Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD)

Our recently constructed Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD) is creating an environment for the brightest engineers to innovate.

Manchester Innovation Labs

Our Manchester Innovation Labs provide a robust, effective means of co-developing research projects with companies to address a business need.

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships

We have been placed top in the UK for our knowledge transfer partnerships.

Through our structure and funding support, we place graduates to support businesses in addressing key innovation challenges.

Manchester Enterprise Challenge

Our students are able to undertake an Enterprise Challenge, which combines enterprise units with a community-based enterprise project with not-for-profit organisations.

Masood Entrepreneurship Centre

Our Masood Entrepreneurship Centre is a focal point for enterprise and entrepreneurship in our Alliance Manchester Business School, developing entrepreneurial skills in students, staff and graduates.

Fostering innovation through study programmes

We deliver undergraduate programmes in Innovation, Strategy and Entrepreneurship, master’s programmes in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship.

We also integrate industrial experience into a wide range of science, engineering, health and social science programmes.

Living wage

As an accredited Living Wage Employer, our 10,000+ staff are paid at least the voluntary living wage level in the UK set by the Living Wage Foundation.

Innovation GM

We’re working with leading innovators from business, science, academia and local government to develop Innovation GM – a new partnership to form the basis of a collaboration deal with government to create as many as 100,000 new jobs and boost the economy by £7 billion.

Good employment

Our Alliance Manchester Business School has partnered with regional organisations and authorities to create the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, which aims to advance decent work and employment standards across our city region.

We have also joined campaigns with Citizens UK to highlight our role as a living wage organisation.

Workplace Ethics Challenge

Our Workplace Ethics Challenge empowers third-year undergraduates with skills and experiences on fairness in work and helps them stand out in a competitive graduate job market.

Work experience bursaries

We recognise there are barriers for some of our students in accessing appropriate work experience.

We offer financial support for full-time undergraduates of all years to undertake career-enhancing work experience for those who otherwise couldn’t have afforded it.

Promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth through study programmes

Our students are learning about how to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.

For example, our undergraduate Management degree has a specialisation in Sustainable and Ethical Business. Our master’s students in Development Economics and Policy learn about contemporary economic theories, applications and methods relevant to developing and transitional economies.

University investments

We have a University policy (PDF) on divesting from carbon- intensive energy industries.

Our entire investment portfolio is going through a staged disinvestment based on carbon intensity as well as fossil fuel reserves and extraction.

Manchester Energy and Environment Society

Our student-led Manchester Energy and Environment Society brings energy-related events to the University.

It also bridges the gap between students and academics working in renewable energy and the environment through networking and sharing knowledge on renewable and low carbon energy.

Venture Further

Our £75,000 annual Venture Further start-up competition is for all current students, researchers and recent graduates.

One of the competition’s categories is for business ideas aligned to SDG 7 – Affordable and clean energy.

Boosting sustainable energy through study programmes

Our Contemporary Themes in Chemistry unit enables students to appreciate the role chemistry plays in tackling sustainability, energy and the environment.

Our Energy, Society and Space in Geography unit examines scientific and political issues associated with energy provision and demand.

Our master’s unit in Renewable Energy and Clean Technology equips students with a detailed understanding of solar, wind and marine energy generation technologies.

Sustainable urban drainage

We utilise sustainable water extraction technologies on associated university grounds off campus.

This includes using sustainable urban drainage techniques to minimise surface water run-off and flood risks in an environmentally friendly way by mimicking natural water systems such as ponds, wetlands, swales and basins.

Water procurement

We sell exclusively One Water on campus, an ethical company that donates all of its profits to fund clean water systems in Africa while costing the same as other water brands.

Female sanitation

We’ve worked with our Students’ Union and current Women’s Officer to initiate and fund a new scheme providing free period products for our students, helping to combat period poverty and ensure sanitation for all.

Tap water

Staff and students can request free tap water to fill water bottles at 41 free dispensers in University buildings and 1,200 bathrooms, 800 of which are publicly accessible.

Clean water and sanitation study programmes

We deliver cutting-edge teaching on clean water and sanitation. For example, Civil Engineering students take a course unit on water engineering, which covers water and wastewater treatment and resource management.

Master’s students in Environmental Monitoring, Modelling and Reconstruction are offered a unit on water movement that looks at solutions to groundwater contamination.

Gender equality policies

Our Equality and Diversity Policy prevents discrimination based on gender and/or sex.

Our Dignity at Work and Study Policy covers harassment and discrimination against women.

Our Report and Support system addresses alleged cases of bullying, sexual harassment or discrimination.

Gender pay gap

Our Gender Pay Gap report measures differences between the average (mean and median) earnings of men and women who work at our university.

The median gender pay gap (GPG) is 11.8%, while the mean is 17.2%, which is caused by the under-representation of women in senior roles.

We therefore aim to increase the number of women who are senior lecturers, readers and professors (currently 32%) until they are representative of the pool of women at lecturer level (currently 47%).

Inclusive work schemes

We recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work, which can often fall disproportionately on women.

We therefore strive to provide a range of policies and schemes that promote shared caring and domestic responsibilities.

These include our Parental Leave policies, provision of our two subsidised campus nurseries, and our new policy to trial hybrid working, which will support greater inclusion and flexibility for our staff.

Women in STEM

We have a range of initiatives that empower women and girls to enter predominantly male fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Our academics have set up ScienceGrrl – a grassroots network to address the under-representation of women in science and engineering.

A Women in Environmental Science group has been established to create space for environmental discussion among women from diverse backgrounds.

We also host Girls Night Out – a twice-yearly event at our Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre to celebrate and encourage females to pursue careers in STEM.

In partnership with the Manchester United Foundation, our Girls in STEM Day programme invites 12- and 13-year-old girls to campus to celebrate National Engineering Day.