UK-Singapore partnership brings brilliant minds to Birmingham

The University of Birmingham is working with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore to bring 40 brilliant minds – including three Nobel Prize winners - to Birmingham as part of a major global multi-disciplinary research initiative.

Intercontinental Academia (ICA) with the theme Laws: Rigidity and Dynamics, runs from 18 – 27 March and delivers a series of outstanding lectures across a range of research disciplines – including two inaugural annual lectures – delivered by some of the world’s finest minds. The ICA brings together leading thinkers from different disciplines to share perspectives, working in concert to address societal challenges.

The event takes place on the University of Birmingham’s Edgbaston campus and will feature a series of ‘Mentors’ Lectures’ which staff, students and public can attend, with highlights including Nobel Laureates:

• Jean-Marie Lehn, Université de Strasbourg - Perspectives in Chemistry
• Ada Yonath - Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel - Ribosome; structure and actions
• David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara: Particle Physics

The major global research networking event brings together over 15 outstanding international academics and 18 early-to-mid-career researchers from Birmingham and other top research institutions around the world - including Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa and the USA.

Professor Michael Hannon, Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Birmingham, said: “We are bringing 40 brilliant minds to our city as the University of Birmingham and NTU Singapore develop an innovative interdisciplinary experiment.

“We’re creating a global mentoring and research network to help researchers collaborate across culture, continents and disciplines. The Mentors’ Lectures provide inspiration for participants in Intercontinental Academia, as well as enriching the lives of Birmingham people.

“As a leading international ‘civic’ university in the 21st century, Birmingham is committed to enriching the life of both our home city and the wider world. This event represents another exciting opportunity to foster strong research partnerships across the world.”

Intercontinental Academia builds on the University of Birmingham and NTU Singapore’s search for outstanding researchers from around the globe to join them in developing cutting-edge research projects that create new knowledge by harnessing different expertise and viewpoints to address challenges that could change the lives of people world-wide.

This joint project between the two universities, attracted outstanding early and mid-career researchers from global leading institutions, operating at the cutting edge of their disciplines to work collaboratively with colleagues in Birmingham and Singapore.

Professor Phua Kok Khoo, Founding Director Emeritus, Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS), Nanyang Technological University said: “As an alumnus of the University of Birmingham, I am delighted to see some of the world’s finest researchers delivering fascinating lectures that will inspire a fresh generation of minds.”

For more information, please contact Tony Moran, International Communications Manager, University of Birmingham on +44 (0) 121 414 8254 / +44 (0)782 783 2312 or email the Press Office. For out-of-hours enquiries, please call +44 (0) 7789 921 165. 

• The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 6,500 international students from nearly 150 countries.
• The Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) aims to promote interdisciplinary research by combining expertise from across the breadth of the University of Birmingham to address major cross-cutting themes that are important, relevant and timely. Established as a dynamic and creative part of the University of Birmingham’s research landscape, the Institute of Advanced Studies continues to harness intellectual capital across the University and beyond to the wider international community.
• Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore is one of Asia’s leading Universities, commonly ranked top 5 in the region. Alongside their collaboration on Intercontinental Academia, the NTU and Birmingham IASs, offer joint visiting fellowships where Fellows spend up to six weeks in Singapore and six weeks in Birmingham over a period of one year to forge long-term collaborative research links to Birmingham and NTU.