Even before the establishment of the University in 1832, Durham’s scholastic tradition featured strong ties to the continent.  Almost two hundred years later, Durham’s strong tradition of working with European partners goes from strength to strength.  Of Durham’s top twenty countries for research collaboration, twelve are in Europe accounting for 53% all collaboration within this group of twenty.

As a fellow member of the Coimbra Group and Matariki Network, our Vice-Chancellor renewed our strategic partnership with Uppsala University in February 2023. Starting as a connection through the Matariki Network and a longstanding track record of student exchange, the Tübingen-Durham partnership has grown into a robust, bilateral alliance. Research projects with Uppsala and Tübingen have included: Decarbonising Energy systems, Studying the rapid melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and Testing and Evaluating Communication Technology for Smart Grid deployment. Durham University Business School also has a strategic partnership with Emlyon Business School, where, together, we run a part-time executive doctoral programme: the Global DBA.

Our membership of the Coimbra Group and the Matariki networks enable us to work with a broad range of European partners to address the global challenges of climate change and energy, health, development and emerging technologies.

Bringing together over two hundred European and global research institutions, the University of the Arctic (UArctic) is Durham’s key international network for facilitating Arctic orientated research collaborations, student exchanges and educational cooperation.  Durham became the first English University to join the University of the Arctic in 2013. DurhamARCTIC Director Prof Philip Steinberg is the UArctic Chair in Political Geography. 

We are proud to be twinned with Zaporizhzhia National University in Ukraine as part of a national twinning initiative, supported by Universities UK (UUK) and the Ukrainian Ministry of Education.