“Our renewed commitment to the PLuS Alliance, which will build on the remarkable work this partnership has delivered since 2016, comes at a time when global connection and co-operation is more vital than ever before. Our objectives of creating dialogues between these three leading research universities and innovating to enhance education around the world both work towards our shared goal of addressing the most pressing global challenges of our time.”
Professor Shitij Kapur, President & Principal of King's College London
14 November 2022
King's renews global partnership with world-leading universities
King's has renewed its global PLuS Alliance relationship with Arizona State University and UNSW Sydney
King’s College London, Arizona State University and UNSW Sydney have renewed their global PLuS Alliance relationship with the signing of a further three-year Collaboration Agreement.
This new agreement builds on an existing partnership established in 2016 to help solve 'global grand challenges' in the modern world and foster connections between the institutions.
Since launching six years ago, the PLuS Alliance has delivered a range of initiatives including setting up The Engineering & Design Institute London (TEDI-London), joint research in smart cities, water and global biosecurity, as well as programs allowing students from across the three universities to study together through summer schools, field trips and online course exchanges.
The new collaboration agreement signed by all three university Presidents during a recent visit to Arizona State University, renews a commitment to collaborating on complex problems in research and education, with a greater immediate focus on security, defence and planetary health.
Rooted in three shared values of collaboration, innovation and inclusion, the universities will continue to use their combined strengths to deliver work that is of significant impact to their communities, and society more generally.
Speaking of the renewal, Professor Attila Brungs, Vice-Chancellor and President, UNSW Sydney, said “I’m very pleased to reaffirm UNSW Sydney’s commitment to the PLuS Alliance, with our partners King’s College London and Arizona State University, for another three years. We are proud to continue our partnership with these world-class institutions that share our vision for positive impact.”
“Global alliances between universities are notoriously difficult to implement, so it is a significant milestone that the members of the PLuS Alliance have signed a fresh collaboration agreement to drive the Alliance forward for a further three years. It will be a period not just of consolidation of what has already been achieved, but also of new initiatives and ambition. The vision remains that of securing unique public benefit by combining the outstanding resources of three universities to do things that no single University could ever do on its own”
Sir Malcolm Grant, Chair PLuS Alliance
One of the first initiatives to mark the renewed partnership is the Security & Defence PLuS initiative. This academic research and educational collaboration was inspired by the AUKUS agreement announced in September 2021, a first-of-its-kind partnership between the governments of Australia, the UK, and the USA to foster deeper integration of security and defence priorities, including through cooperation in science, technology, industry, intelligence, and the military.
Security and Defence PLuS aims to enhance the statecraft of the countries within the AUKUS Partnership by utilizing each university’s unique approach to academic scholarship and research.
On Monday 14 November, the Advancing AUKUS conference is being hosted on behalf of Security & Defence PLuS by UNSW Canberra at the National Press Club of Australia. The conference will provide a platform for informed and practically focused policy discussion about the AUKUS partnership.
The event will also be broadcast online. Register here.
For more information about the PLuS Alliance at King's, please contact Vanessa Morrison.
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Vice-Chancellor & President of King's College London