The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have all joined the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), which was launched in Singapore on 14 January. The new global network brings together 10 of the most prominent research-led universities, with the aim of becoming 'the premier alliance of universities in the world'. In addition to the four European universities, the other institutions in the network are the Australian National University, the National University of Singapore, Peking University, Berkley and Yale in the US, and Tokyo University. The alliance describes itself as a "strategic drawing together of a selected group of research-intensive universities that share similar values, a similar vision and a commitment to educating future world leaders".

The new alliance is a sign that even the most prestigious institutions are feeling the need to forge alliances in the global higher education market. Back in November the League of European Research Universities (LERU) announced that it was expanding its membership to include the Universities of Amsterdam, Utrecht, Lund, Paris-South, Zurich, and University College London.

• Cordis News Service