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The agreement was signed by Exeter’s Vice-Chancellor, Sir Steve Smith, and Sydney’s Vice-Chancellor, Dr Michael Spence, during an official visit by an Exeter delegation to Australia.
New Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the University of Sydney
The University of Exeter has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Sydney. The MoU seeks to foster closer collaboration between Exeter’s Politics Department and the Sydney Democracy Network, an internationally influential network of researchers, activists, and policy makers. The agreement was signed by Exeter’s Vice-Chancellor, Sir Steve Smith, and Sydney’s Vice-Chancellor, Dr Michael Spence, during an official visit by an Exeter delegation to Australia.
The new MoU has the potential to open-up exciting new research pathways. The Sydney Democracy Network is at the forefront of research into democracy, bringing together selected partners in Asia, Europe, and the United States to influence the way that democracies all over the world operate. Working with international partners is absolutely key to their approach. As their website says, SDN associates and partners work together at the University of Sydney and internationally, nationally and cross-institutionally on the most compelling issues facing democracy today and tomorrow.
The Sydney Democracy Network’s research is at the forefront of addressing significant global challenges – amongst other issues, their current projects look at democracy in the Ukraine, dark money, and the future of elections. The new MoU aims to broaden the partnership between Exeter and Sydney, by encouraging exchanges for staff and research students to explore the potential for collaborative research on compelling issues such as these.
One of the Sydney Democracy Network’s past visiting fellows is Prof Robert Lamb, current Director of Research for Exeter’s Department of Politics and International Relations. Prof Lamb said of the relationship: ‘There are a number of exciting research synergies between the Centre for Political Thought at Exeter and the Sydney Democracy Network, which include a shared focus on the global spread of populism and emerging radical political movements, rival conceptions of democracy, and theories of human rights, as well as an abiding interest in questions of historical interpretation and how the thought of the past can inform and enrich political conversation today. SDN has already hosted recent visits from faculty members at Exeter, and we intend to co-operate further on research projects and continue to exchange our ideas in a variety of ways in the years ahead.’
Date: 2 June 2017