The collaboration between Queen Mary and the University of Warwick provides a cohesive and flexible framework designed to allow two distinctive universities to thrive while working in an ever changing and increasingly competitive global environment. It will focus on specific areas appropriate for each university rather than seeking to operate across all areas of activity at either institution. The two universities will continue to compete in a number of sectors, but the collaboration will help both to access research, teaching and related opportunities that may not be attainable independently. The partnership is intended to facilitate efforts to ensure that existing activities are undertaken more efficiently and, where possible, to boost capacity through joint action. Warwick and QMUL bring a shared ethos and complementary skills, experience and attributes to the alliance and this will enable both institutions to leverage existing resources and activities to exploit new opportunities more effectively.

A number of distinct areas of collaboration have been initially identified as themes for the strategic alliance. It is anticipated that new areas and initiatives will emerge as the collaboration deepens. The initial areas are:

• Joint Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships: an initial tranche of 8 Fellowships in 4 selected research areas: Advances in Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications; Ethnicity and Mental Health and Well-being in Post-War Britain; Functional Molecular Materials for Energy and Sensor Applications; and Renaissance Cultural Networks and Information Technologies;
• Collaboration in schools-liaison activities, focused on widening participation;
• Joint cultural and literary festivals, drawing from Humanities and Social Science research at each university;
• A joint staff development programme for early career academics with the potential to develop a leadership profile.

The alliance between Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Warwick enhances each institution’s position as a globally networked University. This is a partnership between two universities of substantial strength, as attested by QMUL’s recent invitation to join the UK Russell Group of Universities, of which Warwick is a founding member. Both universities have robust and ambitious records as providers of high quality education to both undergraduate and postgraduate students; both are counted amongst the leading research-focussed universities in the UK. Their partnership will build on a number of existing areas of academic collaboration in fields such as public health, clinical trials, scientific computing and interdisciplinary humanities. The two institutions anticipate specific benefits arising from an alliance involving a London institution and one based outside the capital.