UK universities have a significant, diffuse, and sometimes undetectable, global footprint.
This is not always born out of strategy but the collision between university activity that is inherent in universities’ missions, and the incentives that are available to them. The recruitment of international students is about bringing a UK education to a global audience, but it is also very much about generating income too. Research is (increasingly) about addressing global problems but melting ice caps cannot be wholly understood from Guildford – it requires connection and collaboration with the finest minds across the world.
Even if there were no incentives to work internationally it is comforting to think that universities would choose to do so in any case. Where universities do talk about their international work in strategic plans it is usually couched in the language of cooperation, collective action, and coordinated responses to mutual interest and problems.
The very term “internationalisation” – in research reach, ability to attract students, or knowledge exchange – is often used as a synonym for excellence in that the ability to engage internationally acts as proof of the “world-leading” nature of UK institutions.
