Directory of activities

Search these pages to explore a selection of our directory of activities. You can use the keyword search and filter buttons to discover how we are addressing each of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and the five priorities in our Social Responsibility and Civic Engagement Plan. You can also filter activities by location and function.



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Talking Science Competition

Each year, the University’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) hosts the ‘Talking Science Competition’ where second year undergraduate students and above are invited to share their ideas on how science can create a healthier, fairer and greener world, creating a unique opportunity to talk about a subject that really matters to them.

Top floor of Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum’s Top Floor is a space for people to come together to learn, share ideas and connect with the community. You’ll find education groups, charities, artists, writers, staff and students co-working and collaborating here, with a shared commitment to social and environmental justice. The Museum has also appointed Hannah Hartley as the Environmental Action Manager, where she works across all areas of the museum to drive forward its ambitions in environmental thinking and action, establishing sustainable practices, and building on the Museum’s rich experience in developing narratives and programming in response to the climate crisis.

Historic links with slavery

Dr Natalie Zacek, Senior Lecturer in American Studies and Professor Nalin Thakkar, Vice President for Social Responsibility have conducted preliminary research that analyses the connections between the University’s predecessor institutions and historical slavery. This research has been carried out in response to our Race Matters report. The article has initiated new conversations that seek to address the implications, responsibilities and opportunities for the University to develop a deeper understanding of the past.

School Governor Initiative

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.

Working with Industries to Prevent Aquatic Ecosystem Damage

Our work in hydrology and hydrochemistry to understand metals, carbon and gases in water systems has led to the development of a highly successful spin-out company, Salamander, which has brought to market two cutting-edge pieces of water monitoring software – chloroclam and hydroclam – which are being used in industry to improve water and marine system monitoring. We have also undertaken work to understand hypoxia – dead fish zones – which has directly informed marine industry practice on aquatic ecosystems.

Renewable energy pledge

100% of our electricity consumption is backed with REGO (‘Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin’) certification. This means that for every megawatt (or 1,000kWh) of electricity the University consumes, the equivalent volume of electricity is generated from renewable sources.

We encourage our staff, students and our local community to make a similar move to renewable energy suppliers!

Social responsibility partnerships

Examples of our civic partnerships include:

We also prioritise global partnerships to advance our work towards the SDGs. These include:

Public engagement partnerships

We partner with a range of organisations to carry out meaningful public engagement with diverse audiences and share ideas and research as well as inspiring informed discussion, debate and creativity.

Examples include:

University governance

We have a duty to conduct our affairs in a responsible and transparent way.

The Board of Governors is our governing body, carrying ultimate responsibility for our overall strategic direction and for the management of our finances, property and affairs generally, including the employment arrangements for all staff. Its membership of 23 has a majority of persons who aren’t employed by the University, known as lay members and its Chair is appointed by the Board from within the lay category of the membership. Members of our Senate, support staff and student representatives are also elected to serve on the Board.

The General Assembly is a much larger body than the Board of Governors. In common with the Board, it has a majority of lay members. Lay members are drawn from a wide range of local, regional and national interests, and together they offer the University a wealth of experience and expertise from differing perspectives and backgrounds. 

Socially responsible policies

Our Anti-Corruption and Bribery Policy takes a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption in all of our University operations.

Our Academic Freedom Policy and Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech ensures staff can put forward new ideas and controversial or unpopular opinions without placing themselves at risk of losing their jobs or any privileges.

Our Policy for Socially Responsible Investment pursues an ethical investment approach. We’ve also signed up to the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment.

Biodiversity on campus

The Firs is located on the University’s Fallowfield campus and houses a suite of facilities for environmental research, monitoring and engagement.

Our UNESCO World Heritage site, Jodrell Bank, is another area rich in biodiversity. 

To help promote biodiversity on campus, we’ve developed:

  • an online, interactive campus Tree Trail highlighting 50 of the 1,500 trees across Oxford Road Campus, North Campus and Whitworth Park.
  • a tree plan requiring the planting of two trees for every one removed by our campus developments.
  • UMAPIT (University of Manchester Animal Positions and Information Tracker) – a bespoke app to allows the public to record sightings of urban wildlife species.

We’ve also transformed a former road into Brunswick Park – a pocket park to enhance green space and wellbeing on campus.

 

 

Making labs greener

Leading the way in achieving the University’s pledge to eliminate avoidable single-use plastic usage, staff in our School of Biological Sciences are reducing single-use plastics in the lab through adoption of a 6R approach.

This has included:

  • refining protocol and optimising waste management;
  • reducing single-use items;
  • re-using materials, plastic containers and gloves;
  • using recycled material;
  • replacing plastics where possible with glass, paper or wood.

Watershed management

We’ve implemented watershed management strategies based on location-specific diversity of aquatic species.

These ensure flow rates of water run-off in our urban environment are decreased and water quality is improved, including reducing flow into our local River Medlock on campus.

At our rural Jodrell Bank site, we’ve also reduced flow into our local watercourses, protecting the great crested newt – a protected species that relies on aquatic life.

Social Value Portal

We’ve become the first higher education institution in the UK to adopt the Social Value Portal, the leading online tool that helps organisations prioritise and measure their social value when they procure, or pay for, major services.

Cultural institutions

Our four key cultural institutions – the Manchester Museum, the Whitworth, John Rylands Research Institute and Library and Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre – provide access to more than a million visitors each year to engage with buildings, collections, monuments and natural heritage landscapes, advancing how our city and region can be inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Equality marks

  • Stonewall Top 50 employer for LGBTQ+ equality
  • Bronze Award for Race Equality (use logo)
  • 15 Athena SWAN Chartermarks for Gender Equality
  • Care Leaver Covenant signed to support care leavers to live independently.
  • University of Sanctuary status in support of our work with refugee and asylum seeker students

Diversity monitoring

Our latest Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) annual report shows that:

  • 3% of employees disclosed that they are disabled
  • 9% of staff declare they are Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic
  • 5% of our staff are female
  • 8% of staff classify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or other
  • 22% of students are the first in their immediate family to gain a degree
  • 1.1% of students (407) are from low or lower-middle income countries as defined by the World Bank.

Equity and Merit Programme

Our Equity and Merit Programme supports the brightest minds from some of the least developed countries in Sub-Saharan Africa – Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe – to develop skills for sustainable development in their home countries.

Thanks to funding by the University and the generosity of our donors, more than 300 international students have completed master’s programmes with us.

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