Ongoing efforts to further increase the University of Aberdeen’s profile in North America have been given a major boost with the opening of a new office in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The institution has acquired office space within the building which also houses the Scottish Development International office and the British Consulate.
The new office will expand the ongoing internationalisation efforts of the University in research, commercialisation, student recruitment and fundraising.
Initially, Dr Mark Ferguson, Technology Transfer Officer within the University’s Research and Innovation department, has relocated to the new base where he will explore partnering options with universities, companies and US government agencies.
It is a return to the States for Dr Ferguson who graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a PhD in Genetics in 2000 before he moved to Baltimore where he was involved in leading cancer and obesity research and then commercialisation of that research before returning to Aberdeen in 2005
Over the coming months Dr Ferguson plans to meet with academic and administrative representatives of Universities on the east coast, from Washington DC in the south to Hanover, New Hampshire in the north.
The aim is to identify new ways for the University to partner with its transatlantic counterparts. Academic to academic links will be encouraged by Dr Ferguson, who will also look at the possibility of joint projects using funding sources both in the UK and USA.
Dr Ferguson will also meet with companies to highlight how mutual research efforts could be improved by partnering in addition to exploring innovative funding opportunities with Aberdeen as the academic component.
Dr Ferguson said: “It is anticipated that by having a full time representative of the University within the US that this will give us extra flexibility and initiative to cement links with companies and academic institutes.
‘’Academics within the University already have strong links with several institutions and companies spanning all over the US and my role amongst others is to encourage more joint projects. Cambridge is a natural choice to set up an office due to the critical mass of Universities and companies clustered in a relatively small area.”
The initiative comes at a time when the University is enjoying a substantial increase in its overall number of students from the States – the figure has risen by almost 50% in the last two years.
Tom Hall, the International Officer at the University who is responsible for the recruitment of students from the US, said: "As the tuition fees at US higher education institutions continue to rise and US students become increasingly aware of the benefits of international education, we have seen a large increase in the number of US students attending the University.
“Positive word of mouth fed back from current American students at Aberdeen to prospective students and their parents has seen a significant increase in confidence in the feasibility of overseas study and the benefits of studying at Aberdeen.
“This has been complimented by recent articles in the Boston Globe and Newsweek magazine, describing the four Scottish Ancient Universities as an excellent academic alternative to the Ivy League institutions in the US."
The University also has a base in New Jersey where a transatlantic branch of the University’s fundraising arm - the Development Office - is based. The Development Trust USA – also known as UADT USA - brings together graduates and friends of the University who give their time and experience to encourage and facilitate support from the States.
More than 100 graduates, visiting students and friends of the University living in the US have already donated to the University’s Annual Fund. These gifts have enabled the UADT USA to make grants to the University to support student scholarships, the new flagship library, groundbreaking new research and new academic posts.