Exploring an Oxford – Princeton Partnership

As centers for scholarship and education, universities are now full participants in an international marketplace of ideas, with diverse student populations and faculty from around the globe. Spurred by modern travel and advances in communications technology, educational curricula and areas of research increasingly extend far beyond the physical campus to include individuals or groups from other universities or institutions. At the same time, scholarship in a given area is proving to often require the combined perspective of several academic disciplines. As universities simultaneously develop multidisciplinary approaches while looking outward, partnerships, whether between experts in different fields or among teams from separate institutions, are proving to be a particularly effective means of generating new knowledge. If suitably structured, partnerships can promote the sharing of intellectual resources and the synergy that comes from complementary perspectives, while leveraging scarce capital resources and research infrastructure.

Proposing to establish a formal Oxford – Princeton Partnership is a natural extension of the existing interactions, personal connections and the similarity in shared traditions and institutional priorities that exist between Oxford and Princeton.

Despite separation by country (and some would say a different language), the two institutions are remarkably similar. Princeton and Oxford both value, and are valued for, their emphasis on academic excellence in undergraduate education. While many large research universities have de-emphasized their role as centers of teaching, Princeton and Oxford adhere to a tradition of personal instruction through small classes or tutorials. Oxford and Princeton are also of similar mindset regarding research, with emphasis placed on fundamentals. Even geographically, the institutions are similar, being situated in relatively small towns surrounded by larger centers of population and industry.

Oxford and Princeton are internationally known centers of excellence in fields spanning the humanities, sciences and engineering. Not surprisingly, over time, a web of connections has grown. Numerous Princeton faculty and research scientists either studied or spent time on sabbatical at Oxford. Professor Robert Darnton of History is a regular visitor to All Souls College. Professor George McLendon, Chair of Chemistry at Princeton is an elected fellow of Worcester College. Sir Robert May, chief scientific advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair and President of the Royal Society, is a former tenured Princeton professor and chair of the University Research Board. Alan Ryan, Warden of New College, was formerly professor of politics at Princeton. Professor Brian Cantor, recently named to head Oxford’s academic Division of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, has research commonalities with Professor Anthony Evans, Director of the Princeton Materials Institute and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Today, active research collaborations between Oxford and Princeton faculty are underway in such areas as English, history, chemistry, physics, materials science and computation.

Oxford and Princeton already work together in distance education, recently joining Stanford and Yale to invest $12 million in a new web based learning venture. This alliance of four leading universities will provide on-line courses and interactive seminars, multi-media programs, topical web sites that include links to research information, live and taped coverage of campus speakers, exhibitions and other events. Oxford and Princeton’s decision to invest in the international distance learning venture was motivated by a belief that such an alliance would assist and enhance their central commitments to teaching and research.

Several factors provide additional context for a Princeton – Oxford Partnership. These include the Cambridge – M.I.T. Institute (CMI), international agreements on research between the European Community and United States, governmental initiatives in nanotechnology, and the increasingly entrepreneurial nature of research. CMI has been designed to undertake joint educational and research initiatives to improve entrepreneurship and competitiveness and is financed through a combination of private and public sources, with the majority provided by the U.K. government. We are not attempting to duplicate the CMI. Rather, we seek a Partnership modeled on the distinctive characteristics and strengths of Oxford and Princeton and believe that benefits from such a partnership would extend beyond these campuses.

As part of a broader agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the U.S. and European Community, the National Science Foundation recently entered into an arrangement with the European Union that supports collaborative programs in research. Already a team of scientists from the Princeton Materials Institute is pursuing matched funds from European funding agencies and the National Science Foundation to support research on the characterization of materials at nanometer length scales. Projects with larger scope would be possible once the complementarities of the two Universities are identified and exploited within a Partnership context.

An example of a field where significant benefits might be gained by combining the intellectual and physical resources of Oxford and Princeton is nano-scale science and engineering. Inherently multidisciplinary, nanotechnology rests on advances in chemistry, physics, biology, engineering and materials. In the US, nearly $500 million is allocated for the national nanotechnology initiative, with the majority of funds dedicated to university-sponsored research. Paralleling the American initiative, the UK government is preparing its own research effort in this area. Oxford and Princeton are devising strategies to position themselves at the forefront of a field that promises to provide the next generation of devices for the biomedical, pharmaceutical, defense, communications and information industries. Each institution has submitted separate proposals to the government for creation of Nanotechnology centers. These lack the scope and potential that would become possible upon merging our complementary strengths.

An innovative Partnership agreement might also serve to enhance career development and technology transfer in the increasingly interconnected global arena. With deep roots in both Europe and America, a partnership would provide students and faculty a first-hand experience of two cultures with differing perspectives and a network of ties throughout the world.

In late October, Provost Jeremiah Ostriker met with his counterpart at Oxford, David Holmes, as part of a visit to Princeton by a delegation of senior Oxford faculty and administrators. During the course of these meetings, five areas of potential interaction were identified: (1) student exchanges; (2) paired facilities; (3) research partnerships; (4) intellectual capital and (5) Oxford-Princeton scholars.

Princeton – Oxford Initiative Committees have since been established at the two universities with persons nominated from each institution to be responsible for writing proposals in the five areas. An explanation and specific proposals for collaboration in the five areas follow.

This position paper is preliminary and is not intended to suggest commitment on the part of either institution. It will serve as the basis for discussions between the steering committees that are to be held in Oxford 11-14 January 2001. Following the January meeting, revised versions of this document will be at a stage appropriate for discussion and review by our faculties and governing boards.