A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with KAUST and the Bicocca Foundation

Building an international research network to tackle the major challenges of the future: from health to artificial intelligence, and from sustainable energy to climate change. This is the aim of the Memorandum of Understanding signed today by the University of Milan-Bicocca, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), based in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, and the Bicocca Foundation.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed this morning during the MoU Signing Ceremony, held in the BIM Auditorium, in the presence of Marco Emilio Orlandi, Rector of the University of Milan-Bicocca, Sir Edward Byrne, President of KAUST, Pierre J. Magistretti, Senior Vice-President for Research at KAUST, and Giovanna Iannantuoni, President of the Bicocca Foundation.

The agreement strengthens the University’s internationalisation strategy and establishes a strategic framework for the development of joint activities in research, advanced education and technology transfer, capitalising on complementary scientific expertise and promoting collaboration between researchers, lecturers and students from the three institutions.

The Memorandum identifies a number of priority areas for collaboration, which are set to be translated into specific projects in the coming years. These include smart health, with a particular focus on precision medicine, neuroscience and digital health; artificial intelligence and data science applied to research; the energy transition and technologies for sustainable energy; environmental sustainability, including marine sciences, climate change and the management of natural resources; biotechnology and sustainable food systems; as well as the development of initiatives dedicated to innovation, technology transfer, international mobility and advanced training.

“This agreement marks the start of a joint venture with KAUST, built on shared scientific interests and complementary expertise,” says Marco Emilio Orlandi, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Milan-Bicocca. I am proud that a public, multidisciplinary university such as Milano-Bicocca can build, on the basis of the research carried out in its departments, a partnership with a leading international scientific institution. We will work together over time, because it is through dialogue and scientific cooperation that universities generate new knowledge and create the conditions for innovation.”

‘Research flourishes when it crosses boundaries, disciplines and scientific cultures. Our ambition, as the Bicocca University Foundation, is to connect different forms of knowledge, expertise and ecosystems, so that research can become innovation, innovation can generate new opportunities, and education can prepare those called upon to lead change,” says Giovanna Iannantuoni, President of the Bicocca Foundation. It is a mission we share with KAUST and the University of Milan-Bicocca, which we pursue with passion and the conviction that knowledge is not merely something to be produced, but a responsibility to be shared.”
“KAUST is committed to transforming discoveries into meaningful impact; this is a vision we share with the University of Milan-Bicocca and the Bicocca Foundation,” says Sir Edward Byrne, President of KAUST. “The convergence of our interests, expertise and capabilities provides a solid foundation for a collaboration designed to transform knowledge and innovation into tangible benefits for society.”