The Institute for International Research in Glass promotes and facilitates research in Glass at a national and international level. It is part of the University of Sunderland, located in the National Glass Centre on the bank of the river Wear.

The University of Sunderland is a public research university located in Sunderland in the North East of England. Its predecessor, Sunderland Technical College, was established as a municipal training college in 1901. It gained university status in 1992. It now has campuses in Sunderland, London and Hong Kong, and has about 27,000 students.