The new strategic partnership between Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and the University of Strathclyde located right in the centre of Glasgow has been sealed. Central elements of the partnership are the establishment of PhD clusters on the one hand, and the initiation of cooperation projects in teaching and research on the other. Thematically, the two universities are connected through their two outstanding research centres for pharmaceutical process and product development, i.e. the Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering at TU Graz and the Strathclyde-GSK at the University of Strathclyde. The future focus will be on the areas of pharmaceutical engineering, production, materials, high-voltage electricity and smart grids, renewable energies and decarbonatisation.
The University of Strathclyde was founded in 1796 and is now home to around 23,000 students from over 100 countries. In research, the university pursues strategic core areas in advanced manufacturing and materials; energy, health and wellbeing; innovation and entrepreneurship; measurement science and enabling technologies; ocean, air and space; and society and policy. The university is located in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, which with a population of around 635,000 is more than twice as populous as Graz.
Expansion of existing cooperation
The partnership was first initiated in the field of pharmaceutical/chemical engineering, where there has been both joint research and a lively exchange of interns. With the new agreement, the partnership has been extended to include electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.
From October 2020 there will be a joint PhD cluster in the field of electrical power engineering, involving three institutes of TU Graz (the Institute of Electrical Power Systems, the Institute of High Voltage Engineering and System Performance, and the Institute of Electricity Economics and Energy Innovation). Each university offers three doctoral students the opportunity to work on their doctoral thesis. Within the framework of the programme, they will spend a few months researching and studying at the partner university with their co-tutor. A further PhD cluster in pharmaceutical and process engineering is envisaged for the 2021/22 academic year. The partnership will then also offer administrative staff the possibility of staff training.
Also planned are regular summer schools, separate funding pools for partnership research projects, joint study programmes, reciprocal guest lectures as well as the promotion of mobility for researchers, students and staff at all levels.
