A new strategic partnership has been established between Lancaster University and the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (NOVA)

A delegation from Lancaster travelled to Lisbon this month to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between NOVA and Lancaster.

NOVA was founded in 1973 and, like Lancaster, has rapidly risen through the international university rankings.

It is ranked 15^th best European University in the QS World University Rankings “Top 50 Under 50” and ranked in the Times Higher Education “Top 100 under 50”.

The purpose of the partnership is to explore opportunities for collaborative research, joint teaching initiatives and strategic knowledge exchange including internationalisation, staff development and student recruitment.

Under this agreement, all faculties, departments, centres and units of the two partner institutions will be able to explore potential areas for collaboration that will be of mutual benefit.

Both Lancaster and NOVA play a leading role in the recently formed Heritage Language Consortium, a strategic partnership between six leading European universities and the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Professor Robert Geyer, who led the delegation to Lisbon in his capacity of Lancaster’s Academic Director (International), said: “This partnership will allow us to explore joint initiatives in areas that are of strategic interest to both institutions, e.g. social innovation, digital futures, ageing, and global health challenges. Like Lancaster, NOVA has particularly strong ties to Africa, so this is another area to explore.”

Lancaster has historic ties to Portugal. In 1986, the President of Portugal, Mário Soares, received an Honorary Doctorate from Lancaster University. The occasion served to celebrate 600 years of the Treaty of Windsor between England and Portugal, the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world still in existence.

Last year, the Portuguese Secretary of State for Education spoke at a symposium on heritage language education that took place on campus.

Earlier this month, the Portuguese Minister of Education, Tiago Brandão Rodrigues, visited Lancaster University to participate in a round table on public policy and challenges in higher education.

For more information and to get involved, please email FASS Director of Internationalization, Dr Patrick Rebuschat, (p.rebuschat@lancaster.ac.uk) who will serve as Liaison Officer for this NOVA-Lancaster strategic partnership.