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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

The University of Manchester and The University of Cambridge cross-UK innovation partnership

The University of Manchester and The University of Cambridge has been awarded £4.8 million by Research England to accelerate inclusive growth and innovation collaboration. As the first cross-UK innovation partnership, it pioneers innovative research in ecosystem activation and integration; growing investment; and testing and learning.  

Advancing urban reform in Nairobi

The African Cities Research Consortium (ACRC) is a collaborative research programme, funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), designed to address the complex urban development challenges in Africa’s rapidly changing cities.  

Led by the Global Development Institute at The University of Manchester, ACRC aims to generate robust insights and evidence that will improve living conditions and urban services for all city residents, especially disadvantaged communities. 

In Nairobi, Kenya, ACRC is utilising research processes to bring together key stakeholders from local communities and government to navigate contentious urban issues. The initiative aims to establish new approaches across the city and beyond. Nurturing coalitions of urban reform champions is also a key focus at the city level. This work is being led by teams from cities, Slum Dwellers International (SDI), the University of Nairobi, Strathmore University, LVCT Health, and others, with support from the Global Development Institute. 

Findings from ACRC research highlight a range of urban development challenges in Nairobi and provide several recommendations for advancing urban reform in the city.

Unit M

The University has launched a capability, Unit M, to rethink how it supports the region’s innovation economy. With a mandate to drive the University’s new approach to innovation, Unit M will connect and catalyse the innovation ecosystem in Manchester and the wider region to accelerate inclusive growth.

Venture Further Awards

The Venture Further Awards is an annual start-up competition for all students and recent graduates that offers a £100,000 prize fund. The competition introduces students to a world of support programmes, workshops, mentors and networks to grow their ideas. The entries need to be a viable and credible business proposal that has the potential to succeed. If the entry is successful, the student will be asked to pitch their business proposal to a panel of expert judges for a chance to win one of the cash prizes.

University of the Year

The University was awarded the prestigious title of University of the Year at the 2024 Educate North Awards. The recognition is a testament to two centuries of outstanding contributions in learning, innovation, and research, cementing our position as a global leader in higher education.

The Greater Manchester Citizens Panel

The Greater Manchester Citizens Panel contributes to the strategic direction of the Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement, Greater Manchester Universities and research projects at the University of Manchester. 

The panel’s role is to analyse, understand, and act on the views of citizens across the city region. The panel is also supporting researchers at The University of Manchester to connect their work with the citizens of Greater Manchester. 

Making Manchester Fairer

University of Manchester academics are working closely with Manchester City Council to tackle health inequalities.  

Making Manchester Fairer is Manchester City Council’s action plan to address health inequalities in the city. The plan draws on lived experiences and research to address the socioeconomic factors that drive inequalities between people with the worst health and people with the best health. 

UNESCO City of Learning

The city of lifelong learning approach is a movement of people, services, and place, to connect, validate and nurture learning, to support the city economy and to promote high quality and inclusive learning, for all aspects of our life. 

Manchester has become a UNESCO City of Lifelong Learning, in recognition of outstanding efforts to make lifelong learning a reality for all, with the University of Manchester as a strategic partner. The University of Manchester is proud to be leading on digital skills as part of Manchester City Council’s lifelong learning approach. 

Partnership working with Greater Manchester’s Further Education Colleges

Further Education colleges are working in partnership with the Greater Manchester Civic University Board and the University of Manchester to mutually benefit and to connect the higher and further education sectors across the city region.  

We caught up with Richard Caulfield the lead for the Further Education partnership to find out why partnership working is important across the sector. 

Manchester Purple Wave

The Purple Wave is a UoM Sport initiative designed to bring our community together to celebrate physical activity and shared experiences. It’s all about participation, not elite performance – just having fun, making friends, and being active with like-minded people. As part of this, people can become a Purplewave fundraiser, raising money at events like the Great Manchester Run. Over the years, hundreds of wonderful fundraisers have raised tens of thousands of pounds to support good causes right here on campus. From rebuilding the Paterson Cancer Research building to providing disadvantaged students with scholarships – brilliant Purple Wave fundraisers have helped make some amazing things happen for our community.

One World Together

One World Together, co-founded by the University’s Global Development Institute, Dr Nicola Banks, is an innovative social enterprise rooted in principles of trust, solidarity and equity. It shifts money and decision-making power to the organisations closest to communities. With partners in Manchester, the North-West of England, Kenya and Zambia, One World Together brings local voices and experiences to the forefront of the movement, deepening their supporters’ understandings of poverty and inequality and of why local actors are so important to overcoming these.

Sister, £1.7bn innovation district

Previously known as ID Manchester, Sister is a joint venture between The University of Manchester and Bruntwood SciTech. The project will see the transformation of the University’s former North campus into a 4 million sq ft globally competitive innovation district and will help elevate Manchester’s position as a national centre for science and technology.

It will deliver commercial, innovation, and retail space, over 1,500 new homes, nine acres of public realm, and create more than 10,000 new jobs, training, and apprenticeship opportunities for people across Greater Manchester.

Addressing gender disparity in Kenya and Uganda

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.

Write on Point

Write on Point is a project which aims to widen participation to university by supporting students from under-represented backgrounds with their UCAS personal statements. It was developed by Tom Fryer, a PhD student from the University’s Institute of Education, after he noticed the wealth of research showing inequalities in access to support for getting into university. The project has supported over 1,400 students since it started in 2015, increasing university access and reducing the stress around the UCAS personal statement.

Undergraduate courses and the SDGs

Our University is working towards kite-marking all undergraduate courses with the relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) they address. This will enable prospective students to immediately see which SDGs the course they are interested in links to and how that learning will make a difference in the world. Following the successful pilot project in our Faculty of Science and Engineering, work is now underway for all undergraduate courses to be kite marked within our Faculty of Humanities, followed by courses offered by our Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health.

Greater Manchester Graduates

Each year, over 17,000 students graduate from The University of Manchester, many of whom are already making contributions to our city and beyond through healthcare, education and protecting the natural environment.  At each graduation ceremony, we celebrate our graduates and ask them ‘how do they hope to make a difference following their degree?’ Watch our Greater Manchester Graduates YouTube playlist.

Fallowfield community project

Fallowfield community project is a long-term initiative to reduce the waste and fly-tipping issues and to improve recycling rates on the Fallowfield Brow. Students from our University volunteer alongside local residents, Manchester Student Homes, Manchester City Council and Biffa to remove litter from an alleyway, clear weeds and install new planters to make a positive impact on the local community and the environment.

Creating prosperous communities

We’re unique among UK universities in having social responsibility as a core goal in our strategic plan, Our Future. Our vision for prosperous communities is to increase economic well being, develop new sectors, innovate, and improve productivity for all people and all areas of our city region. We’re using our knowledge and discovery to enhance innovation in key economic sectors of the national and regional economy through initiatives and also working in partnership and sharing our knowledge and expertise locally and nationally to advance prosperity by prioritising University engagement on national and regional economic policy developments.

Making a Difference Awards

Each year, we host the Making a Difference Awards to celebrate the incredible and inspiring work of our University community. The awards highlight the extensive range of social responsibility initiatives of our staff, students, alumni and external partners, and covers categories such as benefit to research; widening participation; environmental sustainability and equality, diversity and inclusion.

Global University Social Responsibility MOOC

Our university has contributed to the Global University Social Responsibility Massive Online Open Course (MOOC), which allows users to learn about the general framework of university social responsibility as well as understand effective practices to design, plan, implement, and evaluate their own activities.