Creating a fairer and greener energy supply

Our Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Tyndall Manchester have been collaborating with Electricity North West to help better manage its network, improving sustainability and saving money for the company and customers alike.

Our research with them addressed three key areas that impact electricity supply: smart distribution networks for managing supply with demand; managing power flow fluctuations; and assessing the carbon footprint of different network investment options.

Our work led to changes in their network investment, enhancing renewable energy sources and reducing energy bills for customers. This work could fundamentally change electricity supply in the UK, with approval being agreed for national rollout.

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.

UK river microplastic pollution

Researchers from our School of Environment, Education and Development have found a direct link between the disposal of untreated wastewater with raw sewage and microplastic contamination of river habitats.

Having highlighted the alarming levels of microplastic pollution in UK rivers and the evidence of poor regulation, our academics are now calling for urgent action by governments and regulators to protect our rivers.

#LetsTalkLynch campaign

We partnered with gynaecological cancer charity The Eve Appeal to raise awareness of our research into Lynch syndrome and what it means for cancer screening practices.

We created a series of short videos outlining this research, what it means, and the real stories of women and families who have been affected by Lynch syndrome and Lynch-related cancer.

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.

Students’ and women’s rights

Our students started a Misogyny Is Hate campaign, leading to the government directing police to record crimes motivated by a person’s sex or gender for the first time.

Our Students’ Union also runs Reclaim the Night, resulting in around 2,000 women marching in the streets each year to raise awareness of sexual harassment and gender-based violence.

On Gender

We produced On Gender to identify what we know – and what we need to know – about gender inequality in tackling the big policy agendas devolved to Greater Manchester and other areas, with devolution deals in areas such as ageing, labour markets, education, parenting and sexual violence.

Library and open access

Our University Library is one of only five National Research Libraries in the UK.

It offers reference facilities to north-west sixth-form and mature students and their teachers to help with A-level, vocational and Access course work.

ProjectInc

Our Manchester Museum hosts and partners with ProjectInc, a Specialist College for Creative Education, to make our cultural institutions more inclusive, engaging and creative for neurodiverse young people.

Imagine Me Stories

Our Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health partners with Manchester Metropolitan University and Keele University on Imagine Me Stories.

This is a school library diversity initiative designed to tackle under-representation in UK school libraries by curating diverse resources and promoting better representation in literature for all students.

Great Science Share for Schools

Our Science and Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub undertakes a range of public engagement campaigns.

These include the Great Science Share for Schools and the Greater Manchester Engineering Challenge, which enhances the University’s work in broadening the pipeline of young people with an interest in STEM subjects.

IntoUniversity Manchester North

We partner with the IntoUniversity Manchester North educational charity to support and engage some of the most disadvantaged young people in Manchester.

IntoUniversity helps young people to attain a university place or another chosen aspiration. 71% of its students progress to university, compared with 43% of students from similar backgrounds nationally.

Educating the region’s school children during lockdown to minimise disadvantage

During the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns of 2020, our partnership with the Tutor Trust charity provided online sessions to ensure disadvantaged students didn’t suffer the risk of falling behind in their education without regular teaching in the classroom.

Students from The University of Manchester make up more than half of those who work as Tutor Trust tutors in Manchester.

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) and professional programmes

We offer expert-led, free MOOCs and paid continued professional development courses in a wide range of subject areas, including civil engineering, business and management, healthcare ethics and law.

This includes a free Prometheus programme to support executive-level learning and development for UK third-sector professionals.

#BeeWell: Greater Manchester Wellbeing

Experts from our Manchester Institute of Education are working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and all of the city-region’s secondary schools on a pioneering #BeeWell project.

The first of its kind in the UK, this project will survey and create a dynamic online data dashboard on wellbeing, enabling teachers and leaders to use it as part of a continuous cycle of improvement.

This will provide evidence to inform local and national governmental policy for young people’s wellbeing.

Green spaces, health and wellbeing

Our Natural and Cultural Health Service is a programme of outdoor activities run by the Whitworth to promote good physical and mental wellbeing.

Staff, students and the public are also encouraged to use our FIRS botanical gardens to bring gardening, wellbeing and botany to more people.

Sports participation

Our Sporticipate programme serves to provide free and low-cost entry-level sport sessions for the University and wider community.

Sports staff also facilitate volunteering by colleagues and students for the good of local organisations.

Health Innovation Manchester

Health Innovation Manchester works to develop and deploy new solutions that improve the health and wellbeing of Greater Manchester’s 2.8 million citizens.

We work in partnership with other regional institutions, authorities and health experts to respond to healthcare challenges across Greater Manchester, and drive national and global innovation agendas in frontline care.

Humanising Healthcare

Our Humanising Healthcare initiative embeds community service and engagement within dentistry, pharmacy and optometry programmes.

It supports students to deliver essential healthcare and education to communities as part of the curriculum.

It also encourages global volunteering and the development of civic values and skills in the future health workforce.

Antibiotic guardians

Our Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has successfully established the Action on Antibiotic Drug Resistance: One Student. One Campus. One World programme.

We’re now working to create a wider student-led network with other universities in the north-west and across Africa.

Study programmes

We have the UK’s largest medical school and are the biggest provider of graduate healthcare professionals to the NHS in England’s north-west.

We also offer pioneering professional programmes in areas including global health, humanitarianism and international healthcare leadership.

On Air Quality

We published a collection of essays and policy recommendations highlighting the impact of air quality on health.

Kindling Trust

We support the Kindling Trust, a local organisation aiming to combat climate change, biodiversity loss, and economic inequity, by challenging and subverting the industrial food system. We buy vegetables through Kindling’s operatives and have taken shares in Kindling Farm – a new blueprint for fair, organic and ecological farming.

Take a Bite out of Climate Change

Our Take a Bite out of Climate Change partnership aims to share the scientific consensus about how food and agriculture contribute to climate change. It funds easily accessible information and fun activities for citizens such as Climate Food Flashcards, Farming for the Future workshops and the free e-book Food and Climate Change – Without the Hot Air.

Manchester Central Foodbank

Since its inception in 2013, the UK’s first student-led and campus-based foodbank, Manchester Central Foodbank, has helped thousands of local citizens with food insecurity.

This included developing an online store and delivery system for vulnerable and isolated people, and providing 70,000 meals during the pandemic in 2020.