President's Weekly Update
23 October 2014
This week we celebrated ten years since the foundation of The University of Manchester, which was created by bringing together UMIST and the Victoria University of Manchester. We have come a very long way in that time, with many successes. We have also faced significant change and challenges, not least in the context of global economic uncertainty. I will update you next week on our Foundation Day celebrations and my comments on our past and our future, but in the meantime you can watch a recording of the Foundation Lecture, which includes a short film on the achievements of the University:
- Watch Foundation Day Film
I will also be writing about the future uncertainties and challenges within higher education in a forthcoming UniLife article.
At the October Senate meeting we heard updates on key academic areas. Student numbers for the current academic year look very positive and we have received some major research awards. We received an update on our efforts to engage with local communities and saw a demonstration of ‘My Manchester’, the student portal, given by Paul Govey, Head of Student Communications and Marketing from the Directorate for the Student Experience. This was very impressive. As staff, we don’t have ready access to My Manchester for students, but you can access a guest view and see some of the content at:
I attended a meeting of the Council of the Academy of Medical Sciences. They asked me to comment on issues facing biomedical sciences for 15 minutes (not a minor topic), followed by a discussion. I talked about government and political issues and how we might best address these, academic-industry collaborations, and the wider aspects of collaboration vs competition. Then I gave a long list of other topics that we should consider, both in the UK and internationally.
I attended a meeting at the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) to discuss a forthcoming visit I will make to India in November with the Minister for Cities, Universities and Skills. I am fortunate that this will follow an extremely successful visit by over 20 of our staff to India last month, led by Professor Steve Flint, Associate Dean for Internationalisation in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences.
It was a great pleasure to meet and have early supper with
the Lord Speaker, Baroness D’Souza. We had so much to talk about, including better representation of women and ethnic minorities in senior positions, how the House of Lords works, outreach and the contribution of universities to society. Her grandson is an undergraduate with us - apparently enjoying his life at the University very much. She went on to deliver a lecture on ‘The House of Lords, communication and the media’, which I understand was very well received.
I attended a Faculty leadership team meeting in the Faculty of Life Sciences, where we talked about the future vision and strategy for the Faculty in research, teaching, people and investment and how we ensure the distinctiveness and profile of life sciences at Manchester.
I co-chaired (with Dr John Stageman, a member of our Board of Governors) the first meeting of a group that is looking at the strengths and future strategy in life sciences in Greater Manchester and Cheshire East (encompassing the Alderley Park site). We scoped the breadth and nature of the review, the key stakeholders and the plan of action.
I gave the opening speech at the Bridgewater Hall for a major conference called VentureFest which brings together innovators (with great ideas looking for funding), investors (looking for great ideas to invest in) and entrepreneurs (putting the ideas and money together to build businesses). It is the first time that the conference has been held in Manchester and it was attended by about 500 people. I talked about the importance of entrepreneurs, innovators and start-up companies to the University, the City and the region and told them a little about graphene and the opportunities for applications.
There is an excellent series of articles in Nature about the challenges universities across the world face, which you can see at:
I was delighted to see the fantastic winning entries for the Society of Biology ‘Nancy Rothwell’ biology art competition for children. Prizes were awarded at a recent major event in London. I love the overall winner – the brilliant red-eyed tree frog – but there were so many other fabulous entries. You can see the winning awards at:
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
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- Email: president@manchester.ac.uk