"in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"
Albert Einstein, physicist

The relationship with communities that surround Memorial University is very important to us. Since our founding, we have paid special attention to the educational needs of our rural and northern communities, while supporting the development of the province's economy and culture generally. The university continues to make a great difference in Newfoundland and Labrador and well beyond our shores.

In addition to a wide range of teaching and research links in Canada, and particularly Atlantic Canada, we have many partnerships with universities and research organizations in the European Union, the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, China, South East Asia and Latin America. The university is always ready to respond to international communities in times of need. For example, a group of professors at our Grenfell College campus in Corner Brook responded to the recent upheavals in Afghanistan by donating a large number of university textbooks to the University of Kabul.

Similarly, the St. John's campus hosted over 500 passengers whose flights were diverted as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Faculty, staff and students came together to provide these passengers with comfort and assistance during their five days stay. Grateful passengers commemorated our hospitality by establishing an international travel bursary for students. As a university that was founded as a war memorial, the new bursary is particularly poignant for us.