Regional highlights 2024: Insights on last year’s global activities

As we set out on a new year of partnership activity and engagement around the world, the University’s team of Regional Directors looks back at 2024. Get a snapshot of the University’s global goings on, key regions where we are active, and how partnerships are supporting University priorities.

In alignment with the University’s Research and Innovation Strategy 2030, 2024 saw £250,000 invested in the Africa Partnership Fund to explore innovative opportunities and scale up key partnerships. Seven projects were funded across three colleges, prioritising equitable research, and doctoral and postdoctoral development underpinned by thematic scholarship.The projects demonstrate wider national and regional impact in Africa, enabling us to co-create a vision for investing in long-term mutually beneficial and equitable partnerships with colleagues in Africa that will deliver multiplier effects for all involved. 

On Learning and Teaching, in Nigeria we participated in the British Council’s Going Global conference held in Abuja, as well as the UK Department of Business and Trade led Transnational Education mission to explore opportunities in the country and the wider Africa region. During Africa Research Day in October 2024, a commitment was announced to continue the Julius Nyerere Scholarship for the next four years to support Tanzanian beneficiaries to follow in the footsteps of former president Nyerere. 

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Africa’s regional engagement

Africa Research Day: Celebrating transformative learning

China and East Asia activities continued to pick up in 2024 following stringent pandemic restrictions in China and an extended period of relative isolation from the international community. The University participated in a diverse range of external events and activities to raise profile, advance partnership and engage key stakeholders.

We fostered strategic collaboration by expanding engagement with partners, notably by chairing the UK-China Joint Institute Alliance annual meeting, and leading RENKEI (Japan-UK Research and Education Network) workshops to connect UK and Japanese researchers on health and climate change. The University also hosted a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) study visit to Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Low Carbon College, where discussions centred on the key government support needed. Additionally, we were honoured with the ‘Educational Partnership of the Year’ Award at the CBBC’s China-Scotland Business Awards for our work with the Zhejiang University - University of Edinburgh Institute (ZJE), and became finalists at the British Business Awards in China for our partnership with Shanghai Jiaotong University in building the UK-China Low Carbon College. Furthermore, we delivered keynote lectures and forged essential partnerships as part of the British Council’s creative industries delegation to China.

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East Asia’s regional activity

Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the University invested in a number of strategic initiatives to ensure sustained research collaboration, exchanges and short-term mobility opportunities for students and staff. Across 2024, this investment continued to pay off.

Una Europa

In 2024, Edinburgh students took part in funded short-term mobility initiatives to Helsinki for a One Health Summer School, to Berlin for the Una Europa Student Congress, to Zurich for Una Europa Student Board meetings and participation in Una Europa’s Student Incubator. Students across Europe chose the University of Edinburgh as a study destination thanks to the University’s role as a mobility partner on Una Europa’s innovative new undergraduate programmes which include a Joint Bachelor of Arts in European Studies (BA Sustainability launching September 2025) and Doctoral Programme in Cultural Heritage.

Researchers from across the University had access to exclusive funding streams through collaboration with Una Europa member universities and enjoyed success in two Una Europa seed-funding calls.

Professional Services colleagues were given the chance to take part in the annual Una Europa Staff Week with a cohort travelling to Jagiellonian University in Krakow for a week of activity based on the theme of ‘Embracing AI for Professional Development’ and another cohort of Edinburgh Professional Services colleagues travelled to meet with peers as part of Una Europa’s job-shadowing initiative, ‘Live my Life’.

2025 will bring the same unique opportunities to staff and students at the University for networking and collaboration and the Europe Regional team can provide all the information you need on how to keep up-to-date with opportunities and get involved.

European bilateral partnerships

Following coordinated inward investment from both universities, a series of workshops with Edinburgh and the University of Copenhagen’s (UCPH) researchers on One Health, Diabetes, Healthy Ageing, Sustainability, Social Data Science and Quantum Technologies took place. Since then, there has already been substantial joint development activity on large-scale bipartite applications targeting Novo Nordisk Foundation, Carlsberg Foundation and the Lego Foundation and major successful awards secured across the themes.

In June 2024, the Principal and Vice Chancellor visited Leiden University to launch the Global Futures Hub. This venture’s development is ongoing and will support communities, governments and businesses to shape the complex future fairly, sustainably and inclusively. Edinburgh academics are driving this initiative through seed-funding projects launched in Spring 2024.

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European regional activity

Una Europa at Edinburgh

The North America Strategy Group provides coordination and direction to ensure North America activity and priorities are aligned with Strategy 2030 and assess risk and reward of opportunities. It brings together key colleagues from Colleges, ERO, SRA, D&A, ��Ƶ and Edinburgh Innovations. Items in 2024 included the development of a North America 2030 Plan and activities aligned with the university level objectives in research & innovation and learning & teaching.

Partnerships

Funding was allocated to key partners in the region, resulting in an increased number of ongoing and completed international research projects. This support also resulted in a greater number of collaborative research proposals being submitted to funding bodies alongside our partners. We are currently awaiting a $1,000,000 grant application with National Science Foundation following a collaborative project between Cornell and Edinburgh. National Institutes of Health (NIH) federal funding was also secured with a number of USA partners.

Through our relationship with Rice University, we leverage connections with the wider ecosystem in Houston including NASA, private space companies and the Ion innovation Hub. We also developed a more focused approach for seed funding with University of Toronto which concentrates on delivering external funding and aligns with key pillars of the Research and Innovation Strategy. This follows the delivery of a successful Horizon Europe collaborative call information session for partners with reciprocal sessions planned to leverage external funding opportunities with federal agencies.

Learning and Teaching

We delivered innovative learning and teaching partnership models, creating the planetary health pathway programme with Vassar College (4+1 programme with an integrated summer research project).

The University increased the number of student exchange destinations - improving student experience and choice. Pre-university summer school offerings were also enhanced with USA partners which act as a pipeline for postgraduate recruitment. Work also continued to scope a transnational partnership with a Historical Black College and University.

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North America’s regional activity

2024 has been a year of accomplishments, reflection and growth. In October, the first cohort graduated from of our groundbreaking partnership with India’s first biotechnology university - Gujarat Biotechnology University. In July, we launched another significant partnership in India with Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology to support the development of a Centre for Excellence in Artificial Intelligence.

Leveraging the new regulatory changes in Indian Higher Education, we have developed collaborative teaching provision and explored new models of academic cooperation with Indian universities. Articulation arrangements have also been initiated with a leading academic Institute in Sri Lanka. The India Strategy Working Group was established to provide strategic direction to align priorities for India with Strategy 2030.

Continuing our success with the bilateral UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) funding scheme, the School of Engineering and Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi were awarded a joint research grant under the theme next-generation communication. 2024 was also a year of better understanding how we can enable our internal systems and processes to support large scale projects in the light of India’s rapidly evolving higher education landscape. This resulted in a decision to upgrade the University’s regional operation from Liaison Office to Branch Office status.

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South Asia’s regional activity

In February, we participated in Scotland’s first flagship Space Trade mission to Malaysia, supported by Scottish Enterprise and the Malaysia Space Agency to discuss research and academic opportunities with Malaysian institutions. Continuing our success with the British Council Going Global Partnership Fund, the Usher Institute and Universitas Gadjah Mada (Yogyakarta) co-organised the first Indonesian family medicine conference in April 2024 focussing on enhancing primary and palliative care in the context of public health in Indonesia with plans to develop a joint degree program in family medicine.

Over the last decade, Edinburgh and the University of Sydney have enjoyed a strong history of research collaboration and exchange. In 2024, we committed joint seed funding of £60,000 to enhance the partnership. Our focus is on the existing research and outreach strengths of both institutions in climate and environment, with a particular focus on developing applications for external funding.

The year ended with colleagues visiting Singapore’s Fintech Festival. The delegation held in-depth discussions with key strategic institutional and industry partners to shape the development of sustainable finance in Singapore.

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Southeast Asia and Australasia regional activity

Indonesian Dual Degree funding

A Global Collaborative for the Liberal Arts, involving the University of Edinburgh, Vassar College (USA), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (India) and the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda, was held to explore ways of integrating content and pedagogy into degree programmes, to better fulfil the promise of higher education globally. This collaboration aims to better transforms students into critical thinkers equipped and motivated to promote inclusive, pro-social efforts to address major global challenges over their lifetimes.

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University’s regional engagement

Get in touch

The University has a network of staff based in Edinburgh and overseas who support our relationships globally and provide a range of services allowing us to identify opportunities, manage the complexity and risk associated with a global portfolio, balance global and local engagement and impact, and provide guidance, locally-specific intelligence and support for partnerships to match the increasing demand from staff across the University for advice and partnerships support.

If you are interested in any of the above activity or would like to get involved in partnerships and activities globally or in key regions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: