UCT is committed to growing future research leaders and giving them international experience. To support this, UCT is growing a range of opportunities for postgraduate students to travel to and work with international universities.
Note: If you want information on student exchanges and studying abroad, visit the International Academic Programmes Office (IAPO).
Collaborative degree programmes are available to UCT postgraduates. These allow for cohorts of postgraduate students to study at UCT and at an international partner institution, earning a jointly awarded or a co-badged degree. This provides invaluable international experience and strengthens research collaboration.
Co-badged degrees
Co-badged degrees refer to when a successful student is awarded a single degree and a single degree certificate, issued by and signed by the degree-awarding and enrolling higher education institution (HEI), but bearing the badges of the other institution/s in recognition of their contribution under a formal collaboration agreement or a text to this effect.
For any student registering for a dissertation course in a co-badged degree, the contract governing the co-badging must be referenced in the MoU. In the case of a contract that is specific to a student, the contract must be attached to the MoU.
In the case of co-badged degrees, the contribution of the partner institution is limited to:
- participating in the curriculum design of the co-badged programme providing a course/s which the degree-awarding institution recognises towards the degree; and/or
- providing co-supervision (in the case of a minor dissertation on a research course).
Jointly awarded degrees
Jointly awarded degrees are single study programmes offered collaboratively by two (or more) HEIs. The successful student is awarded a single degree certificate issued and signed jointly by all HEIs involved in the programme, or two or more national certificates issued by each collaborating institution attesting to the award of the qualification, with the proviso that each certificate must refer to the joint nature of the qualification.
Universities with which UCT has a collaborative degree agreement in place are listed below.
Research without Borders Cotutelle Programme (UCT and University of Bristol)
This novel programme between UCT and the University of Bristol provides opportunities for co-tutored doctoral candidates to work on research projects at both institutions. Participating postgraduate researchers are registered at, and have supervisors at, both universities, spending roughly equal amounts of time at each institution.
MA degree in Global Media (UCT and London School of Economics and Political Science)
The UCT and LSE twinned master’s degree programme enables students to earn postgraduate degrees from two leading institutions, spending one year at each university and earning a master’s degree from each institution.
UCT aims to develop a small number of further collaborative degree programmes with strategic partners over the next few years.
UCT generally avoids building collaborative degree agreements around individual students. However, several existing agreements involving a single student enable the building of new programmes in well-motivated cases.
Below follows a list of such agreements:
- Catholic University of the North, Chile
- The University of Tolouse, France
- Macquarie University, Australia
- Pierre and Marie Curie University, France
- Swansea University, Wales
- University of Groningen, Netherlands
- University of Potsdam, Germany
- Western Sydney University, Australia
- Vrije University Amsterdam, Netherlands