UCL to establish an Asia-Pacific base from 2009

This will be the first time that UCL, one of the world's leading universities, has left its shores to offer a degree programme overseas. The UCL School of Energy and Resources, Australia, will be a collaboration between UCL and the Government of South Australia, with Santos offering support through its funds dedicated to the support of education, which will enable generous scholarship provision for students world-wide.

Under the terms of the agreement, the UCL School of Energy and Resources, Australia will offer executive education programmes, to be followed by the full Masters programme from 2010. The School, which will occupy the Torrens Building in central Adelaide, will be an integral part of UCL, which was recently ranked 7^th in the Times Higher Education-QS world university rankings.

The SA Government is putting $AUS 4 million towards the refurbishment of the Torrens Building and together with Santos will support the School's set up and operations over its first eight years. Once this term is complete, UCL will continue its activities in Adelaide, which will by that stage, it is intended, be self-financing. UCL will appoint a Director and core academic staff to the School, and the teaching model will also involve the participation of academics from London teaching in Adelaide. Joint Adelaide-London research programmes will also be developed. UCL will ensure that the MSc curriculum reflects the concerns of industry and will seek to work with leading energy and resources sector corporations to ensure that professional training is flexible and relevant to employers' staff development needs.

"Transnational education is changing the way that students and professionals now study and develop their skills. Through our campus in Adelaide and as part of University City there, UCL will give a global lead on industry-focused research and teaching in a global context," said Professor Michael Worton, UCL Vice-Provost (Academic and International). "Our presence in Adelaide will also provide a further opportunity for students from the Asia-Pacific region to study at one of the world's leading universities. We are already a truly international university, with international students making up one third of our total student body, and this new campus will further strengthen our position as 'London's global university'.

"UCL is committed to working to solve real-world problems and we relish the opportunity to work not only with the South Australian Government but also with Santos and a range of other Australian and international energy companies through our presence in Adelaide," added Professor Michael Worton. "From the outset we wished to work in collaboration with industry to ensure that the courses are tailored to proven need in the sector, so I am delighted that today we are able to confirm the support of Santos as a Foundation Partner in this exciting project.

"The School will enable UCL, in collaboration with its partners, to play its part in addressing the increasingly complex and inter-connected economic, management, legal and engineering challenges arising from the development and use of energy and resources that confront the world."

Notes for Editors

For more information about the UCL School of Energy and Resources, and images of the School, please contact Dominique Fourniol in the UCL Media Relations Office on +44 (0) 20 7679 9728 or +44 (0)7881 833 274, email d.fourniol@ucl.ac.uk

About UCL

Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. In the government's most recent Research Assessment Exercise, 59 UCL departments achieved top ratings of 5* and 5, indicating research quality of international excellence.

UCL is in the top ten world universities in the 2008 THES-QS World University Rankings, UCL alumni include Marie Stopes, Mahatma Gandhi, Lord Woolf, Alexander Graham Bell, and members of the band Coldplay.

About South Australia

South Australia is one of the most important minerals and energy jurisdictions in the world.  It has almost 40% of the world's known recoverable uranium reserves and significant volumes of copper, gold and silver.  It is ranked the 4th most prospective location in the world by Canada's Fraser Institute, has 53% of Australia's installed wind power capacity, more than a third of Australia's grid-connected solar energy and hosts more than 91% of Australia's known potential geothermal energy generation.

For more information about the Government of South Australia, please contact Rachael Leverton, on +44 (0) 20 7520 9107, email rachael.leverton@south-aus.eu

About Santos

Santos is a major Australian oil and gas exploration and production company with interests and operations in every major Australian petroleum province and in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan and Egypt.

Santos is Australia's largest domestic gas producer, supplying sales gas to all mainland Australian states and territories, ethane to Sydney, and oil and liquids to domestic and international customers. Santos has the largest Australian exploration portfolio by area of any company - 192,000 square kilometres.

Santos embraces a citizenship role in the communities to which it belongs. The company invests time and money in these communities, from the informal neighbourly relationships Santos has with landholders to defined programs that seek input on specific work activities, common issues or development plans to support for selected education providers.

Santos' financial commitment to communities is largely achieved through a structured sponsorship program that supports organisations and events which are valued by the communities in which it operates and which share Santos' values, particularly in the areas of the environment, the arts, education and youth.

For more information about Santos, contact Matthew Doman t: +61 8 8116 5260 m: +61 421 888 858