IARU Vision & Principles
IARU has a proud history and shared values that shape its global mission. Since its founding, its goals have guided collaboration among leading universities committed to academic excellence and international partnership.
About IARU > IARU Vision & Principles
IARU Vision & Principles
IARU has a proud history and shared values that shape its global mission. Since its founding, its goals have guided collaboration among leading universities committed to academic excellence and international partnership.
The IARU Story
The International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) was established in 2006 as a cooperative network of 10 international research-intensive universities. On January 14 of that year the 10 founding members signed a memorandum of understanding to engage in various collaborative activities, including summer internships, research collaborations, and benchmarking best practices.
In January 2016, the alliance expanded its partnership to include the University of Cape Town as a new member, resulting in a network of 11 universities from 9 countries.
The IARU members share a global vision, similar values, and a commitment to educating future world leaders. Central to these values is the importance of academic diversity and international collaboration as reflected in IARU’s principles.
What is the value of Research-Intensive Universities?
Sustainable solutions on climate change is one of its key initiatives. As part of their commitment to promote sustainability, the IARU universities have established a Campus Sustainability Program, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of their campuses. IARU successfully organized an International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in 2009 and a Sustainability Congress in 2014. Some of its members also cooperate on major research projects pertaining to aging, longevity and health.
The Alliance has developed a set of global education initiatives aimed at cultivating a sense of global citizenship and leadership amongst students. The Global Summer Program, the Sustainability Fellowships and internships offer opportunities to students of the IARU member universities to engage critically as global citizens in an increasingly interconnected world.
Some ways this is done is through inter-university networking, institutional learning and staff development. Projects cover a broad range of topics, ranging from equal opportunities, technology transfer, technology-enhanced learning, research administration, libraries and open access.
Members participate in the various activities of the Alliance where such participation fits with their particular objectives.
Members of the International Alliance of Research Universities have agreed that the alliance should operate in accord with a set of principles.
The Alliance will be strategic, drawing together a select group of research-intensive universities that share similar values, a global vision and a commitment to educating future world leaders. Central to these values is the importance of academic diversity and international collaboration.
The Alliance should add value by providing opportunities to students and staff that would not arise otherwise, allowing Members to achieve things they would be unable to achieve on their own.
The Alliance will offer the opportunity for substantially deeper and more wide-ranging associations than usual international university consortia or groupings.
The Alliance will bring a new dimension to Members’ international activities, including new opportunities for international research, teaching and learning.
The Alliance will not be representative in nature (i.e. it is not meant to include “representatives” from every region of the world).
The Alliance initially invited participants to utilize the complementary research capability of members to address issues of central importance; these include global security, ageing and health, and development and environmental sustainability. IARU will not centrally fund such research activities but rather call on individual institutions to support their researchers’ participation in projects across IARU partners and encourage funding applications through traditional funding sources and processes such as foundations with peer-reviewed applications.
The Alliance will provide a framework within which a range of protocols and templates can be developed to promote collaboration and allow cooperative activities to be undertaken more easily.
Each Member will determine the extent of its involvement in each of the activities of the Alliance to suit its particular objectives and constraints – it is not expected that any Member will participate in all activities.
Alliance activities will build on and strengthen existing relationships.
Members will give prominence to the Alliance in order to allow and encourage multilateral and bilateral cooperation between Members.
Membership of the Alliance will in no way preclude or limit activities with partners outside the Alliance.
Decisions will be made through collaborative approaches – there will be no formal requirement for unanimity.
Structures and processes will be as uncomplicated and non-prescriptive as possible.
Those cooperative activities that can be undertaken immediately should be given effect as soon as possible. Difficulties in resolving more complicated issues should not be allowed to delay activity in more straightforward areas.
IARU Members
Contact
IARU Secretariat
University of Cape Town
iaru@uct.ac.za