Exploring a Partnership with UC Berkeley

Thank you for your interest in UC Berkeley

We welcome discussions of the possibilities for institutional collaboration if there is a strong interest and commitment among our faculty to support such a relationship. The Global Engagement Office (GEO) oversees bilateral and multilateral agreements to facilitate the exchange of faculty members, postdoctoral students, and graduate students participating in collaborative research and academic programs of mutual interest between and among partner institutions. 

In our experience, institutional partnerships are only sustainable if there is mutual faculty interest and commitment; therefore, any proposal for a formal institutional relationship must have at least one UC Berkeley faculty sponsor. Exchange agreements overseen by our office are generally initiated by UC Berkeley faculty members who see unique value in partnering with particular international institutions. 

Tsu-Jae King Liu (right), former UC Berkeley Vice Provost for Academic & Space Planning, and Mayor Albrecht Schrö ter (left) from Berkeley's Sister City in Germany, discuss collaboration between Friedrich Schiller University and UC Berkeley.

Our global interactions in research, teaching and service spring from active faculty collaboration between institutions.

Steps to establishing a formal institutional level partnership

  • Evaluate existing relationships between faculty members at your institution and at UC Berkeley to determine whether there is sufficient motivation to explore an institutional collaboration. If no existing relationships exist, you can find information about our faculty research interests through the faculty expertise online database.
  • A UC Berkeley faculty member should contact GEO to begin the administrative process of establishing a formal agreement. Each agreement needs a UC Berkeley faculty sponsor and a faculty sponsor from the partner institution. GEO will then provide templates for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to begin the process of formalizing an institutional relationship. We understand that many institutions have their own standard templates for these types of agreements and are happy to work together to develop terms that are acceptable to both parties.

Contacts for Specific Types of Partnerships

International Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  - Contact the Global Engagement Office if you are interested in a bilateral or multilateral agreement. International MOUs are diplomatic agreements typically undertaken with international universities or governmental organizations for diplomatic purposes and to promote mutual goodwill. 

University of California Education Abroad Program (EAP)- Contact UCEAP to discuss UC system-wide reciprocal student exchange agreements at the undergraduate level. 

UC Berkeley Summer Sessions - We invite international institutions to learn about Berkeley Summer Sessions and our Institutional Affiliate Program. Summer Sessions welcomes more than 3,000 international visiting students every summer. 

UC Berkeley Extension Visiting Student Programs

We invite international institutions to learn about UC Berkeley Extension's visiting student programs. These programs are publicly available and open tostudents that meet the admissions criteria, no partnership required. Partnerships are considered based on active student mobility.

Philanthropic Opportunities - The University Development and Alumni Relations Office facilitates philanthropic opportunities for international constituents of all types by collaborating strategically with our academic and research unit colleagues across campus.