Exeter and Geneva strengthen collaborative partnership

To celebrate, and further extend, the strong relationship of staff within the University of Exeter and the University of Geneva, the two universities are jointly launching a new seed fund to support developing research links.

As the University of Exeter continues to develop strong institutional links across the globe, our partnership with Geneva is extremely important in fulfilling our aims to continue to develop impactful collaborative research, and also offer our students the opportunity to study and live in the beautiful city of Geneva. 

During a fruitful visit to Geneva at the end of March, the Vice Chancellor, Sir Steve Smith, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (External Engagement), Professor Mark Goodwin, and Dr Garret Maher from Global Partnerships, met with the University of Geneva Rector, Professor Yves Flückiger. Together they discussed the strength of our existing relationship in areas of law, languages, and translation studies, as well as the potential to collaborate further in many areas, including for example, environmental sciences, genomics, physics and astronomy.  

The meeting also provided an opportunity for Sir Steve and Professor Flückiger to discuss the status of Switzerland’s relationship with the European Union, ERC funding, and the Erasmus+ programme, which provided some useful insights as the UK prepares to leave the EU in 2019.

The new seed fund encourages colleagues from Exeter and Geneva to apply jointly for awards of up to CHF 10,000 (£7,450), for pairs or teams of staff with named co-PIs (Principal Investigator).  Further details about the pilot call, and an online application form are available on the Geneva website.

Following the meeting Sir Steve and Professor Flückiger signed an agreement which will support and encourage the development of further collaborations across research, teaching and student experience.