Mississippi State, Cardiff extend partnership
Front seated, Professor and Pro Vice-Chancellor for Cardiff University's College of Physical Sciences and Engineering Karen Holford and MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert signed the new memorandum of understanding on behalf of their respective universities. Looking on are Cardiff Professor Sam Jones; MSU Vice President for Research and Economic Development David Shaw; and MSU Giles Distinguished Professor and Executive Director of MSU's ICRES Roger King.
Mississippi State University is partnering with a major leader of higher education in Wales to pursue joint research projects, faculty exchanges and study abroad opportunities for students.
MSU signed a memorandum of understanding with Cardiff University this month to explore opportunities for potential collaboration.
Cardiff is ranked 5th among United Kingdom universities in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework for quality and 2nd for impact.
The agreement outlines the intentions of both universities to develop joint research projects spanning academic disciplines, collaborate to organize seminars, conferences or workshops, and exchange academic materials and publications in fields of interest for both parties.
MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert said Cardiff is an outstanding university that matches up very closely to MSU in many areas.
"There is strong overlap in engineering, business and the social sciences, and all of these areas represent possible student exchange and faculty research opportunities. In spending several days on the campus after signing a memorandum of understanding, we received a very warm welcome that bodes well for further developments between our two universities," Gilbert said.
Gilbert traveled to Wales to make the agreement, along with MSU Vice President for Research and Economic Development David Shaw and Giles Distinguished Professor Roger King, who also is executive director for MSU's Institute for Computational Research in Engineering and Science. King, a 1988 doctoral graduate of Cardiff University (then University of Wales), said the new MOU actually is a renewal and expansion of previous collaborative efforts.
In MSU's agricultural and biological engineering department, associate professor Lakiesha Williams and assistant research professor Raj Prabhu are continuing research efforts in conjunction with Cardiff counterparts regarding pediatric brain injuries. Likewise, David Thompson, MSU Airbus Helicopters, Inc. Endowed Professor in aerospace engineering is doing collaborative research on hydrokinetics.
As the state's flagship research university, MSU is a recognized leader in a number of fields, and well known for productive partnerships, real-world impact, and offering undergraduate and graduate students unique research opportunities. In FY 2013, MSU's research and development expenditures totaled $206 million -- representing nearly half of all R&D by higher education in the state, according to National Science Foundation data.
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Allison Matthews | Public Affairs
