We have established a atmospheric monitoring station at The University’s Jodrell Bank Observatory to improve the accuracy of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions estimates. The station, part of the UK’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measurement and Modelling Advancement (GEMMA) programme, will monitor and provide crucial data on key climate-relevant gases, including carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O). A new high-precision analyser for monitoring atmospheric hydrogen (H₂) is also being deployed at the site to monitor atmospheric hydrogen (H₂) generated through the growth of the UK’s hydrogen economy.

The University of Manchester has launched the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Manchester Centre of Research Excellence to support world-class cardiovascular disease research from the leading charity. The University matched BHF’s funding, bringing the total investment in cardiovascular disease research at Manchester to £8 million.

The University of Manchester in collaboration with the Kisii County Health Ministry and Kisii University, is addressing gaps in the emergency care system, particularly in rural areas where systems are underdeveloped. The Kisii Emergency Care Project is a multi-pronged initiative designed to build a sustainable and effective emergency care system, aiming to improve healthcare delivery in Kisii and across Kenya. 

To support the development of an emergency care system aligned with the Kenyan Emergency Medical Care Strategy, our University teams are helping design and implement a new emergency care model for Kisii. This model could eventually be expanded to other regions of Kenya. The project focuses on strengthening the chain of survival in emergency care through five key areas: Emergency Call Centre, Community First Responders, Ambulance Service, Specialist Emergency Nursing, and Accredited Specialists in Emergency Medicine. 

Each year we launch a report which highlights how we are addressing key issues facing humanity as set-out by the United Nations.  As the UK’s first university to have social responsibility as a core goal, we’ve developed a strategy to tackle the SDGs in four inter-related ways: through our research, learning and students, public engagement and operations.   

Our latest SDG report shows that the University published over 22,000 pieces of research on the SDGs in the past five years, which is 4% of the UK’s entire share of publications. It details teaching and learning programmes that address the SDGs, such as our ‘Creating a Sustainable World’ interdisciplinary unit. 

One Bin to Rule Them All is a project funded by a UK Research and Innovation Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Grant on Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging. Bringing together material scientists with social science and business models, the project uses an interdisciplinary approach to tackle the issue of plastic recycling. The project aims to improve plastic recycling by developing ‘One Bin’ to hold all plastic-like items. 

Alliance Manchester Business School and Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR) are developing a more precise understanding of the productivity challenges in the construction sector and hope to uncover ways in which more sustainable practices can deliver productivity improvements. The research project focuses on solutions for the UK market and involves extensive collaboration with industry. Importantly, the ultimate aim is to help advance towards the UK’s net-zero target and improve productivity growth targets.

The University 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.

Our Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics is using its global research status to advance innovative STEM training and infrastructure development for research communities across Africa.

This includes the Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy and Big Data programmes, supporting self-sustaining research communities and investment in new research infrastructure in Africa.

Our Digital Futures network of 1,500 researchers across 30 disciplines is working with citizens, businesses and government to help understand and drive digital innovation.

We’re part of Health Innovation Manchester – an integrated ecosystem to discover, develop and deploy new solutions to improve the health and wellbeing of Greater Manchester’s 2.8 million citizens.

Our Henry Royce Institute is a UK national institute for advanced materials research and innovation. Our National Graphene Institute and Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre provide an innovation ecosystem to research and develop graphene and other 2D material applications in areas such as energy storage, nanomedicine and water purification.

Our Alliance Manchester Business School hosts The Productivity Institute – a new UK-wide £32 million research organisation exploring what productivity means for business, for workers and for communities, how it is measured and how it contributes to increased living standards and wellbeing.

It will help pinpoint the causes of stagnation in UK productivity and lay foundations for sustained and inclusive productivity growth by directly informing government policies and business strategies to improve productivity.

Energy is one of our five research beacons and we have more than 600 academics addressing sustainable energy challenges.

Our On Energy publication is a collection of thought-leadership pieces from a selection of our staff, bringing together expert commentary, analysis and policy recommendations on issues such as climate change, fuel poverty, energy storage, and the economic viability of nuclear power and multi-energy systems.

Our academics are part of a collaboration to improve cardiovascular care in Indonesia.

The team trained local health workers (kaders) on cardiovascular disease, risk factors and the technical use of an app called SMARThealth, benefiting 48,000 people.

Our Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering is examining how electronic engineering can improve food supply and sustainable energy production without increased pressures on our land.

E-Agri Manchester is using e-devices for reducing waste, increasing yields and making crops more resilient.

We also work on sustainable agriculture with the eight most research-intensive universities in the north of England through an N8 AgriFood programme.