The University of Bristol is one of the original partners, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Eric Thomas, is Chair of WUN. Professor Thomas said: ‘I warmly welcome Toronto, who will add so much to our network’s collective research strength. By any measure, WUN has achieved serious critical mass and can bring formidable resources to bear on some of the great problems of our time.  Toronto is now part of a network whose members ask what they can contribute to the world and to scholarship through working together.’    

WUN activities currently encompass 70 academic communities, involving over 3,000 individuals. It has fostered 500 WUN research mobility awards to students and academics, created four collaborative global Masters programmes, and secured almost $40 million in new funding since its formation in 2001.