• Afghanistan
• Arms control
• Climate change
• The Commonwealth
• Conference on Somalia
• Conflict minerals
• Council of Europe
• Counter proliferation
• Counter terrorism
• Conference on Cyberspace
• European Union
• Growth and prosperity
• Human rights
• London 2012 Olympics
• Middle East and North Africa
• NATO
• Peacekeeping
• Piracy
• Polar Regions
• United Nations
• US - UK relations
• Cyberspace
• Supporting our Armed Forces
• Global Development
• Higher education, science, & innovation
• Addendum on higher education, science & innovation collaboration
• Peace Corps & VSO partnership
• Joint Strategy Board
• Women, peace & security

US - UK higher education, science, & innovation collaboration

Prime Minister Cameron and President Obama agree that science and higher education are the foundation stones of their two nations’ 21st century economies and that the UK and U.S. have a responsibility to further their global leadership roles in these essential fields.

The U.S. funds approximately one-third of the world’s scientific research and the UK is first among G8 countries in scientific publications and citations as a fraction of GDP. In higher education, the U.S. and UK are home to the world’s ten highest ranking universities.

Recognizing the great potential for productive cooperation in these domains, the Prime Minister and President reaffirmed during the State visit their mutual commitment to strong collaboration in science and higher education and agreed to work to increase the number of joint endeavours among individuals in cutting-edge laboratories, universities, scientific societies, think tanks, government agencies to develop human capital and ensure a strong and agile knowledge base.

They expressed particular support for cooperation in fields that will create jobs and generate new economic opportunities in both countries while tackling some of the most pressing global challenges facing the world today. The leaders also expressed a determination to maintain research excellence that leads to economic growth and job creation.

The UK and the U.S. are world-leading knowledge economies and enjoy the most productive bilateral higher education relationship in the world, with each country being the other’s top destination for overseas study - a partnership worth more than $1 billion annually.

The Prime Minister and President welcomed the forthcoming meeting of the UK-U.S. Higher Education Policy Forum. They also encouraged further strengthening of institutional higher education links including international internships and other modes of mutual mobility for students and faculty members - between the U.S. and UK and in cooperation with other global partners - to better equip American and British students with the skills needed to succeed in and bolster the global economy.

The leaders welcomed in particular the growing partnership between the UK Meteorological Office (Met Office) and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service, codified with the signing of an historic Memorandum of Agreement in February 2011.

This agreement provides for a coordinated US - UK partnership in the delivery of space weather alerts to help provide critical infrastructure protection around the globe. The two governments announced today that they will embark together on an ambitious program to create the world’s first combined space weather model capable of forecasting terrestrial weather with great accuracy and also indicating where, when, and for how long space weather effects will persist in our upper atmosphere and whether these anomalies are likely to disrupt and degrade GPS-enabled positioning, navigation, and timing capabilities.

In addition, the leaders announced a package of significant ongoing and future activities intended to deepen their partnership and commitment to meeting global challenges in the following areas:

• Space science and exploration
• Clean energy and climate science
• Food security
• Health and wellbeing
• Innovation and growth