1. through the Cities Programme
LONDON’S GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
Provost’s View
Bringing together
the best minds,
in Europe and beyond,
through the Cities Programme

2. Successful international partnerships are:
developed from the bottom up
driven by the academic community.
At the Times Higher Education MENA Universities Summit in Jeddah in March, both Christopher Cripps, Director of International Affairs at Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), and I spoke about what it takes to forge successful international partnerships. PSL is one of UCL’s top  European collaborators, so it was reassuring that we agreed institutional partnerships should be developed from the bottom-up and that they will flourish when the drive to engage comes from the academic community.

3. We value the chance to work with the best minds,
irrespective of where they are in the world.
No single country or institution can face complex world problems alone.
 Academic colleagues at UCL tell me how much they  value the opportunity to work with the best minds, irrespective of where they are in the world. The chance to bring together different perspectives and disciplines and work with partners who share your dedication to excellence, accelerates the process of discovery and helps us all address the big global challenges. As Dame Nicola Brewer put it in a blog for WonkHE, “No single country, institution – no matter how prestigious – or discipline, can tackle [the complex global]… challenges [we are facing] alone.” She was quoting a previous UCL Vice Provost Health, Professor John Tooke.

4. The Cities Programme will support, fund and promote the work our academics do with partners in global cities
Starting in Europe,
it will be a different yet
complementary approach
to building and strengthening
our global collaborations.
After the Brexit referendum in June 2016, we wrote to 23 of our major international partners to reassure them that UCL remains an open, inclusive and outward-looking university. We told our partners that we would redouble efforts to reach out.
One of the ways we are doing this is by launching the Cities  Programme, a cross-UCL initiative that will support, fund and promote the work UCL academics carry out with partners in global cities, starting in Europe as the UK leaves the EU. The programme’s purpose is to invest in sustainable, multidisciplinary research and teaching partnerships. The initial focus on Europe is an expression of our commitment to stay in close touch with our continental European friends and colleagues, who share our values and a clear emphasis on world-leading academic excellence.

5. The Cities Programme will focus on a city rather than a partner
Each cycle will run for 3 years in each city.
Work will begin in a new city every year.
The programme’s distinctive focus  on a city rather than a specific partner sets it apart from similar-sounding initiatives being run by Oxford and Warwick. It will mean that UCL academics are able to apply for funding to work with the partners they feel are the best fit in their particular field, who are likely to include existing partners in the relevant city, but may include new ones. (We will of course continue to nurture and grow institutional partnerships as an important part of our global engagement strategy).
The Cities Programme provides a different yet complementary approach to building and strengthening our global collaborations. A full explanation of the programme, its purpose and structure, was prepared for Academic Board in May If you’re interested, you can read it here
Each cycle will run for three years in each city, to encourage sustainability. Work will begin in a new city every year meaning that at any one time we will have cycles underway in three different global cities. UCL academics will work with their local partners to shape the programme in each city . Each cycle will have an individual feel as we explore different themes and respond to the unique academic context and our partner institutions’ contribution to their home city, as well as the culture and spirit of the city.

6. Rome 2018/19 Dr Florian Mussgnug Academic Director:
(School of European Languages, Culture
and Society)
Academic Directors have been appointed from within the UCL community, as the result of an open recruitment process, where candidates were invited to propose a city with which they have significant links, along with a relevant academic theme.
Our first city is Rome, launching in 2019.
Collaboration between academics from The Bartlett, The Slade, Biosciences, Neurosciences and SELCS, and the universities La Sapienza, LLUIS, Roma Tre and the Museum of Rome Palazzo Braschi culminated in a series of public events in April and May this year showcasing the depth and diversity of academic research carried out by UCL and its partners. In January 2019 I’ll be in Rome further strengthening our partnerships, as the only foreign speaker at inaugural ceremony for La Sapienza’s next academic year. I’ll be addressing an audience including 50 rectors from Italian universities which is an excellent opportunity to convey our commitment to intensifying engagement with our European partners.

7. Paris 2019/20 Dr Claire Colomb Academic Director: (Bartlett School
of Planning)
   The second city is Paris.

8. 3 parts to programme: seed funding for academic partnership
academic-led events that will engage audiences in and beyond academia
complementary activity to support student mobility, engage alumni, prospective students & media.
The Academic Directors will be supported by a small programme team, based in the Global Engagement Office, and work with colleagues across UCL and partner institutes to oversee the delivery of the three  main parts of the programme: allocating seed- funding for academic partnership; developing a coherent and exciting series of academic-led events that will engage audiences in and beyond academia; and linking up with complementary activity that will support student mobility, engage alumni, prospective students and the media.
The last two parts of the programme will not just raise the profile of UCL and its partners, they will also help us to communicate the public good of universities, which was the focus of my last Provost’s View, and something I feel strongly about.

9. Applications for seed funding for Rome partnerships open
in the next month or so
a great opportunity to get some additional support and profile for the work you’re doing with partners
can also lead to successful joint external funding bids.
If you’re interested in increasing your collaboration with a partner in Rome, this is a great opportunity to get some additional support and profile for the work you’re doing with partners. It can also lead to successful joint external funding bids, as illustrated by existing global engagement seed-funding, which has leveraged £500k of internal funding into more than £12m of external funding to date. Seed-funding for partnerships in Paris will open in The seed-funding allocation will be overseen by the Academic Director for each cycle
This exciting new programme is only one of a range of things we are doing to help mitigate the effects of Brexit. It will bring together the best minds in the world to generate and share new knowledge that will help us tackle pressing global challenges. It will be academic led. It will support the development of sustainable academic partnerships. And it will send a very clear message: we are stronger together.

10. To register your interest
in the seed funding call or
find out more
about the Cities Programme, contact: