The International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) is an alliance of ten of the world's leading research universities (below).  It is a strategic drawing together of universities that share a similar vision and have a commitment to educating future leaders.

Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zürich
National University of Singapore
Peking University
The Australian National University
The University of Tokyo
University of California, Berkeley
University of Cambridge
University of Copenhagen
University of Oxford
Yale University

The Australian National University Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Chubb AC has been elected as chairman for the period inclusive 2006 - 2009.

The Alliance will encourage and support the following activities:

• Summer (northern hemisphere) internships;
• Key conferences where participation/contribution from alliance academics will be encouraged;
• Student exchange at both undergraduate and postgraduate level;
• Development of joint/dual degree arrangements; and
• Arrangements at each university to support faculty exchange.

In the longer term, the IARU plans to seek corporate / foundation / government support for research projects; perhaps convene a forum to share knowledge about the commercialization of research and the legal and academic framework in each country; work jointly on benchmarking; and develop shared positions on key public policy issues.

An example of the last is the Principles for Campus Sustainability.  IARU acknowledges the important contributions its members make to sustainable development, but it also accepts that there is an obligation to lead the community by example. The Principles for Campus Sustainability delineates the commitments and objectives of the Alliance.

For additional information, visit the official IARU web site.