Why is it important

A fifth of the world鈥檚 scientific papers are produced through international collaboration. More than 拢1 billion of the UK鈥檚 research income comes from overseas. In 2021-22 there were nearly 680,000 international students at universities in the UK.

Engaging globally in all we do is critical to us achieving our goals. Doing so safely and responsibly ensures it is sustainable.

By taking a responsible approach we can:

  • Maintain the safety of our staff, students and partners, whether working in the UK or abroad and protect their freedom of speech and academic freedom
  • Protect the integrity of our research and innovation activities and avoid exploitation by state actors whose values don’t align with ours
  • Protect the security of the valuable intellectual property generated by the University and within the UK’s innovation community, which provides us with a global economic advantage
  • Keep the University compliant with laws and regulations

Failure to take these issues seriously in our activities – whether research, innovation, teaching or commercial business – places the University at serious reputational, financial, and legal risk; it could jeopardise research quality and future funding streams; it could place students and staff in danger.