Credit: Glasgow Guardian / Taylor Robertson
News Editor
Glasgow University has signed a new Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Smithsonian Museum.
The University’s agreement with the museum – the largest museum, education and research institution in the world – will allow access to collections and research collaborations in a wide range of areas. The University describes the agreement as covering “everything from antiquities to astrophysics, and from preservation of natural ecosystems to the protection of culture heritage including both institutions’ Whistler collections and worldwide research in traditional Pacific barkcloth”.
Staff research agreements and student internships and collaborations will also be extended under the new agreement.
The agreement builds on the University’s existing relationship with the Smithsonian, which began in 1993 when the two institutions began collaborating on their collections of art by American artist James McNeill Whistler. Their most recent collaboration was their 2016 Memorandum of Understanding focusing on the transformation of the University’s Kelvin Hall.
The agreement was signed by the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Anton Muscatelli, and the provost of the Smithsonian, Dr John Davis, at a ceremony in Washington DC.
Muscatelli commented: “The University of Glasgow is reputation as a leading place of learning, teaching and research in Scotland.
“But at the same time we have always had an international outlook.
“This agreement will significantly develop and enhance our close working partnership with colleagues at the Smithsonian Institution as well as strengthening our bonds of friendship.”
Dr Davis said: This strategic partnership between the Smithsonian and the University of Glasgow builds on the strong bonds these two great institutions already share.
“We look forward to many more years of collaborating and exchanging ideas on the important issues facing our world today.”
This marks the University of Glasgow’s fourth Strategic Partnership Agreement. It has previously entered into such agreements with America’s Columbia University, Canada’s McGill University and China’s Nankai University.
