The aim of the relationship is to stimulate growth and drive innovation, whilst expanding the scope of resources and experiences offered to students.

The announcement builds on the success of Bristol University graduates recruited by IBM and the collaboration with IBM to establish the University’s £7million BlueCrystal supercomputer facility, which is one of the fastest and largest computers of its kind in the UK, able to carry out more than 37 trillion calculations a second.

In addition to High Performance Computing, another area which will be focused on is IBM’s vision of a ‘smarter planet’, which looks at how new intelligent infrastructure can help the world function more efficiently.

Such infrastructure is vital in all manner of things, including cars, appliances, roadways, power grids, clothes, even natural systems such as agriculture and waterways.

Cloud Computing is another research priority. This is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility.

The partnership will also see joint research and technology projects, the combining of efforts to access funding, recruitment activities, staff secondment and possible mentoring opportunities.

Professor Eric Thomas, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, said: "Jointly we will look at accessing research funding, recruitment activities, staff secondment and possible mentoring opportunities. I look forward to building on our existing links and our shared goal of delivering a truly phenomenal student experience.”

IBM Executive Partner and Bristol Partnership Executive Jon Bentley said: "Students and staff at the University will work more closely with IBM teams to develop the skills and technology needed for an ever-changing world.  The work that will be carried out by the teams will look at how new intelligent infrastructure can help the world function more efficiently and help create a smarter planet.”