Professor Richard Jones to retire

13 May 2025

Vice-President, Regional Innovation and Civic Engagement to step down in September

Professor Richard Jones, Vice-President, Regional Innovation and Civic Engagement is to retire at the end of September, 2025.

Richard joined the University in 2020 from Sheffield University, as Professor of Materials Physics and Innovation Policy. He was appointed Vice-President in 2021. Since then, he has been a key part of our university’s partnerships in Greater Manchester, working closely with Andy Burnham and the Combined Authority alongside many businesses, other GM universities, and FE colleges.

He is the Independent Science Advisor to Innovation GM, which brings together Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the universities and the private sector to coordinate Greater Manchester’s innovation strategy.

Recently, Richard has also been working on developing our burgeoning relationship with Cambridge which aims to boost growth and develop a more inclusive economy, so everyone can benefit from the opportunities created by innovation.

Richard’s retirement follows a long career as a materials physicist working in the UK and US. In 2006 Richard was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, in recognition of his work in the field of polymers and biopolymers at surfaces and interfaces, and in 2009 he won the Tabor Medal of the UK’s Institute of Physics for his contributions to nanoscience.

Richard has also written extensively about innovation policy and regional economic growth, and is a member of the Productivity Institute, which is based at the University. His work highlighting regional disparities in research and development funding has influenced national policy, resulting in a heightened focus on place in UKRI, and new funding streams coming to Manchester, such as the Innovation Accelerator pilot.

He said: “The University of Manchester is a globally significant research university in a great city. The relationship between the University and its city region is uniquely close, and I’ve relished the opportunity, working with great colleagues in the University, to develop that relationship further and to emphasise the importance of research and innovation in strengthening the economy and improving people’s lives.”

President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Duncan Ivison said: “I’ve said that one of Manchester’s superpowers is its deep connectivity with the city and region and Richard has made an invaluable contribution to building and sustaining those relationships. Innovation and civic engagement are going to be critically important to our 2035 strategy, and thanks to Richard, we have an extraordinary foundation upon which to build. I wish him all the best for his retirement.”