Updates
The team produce a quarterly newsletter to provide information on funding opportunities, events and internationalisation activity.
Download previous newsletters from our archive:
- Issue 1, May 2021
- Issue 2, September 2021
- Issue 3, January 2022
- Issue 4, May 2022
- Issue 5, October 2022
- Issue 6, March 2023
- Issue 7 - March 2024
In the future we are changing the way we communicate with you. We will use the Faculty announcements to signpost to articles on the FBMH Internationalisation Webpage We hope that this will allow us to update you more frequently and also highlight the useful content on our intranet. As ever, we welcome your thoughts and suggestions
Newsletters from the collaboration on regnerative immunology between the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Manchester:
Events
Seminar: Achieving Universal Health Coverage in Indonesia: Lessons from the JKN National Health Insurance
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Ali Ghufron Mukti
Professor Dr Ali Ghufron Mukti is a Professor from Universitas Gadjah Mada and has extensive expertise in health policy, health financing, and universal health coverage. He is a former President Director of BPJS Kesehatan, Indonesia’s National Health Insurance Agency, and Vice Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia. He previously chaired the preparatory working group for Indonesia’s National Health Insurance scheme and has held senior leadership roles across government, higher education, and global health.
Topic
Indonesia has made significant progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through the implementation of the Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN), one of the largest single-payer health insurance systems in the world. Launched in 2014, JKN now covers over 270 million people, representing a major policy achievement in expanding access to healthcare in a lower-middle-income country context.
This talk will provide an insider perspective on the design, implementation, and evolution of JKN, drawing on Professor Ghufron’s direct leadership experience. It will examine key policy and operational challenges, including financing sustainability, service delivery capacity, and equity in access, as well as strategies adopted to address these issues. The seminar will also reflect on lessons learned from Indonesia’s UHC journey, with implications for other countries pursuing large-scale health system reform.
The session will be of particular interest to those working in global health, health policy, and health systems research, offering practical insights into the complexities of implementing UHC in diverse and resource-constrained settings.
13 May 2026, 11.00-13.00 (in-person only)
Followed by tea, cake and networking
Please get in touch if you have suggestions, proposed speakers, or are interested in presenting or simply to be added to the mailing list.
New Meet & Greet with UoM & Uchile on Obesity and the Climate Crisis!
How are nutritional health and the climate emergency linked? We invite you to the third joint session between the University of Manchester and Universidad de Chile.
This is a space to connect, identify gaps in public policy, and take action through public health
📅 Date: 19th May
⏰ Time: 2:00 - 3:30 PM (UK) | 9:00 – 10:30 AM (CL)
📍 Place: Online (Zoom link will be shared after registration).
Our guest speakers are:
- Prof. Jedidah Mould: “Delivering nutritional education to underserved communities”.
- Prof. Lorena Rodríguez-Osiac: “Addressing obesity in the era of climate change: a transdisciplinary perspective”
- Prof. Arpana Verma: “How the Ottawa Charter at 40 needs to evolve to reduce obesity in light of the climate crisis and obesogenic environments, policy and practice”.
- Prof. Patricia Gálvez: “Rethinking food environments: practices, interactions and inequalities in the context of obesity and climate change”
We invite undergraduate and graduate students, academics, and researchers to join us. Register here
New Horizon Europe Support Fund Announced
Recognising the challenges often associated with developing EU funding bids, the University’s Research Committee has introduced a Horizon Europe Support Fund, offering targeted assistance for proposals across all pillars of the programme. The fund will provide:
- External grant‑writing support, with particular focus on Pillar II and European Research Council (ERC) applications.
- Consortium fees for applications across all Horizon Europe pillars.
- Other eligible interventions that directly strengthen or prepare EU funding submissions.
Funding is available on a rolling monthly deadline until fully allocated, with upcoming dates at 4pm on 30 April 2026, and 29 May 2026.
Further Support Resources
Further information on RDI support for Horizon Europe applications can be found on the dedicated internal page: Support for Horizon Europe bids.
News
Support for Horizon Europe Bids — RDI Team
The Support for Horizon Europe Bids page outlines extensive internal support available to researchers preparing proposals for Horizon Europe
🔧 What the RDI team can help with
💡 Discussing project idea suitability
📄 Interpreting call documentation and criteria
🧱 Structuring proposals for excellence, impact & implementation
✍️ Support editing proposal templates
👥 Coordinating internal peer review
🔎 Identifying partners internationally
📊 Benchmarking institutions (bibliometrics)
🏛️ Supporting partner workshops & networking
UKRI Horizon Europe Guarantee guidance updated
The latest version of the Horizon Europe Guarantee guidance document has been published on the UKRI website (PDF, 0.9MB) – also attached, with a number of updates relevant to ERC and MSCA Guarantee grants.
Key changes include:
- Updates on awards being issues & closed through the Funding Service (TFS)
- Clarification of total funding requested through the Guarantee
- Exchange rate updates for 2025
- Further guidance added on subcontracting and setting up applicants on IFS
- Policy clarifications on remote working and cascade funding
- MSCA: additional guidance on end-of-grant financial reporting, requirements for changing supervisor (PF), and expectations for ROs regarding contributions for recruited researchers.
Please check out our New Global Futures website
New Research Security Hub is here
All the information and guidance you need to keep you and your work secure
The University’s new Research Security Hub is now live, helping academics and PS staff keep themselves and their work safe as we face a complex international environment and therefore new and changing potential risks.
The Hub contains all the information, guidance and support colleagues will need as they carry out their work, whether it’s collaborating on research, managing data, information governance, travelling or working abroad, welcoming visitors, ATAS requirements or managing Export Controls.
The Hub also includes Government guidance from the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA), including its Trusted Research campaign to support the UK’s research community.
You can visit the Hub at:
Quantum leap for UK and Germany science and research links
South Korea to associate with Horizon Europe
Funding for ‘greener’ international travel
Colleagues say our top up fund for reducing emissions is easy to access – and opens up new ways of working
INTERNATIONAL VISITS UPDATE
Emerging and Developing International Partnerships and Initiatives
Kuwait
- FBMH met with National Technology Enterprises Company, Kuwait to discuss the possibility of developing a medical university in Kuwait
- NTEC is a fully owned subsidiary of the Kuwait Investment Authority
- A visit is planned to discuss possible plans further