President's Weekly Update
1 October 2015
Last week I travelled to Seoul in South Korea and Sydney, Australia on University business.
In Seoul, Mike Gibbons, who is our Director of Student Recruitment and International Development, and I met with a senior member of the South Korean government who is one of our graduates to discuss potential research collaborations. The priorities for South Korea match many of our own research strengths mainly in advanced materials, energy, personalised medicine and industrial biotechnology. I hosted an alumni event which included graduates from last year and some from nearly 40 years ago. Mike and I both gave presentations to students at the NCUK (Northern Consortium, UK) which recruits students from South Korea. We also had lunch at the British Embassy with the British Ambassador to South Korea, the Head of Korea’s National Research Foundation and the Head of the British Council, and later visited Korea University with which we have a number of collaborations.
Then I travelled on to Sydney and spent some time with Professor Ian Jacobs, who was previously our Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences and is now Vice-Chancellor of the University of New South Wales (UNSW). After a little sightseeing, I met a number of Ian’s senior colleagues to discuss many common issues from funding and global university rankings (which are very important everywhere in the Far East, influencing governments and philanthropy). Ian then took me on a quick tour of the fabulous UNSW campus.
I also caught up with Professor Simon Gaskell, another former Vice-President from our University and now Vice-Chancellor of Queen Mary College London, who happened to be in the same hotel as me.
While in Sydney I hosted another alumni event with Alan Ferns, our Director of Communications and Marketing, which was quite a humbling and rewarding experience. Several of our more ‘senior’ alumni (who graduated in the 1950s and 60s) had travelled long distances (up to seven hours) to be at the event. One obtained his first degree in Manchester in 1954 then went on to gain a Masters and a PhD. Another worked with Bernard Lovell in the very early days at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, while others graduated only last year or in recent years. We also had a Skype link up with our alumni association in Tasmania.
On Monday morning I spoke at the World 100 conference at Sydney University, hosted by the Vice-Chancellor, on ‘Made in Manchester: Fuelling the Northern Powerhouse’, followed by a panel discussion and questions. I then had a very long trip back via Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam, and back in to work.
Soon after arriving back in Manchester, I travelled to London to an event organised by the Academy of Medical Sciences to support young women in biological and medical careers in research. Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England (a University of Manchester graduate!), gave an inspirational opening address then senior and established researchers were on table with outstanding young female researchers to answer their questions and offer support.
In Manchester, I chaired the Local Organising Committee of ESOF to discuss our progress on the programme, plenary speakers, sponsorship, ‘advertising’ and European Science in the City, which will include a whole range of public events around the conference itself in July 2016 and throughout the year.
I attended the Manchester International Festival (M.I.F.) Board, of which I am a member. We welcomed the new artistic director John McGrath, who some will know as a past head of the Contact Theatre, so he is well known in Manchester. A major topic was reviewing the success of M.I.F. 2015, which attracted over 250,000 visitors, 92% of which rated the Festival as excellent or good. There was widespread press coverage. We are already starting to think about the Festival in 2017 and I urged more involvement from the University.
The University’s website is a finalist in The People’s Lovie Awards which is voted for online by the public at:
The vote is open until 8 October and there were more than 1,500 entries from 30 countries so it’s a real achievement to get to the final few.
A few tickets are still available to attend our annual Foundation Day Celebrations on 14 October. This is a particularly special year because, in addition to the Foundation Address that I have the honour of delivering, and the conferment of honorary degrees, Lemn Sissay will be formally installed as our Chancellor. To apply for a ticket (places are limited), please contact Lesley Sisson on:
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
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