Goal 3: Research
The University’s research activities play a key role in our approach to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Here’s a wider showcase of our work addressing Goal 3.
People with disorders are increasingly becoming ‘experts by experience’, playing key roles in the research process surrounding neurological and psychological disorders. In Manchester, Karen Leneh Buckle, an autistic person, and student at the University, chose to investigate autistic inertia, an overlooked aspect of living with autism. Karen’s 2021 research paper in Frontiers in Psychology was the first to describe this difficulty with stopping, starting, and changing tasks and has opened the door to many areas of further investigation to better understand autistic inertia and effective support strategies. Kern’s supervisors have now created practical guidelines for autism researchers to consider, increasing involvement, collaboration and trust between academics and the autism community.
A £6.95 million Global Health Research Unit on Neurodevelopment and Autism for children in South Asia is currently active with the help of University of Manchester expertise. The project began in September 2022 and is expected to conclude in August 2027. The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Neurodevelopment and Autism in South Asia Treatment and Evidence – known as NAMASTE – has been awarded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) using UK aid from the UK Government which supports global health research. NAMASTE builds on Manchester’s own autism programme and more than a decade of partnership with India, to implement a novel integrated detection-care pathway for young children with autism and their families in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal, using lay health workers.
A Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Manchester has been working with an international team of colleagues to create a pioneering research platform called ‘Virtual Labs’, which uses autonomous AI to retrieve and share relevant knowledge with research teams around the world who are now in a race to mitigate the impact of climate change. The technology will also help fast-track new research and innovation to support breakthroughs in diverse areas of study, from the development of new advanced materials to the design of new drugs.