Sir Alan Langlands has been appointed as the new Chair of the White Rose University Consortium.
The Consortium combines the strengths of the partner universities – Leeds, Sheffield and York – to add value from partnership activity across research, knowledge exchange, and learning and teaching.
Sir Alan will chair the Executive Board, which meets three times a year to provide strategic oversight and advice.
Partnership and collaboration
Established in 1997, the White Rose University Consortium has helped secure more than £180m of external funding for collaborative initiatives.
This includes the recent £13m investment from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to support a doctoral training programme.
Supporting more than 250 PhD researchers, the programme will be provided by the White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities (WRoCAH), with the first cohort starting in October 2019.
The Consortium includes the White Rose Libraries, a partnership between the three university’s Library Services. It has launched the White Rose University Press, offering open access digital publishing of peer-reviewed academic journals and books.
Speaking of his appointment, Sir Alan said: “I am delighted to be appointed as the next Chair of the White Rose.
“I remember the origins of White Rose from my time on the Council of the University of York.
“Twenty-one years later it continues to deliver a healthy stream of external and internal funding to support collaborations between York, Sheffield and Leeds and to pump prime the work of early career researchers.
“Doctoral training in a number of disciplines has benefitted greatly from the close working relationship between the three universities and the launch of a new, innovative University Press is a credit to our library services."
Dr Craig Walker, Director of the White Rose University Consortium, added: "I am delighted to be working with Sir Alan in his role as Chair of the White Rose Executive Board. Sir Alan brings exceptional experience, insight and connections to the Board. This will help ensure the continued success of White Rose."
The Leeds Vice-Chancellor takes over the role from Professor Sir Keith Burnett, who has recently retired as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield.
Sir Alan’s role commenced on 1 August 2018.