The agreement, between the Department of Physics, University of Bath and the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, builds upon established links between the research groups of Professor Ventsislav Valev and Professor Nicholas Kotov.
The work of the two research groups is complimentary: allowing for innovative materials developed at Michigan to be tested by Professor Valev’s research group at Bath. The collaboration has already led to a joint paper being published in Nature Photonics last year, and the hope is that this agreement will enable the mobility of PhD students between the groups and lead to more co-authored papers in the future.
The University of Michigan is ranked in the top 50 of the QS World University Rankings 2023 and is a leading research university in the United States. A key part of Michigan’s mission is to create collaborative solutions. Another is promoting an inclusive and innovative community of service for the common good. This collaboration, which aims to provide new drugs for tackling antimicrobial resistance – a top 10 WHO threat to humankind – is perfectly aligned with this mission.
There is already wider collaboration with the Department of Chemistry at Bath, and the hope is that the agreement can develop from these positive beginnings to build more extensive links and contribute to the Faculty of Science’s overall strategic aims.
Professor Valev, Head of the Department for Physics, who led the MoU proposal, said:
This agreement opens new possibilities for our academics and our students to address global challenges at an international level. It will expand their professional networks and provide access to complementary expertise. As a physicist in the Faculty of Science, I am particularly pleased that our agreement with the chemical engineers from the Faculty of Engineering in Michigan is both interdisciplinary and interfaculty. Such links always bring new perspectives that can lead to impactful discoveries and innovation.
Dean for the Faculty of Science, Professor Duncan Craig, said:
I am delighted to see this formalisation of the relationship with the University of Michigan, a highly prestigious and well-respected institution. The MOU enables and encourages further cooperation both within established collaborative areas such as photonics but also in broader scientific, engineering and health care fields of common interest. I look forward to offering full support to Prof Valev in taking this important partnership forward.
The University of Bath is proud to formalise a relationship with University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and looks forward to seeing the successes of this partnership.