Partner Universities

Founded in 1832, Durham University has a worldwide reputation in all areas of arts, humanities, natural and social sciences. The University has approximately 17,500 students of whom 3,500 are postgraduate and 3,000 international students from over 120 countries. Its academic teaching and research programmes are delivered through 25 academic departments contained within three faculties: Arts and Humanities, Science, and Social Sciences and Health. The University also has 16 Colleges – Durham’s distinctive residential and educational communities. The University is engaged in a full range of higher educational activities, including high-quality teaching and learning at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, advanced research and scholarship, partnerships with businesses and other private and public sector bodies, and partnerships and initiatives with community and voluntary sector organisations. It provides a stimulating environment to nourish and support the needs of a world-class academic community.

Dating back to 1222, the University of Padua (UNIPD) is one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious seats of learning. It is one of the leading Universities in Italy and with a long tradition of scientific excellence. UNIPD offers its 60,000 students 32 departments, 34 doctoral degree schools and 44 research and service centres across the spectrum of sciences, medicine, social sciences and humanities, with about 2,300 professors and researchers employed. In all the international rankings UNIPD is among the best Italian universities, and in the Italian context, it is distinguished for its ability to copiously self-finance research projects.

Emerging from an act of civic foundation, Goethe University Frankfurt is a unique ‘citizen’s university’ and a forerunner in the ‘Bologna Process’, with principles based on openness and public participation. It is positioned as one of the top research universities in Germany, and in 2013 it reached a significant benchmark in the Shanghai Ranking, becoming one of only six German institutions to be placed among the world’s top 150 universities. It is currently the third largest university in Germany, with more than 47.000 students, approximately 7.000 international students from 125 different countries, and 6,000 faculty members in 16 departments. Internationalisation is an integral aspect of Goethe University and features high in its overall strategic vision and policy. For students, this is reflected in the promotion of mobility programmes, a multilingual and multicultural campus, and strengths in languages and intercultural competence. It has also established a global network of international partnership, with numerous large-scale projects and exchange programmes with partner universities.