade?
The university has been transformed with a new undergraduate student hub, a home for our Adam Smith Business School, an Advanced Research Centre hosting 600 interdisciplinary researchers and a new School of Health and Wellbeing. Our latest project, the Keystone Building, scheduled for completion in 2028 will be a home for our James Watt School of Engineering but also providing new state-of-the-art teaching facilities and STEM labs for all our students.
We are shifting from traditional lecture spaces to interactive learning, which requires specialized facilities. Our James McCune Smith Learning Hub, which opened in 2020 and is named after the first African American medical graduate and emancipation leader, already enables this modern style of teaching. In addition, we are building three new student residences on campus along with innovation spaces for spinouts and student enterprises.
We are committed to providing support and space for undergraduates and postgraduates to start their own companies and gain real-world experience. We have also invested $95 million in infrastructure, opening up our previously enclosed campus to the local community. This integration connects us more closely with the Glasgow Riverside Innovation District, making the campus a more active part of the city.
The University has carved out a reputation for cutting-edge research in everything from quantum technology to digital chemistry and health sciences. How would you assess the University’s current R&D capabilities compared to other institutions?
We are one of the biggest drivers of Scotland’s economy. A 2021 study by London Economics found we contribute $6 billion to the UK economy, mainly through research, innovation, patents and spinout companies, as well as our teaching. This impact supports significant employment, making us one of the city’s largest employers. Our strengths include quantum technologies and biomedicine, especially cancer and cardiovascular research. Glasgow’s history with chronic diseases means our translational medicine — moving discoveries from lab to patient — is vital for the local community.
Overall, we are a comprehensive university with a wide-ranging impact. We have made great advances in space and telecommunications technologies, partnering with local institutions and hosting the Scottish Government’s 5G and 6G Communications center. Glasgow has been a leader in space tech, especially in microsatellites. In culture and creativity, we are a regional hub for the BBC, Channel 4 and many creative companies. The University leads the “Museums in the Metaverse” project, which uses virtual reality to create 3D museum exhibits, enhancing visitor experience and global outreach. This project involves partnerships with institutions like the Smithsonian and UK museums. Across science, engineering, arts, humanities and biomedicine, we work closely with the city and our global partners to drive impactful research and innovation.
What is the university doing to foster entrepreneurialism, from startup incubation to embedding business skills in the curriculum? What success stories have emerged?
We have significantly expanded our technology transfer and spinout support, following a new framework inspired by a UK government review I advised on. We are among the UK’s leading universities in terms of the number of active spinouts, especially in Scotland. The Advanced Research Centre brings researchers together from different disciplines and has since generated 8–10 spinouts.
Spinouts have come from our Adam Smith Business School, School of Computing Science and James Watt School of Engineering. We are now expanding entrepreneurship support across more university areas, creating maker spaces in the Advanced Research Centre, Keystone Building and Innovation Hub. These spaces let students prototype ideas, helping grow spinouts and student ventures.
Digital tools are now shaping everything from the classroom experience to how the university delivers global impact. How has the digital revolution expanded the scope of what can be done in the classroom and how have new industrial needs for technology reshaped the University of Glasgow’s curricula and research activities?
We are upgrading learning spaces to support smaller, more interactive, technology-enabled classes focused on active learning. AI is transforming education, so we have updated assessment policies to prevent misuse when testing skills, shifting toward more on-campus assessments. At the same time, we are teaching students how to use AI effectively. We are piloting assessment centers where students use AI tools, but must apply critical thinking to evaluate AI-generated content. For example, some courses use ChatGPT to create summaries that students then critique, helping them understand AI’s limits. This shift is revolutionizing both teaching and assessment.
What steps is the university taking to integrate environmental priorities into its physical and operational footprint?
We created a Glasgow Green strategy to reduce our direct (scope 1 and 2) emissions and which also looks to offset the carbon footprint of our international students through local reforestation projects. We aim to cut our campus energy footprint, especially heating, by 50% by 2030 and reduce business travel by utilising technology more, for example. Turning to learning and teaching, sustainability is embedded in the curriculum and we offer micro-credential courses on carbon literacy.
Recognizing the challenge of reaching net zero, we recently secured a $13.6 million UK Research and Innovation grant to create a living lab in Glasgow. GALLANT, a project from our Centre for Sustainable Energy, works in partnership with the city and uses Glasgow as a living lab to trial new sustainable solutions. It’s a whole-systems approach, addressing the city’s key environmental challenges. Some of its work includes exploring ways to retrofit old tenement buildings for renewable heating, applying our research to real-world challenges. Together with the University of Edinburgh, we launched Scotland Beyond Net Zero, a program uniting 13 of Scotland’s 19 universities to foster collaboration on complex net-zero solutions. This initiative drives new research consortia and joint projects across the city and country.
How is the university strengthening its global brand in the US and other key markets and what makes UofG a premier destination for international students today?
Our US student numbers have steadily grown, even as other markets weaken. In 2024, about 1,300 US students are studying at Glasgow — around 4.3% of all US students in the UK. We rank fifth in the UK for US student numbers and we are especially popular in arts, humanities, business, veterinary medicine and biomedicine. We want to attract more US students, who enjoy studying here.
Beyond full degrees, we have exchange agreements with Northeastern, the University of California system, UC Davis, Connecticut and Michigan, allowing students to study a semester or year abroad. Scotland’s four-year degree structure is closer to the US system, making these programs popular. We also have strong research partnerships with top US universities like Stanford, Caltech, MIT, Harvard, Duke and Michigan, supporting joint publications and collaborations.
While US numbers grow, some Asian student numbers have declined as universities in India, China and Malaysia expand. We are increasing collaborations in Asia, with two campuses in China and one in Singapore, and plan to deepen ties in India, Indonesia and beyond.
We have seen a big rise in US student interest, partly due to issues and tensions on US campuses. Scotland offers a peaceful, safe environment. Glasgow, with around 750,000 people, feels more like a calm, large town — something parents and students appreciate. We also promote debate and free speech on campus, encouraging students to grow, express themselves and engage in issues they care about. This supportive environment is a key part of what Scotland and the UK offers international students.
Since taking the helm in 2009, you’ve guided the University of Glasgow through some of its most transformative decades, yet you announced your retirement for the end of this year. What sort of legacy would you like to leave behind you?
Our goal has been to become one of the UK’s top universities and I believe we have achieved that. We are among a select group with strong research, international outlook, innovation impact and solid finances. We aim to build on this by increasing our global research impact and attracting the best students and academics. We are committed to continued investment in infrastructure and facilities over the next decade which is key in enabling us to accelerate our progress and fulfill our university’s purpose.
What is your final message for the readers of USA Today?
Scotland is a fantastic place for US students to study and launch their careers. We are an innovative nation with big ambitions. Glasgow offers world-class education designed to empower students to make a real difference — what we call “world-changing Glasgow.” Our alumni, from Adam Smith and Lord Kelvin to many modern innovators, have all helped change the world for the better. We hope students who come here will do the same.