The International Relations Office is delighted to announce the launch of a new research funding scheme designed to strengthen the University’s international collaborations and expand opportunities for global research partnerships.
The new Key International Strategic Partnership Fund, has been provided to deepen the Faculty’s and the School’s engagement with existing international partners, or create new avenues for colleagues across the University to collaborate closely with global companies, NGOs, government bodies and leading international organisations. The Fund aims to build on existing research strengths, reinforcing research partnerships where strong foundations already exist and helping them to grow into sustainable, long-term strategic relationships.
Awards made in the inaugural year of the Fund will support partnerships spanning Europe and Asia, reflecting the global scope of Bath’s research network and encompassing partners from rapidly growing innovation hubs to centres of research excellence. Aligned closely with the University’s ambition to increase Bath’s global research impact, the fund provides targeted support to enhance and deepen existing partnerships.
Today’s major societal, environmental and technological challenges cannot be solved by individual institutions. By bringing together colleagues with diverse academic perspectives, the scheme encourages the development of bold, cross-cutting research that delivers global impact.
Commenting on the awards, Professor Manuel Barcia, Pro Vice Chancellor (Global Engagement) said:
These projects represent an exciting range of collaborative activity and demonstrate the breadth of Bath’s international engagement. Together, they highlight the University’s commitment to working across continents, cultures and disciplines to address shared global challenges. I am looking forward to hearing about the progress and outcomes of these partnerships over the coming months.
The successful recipients of the inaugural round of funding and their partners are:
- Professor Chris Bowen, Department of Mechanical Engineering – Central South University, China
- Dr Ron Lavi, Department of Economics, and Dr Jie Zhang, Department of Computer Science – Peking University, China
- Professor Sukumār Natarajan, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering – ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- Dr Michele Pizzochero, Department of Physics – Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore, Singapore
- Dr Ezio Preatoni, Department of Health – Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Professor Vivek Soundararajan, School of Management – IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore, India
- Dr Yixian Sun, Department of Social and Policy Sciences – Fudan University, China
- Professor David Williams, Department of Mechanical Engineering – Universität Bremen, Germany
- Dr Ming Xie, Department of Chemical Engineering – Renmin University, China