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Harwell launches new international alliance of leading science and technology campuses

Harwell Science and Innovation Campus is a founding member of Campus Squared, a new international alliance of leading science and technology campuses. It brings together places where world-class research facilities stand alongside shared laboratories and communities of talent, driving collaboration and breakthroughs on a global scale.

The founding members are among Europe’s most advanced innovation ecosystems, each hosting or closely connected to nationally significant research facilities and institutes within intentionally managed campuses. Located near major metropolitan regions, these campuses combine critical R&D capacity with a strong placemaking vision, making them gateways for world-changing companies, talent, suppliers and investment for decades to come.

The founding members are:

  • Adlershof Science and Technology Park, Berlin, Germany
  • Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire, UK
  • High Tech Campus Eindhoven, The Netherlands
  • Switzerland Innovation Park Innovaare, Villigen, Switzerland
  • Science Village, Lund, Sweden

The purpose of Campus² is to create a platform for Europe’s leading national innovation campuses to share insights and experiences, develop a collective voice, and coordinate practical collaboration between leadership teams. These campuses represent Europe’s gateways for science-led companies to experiment, prototype and scale, while delivering programs that serve diverse innovation communities and ecosystems. Through Campus², members aim to strengthen cooperation, share strategic perspectives, connect across campuses and address common challenges collectively.

Following the first annual meeting in Lund in November 2025, the alliance will convene every year at a rotating member campus to continue advancing this shared agenda.

Dan Metcalfe, Communications and Community Director at Harwell Campus, said:

We are delighted to be a co-founder of Campus Squared. Connections make ecosystems, and Campus Squared will strengthen Harwell’s links to other inspiring super campuses. This is an important knowledge exchange between campuses that share similar scale, facilities and ambition. Our scientists and entrepreneurs already collaborate across borders, and Campus Squared allows us to share insights about building and operating world-class clusters that underpin innovation. The first annual meeting marks an important step. By working together, we can speed up the rate at which we innovate, adapt and scale.

Located at the heart of the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor, Harwell Campus already hosts more than 250 organisations and 7,500 professionals.  

Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Director, Clusters and Campus Development UKRI-STFC, said:

Harwell has established itself as one of the world’s preeminent science campuses. Our partnership with Brookfield has accelerated development at an unprecedented pace, but what truly excites me is what comes next. With 700 acres of space, world-class infrastructure, and the governance framework to match, we’re positioned to drive discovery and innovation for generations to come.

A strategic national asset and home to the UK’s largest concentration of national research facilities, Harwell Campus has been at the forefront of discovery for eight decades, from the nation’s first nuclear research laboratories to today’s breakthroughs in space, quantum, energy, and life sciences.

The Campus is currently completing a 0.5 million SQF speculative development programme providing lab and advanced manufacturing space to support the immediate needs of Oxfordshire and the wider region’s thriving innovation and spin-out community. 

Looking to the future, the Campus has a detailed masterplan to deliver an additional 4 million SQF of advanced manufacturing, laboratory, and office space – ensuring the 700-acre campus continues to power the UK’s science, technology, and industrial growth for years to come.