On the day of the EU referendum results, UCL’s Engineering faculty committed to form a ‘European campus without borders’ with partners in Italy, France and Germany.

The innovative Alliance4Tech collaboration means UCL has joined forces with leading technical institutions in cities as global as London: CentraleSupélec in Paris, Politecnico di Milano and TU Berlin.

The partnership will offer students from each institution a multi-layered, ‘pan-European’ view to their work, enhancing their knowledge and enriching their study experience.

UCL departments involved in the partnership include Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Biochemical Engineering and the School of Management.

Shared strategy and values

The strategic alliance will:

• promote common programmes and encourage student mobility, with the opportunity to spend time at partner universities
• facilitate internships or mentoring opportunities with corporate partners
• encourage exchange of faculty members, as well as double appointments
• share critical technological infrastructures to ensure critical mass

Promoting shared values, including cultural diversity, entrepreneurship, social responsibility and creativity, the initiative will also offer digital learning opportunities to facilitate access.

Open collaboration

Professor Eli Keshavarz-Moore, Vice-Dean (International) for Engineering, said: “UCL values its European staff and students immensely and this exciting partnership with leading institutions across the continent will offer an excellent gateway to learn from each other and deepen our already strong links.

“Globalisation is affecting European Universities both in education and in research and this collaboration will be a great way for us to openly share knowledge and expertise in emerging areas.”

Professor Stefano Ronchi, Rector’s delegate for international relations in Europe at Politecnico di Milano, added: “European universities will need huge efforts and investments in the future to sustain their competitiveness and to provide high quality research and education in the global world we are facing.

“One viable option is collaboration and integration: by creating strong and selected strategic partnerships, universities will be able to find synergies and economies of scale enabling the launch of both education and research initiatives to be attractive and to compete at a global level. This is why Alliance4Tech is a strategic initiative for research and higher education within our continent.”

Links:

• Visit the Alliance4Tech website
• Find out more about Politecnico di Milano, CentraleSupélec and TU Berlin
• Read more UCL Engineering news