Worldwide Universities Network

The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) is an alliance of 22 research-intensive universities. WUN provides financial and infrastructural support to member universities to foster international research collaboration and facilitate academic mobility.

Worldwide Universities Network
Established	2000
Members	22
Continents	Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Oceania
Countries	Brazil, Canada, China, Ghana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States
Chair	Professor Dawn Freshwater, The University of Auckland
Executive Director	Professor Peter Lennie
Head of Secretariat	Dr Mike Hasenmueller
Acronym	WUN
Homepage	http://www.wun.ac.uk

Founded in 2000, the Worldwide Universities Network is a nonprofit group of 22 research universities from Brazil, Canada, China, Ghana, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States.

The current members are:

• University of Alberta
• University of Auckland
• University of Bergen
• University of Bristol
• University of Cape Town
• University College Dublin
• University of Ghana
• Chinese University of Hong Kong
• University of Lausanne
• University of Leeds
• Maastricht University
• Makerere University
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• National Cheng Kung University
• Renmin University of China
• University of Rochester
• University of Sheffield
• University of Southampton
• Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
• University of York
• Zhejiang University

The network is funded principally by its member universities, who each pay an annual subscription fee.

Structure

WUN is managed by a Secretariat, which is responsible for the operations, communications and strategy implementation of the network.

Partnership Board

The Partnership Board provides entrepreneurial leadership of the company. The Board sets the strategic direction and vision of the company. The Board comprises the Presidents, Vice-Chancellors or Rectors of the member universities and the WUN Executive Director.

Chair: Professor Dawn Freshwater, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Auckland Vice-Chair: Professor dr Martin Paul, President, Maastricht University

Board Members

• Professor Bill Flanagan, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Alberta
• Professor Dag Rune Olsen, Rector, University of Bergen
• Professor Hugh Brady, Vice-Chancellor, University of Bristol
• Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice-Chancellor, University of Cape Town
• Professor Andrew Deeks, President, University College Dublin
• Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana
• Professor Rocky Tuan, Vice-Chancellor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Professor Nouria Hernandez, Rector, University of Lausanne
• Professor Simone Buitendijk, Vice-Chancellor, University of Leeds
• Professor Barnabas Nawangwe, Vice-Chancellor, Makerere University
• Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy, Chancellor, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Professor Huey-Jen Jenny Su, President, National Cheng Kung University
• Professor Liu Wei, President, Renmin University of China
• Professor Sarah Mangelsdorf, President, University of Rochester
• Professor Koen Lamberts, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Sheffield
• Professor Mark E. Smith, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Southampton
• Dr David Garza, Rector, Tecnológico de Monterrey
• Professor Sandra Almeida, President, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
• Professor Charlie Jeffery, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of York
• Professor Wu Zhaohui, President, Zhejiang University
• Professor Peter Lennie, WUN Executive Director

Academic Advisory Group

The Academic Advisory Group is responsible for overseeing the academic portfolio of the Network and advising the Partnership Board on strategic direction. It is made up of senior administrators, usually at the level of Vice-President or Deputy Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for the research or internationalisation priorities of the member universities.

Institutional Coordinators

Each WUN member university appoints an administrator to manage the implementation of the WUN strategies and programs on campus and to serve as the main contact point for network initiatives. This group shares information on collaborative opportunities and develops WUN’s research programs.

Global Challenges

WUN has identified four Global Challenges as the focus for its thematic research areas. There are numerous research groups within each Global Challenge. They are:

Responding to Climate Change

The Responding to Climate Change Global Challenge encapsulates a number of research projects that address scientific, cultural, health and social issues relating to climate change. Broad themes of the research include:

• Drivers and pressures of climate change
• States of and impacts on systems affected by climate change
• Managing response to climate change.

Public Health and Non-Communicable Disease

The Public Health and Non-Communicable Disease Global Challenge emphasizes a life course approach to opportunities for addressing non-communicable diseases, especially in low and middle-income countries and transitioning populations, as well as developed societies where there are social disparities in risk. There is a particular focus on:

• Health of family and migrants across the life course
• Resilience of adolescents in different cultural contexts
• Schools as a setting for reducing risk factors associated with NCDs.

Understanding Cultures

The Understanding Cultures Global Challenge focuses on how globalization trends are challenging national, regional and individual cultural practices. These trends include A more integrated transnational economic system, the rise of global communications networks, increasing levels of population mobility, the advent of international consumer brands and widening social inequalities. There is a particular focus on:

• Global Migration and Population
• Generations in Global Context
• Chinese Culture in the World.

Global Higher Education and Research

The Global Higher Education and Research Global Challenge addresses the sources, mechanisms and social structures that give rise to higher education challenges, and proposes reform policies for international research and education. There is a particular focus on issues of access and equity of higher education.

QS & THE Rankings of Members (2019)[1][2]

Institution	Country	QS Ranking - 2019	THE Ranking - 2019
University of Alberta	Canada	113	132
University of Auckland	New Zealand	83	201-250
University of Bergen	Norway	163	197
University of Bristol	UK	49	78
University of Cape Town	South Africa	198	156
University College Dublin	Ireland	185	201-250
University of Ghana	Ghana	801-1000	801-1000
Chinese University of Hong Kong	China	46	53
University of Leeds	UK	93	153
Maastricht University	The Netherlands	239	128
University of Massachusetts Amherst	USA	305	164
National Cheng Kung University	Taiwan	225	501-600
Renmin University of China	China	-	501-601
University of Rochester	USA	170	163
University of Sheffield	UK	78	106
University of Southampton	UK	97	118
Tecnológico de Monterrey	Mexico	158	601-800
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais	Brazil	651-700	-
University of York	UK	148	119
Zhejiang University	China	54	101

References

1. "Top Universities". Top Universities. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
2. "Home". Times Higher Education (THE). Retrieved 2019-08-18.