The UK’s Ambassador to the USA, Lord Mandelson, visited the University of Cambridge on Friday (27/06), to discuss its work in science and technology and its academic and industrial partnerships with the USA.

The visit, hosted by Founders at the University of Cambridge and Innovate Cambridge, follows the signing of the UK-US trade agreement in May, which the University hopes will “lay the groundwork for a future technology partnership between the two countries”.

According to the University, with both the UK and US turning to innovation as an essential component of economic growth, “Cambridge stands ready to play a pivotal role”.

The University highlighted recent Dealroom research for Founders, which found that the city now attracts the most venture capital investment in deep tech per capita in the world. Cambridge’s technological ecosystem is currently valued at $222 billion – equivalent to 18% of the UK’s total technological value.

During his visit, the ambassador heard about the University’s plans for the West Cambridge Innovation District, which it hopes will become “Europe’s leading centre for AI, quantum, and climate research”. However, fears have been raised that an increased focus on commercialisation of research may lead to less focus on forms of research that are not commercially viable, in both the humanities and the sciences.

The visit included a tour of the new Ray Dolby Centre, which was opened in May and is home to the Cavendish Laboratory. During this visit Mandelson was hosted by Professor Mete Atatüre, Head of the Department of Physics. According to the University’s website, Mandelson learned about Cambridge’s “leadership in quantum technologies and the rapidly growing portfolio of real-world applications emerging from this research”.

A roundtable lunch at Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation arm, was hosted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice. Leaders from high-growth companies in AI, quantum and life sciences were also present.

The Vice-Chancellor commented that it was “a pleasure to join the Ambassador and colleagues to showcase the full depth and breadth of Cambridge’s research and business strengths”.

Prentice stressed the importance of Cambridge in this partnership, adding that “Cambridge has unique capabilities to help drive the UK-US tech partnership forward, and we’re excited to build on this momentum”.