Queen’s connections to Global Networks is extensive and ever expanding.
By nurturing our existing international partnerships and joining new ones, we place top priority on global opportunities for all members of the Queen’s community. Through these partnerships we are sharing insights, research data, and best practices on how best to work together to advance social impact and the United Nations' SDGs.
A global leadership role
Queen's Principal Patrick Deane is the President of the Governing Council for the Magna Charta Observatory, a global association of over 900 post-secondary signatories committed to promoting and defending institutional autonomy and academic freedom in universities.
Magna Charta UniversitatumPartnering for a Better World
The Matariki Network of Universities is an international group of leading, like-minded universities, each amongst the most historic in its own country, and recognized as being:
- a premier place of advanced learning, nationally and internationally;
- research-intensive across a broad subject base;
- focused on providing a high-quality student experience;
- flexible, modern, innovative, comprehensive and globally oriented;
Queen's is one of the seven founding members of the Matariki Network of Universities (MNU).
Our Matariki Coordinator at Queen's University is Heather Kincaide.
Matariki Network of UniversitiesCooperation for Global Water Security
Queen’s cooperates with local, regional, national, or global governments and NGOs on water security. The Council of the Great Lakes Region provides a binational, multi-sector forum for exchange and collaboration on the region’s key risks and opportunities. Beginning with conversations about the region’s most critical issues, the Council encourages those with common interests to drive commitment and action through dialogue groups, research, advocacy, and programs.
Learn MoreCollaborating for a Healthier World
Global networks are the foundation of many health education, research and clinical outreach opportunities in the Faculty of Health Sciences under the new Faculty strategy: Radical Collaboration for a Healthier World.
Some of these initiatives include:
- Queen's Kaleidoscope Institute
- Queen's Global Oncology
- Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program
- International Centre for the Advancement for Community Based Rehabilitation (ICACBR)
International
Queen's is one of the seven founding members of the Matariki Network of Universities (MNU). The members of the Matariki Network have developed programming for faculty, staff and students, which all revolve around the core Matariki Network principles of advancing teaching, learning, research and student experience. Queen’s University has also developed its own initiatives to support members of the Queen’s community in their engagements with the other six partners of the Matariki Network.
The name "Matariki" is from the Māori language, in which Matariki is the name of the Pleiades star cluster (also known as The Seven Sisters). For Māori, Matariki has come to mean a celebration of the unique place in which we reside and the giving of respect for the land on which we live. The seven founding members of MNU are each significant contributors to the city or town in which they are based, and value the ‘town-gown’ relationships.
Our Matariki Coordinator at Queen's University is Heather Kincaide.
The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) administers scholarships, provides academic research and leadership on issues in the sector, and promotes inter-university cooperation and the sharing of good practice – helping universities serve their communities, now and into the future.
The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) is a research, policy and advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening and advancing the work of public universities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. With a membership of 235 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations, APLU's agenda is built on the three pillars of increasing degree completion and academic success, advancing scientific research, and expanding engagement.
Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is a non-profit higher education organization with headquarters in Washington, DC. Its mission is to advance graduate education and research. Its main activities consist of best practice initiatives, benchmarking, advocacy, and global engagement.
The Council of the Great Lakes Region provides a binational, multi-sector forum for exchange and collaboration on the region’s key risks and opportunities. Beginning with conversations about the region’s most critical issues, the Council encourages those with common interests to drive commitment and action through dialogue groups, research, advocacy, and programs.
Queen's is participating in Responsible Futures, an international pilot program focused on sustainability across all aspects of student learning. Participation and leadership in this pilot demonstrates our strong commitment to embedding sustainability and social responsibility across the formal and informal curriculum in partnership with students.
Students Organising for Sustainability and the International Association of Universities are partnered to deliver Responsible Futures, working closely with a small group of invited institutions, including Queen's and six others across the globe to co-create the program, including an international framework of good practice, ahead of a wider launch at the end of 2024.
The cohort of institutions will work closely with their students throughout the year to engage with the framework of good practice, with the goal of effecting changes to teaching and learning.
The Japan-Canada Academic Consortium (JACAC) promotes the exchange of undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and teachers, and to encourage a movement of ideas and knowledge between the two countries. By making it easier to share knowledge and ideas, post-secondary institutions will benefit from access to information that was previously limited by physical constraints.
Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools (NAGS) is one of four regional affiliates of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS).
Scholars at Risk is an international network of institutions and individuals working to promote academic freedom and to defend the human rights of scholars worldwide.
The mandate of the Queen's SAR Committee is to oversee the implementation of SAR activities with the purpose of ensuring consistency, transparency and quality of its activities while fostering an environment of global cosmopolitanism, and global citizenship at Queen’s that protects and encourages academic freedom.
The Queen's SAR Committee has members from:
- Faculty of Education
- Faculty of Law
- Faculty of Arts and Science
- Smith Engineering
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Smith School of Business
- School of Graduate Studies
- Queen’s University Faculty Association
- AMS
- SGPS
- Office of the Vice-Provost, Global Engagement
For more information, please contact:
Laura Esford (global@queensu.ca)
The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute is a binational organization that promotes understanding between India and Canada through academic activities and exchanges. Their mission is to improve the quality of life of the peoples of Canada and India by building and strengthening intellectual and cultural linkages through research, dialogue and exchange.
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) promotes integrated approaches to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, through education, research, policy analysis, and global cooperation. Queen's is a member of the SDSN Canada chapter, and is also represented on the SDSN Youth Network.
The Transborder Research University Network (TRUN) expands and supports cooperation among research universities in the border region of Canada and United States through collaborative/consortial research, joint applications for external funding, cooperative academic programs, faculty and student exchanges, shared facilities, library materials and electronic resources, joint conferences, symposia and workshops.
The Undergraduate Awards is the world’s largest academic awards program. It is uniquely pan-discipline, identifying leading creative thinkers through their undergraduate coursework. The Undergraduate Awards provides top performing students with the support, network and opportunities they require to raise their profiles and further their career paths, as well as an all-expenses-paid trip to Dublin to receive their medal.
Memberships in Associations
National
Membership in the Academics without Borders Network offers opportunities for academics to share their expertise and knowledge as volunteers in capacity-building projects, projects they may propose themselves, in partnership with institutions in low and middle-income countries. Engaging in this work gives faculty and staff a global perspective that enriches education and research on their own campuses.
Universities Canada (UC) is the voice of Canadian universities, at home and abroad. UC advocates for Canadian universities at the federal level, provides a forum for university leaders to share ideas and address challenges in higher education, supports students by providing online information on university study and offering scholarships on behalf of private sector companies, fosters collaboration among universities and governments, the private sector, communities and international partners to help build a better world.
The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) undertakes a diverse assortment of international education activities, ranging from scholarship management, programming with global partners research, public awareness and capacity building among their members.
The U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities are recognized experts that provide commentary on issues related to research, innovation, commercialization, post-secondary education and international students.
Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that has designed and delivered research and training programs in Canada for 15 years. Working with 60 universities, thousands of companies, and both federal and provincial governments, they build partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada.
The Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) is the national organization that promotes, advances, and fosters excellence in graduate education and research. CAGS was formed in 1962 and provides a venue for dialogue and cooperation for its members – over 60 Canadian universities, two graduate student organizations, the three federal research granting councils, and more than 190,000 graduate students.
Provincial
The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) promotes university education and research and the role of universities in preparing both undergraduate and graduate students for success in life and careers. A membership organization consisting of Ontario’s 20 publicly assisted universities and one associate member, the Royal Military College of Canada, COU works with members to find consensus on a wide range of university issues and advances them with government and other stakeholders.
The Ontario Council on Graduate Studies seeks to highlight the importance of graduate education in Ontario, develop and implement best practices in the delivery of graduate education, and advocate for continuing improvement in graduate programs.
The Ontario Universities International (OUI) is a unique organization in Canada providing leadership in the Province’s commitment to international cooperation and exchange in post-secondary education. Through OUI, Queen’s University maintains vibrant region-to-region partnerships with networks of universities in the region of Rhône-Alpes (France) and in the state of Baden-Württemberg (Germany).
Building a Network of Teachers
1 Million Teachers is an innovative start-up founded by Hakeem Subair, a graduate of the Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at the Smith School of Business.
Their mission is to build a critical mass of highly trained and enterprising teachers who will lead grassroots improvement within their communities. The Queen's Faculty of Education has a formalized partnership with 1MT to bolster these activities since 2018.
Learn More about the Journey to One Million TeachersGlobal Alumni Network
The Queen’s Alumni community stretches over 155 countries and includes more than 155,000 alumni. Branches help connect alumni living in the same community. Chapters help connect alumni with similar backgrounds or fields of study.
Find a Branch Near You