Strategic Partnership Seed Fund

University of Regensburg: The partnership between KU and the University of Regensburg builds on nearly two decades of successful cooperation in chemistry and American studies, and was formalized November 2025. The agreement encompasses student and faculty exchanges, joint research initiatives, and Collaborative Online International Learning projects across multiple disciplines.

Established Collaborations

• Chemistry: Long-standing cooperation between KU's Department of Chemistry and UR's Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy.
• American Studies: Established collaborations including academic exchanges between relevant KU and UR departments.

Potential Future Collaboration

• Immunology and Cancer Research: Joint efforts between KU Medical Center and UR's medical school and university hospital, focusing on cancer research and immunological advancements (including potential trilateral projects in pharmacy and targeted drug delivery).
• Business, Economics, and Law: Partnerships between KU's School of Business and School of Law with UR's corresponding faculties.
• Engineering: Collaborative initiatives between KU's School of Engineering and UR's engineering programs, including potential short intensive programs for research engagement.
• Teacher Training: Partnerships emphasizing special education and interdisciplinary approaches.
• Mobility and Exchanges: Expanded postdoctoral, graduate, and faculty exchanges, including lab alignments.
• Workshops and Planning: Annual cross-disciplinary and research-focused workshops, short collaborative presentations, and planning meetings to identify opportunities, share updates, and support new initiatives (potentially including themes like citizen science, cybersecurity, energy, and global health).

University of Costa Rica: The institutional relationship established in 1958 between KU and the University of Costa Rica, is the longest continuous partnership between two universities in the Western Hemisphere.  More than 3,000 KU students have studied abroad at UCR, and nearly 300 Costa Ricans have earned KU degrees, with many earning doctorates through a UCR faculty development initiative to enhance UCR’s research and graduate programs. In 2025, a KU delegation, led by the Provost, visited UCR to initiate new collaborative projects focused on community impact.   

• Water Quality: collaborative research between the Kansas Geological Survey and UCR’s Geology Research Center focusing on aquifer recharging and surface interactions impacting water quality and reservoir sedimentation. 
• Community Impact Research: collaboration between KU Innovation Park and UCR’s counterpart (DIPROVID) on research with potential for high community impact (health fields in particular) to the public via business start-ups and exports.   
• Music Therapy: KU founded the Music Therapy discipline and is partnering to establish a UCR music therapy program. 
• Conservation: KU Libraries is partnering with UCR’s Library system and Information Science School to develop state-of-the-art materials conservation and preservation services to protect Costa Rica’s written heritage. 
• Global Scholarly Network Development: Last summer, KU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies co-hosted with UCR an international symposium in San Jose entitled “Reflections on Five Centuries of Colonialism in Central America.” Fourteen indigenous and Afro-Central American leaders from all seven Central American countries participated along with U.S. and Costa Rican scholars. 

NATO ACT: Building upon KU’s strengths in national- and cybersecurity, a new partnership with NATO Allied Command Transformation (NATO’s education and innovation arm), connects researchers in critical areas of national security with specialists from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) and NATO leadership. Spring 2026, KU will host a Model NATO summit, involving KU students and leadership from Fort Leavenworth, concurrent with a KU National Security Conference. The event will be preceded by a seminar delivered by the departments of Political Science, Slavic Studies, KU Honors, and subject matter experts from CGSC.  

2026 NATO Model Event: On May 6, 2026, the University of Kansas will host the 2026 NATO Model Event, a simulation designed to engage students in addressing contemporary national security challenges within a NATO framework. Complementing the simulation, a national security keynote address will take place on the evening of May 5, 2026, at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics. The keynote will focus on NATO and national security challenges in the Arctic. 

Key developments for the event include:

• Student Preparation Course: A semester-long course, Model NATO (POLS 489, SLAV 379/679, Honors), prepares participants with hands-on skills for navigating real-world national security issues.
• U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) Involvement: CGSC faculty and special staff, with support from their dean of academics, contribute significantly to student preparation. Seven CGSC subject-matter experts will deliver lectures during the course.
• International Perspective: His Excellency Jānis Zlamets, Latvian Ambassador in Madrid, will present a virtual lecture on Feb. 23, 2026, addressing the role of multilateral institutions.