“The Bremen-Cardiff Alliance was launched at the right time,” says President Bernd Scholz-Reiter. “Through our cooperation with a British university, we have countered Brexit and the growing isolation in Europe with exchange and networking. After three years, we can draw a positive balance.”

What is the recipe for the good cooperation? “The partnership reflects the shared and complementary strengths and strategic priorities of both universities,” Scholz-Reiter emphasizes. “It takes sound scientific substance in research and teaching, but we’re all just human, which means the goals we have, the missions we have, should be in great alignment. That’s a given at Cardiff.” Overall, the Bremen-Cardiff Alliance has evolved over the past three years. “We have definitely grown even stronger together.”

A Strong Partner

The pandemic has also shown how strong the cooperation is. One success story, for example, has been a joint two-week program developed for students at both universities on entrepreneurship and sustainability, and business and startup culture in the United Kingdom and Germany, the president notes. Despite the corona situation, students and staff from both universities have been able to benefit from the strategic partnership. Plans for the next workshop are already underway.

Some of the workshop participants are also now going to Cardiff University to study for a semester or more. “Basically, Cardiff is a strong partner for us in terms of student mobility.” After all, sending students to the United Kingdom has become more difficult because of the Brexit, the president explains.

There are still many plans for the next three years and beyond: “Individual academics in selected fields will be permanently affiliated with each other’s universities, and many more will seek exchange stays for shorter periods.” President Bernd Scholz-Reiter: “With the ‘Bremen-Cardiff Alliance’ we facilitate cooperation and exchange among our researchers.”

About the Bremen-Cardiff Alliance:

The Bremen-Cardiff Alliance focuses on common strategic priorities. One of these is the effort to integrate academic staff into the research and education landscape of the respective partner university in the long term. This is a very special aspect of the university partnership, which is currently being pursued in four so-called focus areas that extend across the natural sciences and humanities. Learn more about the Bremen-Cardiff Alliance here. Cardiff University also provides information about the partnership.