Sustainability Champions Programme

The Sustainability Champions Programme is an opportunity for passionate students to take on an additional role alongside their degree programme to help promote sustainable change. Student champions are organised into teams based upon their personal interests in environmental sustainability. These subject areas include nature, travel and transport, energy and carbon, sustainable food, reuse and recycling and our hedgehog champions. In teams, our champions plan and deliver events to promote sustainability, for instance events focused on reducing the environmental impact of Halloween as a celebration, demonstrating how the Champions programme is a vital mechanism in embedding sustainable thinking through community engagement and social practice. 

Find out more here. 

Imprinted Diagnostics

Imprinted Diagnostics, a University of Manchester spinout, has created a diagnostic device designed to redefine emergency cardiac care by delivering rapid, lab quality diagnostics at the point of need. The portable device delivers accurate troponin readings from a finger prick in under 30 minutes, dramatically reducing patient waiting times in emergency and critical care settings. By eliminating the need for external lab processing, frontline clinicians can make faster, life-saving decisions. After successful early tests on 50 patient samples, Imprinted Diagnostics is now preparing to scale up development, supported by a £75,000 UnitM innovation award from the University. 

Visit Imprinted Diagnostics to find out more. 

Building Bridges Project

Through the Building Bridges Project, we organise community gatherings across different venues in South Manchester to explore how to foster social cohesion and tackle hate crime. These events aim to bring together diverse communities, creating safe spaces to listen, share experiences, and build understanding. These local gatherings have enabled community members, including asylum seekers and Muslim residents, who were particularly affected by the unrest, to share their stories, hopes and fears, exploring how grassroots leaders can lead challenging but constructive conversations within their communities. To support this work, we facilitated mediated dialogue training for 20 local leaders involved in the project. The training, delivered by the Peace Collective, helped participants develop the skills needed to hold respectful and inclusive discussions on complex social issues. 

SEED Changemakers

SEED Change-makers is a student-led  initiative developed by the University’s School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED). It empowers undergraduate and postgraduate students to drive meaningful change. The programme provides a dynamic platform for students to transform their passions into impactful action through leading and collaborating on innovative social responsibility projects. For example, students launched the Give It, Don’t Bin It campaign to reduce waste left behind in student accommodation during move-out periods, and they have hosted thought-provoking lectures on active citizenship and rethinking sustainable community support.  

200 for 200: Bicentenary Recruitment Initiative

In 2024 were proud to create 200 meaningful employment opportunities for members of our local community. This initiative, led by the University in partnership with Aspire Recruitment, successfully reached and supported candidates from a wide range of underrepresented backgrounds. Of those engaged, 76.4% identified as BAME, 60.4% as female, 23.4% as LGBTQ+, and 12.4% declared a disability. 

EDI programmes for staff

We offer five EDI Leadership programmes, aimed at developing a diverse pool of leaders by equipping colleagues from groups that are statistically underrepresented in leadership. These programmes include: 

• Aurora: For colleagues who identify as women  

• Disability Leadership Training: For disabled academic, research and PS colleagues 

• LGBTQ+ Leadership Training: For LGBTQ+ academic, research and PS colleagues 

• Stellar HE: For Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse PS, academic and research colleagues  

• 100 Black Women Professors Now (BWPN): For colleagues who identify as women (+non-binary) from African / African Caribbean or mixed Black diaspora. This includes academic and research colleagues, and PhD students. 

Beyond the Creative City network

Through shared research and a knowledge exchange agenda, Creative Manchester’s Beyond the Creative City network brings together international academics from across disciplines including economics, urban planning, geography, sociology, cultural policy and creative practice. Together, the network is identifying challenges, producing peer-reviewed research, policy engagement and creative digital outputs for places and communities that have been previously left behind by national policy and investment.

At the University’s Productivity Institute, world-leading experts work directly with policymakers and businesses to better understand, measure and enable improvements in productivity across the UK, including living standards and wellbeing.

Improving quality of life for millions

With more than 300 million people worldwide suffering from serious fungal infections and 2 million of these individuals dying each year as a result, our researchers set about changing the understanding and treatment of Aspergillus disease to improve patient quality of life and survival.

Through international collaboration and research, Aspergillus antigen and antibody tests are now listed as essential diagnostics by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The world’s first frontline therapy for the disease has also been licensed, along with the creation of the world’s first national clinical centre for fungal disease.

Reducing carbon emissions in transport and industry

In collaboration with our University, researchers at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research worked alongside the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and a team of modellers at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency to devise ways to reduce carbon emissions in the transport and industry sectors.

With these sectors continuing to grow and low-carbon technologies still in their infancy, our researchers identified new ways to accelerate decarbonisation. By developing and applying a novel framework, they discovered that the greatest reductions came from cuts in carbon dioxide and energy intensity. Other contributing measures included less air travel, reduced transportation of fossil fuels and more locally-produced goods.

Partnership with Electricity North West Limited

Our researchers partnered with Electricity North West Limited (ENWL) to help it better manage its network, improve sustainability and save money for the company and customers. Researchers developed a matrix that can be used to model the relationship between network voltage and demand. They were then able to demonstrate how reducing the amount of energy used at peak times, creating less of a strain on the National Grid, could result in cost reductions for everyone. This has enabled ENWL to increase its customer base and connect more renewable energy sources to the network to help meet the UK government’s 2050 carbon-reduction targets.

Partnership with Arvia Technology

Our researchers partnered with water treatment company Arvia Technology to develop an electrochemical process that dramatically reduces wastewater pollution levels and enables water recycling across several industries.

Delivering on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 – ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all – the Arvia process has helped to reduce water demand and reliance on freshwater supplies, along with lowering pollutant levels from pesticides, pharmaceutical residues and natural hormones. The process is the first to use both capture and destruction methods to clean the wastewater. The solution has since been delivered to more than 25 companies in 11 countries.

Tackling complex issues in African cities

Funded by the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) was established by our Global Development Institute. In collaboration with international partners, the ACRC tackles complex problems in some of Africa’s fastest-growing urban areas. Working closely with local partners and NGOs over several years, the project integrates systems thinking with rigorous political analysis to help catalyse sustainable and inclusive urban development.

Supporting cultural strengthening and revitalisation

Our Manchester Museum welcomed a delegation from the Aboriginal Anindilyakwa community of Groote Eylandt for the formal return of 174 items of cultural heritage. Over a three-year period, the Museum worked with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and the Anindilyakwa Land Council to return items to their rightful home and inspire future generations.

Expanding our Kenyan partnership

The University has partnered with the Kenyan government predominantly focusing on bringing communities of clinicians, researchers and trainees together in Kenya and the UK to co-develop strategies and healthcare practices.

This ongoing collaboration now includes the Gender Equality Partnerships grant which aims to boost gender equity in leadership roles in both countries. Bringing together ten Kenyan and ten Manchester senior women from across academia and professional services for a 12-month programme, the strategy will pilot co-hosted events, diverse and inclusive leadership training, and cross-institutional mentoring and coaching. Its aim is to create and deliver an executive education programme for senior women in higher education and research that can be adapted to a global context.

Driving healthcare reform

We’re driving healthcare reform in India and helping to implement standardised treatment plans for cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children. Starting with the Tata Medical Centre (TMC) in Kolkata, we are helping to increase the provision and capacity of cancer care in the region, along with enhancing the skills of the clinical workforce. Survival rates subsequently rose from 65% in 2014 to 80% in 2019. This approach was a catalyst for change in India, which now boasts a national network of cancer centres linked by modern practices and standardised treatment.

SMARThealth

In East Java, Indonesia, Manchester’s researchers are working to increase the awareness of cardiovascular disease in low- and middle-income countries. In a two-year trial across eight villages, they screened 12,000 people over the age of 40 for heart disease.

After working with collaborators to design an algorithm to use within the SMARThealth app, the blood samples were analysed in real time to identify those at normal, medium and high risk. More than half of participants were identified as high risk and could be prescribed lifestyle changes or drugs. This resulted in a 14.5% reduction in the number of people at high risk following the trial. The screening has since seen a wider roll-out in the Malang district and will be scaled up to reach three million people in the region.

UNESCO City of Lifelong Learning

In 2024, Manchester was named a UNESCO City of Lifelong Learning. Our University is a key partner in making lifelong learning a reality for all, and supports the city as it becomes part of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) – made up of 64 cities from 35 countries.

Music in Mind

Our Creative Manchester research platform partners with Manchester Camerata on Music in Mind, a programme that uses music and improvisation to help people living with dementia to express themselves and communicate with others. It also trains and supports care workers to deliver the music workshops independently, so the programme can continue benefitting local communities. Music in Mind has since been awarded a grant to evaluate the impact of an online version of the programme and how it could be integrated into the fundamentals of the care practice in the future. The programme has also been taken abroad, to benefit partners in Sweden, Taiwan and Japan.

Smart Cities Initiative

Led by the Manchester Urban Institute and Sustainable Consumption Institute, the ‘smart cities’ initiative is looking at ways to optimise urban services, including energy, transport and water, as cities become increasingly pressured by drivers of change. Cities are constantly evolving and so require new technology and increasing engagement from industry, government and citizens to stay ahead. We’re working with companies like Siemens, as a global ambassador, to train the next generation of engineers equipped to advance the connectivity, efficiency and sustainability of smart cities. True smart cities must engage their citizens, so we are collaborating with other leading institutions and public sector organisations across Europe as part of SMARTiP – a project funded by the European Commission to empower citizens to become active and involved in their cities.

Providing insights on air pollution

In India, our researchers are helping to better understand the causes and impact of air pollution. With its chronic levels of air pollution, Delhi provided the perfect case study for this research.

In collaboration with the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, we’re exploring the connection between pollution and human health. Harnessing our strengths in computer modelling and the local knowledge and understanding found in Indian cities, the project is providing insights to help authorities make informed policy decisions.

Exploring the health of gig workers in the UK and China

Manchester researchers Martie Van Tongeren and Hua Wei are examining the impact of gig working on health and wellbeing in the UK and China. With 84 million gig workers in China and 7.25 million in the UK (as of the end of 2022), the sector makes up a significant percentage of the total workforce in both countries. The stress and pressure of working at speed, along with the emphasis and importance of customer feedback, could lead to mental health problems and burnout. This is further compounded by worries over pay and the rising cost of living.

The research looks at whether there is something unique about the app-based technology associated with gig work that increases the risk of stress and burnout. As the scale of the work continues to expand, the intention is to develop interventions to help gig workers combat the negative impact of their jobs on their health.

Technology and Economic Assessment Panel

The Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) is the “engine room” of the Montreal Protocol. It provides information updates through multiple reports that enabled the phaseout of CFCs to protect the ozone layer and now through the Kigali Amendment the phaseout of HFCs to mitigate global warming. The University of Manchester has supported the TEAP for over 30 years.

Rapid Access Diagnostics in Asthma Clinic

The Rapid Access Diagnostics in Asthma (RADicA) project is developing and testing new approaches to improve the accuracy of asthma diagnosis. RADicA has made a significant impact across both clinical practice and research. Patients who participated have seen a marked improvement in the accuracy of their diagnoses.  

University awarded Fairtrade University two-star status

The University of Manchester holds a Fairtrade University two-star status which recognises that we are: embedding Fairtrade into our strategy and operations; actively engaging students and staff in campaigns and education; supporting ethical procurement and supply chains; and collaborating with local and global partners to promote social justice.  

Give It, Don’t Bin It

The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester City Council and the British Heart Foundation are all working as a partnership to deliver our Give It, Don’t Bin It campaign. The campaign aims to help students donate their unwanted items to charity when moving property at the end of term.