Goal 9: 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 9.

Investigating the Housing and Construction Sector’s Role in Net-Zero Challenges

A research team from the Alliance Manchester Business School and Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR) is working on a project for The Productivity Institute: ‘Addressing the net-zero and productivity challenges: How could the housing and construction sector play a key role?’. The team is looking to develop 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.

University Researcher Gives Evidence to Support Levelling Up through R&D

A researcher at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research at the University has given a speech at the Geography of Innovation international conference held in Milan, Italy in July to support an increase in R&D (research and development) public spending across the UK regions. This comes after concerns that the regional sub-national R&D is unevenly distributed, with London and the South East (LSE) accounting for 54% of the UK’s private R&D spending and 52% of the UK Government’s R&D expenditure. On Productivity a report written by experts from our University also seeks to understand and address gaps in economic performance across the UK.

Using AI to Tackle Humanity’s Greatest Challenges

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.