Underlining its commitment to academic freedom and university autonomy, the University of Winchester has become one of the latest higher education institutions to sign up to the Magna Charta Universitatum.
The Magna Charta document is a statement of the principles and values shared by universities around the world, including the importance of links between teaching and research, academic freedom, and collaboration between different countries and cultures.
Professor Joy Carter CBE DL, Vice-Chancellor of the University, signed the document in a ceremony held at the Universidad de Salamanca in Spain to mark the 30th anniversary of the Magna Charta and the 800th anniversary of the Universidad de Salamanca.
"Universities are more important to society than ever and remain crucial bastions of independent thought, education and research," said Professor Carter. "As an institution which is leading the way in values-driven education, it is a great honour for the University of Winchester to be accepted as a signatory to the Magna Charta Universitatum, which defends and promotes essential higher education values."
The Secretary General of the Magna Charta Observatory, David Lock, said: "It was a great pleasure to welcome the University of Winchester as a signatory and to have the Vice-Chancellor Professor Carter participating actively in the associated conference. I look forward to the University playing a full part in developing the practical application of the fundamental values, sharing its experience with other universities internationally and to it becoming even stronger as a university as a consequence."
Winchester is now among a group of almost 900 prestigious and historic universities from 86 countries worldwide which have signed the Magna Charta, including Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, University of Toronto, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago, Universität Zürich and Aarhus University.
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