Reflecting on a Year of Global Engagement: The 2025-26 Annual Report
UChicago Global has released its 2025-26 Annual Report, documenting a year of expanding partnerships, record seed funding activity, and deepened engagement across every region where the University works.
The report arrives at the close of Chief Global Strategist Madhav Rajan'sOpens in new tab first full year in the role, a year he describes as one of finding synergies across the University's international activities and beginning to leverage what has been built.
"UChicago has always believed that rigorous inquiry and the ideas it produces can solve the world's toughest problems, and that mission has no borders," Rajan said. "The question for FY27 isn't whether UChicago should lean into global engagement; it's how far that platform can extend, and how quickly."
The numbers offer a measure of that platform. In FY26, UChicago Global seed-funded 98 projects across six regions, securing $2.2 million from international collaborators on $1.1 million awarded, a 2x return in matched funding. Faculty engagement in the Provost's Global Faculty Awards grew 300 percent over the prior year, and PhD Student Research Travel Grants increased 68 percent. Across the University's centers in Beijing and Delhi and its campus in Hong Kong, more than 150 events welcomed over 10,000 participants.
This year also brought significant institutional milestones. UChicago was selected as a host institution for the German Research and Innovation Tour, convening more than 40 faculty with representatives from Germany's leading research funding organizations and positioning the University ahead of the anticipated EU Framework Programme 10 funding cycle beginning in 2028. In partnership with the French National Centre for Scientific ResearchOpens in new tab (CNRS), UChicago formalized the International Research Laboratory in Particle Physics and CosmologyOpens in new tab, the latest development in a collaboration that remains UChicago's most frequent research partnership by number of co-publications. And at the Chicago Consular Corps ReceptionOpens in new tab, joined by representatives from 33 countries, Ambassador Reyna Torres-Mendivil announced a new annual award honoring outstanding master's thesis research on pressing global issues.
The report also highlights what seed funding makes possible in practice: a $20,000 PGFA investment in a São Paulo conference seeded a collaboration that has since secured $13 million in external funding to study how air pollution drives Alzheimer's disease; a Beijing conference on AI scientists drew seven Nobel laureates and catalyzed a partnership worth an estimated $2 million in external investment; a CNRS Joint PhD Program participant's work on carbon-aware computing reduced carbon costs by an average of 42 percent compared to standard approaches.
"This year reminded us that while the global environment is one of continuous change, our commitment to international engagement is as strong as ever," said Associate Vice President Katie Hrinyak. "We look forward to the many opportunities to advance global activities in the year ahead."
The full 2025-26 Annual Report is available to read and download below.
Reports from the Centers and Campus
Alongside the Global report, each of UChicago Global's three international locations has published its own annual report covering the year in depth.
The Center in BeijingOpens in new tab report documents a year of scholarly convenings spanning history, medicine, and the arts, including a landmark symposium co-hosted with Tsinghua UniversityOpens in new tab that drew participants from across mainland China, Hong Kong, North America, and Europe, and the continuation of the Beijing Civilizations Study Abroad ProgramOpens in new tab.
The Center in DelhiOpens in new tab report details the Center's growing role as a convening platform at the intersection of scholarship and public impact, with highlights including the launch of the Polsky India Deep Tech AcceleratorOpens in new tab with IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi, and the inaugural India Summer Fellows ProgramOpens in new tab.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex | The University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen CampusOpens in new tab in Hong Kong report covers a year of deepening academic programming, from an expanded Summer AcademyOpens in new tab admitting international students for the first time, to the third annual Alumni Weekend Global EditionOpens in new tab welcoming more than 120 alumni from across Asia.