Posted: 12 May 2006
University College Dublin and Tec De Monterrey join Universitas 21
Universitas 21, the first major network for international higher education, welcomed two new members to its consortium at the company’s AGM in Auckland, New Zealand, on 12 May 2006. University College Dublin and Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico (Tec de Monterrey) are the two latest collaborators in this pioneering group, taking the membership total to twenty.
Universitas 21 was founded in 1997 as a network for international higher education, bringing together a collection of some of the leading research-led universities around the world. It has evolved into an internationally recognised partnership, which strives to facilitate collaboration and co-operation between the member universities, creating entrepreneurial opportunities on a scale that no member would be able to achieve operating independently or through traditional bilateral alliances.
Newly appointed Universitas 21 board member, Dr Hugh Brady, President of UCD said: 'I am delighted that UCD has become a member of this leading network for higher education institutions. We are very much looking forward to working with U21 partners across the world and creating many meaningful collaborations between students, faculty and staff.’
Professor Desmond Fitzgerald, UCD Vice-President for Research, also
commented on the announcement: 'Among the opportunities for UCD in
Universitas 21 is to link its systems biology programme with the
systems biology network established between consortium members. This is
a key emerging discipline for institutions like UCD that have made
major investments in high- throughput technologies such as genomics,
proteomics and genetic epidemiology and their applications to life
sciences.'
Fellow newcomer, Dr Enrique Zepeda, Vice President Internationalisation of Tec de Monterrey said: 'We have much to learn from and a great deal to share with our new partners in Universitas 21. Through this network there will be many exciting opportunities from which we will benefit and make a relevant contribution to the global citizenship of our students and faculty.'
Chair of Universitas 21, Professor John Hay welcomed the latest members
of the network. 'The admission of these two important universities
indicates the strength and global reach of the network as it prepares
to enter its second decade. Together with the new members from Korea
and the People’s Republic of China who joined in 2005, these
appointments indicate that Universitas 21 is a truly global success
story. I am sure that UCD and Tec de Monterrey will have much to
contribute to the network in the years to come' he stated.
The inclusion of these two leading universities is seen as a valuable contribution to the network’s membership, which now spans North and South America, Europe, the Far East and Australasia. Together, Universitas 21 members work to achieve a programme underpinned by four key elements: Global Learning, Cross-National Research, Technologies and Delivery Mechanisms, Public Policy & Community Engagement.
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Established in 1997, Universitas 21 currently has 18 member
universities in ten countries. Collectively, its members enrol about
500,000 students, employ around 40,000 academics and researchers and
have over 2 million alumni.
Universitas 21 comprises the following members: University of Auckland,
University of Birmingham, University of British Columbia, University
College Dublin, University of Edinburgh, Fudan University, University
of Hong Kong, Korea University, McGill University, University of
Glasgow, Lund University, University of Melbourne, Tec de Monterrey,
University of New South Wales, University of Nottingham, University of
Peking, University of Queensland, Shanghai Jai Tong University,
National University of Singapore, University of Virginia.
Strategic objectives
• establishment of Universitas 21 as an international reference
point and resource for strategic thinking on issues of global
significance (including higher education)
• facilitation of a framework within which the transfer of
information, good practice and expertise contributes to programmes of
institutional self-improvement
• encouragement of individual member universities to
internationalise the student experience and facilitation of
collaborative efforts to support this aspiration
• establishment of mechanisms which support collaborative
research of the highest quality across the network
• successful collaboration in the leading global e-learning
operation
• expansion of the network to ensure true global strategic reach while maintaining quality and exclusivity.