- 35 UK universities form new Defence Universities Alliance with the Ministry of Defence to bring together academia and the Armed Forces.
- Alliance will boost defence industry skills across the UK and support vital research into new defence technologies.
- Initiative part of £182 million investment to build defence-related skills and expand opportunities across Britain.
Students will gain greater access to exciting defence careers, while 35 leading universities across the UK will help drive cutting-edge research through the new Defence Universities Alliance (DUA).
Launched today by Defence Minister Luke Pollard MP at the University of Manchester, the DUA will bring together defence and academia to strengthen research, develop critical skills and build the highly skilled workforce needed to support the UK’s future defence capability.
Chosen from almost 100 applicants, founding members of the DUA will strengthen connections between academia and the defence sector, helping to support a pipeline of skilled graduates into exciting careers, including cyber security, robotics, AI, aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing. In doing so, the initiative will ensure young people leave university ready for work, with a bridge between study and employment.
By harnessing world-class research with the defence sector’s expertise, the DUA will help to tackle future security challenges while translating cutting-edge research into battlefield advantage and medical advances that support personnel, veterans and families.
Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, said
As we prepare for warfighting readiness, working with universities, students and innovators boosts skills and helps keep our country safe. The Defence Universities Alliance will create meaningful connections between students, academia and defence, boosting research, skills and defence expertise across the UK to strengthen industry. Universities play a key role in innovating and supporting defence, and the DUA helps marshal those efforts.
In this new era of threat our £182 million defence skills package is helping to create opportunities for students, apprentices and young people, making sure our historic £298 billion defence investment is an engine for growth across the UK, and building on the more than 272,000 industry jobs supported by MOD spending.
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP accompanied by the University of Manchester President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Duncan Ivison
Launched between the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the UK Armed Forces, the Office of the Chief Scientific Advisor for National Security and the higher education sector, the flagship alliance follows an £80 million MOD investment in 2,500 student places across 24 universities and colleges.
It forms part of the Government’s £182 million defence skills package, strengthening the UK’s talent pipeline, supporting economic growth, and ensuring every region benefits from the MOD’s historic £298 billion defence investment over the next four years.
The UK also recently announced the establishment of five Defence Technical Excellence Colleges, backed by £50 million to boost skills in advanced manufacturing, engineering and technology while driving growth across the UK.
Professor Tim Dafforn, Chief Scientific Advisor, Ministry of Defence, said
The Defence Universities Alliance represents a genuinely transformative step forward in how Defence partners with the UK’s world-leading academic sector. By bringing together our shared expertise, ambition and innovation, the Alliance will help us tackle some of the most complex challenges facing Defence at a strategic level.
I am incredibly excited about the opportunities this creates. The DUA will fundamentally change the way Defence, universities and industry work together – strengthening our national security, creating strategic advantage and supporting growth to deliver better outcomes for the UK.
Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, said
The UK’s top universities have always played an important role in helping society respond to the challenges it faces. Today, that means working closely with government and industry to strengthen national security, develop new ideas and technologies, and deliver the skills needed in related industries.
The Defence Universities Alliance will deliver a more strategic approach to the contribution higher education makes. By working more closely together, we will better align with government and industry and create more opportunities for researchers and students, for the benefit of our region and the UK as a whole.
Vivienne Stern MBE, Chief Executive Universities UK, said
The UK is changing rapidly and so is what the country needs from its universities. By equipping students with the skills needed for the defence sector jobs of tomorrow and carrying out cutting edge research, universities have an integral role in our national security.
Universities are committed to backing the nation’s security, with almost 100 applying to be part of the DUA.
The UK’s defence and university sectors have a proud history of working in partnership to strengthen Britain’s defence capability and keep communities safe.
We look forward to the new opportunities that the DUA will bring for scaling up strategic partnerships to develop future talent, research and innovation.
Background
The full list of universities
- Durham University
- Newcastle University
- Northumbria University
- Lancaster University
- University of Cumbria
- University of Lancashire
- University of Liverpool
- University of Manchester
- University of Huddersfield
- University of Sheffield
- University of York
- Loughborough University
- University of Lincoln
- University of Nottingham
- Aston University
- University of Birmingham
- University of Warwick
- King’s College London
- Kingston University
- Queen Mary University of London
- University College London
- University of Oxford
- University of Portsmouth
- University of Surrey
- University of Bath
- University of Bristol
- University of Exeter
- University of Plymouth
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Glasgow
- University of Strathclyde
- Cardiff University
- Swansea University
- Queens University Belfast
- Cranfield University