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What Collaboration at Scale Looks Like: Lessons from Rolls-Royce

15 September, 14:00pm - 14:30pm UTC | Fireside Chat
Partnerships

Scaling university–industry collaboration is not simply about working with more universities or running more projects. In this fireside chat, Mark Jefferies, Head of Research Partnerships at Rolls-Royce, will explore how strategic university partnerships can create lasting value by connecting research, people, infrastructure and institutional relationships. Drawing on more than 15 years of leading Rolls-Royce’s global university network, the conversation will examine how long-term trust, governance and shared capability enable universities and industry to move beyond fragmented, transactional collaboration.

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About

Rolls-Royce’s university network is central to its research model, supporting hundreds of active research projects and doctoral researchers alongside major shared facilities and long-term research capabilities. Building such a network requires much more than individual contracts or strong personal relationships.Mark will offer an inside view of how Rolls-Royce develops and manages strategic university partnerships: how relationships grow from individual projects into institutional collaborations, how trust and governance enable partners to respond to major challenges, and how established partnerships are continually tested and renewed. The discussion will provide a practical industry perspective on what sustained collaboration requires.

What you will learn

This Fireside Chat will focus on:

  1. Why collaboration at scale is about depth, connection and cumulative value rather than the number of partners or projects.
  2. How long-term relationships support investment in research groups, shared infrastructure, talent and regional ecosystems.
  3. How organisations can prevent strategic partnerships from becoming complacent or overly dependent on individuals.
  4. Why established trust can help universities and companies respond more effectively to urgent industrial challenges.
  5. Which principles of successful collaboration remain constant as technologies and external conditions change.

Speaker biography

Mark jefferiesMark Jefferies is Head of Research Partnerships at Rolls-Royce, where he leads the strategic development and governance of the company’s global university network. An engineer by training, he has more than 30 years of experience across research, technology and industry–university collaboration, including 15 years managing Rolls-Royce’s strategic academic partnerships. His work spans relationships from university leadership to individual doctoral projects, as well as research strategy, investment, governance, data security and sovereign capability.

About Fireside Chats

A UIIN Fireside Chat is a 30-minute interview session between a UIIN facilitator and an external industry expert on a high-level topic. Participants will leave with insights and inspiration after hearing the experiences and perspectives of the guest speaker, and have the opportunity to ask questions during the session. Fireside Chats are also recorded for UIIN podcasts and are available after the session.