Global Engagement for Global Impact: Strategic Interaction with China, India, Germany and USA

The importance of international collaborations in research is recognised both by individual researchers and by institutions and government, with studies showing that the average impact of publications resulting from these collaborations is significantly higher than that of papers with national co-authorship. This is a UCL-wide initiative to support a suite of networking, mobility and idea co-generation activities aimed at building and enhancing global links across five "Focus Areas" of the physical sciences and engineering. The long-term vision is to germinate and build new partnerships (namely in China and India), as well as cement and grow existing ones (in USA and Germany), resulting in world-class research collaborations and the exchange of leading expertise. The five research strands are based around UCL's disciplinary strengths in the areas of healthcare engineering, biochemical engineering, built environment and frontier areas of the physical sciences. The ultimate goal is to generate new, cutting edge insights with maximum potential for impact here in the UK, as well as mutual benefit overseas.

Activities will include collaborative projects, researcher exchanges, secondments, workshops, high-level meetings and roadmapping exercises.

The programme of activities spans a range of research areas, and involves close partnerships with four different countries. The ultimate goal is to generate new, cutting edge insights with maximum potential for impact here in the UK, as well as mutual benefit overseas.

The major impacts of the proposed Programme include:

i) Raising the international profile of UK researchers, both by increasing visibility of UK research and by the development of new excellent research ideas;

ii) Impact on public policy, especially in the areas of sustainable cities and low-carbon economy;

iii) Strengthening the UK knowledge base, especially within the UK research community, by ensuring effective mechanisms for training and knowledge transfer;

iv) Benefits to society, by addressing global societal challenges such as healthcare and sustainability;

v) Benefits to the economy, by the development of new industrial links, and ensuring that best practices related to industry collaboration and R&D are shared between partner organisations.