President Jutta Günther emphasized the close partnership between the universities of Bremen and Cardiff: "Common strategic goals as well as close academic and friendly relations have characterized the Bremen-Cardiff Alliance for many years. This cooperation thrives on our regular meetings and reciprocal visits. We are also looking for new points of contact in order to develop further together.
The University of Bremen has long-standing research collaborations with the University of Cardiff in various fields. Based on their shared strategic priorities, the partners established the Bremen-Cardiff Alliance in March 2019. While collaborations in all areas are supported, four key research areas that cooperate more intensively with each other in joint research and teaching projects have been identified: These areas include media and communication studies, literature and social sciences, marine and environmental sciences, and semiconductor physics.
How Employees and Students Benefit from the Alliance
A special aspect of the Bremen-Cardiff Alliance is the possibility of "staff affiliation," the closer connection of researchers to the respective partner university. Members of both universities can apply for mobility funds for joint research and teaching activities through the Bremen-Cardiff Collaborative Fund established by both partners. Since 2019, 30 applications have been approved.
Students also benefit from the alliance: exchange places are available in the fields of literature and linguistics, mathematics, geology, and business administration. Another successful project is the "Virtual Initiative Sustainability and Entrepreneurship," a two-week workshop for students of all disciplines from Cardiff and Bremen, which is taking place for the third time this year. In collaborative teams, students develop ideas for dealing with current challenges in the area of start-ups and sustainability.
Cardiff University in Wales ranked 5th among UK universities in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF). It is a member of the Russell Group, a group of 24 leading research-intensive universities in the UK. It offers excellent teaching and study experiences to its 31,500 students.