International Collaboration

We are proud to be one of the most international universities in the world – 61% of our students and 38% of our staff have come to Imperial from over 140 countries.  

We know that international collaboration yields better science, and Imperial academics partner with collaborators in over 190 countries. International collaboration is in Imperial’s DNA and we have built strong bilateral research partnerships with universities and institutes across the globe. Our strategic initiative Imperial Global is establishing new Hubs across the world in Ghana, India, Singapore and the US to bring more of our work to the world, and more of the world to our work. 

Critical to our international collaborations are large-scale European Framework Programmes. The largest multilateral research programme in the world, Horizon Europe enables UK researchers to partner with the best teams from across Europe, improving research outcomes and extending our global footprint. Access to these Framework Programmes provides the scale of collaboration that is not possible to achieve domestically, creating opportunities to work with and generate research and impact across Europe and beyond.  

• Imperial coordinates the DIAMONDS consortia, which brings together 29 research partners from Europe and beyond. DIAMONDS builds on successive European Framework Programme projects spanning over 20 years and utilising €60m of funding to develop a clinical tool to diagnose the causes of illness in under two hours by using a simple blood test. The molecular diagnostic tool can save patients from unnecessary tests and revolutionise the way healthcare can be delivered across the world, and is now being used as part of clinical pilot demonstrations that can give rapid analysis of probable causes of disease in children. 
• Imperial's Professor Dario Farina has been awarded several European Research Council grants and is now working on an ERC grant with partners in Italy and Switzerland on successful trials of technology enabling prosthetic limbs to be controlled by the brain, vastly improving existing technology and quality of life for those with prosthetic limbs.

To maximise the UK’s international reach and global collaborations, R&D needs to be funded in the long-term both domestically and as part of landmark international programmes that build-out from our European networks. Investing further in the International Science Partnerships Fund would not only help bridge this gap but also serve as a welcome statement of intent, reaffirming the UK’s commitment to global scientific collaboration and leadership in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges.