The aim of the Dentists in Primary Schools project is to implement engaging oral health sessions in primary schools across Greater Manchester, especially those in socially deprived.  

A group of undergraduate students have taken the local Dentists in Primary Schools (DiPS) programme halfway across the world. Through International DiPS, students from the Manchester Pediatric Dentistry Student Society have introduced healthy oral hygiene habits to hundreds of young children in Kisumu, Kenya.  

Many of our students volunteer either here in Manchester, or elsewhere nationally or internationally. Through our annual Volunteer of the Year Awards, we want to take time every year to thank these volunteers for the skills, commitment and tens of thousands of volunteers hours given.

Manchester Museum is dedicated to fostering understanding and connection between cultures through its diverse year-round calendar of events, including celebrations such as Diwali, Iftar, and Vaisakhi Festival. These events invite people of all ages and backgrounds to immerse themselves in the traditions, stories, and spirit of each festival, creating meaningful opportunities for cultural exchange and shared experiences.

The Chrysalis Family Centre has served as the setting for a fruitful collaboration between the University and local refugees and asylum seekers, fostering both language skills and community building. The initiative, spearheaded by our politics department, began as an English-language conversation project. Every week, students meet with refugees and asylum seekers at the Chrysalis Centre, offering them a chance to practice English and engage with the broader community. As the Chrysalis Family Centre continues to thrive, the collaboration between Manchester students and local refugees remains a powerful testament to the positive impact of community engagement. 

Our Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences is working with farmers in Malawi, some of the poorest in the world, to help share knowledge about plant and soil management through delivering free workshops and building a laboratory that will be the first of its kind in the country. Malawi is ranked within the five poorest nations of the world and one of the least developed. Its agricultural sector accounts for a third of its GDP and approximately 80% of its overall exports. Agriculture clearly holds great potential for enhancing the social and economic development of communities in Malawi.

University of Manchester Physics Outreach (UMPO) is a student-led project that aims to increase the diversity of student participation in STEM-based subjects (primarily physics) through engaging outreach activities. These include workshops for both primary and secondary schools, and science demonstrations at markets in the form of ‘science busking’. The project received a Making a Difference Award for its outstanding contribution to widening participation. 

Manchester Museum has been named as a runner-up in Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024. The Museum received a prize of £15,000 as one of four runners-up, alongside Craven Museum, Dundee Contemporary Arts, National Portrait Gallery and Young V&A. 

Manchester Museum has been praised for the work it has done to collaborate with communities and foster a unique sense of belonging. The award-winning South Asia Gallery is co-curated with 30 people from the South Asian diaspora, and the Museum’s Top Floor has become a social and environmental justice hub, opening opportunities for educational and environmental charities to benefit from its collections, resources and research. 

NAYS Social Projects are a community empowerment program that seek to provide a platform and forum for Indonesia’s youth to apply and share their knowledge in addressing various issues in remote areas of Indonesia, where there is still significant inequality in access to essential sectors like education, economics, health, and the environment. The initiative received a Making a Difference Award for its outstanding contribution to equality, diversity and inclusion.  

Each year we throw open our doors for our local friends and neighbours to discover the variety of work we do here at the University. This free day is jam-packed with fun activities for all the family, including interactive demonstrations, musical and drama performances, and behind the scenes tours.   

Our Universally Manchester Festival offers an inviting, informal space for visitors to meet our staff and students and community partners, and for us to take part in conversations that connect and inspire. 

Sustainability Action Month is our biggest sustainability event of the year involves four weeks of interactive activities and events to enhance understanding of the climate crisis and showcase easy ways to embed sustainable practices at work, on campus, and at home. We share practical hints, tips, and solutions that we encourage you to embed in your everyday lives at work, on campus, and at home.  

Talk 200 is a lecture and podcast series from the University to mark our bicentenary: 200 years of making a difference. We’re reflecting on our past, celebrating our present and looking to the future – and Talk 200 invites listeners to be part of the journey.  

The series comprises a mix of in-person and live-streamed lectures and recorded podcast episodes. Our podcast host, Manchester aficionado, author and University of Manchester alumnus Andy Spinoza, is joined by a diverse line-up of guests from our community. Topics include health, digital and AI, climate change, equality and justice, and more. 

The Great Science Share for Schools is a pioneering campaign dedicated to fostering scientific curiosity and education among young learners (5-14 years). The campaign is centred around an annual programme of activity culminating in a large-scale sharing event on the second week of June each year.  

The GSSfS has been granted the prestigious patronage of the United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO in 2024. This recognition underscores the event’s profound alignment with UNESCO’s values, solidifying its status as a beacon of excellence in science education. 

Our University has been awarded a Platinum Watermark by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) which is the highest honour that can be granted to an institution. The award recognises our exceptional contribution to public engagement which includes the way we work to engage society with activities in research, teaching and culture. We received praise for our efforts in making campus more welcoming and accessible for community use, involving partners and communities in shaping the research and teaching at the University, and our significant commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Find examples of our local, national and international public engagement work here. 

Elimisha Msichana Elimisha Jamii na Astronomia (Swahili for “educate a girl, educate the entire community with Astronomy”) is a project founded by Faculty of Science and Engineering PhD student Ann Njeri. The project is addressing the issue of gender disparity and inequality in education amongst girls in rural Kenya and Uganda through outreach, mentorship, scholarships and targeted STEM workshop programmes which are guided by long-term student tracking and monitoring.

The Sri Lankan Civil War limited the influx of medical knowledge into the region for almost 30 years. Since then, healthcare practitioners of affected areas have been striving to update their practice to provide modern treatments for the local population. In 2011, the University of Manchester set up a continuous professional development (CPD) team in Sri Lanka, providing lectures to help improve healthcare knowledge and practice. Our academics visit each year and with support from our University and the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), have helped with capacity building, skill sharing programmes, student exchange opportunities and school community engagement projects.

Multilingual World is a podcast hosted by Dr Serge Sagne, a lecturer in linguistics and current lead of the Linguistic Diversity Collective where he explores  multilingualism and linguistic diversity across the globe. The video podcast features Dr Sagna in conversation with leading academics, and multilingual speakers living in Manchester where they discuss their relationship with language, identity and their experience learning, transmitting, and using languages in Manchester. The podcast production is supported by Creative Manchester. Visit and subscribe to the Multilingual World YouTube channel here.

Manchester Museum is taking action to Indigenise and decolonise its collections. As part of this, they have been hosting annual Indigenise Speaker Series, which brings together Indigenous scholars and projects from around the world to participate in activities and discuss how to empower Indigenous communities and collaborate with them at the museum.

The University has one of the UK’s most extensive programmes of work with local state schools and colleges. In accordance with the University’s access and participation plan with the Office for Students, we deliver a School Governor Initiative that helps staff and alumni to find volunteering placements as governors in local schools.

Being Human is the UK’s National Festival of the humanities, which celebrates how the discipline enriches everyday living and helps us understand a changing world. Each year, our researchers collaborate with local community and cultural partners to create exciting and engaging events and projects for all to enjoy.

Our annual ScienceX festival is a flagship off-campus event run by our Faculty of Science and Engineering. The festival strives to inspire the upcoming generations of scientists and engineers through an array of fun and captivating workshops and activities that offer a genuine insight into science and engineering. Previous years have included science tricks to dancing robots, meteorites, building towers and making graphene.