New funding has been announced by the Universities of Manchester, Melbourne and Toronto, to develop bi- and trilateral research projects and establish a new International Centre for Translational Digital Health.
Following the signing of a Strategic Alliance last year, the new funding represents the first steps in expanding the relationship between the three institutions.
The Manchester-Melbourne-Toronto (MMT) Research Fund 2022 has received £300,000 in funding to create partnerships, with the purpose to develop research papers, student exchanges, new technology and secure external funding. Academic teams can suggest a project from any research discipline and the fund will help to create long-term research collaborations, with the project built on the joint strength of the three universities.
The International Centre for Translational Digital Health adds Melbourne to the existing partnership between Toronto and Manchester and is set to work on topics such as remote monitoring and virtual care, health policy and implementation, data science and artificial intelligence, and digital health inequity.
“This is a major step in realising our strategic plans for this Alliance,” said Professor Steve Flint, Associate Vice-President International at The University of Manchester. “There are many similarities between our three cities and universities, so our research can only benefit from forming more links like this. By combining at the level of individual and discipline we can be greater than the sum of our parts and have a greater impact on society as a result.”
Professor Justin Zobel, Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Melbourne, commented: “With this fund announcement, we welcome the opportunities for our institutions to support greater collaboration among our early career researchers. These are the great minds of the future, and the research partnerships that grow from this alliance will help shape our world in years to come.”
“The trilateral alliance has generated huge opportunities to grow our collaborations. We are thrilled that these first steps are being taken to facilitate research that is truly global in scope and across three continents,” said Professor Alex Mihailidis, Associate Vice-President of International Partnerships at the University of Toronto. “From this foundation, we will see networks of researchers engage in developing solutions to our most pressing global problems.”
