DURHAM University chiefs are said to be "elated" after the technology titan IBM signed an agreement to work more closely with the North-East university.

In the long term, the move is likely to lead to the creation of more jobs with IBM for Durham University graduates.

By signing a formal memorandum of understanding with the multinational corporation known as Big Blue the two parties have agreed to deepen their relationship in terms of shared research, It is one of only fourteen strategic partnerships between IBM and UK universities. The agreement will encourage links across both organisations and multi-disciplinary interaction across research, teaching and learning, student experience and employability.

The areas of specialised research will include high performance computing, Smarter Cities (the use of city data to deliver sustainable and high quality of life), digital humanities (applying computing to humanities subjects) and big data analytics (extracting knowledge from large complex datasets).

Durham University and IBM have a relationship going back many years; for example, IBM has supplied equipment for and supported the fourth and fifth generations of the high performance computer known as the "Cosmology Machine".

This is used to simulate the evolution of the universe and its galaxies and explore theories of Dark Matter.

Dr Jennifer Thompson, Durham University's head of business engagement, said: "We are also delighted to have two Durham students accepted onto IBM's Extreme Blue summer internship program this year, one from Physics and one from Business Management. This continues the strong track record of success for Durham students on the program, which is highly competitive with only 16 places available each year.

"Additionally, we have four Durham University computer scientists heading to IBM's Winchester laboratory for software development internships this summer. The IBM Research Centre in Dublin has also hosted two visits of academic researchers from the University over the last six months.

"We are elated by these developments and very much looking forward to taking our research and teaching collaborations in new directions in the future."