President's weekly update
11 September 2014
You may have seen in the news that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, was in Manchester this week, accompanied by the Minister for Universities, Science and Cities, Greg Clark and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences, George Freeman.
During his visit, Professors Colin Bailey and Kostya Novoselov updated the Chancellor on our research on graphene and other two dimensional materials in our School of Physics and Astronomy, where the Chancellor also saw demonstrations of graphene applications. After this, he made a press statement which included the announcement of our Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, known as the GEIC. This new £60 million facility will be critical in the development of commercial applications and in maintaining the UK’s world-leading position in graphene and related 2-D materials. You can find out more at:
While he was in Manchester the Chancellor also officially opened ‘City Labs’ which is a spectacular refurbishment of the old Eye Hospital on Oxford Road to develop space for life sciences companies. It has been developed by Manchester Science Parks (MSP) in which we have some ownership, in partnership with the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT).
I joined a panel discussion with Mike Deegan (Chief Executive of the CMFT), Sir Richard Leese (Leader of Manchester City Council), George Freeman and Nick Costa (Business Development Director of Nuffield Health) to discuss the future of biomedical research and healthcare delivery in Manchester and nationally.
Later in the day the Chancellor led a discussion of science in the North in the James Chadwick Building with representatives of five northern cities and their universities; Greg Clarke; Lord Heseltine and Sir Mark Walport, the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor and co-chair with me of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology (CST). Jim O’Neill, an eminent economist, who holds an honorary chair with our University, presented his findings on northern cities and economic growth.
In between this and a short trip to London, I attended, and presented at, a fantastic conference on ‘inflammation’ which was hosted by the British Society of Immunology and our University. The conference, which was packed and over-subscribed, addressed major aspects of inflammation in disease. I talked about our work on inflammation and brain disease. The success of the conference was down to the fantastic efforts of the organising committee, led by Dr David Brough from the Faculty of Life Sciences. Dave was my PhD student, so I can reflect in the success of the conference!
A number of my senior colleagues and I met with the new members of The University of Manchester Students’ Union executive team for an informal early supper. It was great to see the enthusiasm and ideas from the new executive members and we look forward to working with them. I hope they enjoyed the ‘doggie bags’ of the food we didn’t manage to eat!
I had dinner with Juergen Maier, Chief Executive of Siemens UK, who also holds an honorary professorship at our University and has many other roles, for example as Chair of the Northwest Business Leadership Team. We discussed the partnership between the University and Siemens and much about promoting the strengths of science in the North West.
As part of the AstraZeneca board science committee meeting at Alderley Park we received an update on the BioHub at the Cheshire site. This is seeking to bring life sciences companies to Alderley Park and is enjoying remarkable success with several hundred people and many new companies relocating to fantastic premises. We updated the Chancellor on the success during his visit to Manchester.
In London, I took part in a meeting of the CST with the prime minister, David Cameron and Greg Clark at Number 10 Downing Street to give an update on the Council’s work over the past year.
It was a pleasure to attend the spectacular 80th birthday party of Norman Stoller at Gorton Monastery. Norman is a local businessman who has given his time and money to many outstanding causes in the North West, including very generous support for the University. The party was attended by nearly 400 people in remarkable surroundings, with fantastic entertainment.
Next week is ‘Welcome Week’ when our new students arrive. Please help to make them welcome and wear your ‘Ask Me’ badges.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
Feedback
Please send comments to president@manchester.ac.uk