The mission of the University of Cambridge is “to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest levels of international excellence”. It is in pursuit of this mission and as we continue to work to address global challenges, that we engage internationally.
However, this extensive international engagement is happening in an increasingly complex international and geopolitical environment, which creates an increased range of risks.
The most obvious risks include potential threats to the safety of students and staff travelling abroad, threats to academic freedom, theft of intellectual property, and threats to our funding independence, alongside the challenges of working in environments with different political, social and cultural values.
These risks are real. We need to take proactive steps to ensure that our international engagement is carried out safely, openly and responsibly. We need to balance the opportunities and risks of our international activities and develop adequate training and guidance. This will be crucial in enabling the University to support and safeguard our staff and students, while upholding our institutional values. By making sure that the academic community is aware of risks, and by developing appropriate mitigating measures, we will enable the university to collaborate effectively across the world.
In order to ensure that the University’s international engagement is adequately supported, enabling our community to continue to flourish wherever its activities lead it, the University has developed a set of more practical principles to underpin our international engagement. In considering and addressing these principles/practical standards, the aim is to create a more risk-aware culture that will safeguard our people and those we work with, promote academic freedom and uphold our institutional values.
This website is a place where you will be able to find all the guidance, tools and materials you need to engage with international partners in an open, safe and responsible way. This is only the start of the journey. Further guidance is being developed and will be rolled out throughout the year, to help create an academic culture of vigilance and awareness of these risks, and ensure that people are equipped to know how to minimise or mitigate them.
Everyone who is involved in international engagement is strongly encouraged to familiarise themselves with the content of this website. Our ambition is not to hinder - but to enable - safe and responsible international engagement. But to do that, we all need to be aware of the risks.