We continue to enjoy established research partnerships with Stanford University, the University of Michigan, the Universidade de São Paulo, and the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Other recent successful partnerships include: the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (McGill); International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (Canada); Bach-Archiv Leipzig; Orpheus Instituut (Belgium), and Cineteca di Bologna.

At a European level, we plan to continue our involvement in EU Horizon research networks, and especially all-island cross-border projects and partnerships, through both funded projects and student and staff mobility.

We continue to invest in the hosting of international conferences to raise our profile and influence global research agendas, and the Arts in AEL has shown itself to be particularly resourceful in this context during the recent pandemic.  We remain committed to making use of funding sources such as Santander Universities, Horizon, or the British Council, to further develop research student and staff mobility.

AEL Arts subjects and individuals regularly partner with key local industries such as NI Screen, BBC, and Kainos. Our partnerships with local arts organisations include the Lyric Theatre, PLACE Built Environment Centre, Moving on Music, Young at Art, Belfast Children’s Festival, Irish Museums Association, Belfast Film Festival, and the Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC). The development of Arts Management and Cultural Policy has also seen us take a lead role in the establishment of the Cultural Policy Observatory Ireland, an all -island research network aimed at growing, connecting, and profiling academic research on the practices and policies relating to cultural policy across the island of Ireland.