Arup University sits at the heart of our firm and is dedicated to expanding our knowledge, strengthening our collective capabilities, and accelerating our progress towards a sustainable future. Established in 2009, Arup University is home to the firm’s strategic foresight capability, applied research and innovation programmes, as well as our communities of experts working to develop our skills and capability to better meet the needs of our clients and drive continuous innovation across the firm.
Arup University works to raise standards across our industry, on issues spanning health and safety, technical advancements, sustainability, and social value. We believe in a better future for all, and we are committed to achieving it. Our pursuit of excellence keeps Arup at the forefront of our industry and helps us to challenge the status quo.
Always learning
At Arup, learning never stops. We are curious about the world around us and committed to exploring new ideas. Through Arup University, our members have access to a wide range of learning opportunities, including dedicated learning programmes delivered in partnership with leading academic institutions. These programmes help our members adapt to new market needs and build new capabilities on themes such as systems transformation, climate science, machine learning and hundreds of other areas of endeavour. This ensures that we deliver better outcomes for our clients and the world around us.
Whatever your role and wherever you are in the world, Arup University will support you to become the best practitioner you can be.
Knowledge culture
We have long recognised the importance of fostering a vibrant knowledge culture. Arup University provides opportunity and resources for our people, hosting internal debates, webinars, and other events, exploring issues like climate change, energy resilience, digital development, artificial intelligence and many other emerging topics. Our culture of knowledge sharing ensures we can access our collective skills, knowledge and expertise to better help our clients and partners to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges.
Investing in innovation and research
Every member of Arup has the freedom to do research, pursue new ideas and harness our collective imagination. This includes developing specific solutions for our clients, the generation of new knowledge, and the exploration of longer-term trends and drivers. Each year, we invest in research in partnership with others to push the boundaries of our industry and to develop solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems. Research drives our culture of innovation and curiosity across regions and markets.
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Project
Perceptions of Night-Time Safety: Women and Girls
In 2018, we started work with Monash University XYX Labs and Plan International on a study to identify and quantify how specific elements of lighting contribute to a safe perception of space in Melbourne, Australia.
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Project
FORESTA acoustic panel system
How can bio-materials like fungi help businesses to sustainably flex their interior design to accommodate creative ways of working, while improving the acoustic quality of those workspaces?
Today, every country needs to respond to global issues and trends. From the transition to net zero to how to achieve a circular economy or use machine learning to design energy efficient buildings. Arup University works alongside leading research institutions, such as Imperial College London, the University of Sydney, University of Toronto, Tsinghua University, and Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche de l’Industrie du Beton (CERIB) to help develop effective and workable solutions, from analysing the impact of urban air mobility to making our cities safer after dark.
Skills networks
Arup is highly collaborative and creative, with expertise and excellence shared worldwide. Arup University hosts 58 dedicated Global Skill Networks. Open to all, Arup leaders bring together communities of talented and enthusiastic members to share knowledge, tools, and techniques – and to drive forward the transformation of their domains. Skills are critical to building and enhancing our current and future capability and our Skill Leaders are critical in leading and enabling world class networks on behalf of the firm.
These unique communities share knowledge and technical expertise, push boundaries, experiment, and inspire each other in their work. This ensures our clients have access to the most up to date and diverse experience and capabilities across the firm.
Our Skills Networks guide our future skills development, carry out focused research projects, and provide domain specific learning opportunities for all our people, as part of our commitment to innovation and excellence in everything we do.
Understanding the trends shaping our future
Arup University’s Foresight team helps our business and our clients understand the major trends shaping the future of the built environment. From emerging digital technologies to demographic shifts and the many emerging implications of climate change, we help to answer complex questions that require a broad and holistic look at the future.
We work with some of the world leading institutions – from the World Health Organization to the Asian Development Bank – to deliver collaborative foresight programmes in aid of a more forward-thinking, resilient, and collaborative approach to design, investments and decision making.
Arup Fellows
Arup Fellow is a life-long title awarded to exceptional individuals in the firm considered role models with world-class vision and initiative.
Arup Fellows help deliver our commitment to excellence by mentoring others and helping us generate future leaders. They help us drive up standards of excellence on our projects all around the world.
