The president of a leading Irish university visited the University of Houston last month in a visit that open new avenues of research collaboration and student and faculty exchanges between UH and the Emerald Isle.

Brian Norton, president of the Dublin Institute of Technology, was hosted by the physics department and met with faculty and administrators from various UH colleges. Although an ocean apart, the Institute and UH have much in common, Norton said, especially a focus on energy research and strong programs in optometry and hospitality.

As universities around the globe strive to forge new international ties, UH and the Institute could be ideal partners, Norton said.

“This is no time for an institution to be faint-hearted and what really impressed me is that the ambition of this university is palpable,” Norton said.

The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics has already established relationships with several foreign universities, ranging from South Africa to Russia to Korea to the Philippines. These agreements provide for student and faculty exchanges and, in some cases, even for joint graduate degree programs.

With UH’s rising international profile, more international partnerships will likely be in the works for NSM. While there is no such agreement yet between UH and Dublin, these partnerships typically evolve from informal collaborations between individual faculty members and Norton’s visit could cultivate those contacts.

The visit stemmed from a meeting last year between Norton and Seamus Curran, an associate professor of physics at UH. Curran, a native of Ireland, is involved in solar cell research and gave a presentation on alternative energies in Dublin. There he met Norton, who in addition to his administrative role at the Institute, is also deeply involved in solar energy research.