UK China University Consortium on Engineering Education and Research

Eighteen of the world’s leading universities together with their associate project partners cooperate to increase capacity, exemplary postgraduate research and teaching through interdisciplinary partnerships.

The programme was launched in 2017 by the British Council. Queen’s University Belfast (UK) and Southeast University (China) act as the Secretariat for the consortium.

Aims

The UCEER project is designed to promote strategic engagement and bilateral cooperation in joint postgraduate education and engineering research between its partner universities in the UK and China.

The project works to set up a sizeable international collaboration platform to handle challenging research topics and to accelerate mutual technology transfer in clean energy and sustainable manufacturing.

Building on the success of the first phase (2017–2021), the consortium secured renewed British Council funding for a second phase (2022–now) to establish Regional Centres in Net-Zero Engineering Innovation. These centres serve as sustainable training platforms to address decarbonisation challenges in transportation, buildings, energy security, and just transition. They also facilitate and sustain coordinated staff and student exchanges, as well as training that enhances employable green-energy skills, practical experiences, and leadership to underpin innovation, job creation, and economic growth.

Benefits for the UK and China

Both the UK and China recognise the need to apply shared resources and expertise to overcome some of the world’s major issues which the UCEER is designed to address.

The work of the consortium will power innovative engineering solutions for the future energy and environmental security of the planet, while growing a generation of top-flight engineering minds to produce research and discovery of truly global impact.

The UCEER consolidates the strong reputation of the UK’s higher education capability in China. The programme will also reinforce the global perceptions of both countries as centres of technological and engineering excellence.

By strengthening the standing of both countries as international education pioneers, UK and China will be poised to attract top academic talent in the future.

Priority disciplines

Clean Energy
Net-Zero Technologies
Sustainable Infrastructure
Just Transition
Sustainable Manufacturing

Partner universities

The consortium comprises 9 UK Russell Group universities and 9 Chinese Excellence League university members.

UK

University of Birmingham
Cardiff University
Durham University
University of Leeds (Project lead from 2025)
University of Liverpool
The University of Nottingham
Queen’s University Belfast (Lead UK partner)
University College London
The University of Warwick

China

Beijing Institute of Technology
Chongqing University
Dalian University of Technology
Harbin Institute of Technology
Northwestern Polytechnical University
South China University of Technology
Southeast University (Lead China partner)
Tianjin University
Tongji University

Highlights and progress

Significant achievements and outcomes have demonstrated the impact of the work of the UKCEER across a broad menu of activity, including:

Phase I (2017–2021)

Future Engineers’ Leadership and Innovation Academy was organised in sequence, attended by over 136 PhD students since 2017
Staff and Early Career Fellowships have successfully enabled UK researchers to visit Chinese partners to generate research projects
A UK China Knowledge Exploitation Consortium set up to deliver training, identify industrial needs, technology access and opportunities for knowledge transfer
Transnational staff and student visits and exchanges
Joint PhD programmes
Joint research proposals between partners and with industry
Joint laboratories and centres
Joint research funding applications
Joint research publications, books and papers
Thematic workshops, conferences and forums

Phase II – Net-Zero Partnership (2022– Present)

With renewed funding from the British Council, the consortium has evolved into a sustainable partnership model centred on net-zero training, education, and innovation. New institutions and organisations from both the UK and China have been invited to contribute to a wider and more inclusive portfolio of net-zero activities as associate project partners.

Key new initiatives under this expanded model include:

The UCEER Net-Zero Engineering Centre, launched in 2023 at Southeast University;
Four regional net-zero centres, established in 2025, focusing respectively on transport decarbonisation (in partnership with Southwest Jiaotong University), building decarbonisation (in partnership with Shandong University), energy security (in partnership with Shanghai University), and just transition (in partnership with Xiangtan University);
A series of conferences, workshops, and forums, co-organised with professional bodies such as the China Electrotechnical Society and other new associate partners;
Summer schools and training camps on net zero, delivered in collaboration with new associate partners, including Imperial College London and North China Electric Power University, to enhance the inclusivity and reach of net-zero capacity-building activities.

In parallel, the consortium has continued to deliver the broad range of activities established during Phase I, including: