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Swansea-Houston Decennial

Celebrating 10 Years

Swansea University - University of Houston Partnership

Staff from Swansea University and University of Houston

This year, we proudly celebrate the 10th anniversary of the partnership between SwanseaUniversity and the University of Houston.

Over the past ten years, we have united senior leaders, professional services staff, and colleagues from across our academic colleges and faculties, fostering strong, trusted relationships and cross-institutional networks that have been instrumental in the success and growth of our partnership.

Together we have delivered impactful collaborations that have advanced our research, enriched our teaching and created life-changing opportunities for our students.

In celebration of this milestone, over the coming weeks we will be highlighting key collaborations, offering our colleagues, supporters, and followers a unique opportunity to learn more about our accomplishments and successes.

Sharing Best Practice to Enhance Teaching

Students and staff from the Street Law programme

The partnership between University of Houston (UH) and Swansea facilitated a relationship between UH Law Center's Professor Ellen Marrus and Swansea's Professor Jane Williams, which has had a lasting impact on research collaborations and student experience at Swansea. 

As a visiting scholar, Professor Marrus supported the case for the establishment of the Children's Legal Centre Wales. The Centre has gone on to harness almost £1 million in external grant funding for projects dedicated helping children in Wales get access legal information and help. Student participation in the Centre includes a series of 'Reading My Rights' blogs, where Swansea students use children’s fiction to explore children’s rights in Wales.   

The University was also able to harness UH expertise to develop a Street Law programme which is hosted by Swansea Law Clinic. Street Law is a free public legal education initiative designed to empower individuals by providing essential knowledge about the law, legal systems and human rights within a democratic society. Swansea’s Law students work in teams to develop and deliver engaging interactive sessions on the law and to date over 100 Swansea students have delivered sessions to more than 300 people in the local area.

Since its inception as an accredited module for Law students, Street Law has expanded to become a popular volunteer project within the Law Clinic and a student society whose reach is beginning to extend internationally.

Sharing Best Practice - Professional Services

Dr Caroline Coleman-Davies and Dr Maggie Mahoney

Beyond its collaborations in research, teaching & student mobility, the Swansea University- University of Houston partnership has facilitated the exchange of best practice across both academic areas and the professional services. This has supported the development of new programmes, the implementation of new initiatives, and the enhancement of services.

Over the past decade, the partnership has cultivated robust and trusted relationships, which have been pivotal to its success.

At the heart of the partnership are Dr Caroline Coleman-Davies and Dr Maggie Mahoney, who have worked closely together extensively to expand the partnership, develop new initiatives, share expertise, and provide mutual support.

Reflecting on this enduring partnership, Caroline remarked, “The value of a strong and trusted partnership cannot be overstated. I can openly discuss both our aspirations and challenges with Maggie, knowing that we will work collaboratively to find optimal solutions for both our institutions. Her unwavering support and exceptional collegiality have been invaluable to me, and I am profoundly grateful for her partnership.”

Distinguished Guest Lectures

The partnership between Swansea and the University of Houston has fostered a series of impactful research collaborations and an ongoing programme of distinguished guest lectures. 

This has seen leading experts from both institutions share their expertise on critical topics such as renewable energy, climate change, inclusive healthcare and children's rights.

Most recently Dr Winston Liaw, chair of the Health Systems and Population Health Sciences at the Tilman Fertitta Family College of Medicine shared his expertise on the complex challenges facing the US healthcare system.

Dr Liaw's expertise is in using geospatial techniques and community resources to address unmet social needs in primary care settings. In his lecture, he described primary care’s role in addressing the dual challenges of high costs and poor health, and highlighted possible solutions presented by the integration of social care and primary care and the use of artificial intelligence in primary care.

 

Distinguished Guest Lectures

Dr Winston Liaw delivering a guest lecture

Research Collaborations

As we continue to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Swansea University - University of Houston partnership, we are proud to highlight some of the groundbreaking research collaborations that have united world-leading scholars, resulting in co-authored publications, prestigious grants, and influential joint conferences and presentations.

The Effectiveness of Mindfulness

People practicing mindfulness

Recent research by Swansea University, University of Houston, and other institutions worldwide has addressed the growing interest in mindfulness over the past decade.

The researchers undertook a large-scale study involving over 2,000 participants to assess mindfulness's effectiveness in reducing stress.

They found that self-administered mindfulness practices can significantly reduce self-reported stress in the short term. Read their paper in Nature Human Behaviour.

In Brief ... Research Collaborations

  • Research collaborations in Computer Science, Engineering, Nursing, Geography, Languages, Medicine,  Physics, Education and Psychology
  • 37 joint research publications since 2012, involving 47 researchers from Swansea and 39 from the University of Houston
  • Over 11,000 views and 2,000 citations
  • Fulbright Fellowship exploring the ways in which minority languages, cultures and literatures are suppressed and revitalised

In Brief ... Guest Lectures & Events

  • 44 guest lectures in Law, Engineering, Social Work, Nursing, Healthcare, Computer Science, History, Geography, Medicine, English, Psychology, Languages and Biosciences
  • Joint conference on Children Displaced Across Borders
  • Swansea University research showcase in Houston
  • University of Houston research showcase in Swansea

Student Mobility

Exchange student Golbou Makvandi

Since 2014, 130 students have participated in study abroad between Swansea and Houston through reciprocal exchange programmes, summer placements and faculty-led programmes. 

Both institutions are committed to giving their students the opportunity to undertake study abroad in order to enhance their interculturural awareness and develop them into 'global citizens'. 

Reciprocal exchange programmes allow Swansea students on a degree programme with a year abroad to spend their third year studying in Houston, and short visit programmes have enabled students from subjects such as Nursing and Nanomedicine to undertake research projects and vocational visits to the University.

Students have been supported to study in Houston by scholarship programmes including Erasmus+, Taith, Turing and the British American Foundation of Texas, which has generously supported Swansea's exchange programmes in Texas since 2014.

Meet study abroad alumnus Jan Syk

Jan Syk

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of our partnership, we caught up with some study abroad alumni to find out where they are now and hear their reflections on their time studying abroad.

For Law student Jan Syk, a year abroad at the University of Houston was instrumental in solidifying his passion for advocacy & his ambition to become a barrister.

 “I knew I wanted to go into legal practice before going to Texas, but it was the stepping stone in deciding what I wanted to do as a career:

Whilst there I took a criminal law class where the professor used to stand you up against your peers and get you to argue particular positions against each other in front of the class.

We were marked on our performance, not on whether or not we won. This made me realise that my passion is advocacy, and my longer-term ambition is to become a barrister.”