Partnership with Oxford for interdisciplinary research
Uppsala University and University of Oxford have signed a partnership agreement. The photo was taken at the signing, in the picture Mattias Martinson, Deputy Vice-Rector of the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences and Daniel Grimley, Head of Humanities Division, University of Oxford. Photo: Ian Wallman.
Uppsala University and the University of Oxford have launched a partnership to facilitate and develop researchers' initiatives and work on interdisciplinary research.
The partnership is between Circus (Centre for Integrated Research on Culture and Society) at Uppsala University and Torch, its counterpart at University of Oxford. Torch is Oxford's research centre in the humanities and is a hub for collaboration and cross-disciplinary research projects. Torch has been an inspiration for the activities at Circus.
Tora Holmberg, Vice-Rector, Domain of Humanities and Social Science. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt.
“The collaboration with Oxford University and TORCH is extremely valuable for the domain of humanities and social science and for Uppsala University. I firmly believe that it will enable innovative collaborations through exchange of ideas and research,” says Tora Holmberg, Vice-Rector, Domain of Humanities and Social Science.
“TORCH and the wider Oxford research community are excited to announce our partnership with Uppsala University and CIRCUS. Like TORCH, CIRCUS fosters and encourages innovative cross-disciplinary research. We look forward to working closely with them in the years ahead,” adds TORCH Director Professor Christine Gerrard.
TORCH Director Professor Christine Gerrard. Photo: Katie Brown
Consolidating an established cooperation
The partnership agreement consolidates a long-standing collaboration. Researchers from both universities have worked in partnership for many years to exploring how to facilitate and support interdisciplinary research. The partnership will enable both universities to share best practices and learn together on future innovations by connecting researchers and staff at both universities.
Co-operation in Creative Industries
A specific area of cooperation within the partnership will be the exchange of knowledge and researchers in the creative industries. Uppsala University is one of the leading partners in EIT Culture and Creativity, an EU initiative. The aim is to support collaborations between education, research, and businesses to strengthen Europe's competitiveness. The idea is that by investing in culture and creative industries, one also contributes to a better society.
“It is especially exciting to follow TORCH’s work with knowledge exchange and outreach in the area of culture and creativity, which is a prioritized area also for Uppsala University. I would definitely like to see joint activities in that area, both in Uppsala and in Oxford,” notes Mattias Martinson, Deputy Vice.Rector, Domain of of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Several benefits
Claes-Fredrik Helgesson, Director of CIRCUS, sees several benefits of the partnership.
Claes-Fredrik Helgesson, Director of CIRCUS. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt.
“The collaboration will make it easier for researchers at Uppsala and Oxford to learn from one another when it comes to inter- and trans-disciplinary research with a focus on arts, humanities and social sciences. This includes facilitating study-visits for researchers, joint workshops, and collaborations on research programs. The collaboration serves as prepared pathway for researchers to make use of,” explains Claes-Fredrik Helgesson, Director of CIRCUS, sees several benefits of the partnership.
He also points out that the partnership creates a learning environment for staff at both Circus and Torch.
“Both units recognize the value of knowledge exchange where we can learn from one another in how we can improve the facilitation of research collaborations within our universities as well as with external stakeholders. This will benefit researchers at Uppsala who engage with Circus even if they are not taking part in exchanges with Oxford,” adds Helgesson.
First call
The first concrete result of the partnership will be a call for support for collaboration between researchers at Uppsala University and University of Oxford.
“A key focus now is to prepare and announce an open call where interested Uppsala based researchers can apply to participate in a research programme where they will have the opportunity to develop projects together with Oxford researchers. The programme also gives them the chance to visit TORCH and see how they facilitate knowledge exchange with their researchers and external stakeholders,” notes Helgesson.
Anders Berndt