Three birds sitting together on a twig.
Three birds sitting together on a twig.
(Image credit: Shutterstock).

International alliances

Oxford participates in several valuable alliances with other universities. These groups undertake joint educational and research initiatives, create international opportunities for students, allow us to work with peer institutions on topics of mutual interest such as research funding, and facilitate good practice sharing between university leaders.

International Alliance of Research Universities

The International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) is an alliance of 11 of the world's leading research universities: ANU, ETH Zurich, National University of Singapore, Peking University, University of California - Berkeley, University of Cambridge, University of Copenhagen, University of Cape Town, University of Oxford, University of Tokyo and Yale University. It is a strategic drawing together of universities that share a similar vision and have a commitment to educating future leaders.

IARU colleagues work together on issues of mutual interest such as campus sustainability and to organise a range of student experiences. The flagship programme for students is the IARU Global Summer Programme (GSP), offering a learning experience for students at the 11 member universities via intensive, residential summer courses.

Europaeum

The Europaeum was set up as a European consortium by the universities of Oxford, Leiden and Bologna in 1992 and has now seventeen leading European university institutions as members. The network was designed to serve as an 'international university without walls' in which future scholars and leaders of our new Europe have an opportunity to share common learning and confront common concerns together. The Europaeum offers opportunities for academics and graduates through international conferences, summer schools, colloquia, bursaries, and a professional skills training programme for doctoral students. It also enables leading figures from the worlds of business, politics and culture to take part in transnational and interdisciplinary dialogue with the world of scholarship.

League of European Research Universities

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is an association of 23 leading research-intensive universities that share the values of high-quality teaching within an environment of internationally competitive research.  Recent initiatives have focused on the role of universities, research careers, doctoral studies, research-based teaching, research assessment and on EU research policy, general as well as sectoral (environment, energy, climate, food, nano, mobility).

Oxford-Princeton alliance

Building on longstanding connections between academics, Oxford and Princeton entered into an agreement in 2001 to further strengthen ties. There are three main components to the relationship: research collaboration, student exchange, and a joint postdoctoral programme in global political economy.

  • Research collaboration: the two universities provide seed funding for joint research projects between their academics.
  • Student exchange: each year 10-15 students of biochemistry and engineering spend a half or full year studying at the other university as part of the Oxford-Princeton Exchange.
  • Fellowship Programme: As part of the Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Fellowship Programme, between three and five young scholars in world politics and political economy from developing countries are appointed each year, and spend one year at Oxford and one year at Princeton.
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