Worldwide Universities Network

WUN is an exclusive university network that brings together 23 leading comprehensive research universities in a collaborative partnership to advance research and education on major global challenges. Capitalizing on the geographical and cultural diversity of members across six continents, WUN enriches their shared experience, and brings together distinctive constellations of talents to address problems of real significance. RUB joined WUN in 2022 as the first and only member university in Germany.

News-Ticker

WUN Research Development Fund 2024: Information regarding the application (Link to Serviceportal)
Research Development Fund: WUN University Network Funds Two Research Projects
Annual Meeting of the Worldwide Universities Network in Mexico: Martin Paul takes part in panel discussion (in German)
WUN-Partner from Sydney: A Visit to Bochum (in German)

WUN in a Nutshell

WUN draws on the distinctive strengths of its member universities to invest in research that makes a difference. Members sit in a multiplicity of geographical, cultural and legal contexts that not only shape how they support research and deliver education, but also provide them with varied perspectives on important research problems. WUN harnesses this diversity in assembling and supporting unusually talented teams of collaborators to tackle major research problems in fields related to sustainable development, where comparative analysis matters.

Research Projects

Via the WUN Research Development Fund, an annual competitive fund, WUN brings together researchers from WUN member universities to work on a range of focused problems of global significance, especially in one or more of the following areas within the context of sustainable development:

Social justice and human rights; inequality
Sustainable world: cities and urbanization; energy transitions; water, and food security
Mental health; child and maternal health; ageing
Responsible and ethical applications of Artificial Intelligence

Research Development Fund

WUN also invests in education for sustainable development:.WUN promotes initiatives that bring students from multiple partner universities together to discuss exciting research related to sustainable development in its annual WUN Summer School for shared research experience.

Summer-School

WUN promotes globally engaged /early and mid-career sustainability researchers/research talents: WUN provides opportunities for doctoral and and postdoctoral researchers, to broaden their professional networks and to gain and/or expand their international experiences and profile and to establish global research networks via virtual WUN webinars, workshops and a global research network on themes related to the WUN Global Challenges.

Benefits for RUB´s Research Community

The network complements other international alliances, such as UNIC.
The WUN focus on the SDGs helps RUB to discuss its sustainability goals with complementary partner institutions and achieve synergies.
WUN is a research network in which researchers, junior researchers as well as students interested in research can connect with like-minded people and lay the foundation for joint research proposals.