- 35 UK universities form new Defence Universities
Alliance with the Ministry of Defence to bring together
academia and the Armed Forces.
- Alliance will boost defence industry skills across the UK and
support vital research into new defence technologies.
- Initiative part of £182 million investment to
build defence-related skills and expand opportunities across
Britain.
Students will gain greater access to exciting defence
careers, while 35 leading universities across the
UK will help drive cutting-edge research through the
new Defence Universities Alliance (DUA).
Launched today by Defence Minister Luke Pollard MP at the
University of Manchester, the DUA will bring together defence and
academia to strengthen research, develop critical skills and
build the highly skilled workforce needed to support the UK's
future defence capability.
Chosen from almost 100 applicants, founding members
of the DUA will strengthen connections between academia
and the defence sector, helping to support a pipeline
of skilled graduates into exciting careers, including cyber
security, robotics, AI, aerospace engineering and
advanced manufacturing. In doing so, the initiative will ensure
young people leave university ready for work, with a bridge
between study and employment.
By harnessing world-class research with the defence sector's
expertise, the DUA will help to tackle future security
challenges while translating cutting-edge research into
battlefield advantage and medical advances that
support personnel, veterans and families.
MP, Minister for Defence
Readiness and Industry, said:
As we prepare for warfighting readiness, working with
universities, students and innovators boosts skills and helps
keep our country safe. The Defence Universities Alliance will
create meaningful connections between students, academia and
defence, boosting research, skills and defence expertise across
the UK to strengthen industry. Universities play a key role in
innovating and supporting defence, and the DUA helps marshal
those efforts.
In this new era of threat our £182 million defence skills package
is helping to create opportunities for students, apprentices and
young people, making sure our historic £298 billion defence
investment is an engine for growth across the UK, and building on
the more than 272,000 industry jobs supported by MOD spending.
Launched between the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the UK Armed
Forces, the Office of the Chief Scientific Advisor for National
Security and the higher education sector, the flagship alliance
follows an £80 million MOD investment in 2,500 student
places across 24 universities and colleges.
It forms part of the Government's £182 million defence skills
package, strengthening the UK's talent pipeline, supporting
economic growth, and ensuring every region benefits from the
MOD's historic £298 billion defence investment over the next four
years.
The UK also recently announced the establishment of five Defence
Technical Excellence Colleges, backed by £50 million to boost
skills in advanced manufacturing, engineering and technology
while driving growth across the UK.
Professor Tim Dafforn, Chief Scientific Advisor, Ministry
of Defence, said:
The Defence Universities Alliance represents a genuinely
transformative step forward in how Defence partners with the UK's
world-leading academic sector. By bringing together our shared
expertise, ambition and innovation, the Alliance will help us
tackle some of the most complex challenges facing Defence at a
strategic level. I am incredibly excited about the opportunities
this creates. The DUA will fundamentally change the way Defence,
universities and industry work together - strengthening our
national security, creating strategic advantage and supporting
growth to deliver better outcomes for the UK.
Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of
The University of Manchester, said:
"The UK's top universities have always played an important role
in helping society respond to the challenges it faces. Today,
that means working closely with government and industry to
strengthen national security, develop new ideas and technologies,
and deliver the skills needed in related industries.
"The Defence Universities Alliance will deliver a more strategic
approach to the contribution higher education makes. By working
more closely together, we will better align with government and
industry and create more opportunities for researchers and
students, for the benefit of our region and the UK as a whole."
Vivienne Stern MBE, Chief Executive Universities UK,
said:
The UK is changing rapidly and so is what the country needs from
its universities. By equipping students with the skills needed
for the defence sector jobs of tomorrow and carrying out cutting
edge research, universities have an integral role in our national
security.
Universities are committed to backing the nation's security, with
almost 100 applying to be part of the DUA.
The UK's defence and university sectors have a proud history of
working in partnership to strengthen Britain's defence capability
and keep communities safe.
We look forward to the new opportunities that the DUA will bring
for scaling up strategic partnerships to develop future talent,
research and innovation.
