Strategic alliances and partnerships

Our role in world-wide networks and strategic partnerships extends our global reach and enhances our input to regional and national activities.

Examples include:

Founding member of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN)

The University was a founding member of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), a partnership of 17 research-led universities in Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America.

WUN exists to make significant advances in understanding topics of global concern via international research platforms involving staff/student exchanges and joint research programmes.

Part of the N8 research partnership

We belong to the N8 northern research partnership, formed in 2005, comprising eight UK research-intensive universities, Sheffield, Newcastle, Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and York, with a combined research income in excess of £600 million.

The N8 universities will pool their knowledge to attract the funding needed to bring together world-leading research excellence with regional, national and global businesses in multi-disciplinary research programmes. The Chief Executive of N8 is based at the University of Sheffield.

Member of White Rose University Consortium

The University is also a member of the White Rose University Consortium, a strategic partnership between Yorkshire's leading research universities of Sheffield, Leeds and York, with the aim of enhancing their ability to achieve the highest levels of international excellence in the generation and transfer of knowledge.

Current initiatives include: the White Rose Health Partnership working with industry and the NHS to accelerate innovation in health technologies, and the White Rose East Asia Centre which undertakes world-class research and provides advanced research training in Chinese and Japanese studies.