LSE and SMU Launch New Institutional Partnership and Joint Research Fund
LSE and Singapore Management University (SMU) have announced a new institutional partnership to foster collaborations across education and research, with a shared focus on addressing social challenges.
In January 2026, the two institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise this partnership, strengthen ties and enable sustained academic collaboration on areas of shared strategic priority.
The first major initiative under the MoU is the launch of a joint strategic research seed fund designed to seed and catalyse high-quality research, interdisciplinary studies, and impactful work led by researchers across both universities.
The inaugural research seed fund is open to researchers from all schools and research centres at both LSE and SMU. It will provide up to £15,000 per project for LSE Principal Investigators (PIs) and up to SGD 25,000 per project for SMU PIs. The fund is focused on three key themes: Urban Sustainability, AI and the Future of Work, and Longevity and Healthy Ageing. To be eligible, proposals must involve at least one researcher from each institution. The fund supports both new collaborations and the development of existing partnerships.
This new partnership builds on successful recent collaborations between LSE and SMU. Most recently, SMU partnered with LSE's Long Life Venture Builder programme, led by LSE Generate and the LSE Global School of Sustainability, through the SMU Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE). LSE has extended offers to three SMU IIE-incubated teams to participate in the LLVB initiative, and also provided internship opportunities for up to four SMU students from May to August 2026.
In July 2025, the SMU Urban Institute and LSE's Department of Geography and Environment launched the Global Alliance on Sustainable Urban Societies, alongside Boston University, the University of Melbourne and the University of Toronto as founding members.
Welcoming the announcement, LSE President and Vice Chancellor, Professor Larry Kramer, commented:
“We are thrilled to announce this new chapter in our partnership with SMU.
“Collaborative research across disciplines, institutions, and continents is vital for tackling the critical challenges of our age: challenges like making our cities more sustainable, using technology effectively in the workplace, and healthy ageing.”
SMU President, Professor Lily Kong, added:
“We are pleased with the elevation of the SMU-LSE partnership to an institutional level. This initiative under our new cooperative framework in the form of a strategic fund will support rigorous, joint interdisciplinary research by our faculty across both institutions that addresses societal challenges in longevity, the future of work, and urban sustainability. We look forward to advancing scholarship and engagement that deliver meaningful impact for communities in Singapore, the UK and beyond."