Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bruce S Dowton, and a delegation of university leaders and senior academics, visited Bristol for the signing of the landmark agreement and high-level talks about potential academic collaborations.

Like Bristol, Macquarie University is a research-intensive university. The Sydney-based institution is the fourth largest university in Australia and is consistently ranked in Australia’s top ten universities.

The Bristol-Macquarie Cotutelle programme will fully fund up to 25 postgraduates over five years, who will spend two years at each institution, resulting in a PhD from both partners.

The two universities have an established history of successful collaboration: they have co-authored more than 40 research publications since 2014 and currently partner on a thriving undergraduate student exchange programme.

University of Bristol Vice-Chancellor, Professor Hugh Brady, said:

“It is a great honour to welcome Professor Dowton and colleagues to the University of Bristol today. The signing of this agreement heralds a new chapter in our successful partnership with Macquarie University and opens up a wealth of new, global opportunities for both universities.

“Bristol, like Macquarie, is a global institution and we are united in seeing internationalisation as key to addressing the challenges facing society today. The agreement is a first for Bristol – and a symbol of our commitment to developing similar partnerships with leading institutions, scholars and collaborators across the world.”

Macquarie University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bruce S Dowton said the PhD partnership symbolised the global connectedness of universities, and education:

“Our partnership with the University of Bristol will enable a new generation of researchers to make an even greater impact on the world, connected not only by collaborative research projects, and student exchange, but by shared values and a vision of education better connecting communities and transforming lives.”

Dr. Terry McMaster, Director of the Bristol Doctoral College, which conceived and co-managed the project with Macquarie, said:

"The Cotutelle projects will simultaneously grow our PhD population and build research capacity, and do this in a sustainable, international and cost-efficient way. Already Macquarie and Bristol academics are co-evolving projects for joint recruitment this year.”