Strategic partnerships
Partnerships built for lasting impact
Our strategic partnerships bring together universities with shared ambitions to create lasting impact through research, education and international collaboration.
By building long-term relationships with leading institutions around the world, we connect people and expertise, create new opportunities for students and researchers, and develop collaborations that can grow over time.
Explore our partnerships
Strategic partnerships in action
From collaborative research and international mobility to new opportunities for students, our strategic partnerships connect people and expertise across borders.
UGPN's annual conferences bring together colleagues from across the network to share ideas, develop new collaborations and strengthen connections between partner universities.
Through UGPN, researchers across Surrey, NC State, the University of São Paulo and the University of Wollongong share expertise and develop collaborations that strengthen research across the whole network.
Through our strategic partnership with Adelaide University, Surrey is bringing together research expertise in sustainable energy, environmental innovation and low-carbon technologies to address shared global challenges.
Through the UGPN Academy, students from partner universities work together online, explore global challenges and develop international friendships and skills.
Surrey and Adelaide University: Working together
Surrey and Adelaide University are bringing together expertise across cyber security, artificial intelligence, space, and sustainability and energy.
That collaboration is already leading to new research, funding applications, events and opportunities for students, while opening up new possibilities for education across both universities.
From seed funding to wider impact
The Surrey–Adelaide Partnership Fund helps researchers turn early-stage ideas into longer-term collaboration.
The first round supported joint projects across the partnership’s priority areas, creating new research connections, workshops and student opportunities. Those projects have already led to nine further funding applications, with two successful and three awaiting outcomes.
The partnership continues to grow, with a second round of jointly funded projects supporting new collaborations across research and education. Activity now includes researcher exchanges, student placements and joint education initiatives.
Learning across borders: Space Fundamentals
Surrey and Adelaide have joined forces to create Space Fundamentals, a joint online course opening up the fast-changing world of space.
Bringing together expertise from both universities, the course explores everything from Earth observation and space law to humans in space and the growing space economy.
It shows what the partnership can make possible — turning shared expertise into new ways for students to learn about one of the world’s most exciting and rapidly developing sectors. Discover more about space research and innovation at the Surrey Space Institute here at Surrey.
University Global Partnership Network
Four universities, one global network
The University Global Partnership Network (UGPN) brings together Surrey, North Carolina State University, the University of São Paulo and the University of Wollongong.
Since 2011, the network has helped researchers, students and staff build connections across universities and continents, supporting collaborative research, international mobility and new opportunities to work and learn together.
Backing ideas with global potential
The UGPN Research Collaboration Fund helps researchers across the network turn promising ideas into international projects.
Since 2011, the fund has invested more than US$2.5 million across 114 collaborative projects, bringing researchers together across institutions and disciplines. It has also supported international mobility for more than 300 academic staff and 100 research students.
In 2026, the fund focused on clean and reliable energy, supporting six international teams working on challenges including smart grids, offshore wind, sustainable fuels and clean energy access.
Opening doors for students
International partnerships aren't just about research. They also give Surrey students opportunities to study, learn and build connections around the world.
Through Adelaide University and the University Global Partnership Network (UGPN), Surrey students can connect with peers around the world and access opportunities for international learning, research, study, placements and exchange. These experiences build new perspectives, international networks and skills that extend well beyond their degree.
Jackie's semester in Adelaide
Jackie, a Surrey Law student, spent a semester studying at Adelaide University as part of her placement year. She studied new subjects, experienced life in Australia and travelled around the country.
Read Jackie’s Adelaide story
Partner with Surrey
Great strategic partnerships grow from shared ambition. If you see opportunities to build something lasting with Surrey across research, education and international collaboration, we’d like to hear from you.
Explore international partnerships
Discover more about Surrey’s international partnerships and the different ways we work with universities around the world.