• Universities

A global university rooted in the CaribbeanFor over seven decades, The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. Starting as a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI has evolved into an internationally respected academy with near 50,000 students and 5 campuses:Mona, Jamaica (1948)St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago (1960)Cave Hill, Barbados (1963)Open Campus (2008)Five Islands, Antigua and Barbuda (2019) One of only two regional universities in the world, The UWI extends from Belize in Central America to Trinidad and Tobago in the southern Caribbean. It is also one of the world’s most globalised universities, with nine global centres spread across North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.University of Lagos-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, NigeriaInstitute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg, South AfricaUWI-China Institute of Information Technology with the Global Institute of Software Technology, Suzhou, ChinaGlasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research with University of Glasgow, UKUWI-Coventry Institute for Industry-Academic Partnership with University of Coventry, UKStrategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes, ColombiaThe UWI-University of Havana Centre for Sustainable Development, CubaState University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development, USACanada-Caribbean Institute with Brock University, CanadaThe UWI’s 2017-2022 strategic plan, themed the Triple A Strategy, focusses on widening Access to quality tertiary education, Alignment of the University with academic-industry partnerships relevant to the region’s needs and improved Agility through global connections and initiatives.Ranked among the best in the worldSince 2018, The UWI has earned a place among the top 600 universities in the world, the top 40 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the top 100 Golden Age University Rankings and Impact Rankings in 2020. The UWI remains the only Caribbean university to make these prestigious lists.Leading as an activist universityThe UWI is an activist university with a mission to advance learning, create knowledge and foster innovation for the positive transformation of the Caribbean and the wider world.The regional institution is an ideal partner for research collaboration, expert-knowledge exchange and stakeholder engagement in a diverse range of Caribbean-focused development projects, initiatives and inter-institutional agreements with regional and international governments, multi-lateral development agencies, and the private sector. The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region.COVID-19Its demonstrable impact and value was evident in The UWI’s contribution in close partnership with the governments to successfully contain the COVID-19 pandemic in the Caribbean region. UWI science, medicine, engineering and volunteerism of staff, students and alumni on the frontlines helped shape the Caribbean response as a best-case study recognised across the world. Read more.Climate Action and SDG ImpactThe UWI’s advocacy on the SDGs and the 2030 development has received global acknowledgement. In January 2019, the International Association of Universities (IAU) designated The UWI as the lead institution for a Global University Consortium on SDG 13 (Climate Action) in recognition of the University’s decades of research contributions on climate change and sustainable development. In an analysis of research conducted over the past three decades, prior to and after the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report, The UWI emerged as the leading University producer of information on Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Read more on The UWI’s climate action.Reparatory JusticeAs the global reparatory justice movement takes shape as one of the greatest political movements of the 21st century, The UWI affirms its commitment to greater advocacy and consciousness-raising. As a university with social justice as part of its core mission, it ushered a new era in the global reparations movement in 2019. As part of the first-ever Caribbean Reparatory Justice initiative, The UWI partnered with Glasgow University in Scotland to create the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research representing a 20-year commitment of a £20 million investment placing it at the forefront of global reparations as a development framework.Innovation and EntrepreneurshipUnderstanding that innovation is a key driver of economic growth, The UWI has embraced a leadership role in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship across the region to realise this growth. Read more on how The UWI is building an entrepreneurial university.One Caribbean SolutionPassionate about ‘One Caribbean’ development solutions, The UWI serves as the Secretariat for Universities Caribbean, an association of Caribbean-based universities and research institutes spread across CARICOM countries as well as Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and the French and Dutch-speaking Antilles, working to foster cooperation among the higher education institutions in the Caribbean region, leveraging expertise and strengthening the alignment between higher education, development agencies, the public and private sectors and civil society.Hemispheric University ConsortiumThe UWI is also a co-chair of the Hemispheric University Consortium (HUC), comprising 14 universities across Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States committed to sharing academic and infrastructure resources and collaborating in addressing the challenges facing universities and global society, through a range of broad and dynamic key thematic areas with priority given to human prosperity and well-being, and climate change, sustainability and resilience.The UWI is renowned for its exceptional record of producing leaders in the region and the wider world. Its alumni base numbers over 230,000; and constitutes from Emmy Award and Man Booker Prize to Nobel Prize winners, CEOs to entrepreneurs, academics to artists, leaders of Caribbean nations to leaders across all sectors, impacting the globe at the forefront of their fields. Two of the four Nobel Laureates of Caribbean descent, Sir Derek A. Walcott (Nobel Prize for Literature, 1992) and Sir Arthur Lewis (Nobel Prize for Economics, 1979), have direct ties to the University. Sir Derek an alumnus, and Sir Arthur a former Vice-Chancellor. UWI Professors, Anthony Chen, Leonard Nurse and John Agard also shared in the glory of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize given jointly to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Albert Arnold (Al) Gore Jr, for their contribution to the IPCC as authors of special scientific working group reports.Climate Action WorkVideo of A Matter of Caribbean Survival Documentary Video of Tackling the Effects of Climate Change