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University of Birmingham becomes a founding member of the UK Defence Universities Alliance

The University of Birmingham is one of 35 universities selected to form a new alliance to spearhead defence research and boost skills and careers in defence.

13 July 2026
Aerial view of one half of the Aston Webb building with three domes

The University of Birmingham is one of 35 universities selected to form a new alliance to spearhead defence research and boost skills and careers in defence.

Launched today by the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard MP, the Defence Universities Alliance (DUA) is a long-term collaboration between the Ministry of Defence, the UK Armed Forces, the Office of the Chief Scientific Advisor for National Security and the higher education sector.

Part of the Government’s £182 million defence skills package, the DUA will bring together defence and academia to strengthen research, develop critical skills and build the highly skilled workforce needed to support the UK's future defence capability.

Professor Rachel O’Reilly, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), said: “The UK faces acute and evolving security threats. The DUA enables universities to contribute their expertise to national security and resilience challenges, strengthen collaboration with government and industry, and help ensure that the UK maintains sovereign capabilities.

“The University of Birmingham is home to world-leading research and interdisciplinary teams, which can be mobilised for public benefit, including keeping the UK safe and resilient. Our approach focuses on strengthening the future defence industrial base – improving national resilience while supporting economic renewal across the UK.

“For more than two decades we have been at the heart of defence-sector innovation, collaborative research, contract R&D, and doctoral training and workforce development across manufacturing, sensing, autonomy, cyber resilience and defence medicine.”

A British Army soldier in combat fatigues

The UK faces acute and evolving security threats. The DUA enables universities to contribute their expertise to national security and resilience challenges, strengthen collaboration with government and industry, and help ensure that the UK maintains sovereign capabilities.

Professor Rachel O'Reilly
Professor Rachel O'Reilly
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Birmingham

Luke Pollard MP said: “As we prepare for warfighting readiness, working with universities, students and innovators boosts skills and helps keep our country safe. The DUA will create meaningful connections between students, academia and defence, boosting research, skills and defence expertise across the UK to strengthen industry. Universities play a key role in innovating and supporting defence, and the DUA helps marshal those efforts.

“In this new era of threat our £182 million defence skills package is helping to create opportunities for students, apprentices and young people, making sure our historic £298 billion defence investment is an engine for growth across the UK, and building on the more than 272,000 industry jobs supported by MOD spending.”

Chosen from almost 100 applicants, founding members of the DUA will strengthen connections between academia and the defence sector, helping to support a pipeline of skilled graduates into exciting careers, including cyber security, robotics, AI, aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing. Universities will provide the ideas, expertise and talent to tackle complex research and development challenges, helping address defence and national security challenges.

By bringing together government, academia and industry in a more strategic and coordinated way, the DUA will help ensure that the UK has the research capability, skills base and resilience required to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.

The DUA launch follows the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Education’s announcement in June 2026 of £80 million funding to strengthen the UK’s defence skills pipeline. Future students taking a range of Engineering courses at the University of Birmingham will benefit from more than £4.4 million of that funding, boosting the number of graduates for defence-related skills and roles, and supporting institutions to develop new, cutting-edge teaching facilities.

Notes for editors

For more information, please contact the Press Office on +44 (0)121 414 2772.

The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 40,000 students from over 150 countries.

England’s first civic university, the University of Birmingham, is proud to be rooted in one of the most dynamic and diverse cities in the country. A member of the Russell Group and a founding member of the Universitas 21 global network of research universities, the University of Birmingham has been changing the way the world works for more than a century.

The Complete University Guide 2027 league table rankings have seen the University of Birmingham continue its upward momentum, rising two places, from 14th to 12th, placing it firmly as one of the best universities in the UK. Each year, the Guide league tables rank the best universities in the UK, overall and in 74 subject areas.

Students choosing Birmingham join a university that prides itself on exceptional links to a wide variety of leading industries and employers. Recent graduate employment data showed that more 2024 Birmingham graduates got highly skilled jobs than the 2023 cohort. Just over 80% of the University’s students were in graduate-level jobs or further training 15 months after graduation (HESA Graduate Outcomes 2023/24 - June 2026).

The University of Birmingham was named among the world’s top 250 institutions for producing the most employable graduates by the Global Employability University Ranking & Survey 2026 (GEURS). Birmingham is one of only 16 UK universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, listed in the ranking which surveys major international employers to identify which universities they believe best prepare students for the workplace.

Featured staff

  • Professor Rachel O'Reilly

    Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research)

    Professor Rachel O'Reilly is Chair in Chemistry at the School of Chemistry. She leads the O'Reilly Group whose research targets the design, synthesis and application of uniquely derived polymeric materials.

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