NC State to Host University Global Partnership Network Conference

The annual University Global Partnership Network (UGPN) Conference is held each year as a forum bringing together university leadership, faculty and administrators from UGPN member institutions to promote academic exchange and new research collaboration through relationships among researchers. It is a venue to discuss past accomplishments as well as formulate strategic direction and programmatic initiatives for the UGPN.

NC State will host the annual conference on April 1-3, 2019 on Centennial Campus. The program includes networking events, engagement with institutional leaders, topic-focused workshops, and interactions with partner organizations beyond the UGPN.

Delegations from the University of Surrey (United Kingdom), the University of Wollongong (Australia), and the University of São Paulo (Brazil) will be in attendance. The Office of Global Engagement encourages NC State faculty and staff to attend conference workshops to meet with these strategic partners and attend the panel sessions.

The workshops and sessions will focus on the major themes of innovation and entrepreneurship; data science and big data; One Health and Global Health; and sustainable (smart) cities.

The UGPN Research Collaboration Fund supports international activities leading to research collaborations between researchers at the network’s partner institutions. The annual fund of $240,000 has supported 46 international research projects to date. Awards support substantive engagement that leads to high-quality outputs — such as international research training for graduate students or early career faculty, publication of joint papers from collaborative research, or joint research bids.

During the conference, researchers will have the opportunity to discuss the impacts of their collaboration and learn about the future growth of the UGPN.

More conference details to come at global.ncsu.edu.