President's Weekly Update
14 May 2015
I attended a fantastic evening in the Whitworth Hall at our inaugural ‘Making a Difference’ Awards which recognise the remarkable contributions to our social responsibility goal. The whole evening had a definite ‘party atmosphere’ and it was wonderful to hear the amazing activities of our staff and students in awards across 11 categories. We heard a fantastic talk from Andrew Gray, Curator of Herpetology, from the Manchester Museum on frogs and social responsibility (followed by an award to him) and we gave a very special award to Professor Aneez Esmail for his longstanding contribution to equality and diversity. A big thank you to those who organised the event and to the many who contribute to social responsibility - even if you didn’t win. You can see the list of award winners at:
and view a short film on our achievements in social responsibility at:
Earlier that day, again in the Whitworth Hall, we had a similarly inspirational celebration of our ‘Volunteers of the Year’. These awards have now been running for several years and as always were delivered fantastically by Jane Ratchford (Director, Student Development and Community Engagement) and her team. Hearing some of the remarkable volunteering activities of our staff, students and alumni was quite a humbling experience. Both of these events made me feel very proud to lead The University of Manchester.
At one of the regular welcome meetings for new staff I had the challenge (in just ten minutes) of painting a picture of the vast range of activities and interests of the University - not easy when the range is so incredible! I urged our new staff to visit some of our real ‘treasures’ such as the Whitworth Art Gallery, the Manchester Museum, the John Rylands Library on Deansgate and our Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre.
I met with Louise Simpson from the Knowledge Partnership, who is leading our biennial ‘external stakeholders’ survey, which asks many leading individuals what they think about the University. We can compare this with similar reviews over the last ten years.
I visited the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science with Professor Clive Agnew, Vice-President for Teaching, Learning and Students. They are keenly awaiting the arrival of their new Vice-President and Dean, Professor Martin Schröder who joins the University on 1 June. The students welcomed changes that had been made in response to their feedback but said that their courses were hard work - we said: “Good!” In the staff meeting we talked about the need (or not) for computer clusters and looking into the future of student behaviour and our University College.
Professor Martin Schröder met me to talk about the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, budgets, opportunities, recent successes and how the senior management of the University works.
The Italian Ambassador visited the City and the University with several colleagues, accompanied by Steve Milner, our Professor of Italian Studies. We considered staff and student exchange programmes, business links and prizes which are offered to Italian early career academics in the UK.
At one of our regular meetings with the City of Manchester, which I co-host with Sir Howard Bernstein we considered the implications of the results of the general election, ongoing collaborative projects, including the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ and progress with ESOF (EuroScience Open Forum) which the City will host in July 2015.
Dr Andy Westwood, our Associate Vice-President for Policy and Public Affairs, also came to talk to senior staff about his views on the election and the opportunities and future challenges, particularly around likely further cuts to government spending.
I met with Professor Malcom Press who will become Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University on 1 June. He was keen to hear about the City and our collaborations with Manchester City Council and the region, ‘Northern powerhouse’, Health Devolution’ and the Oxford Road Corridor partnership which we are both part of.
I gave a talk at Manchester Grammar School (MGS) on: ‘Why universities are important’. The audience of MGS students, parents and teachers asked a lot of questions, including two very good questions from 12-year old Anand, the son of Professor Nalin Thakker our Associate Vice-President for Compliance, Risk and Research Integrity.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) held one of its meetings here at the University. I co-hosted a dinner of the Council with the Chair of EPSRC, Dr Paul Golby, which allowed Council members to meet a number of our senior staff. In between their Council meeting they were due to visit the National Graphene Institute, the Photon Science Institute, Computer Science and Chemical Engineering in the James Chadwick Building.
At one of our regular discussions with the executive members of The University of Manchester Students’ Union we talked about key priorities in the post-election period and the ‘teaching excellence framework’.
I attended a Board meeting of the Manchester International Festival (MIF), of which I am a proud member. MIF has become a real success for Manchester and is enjoying increasing international recognition. Key to this success, led by the artistic director Alex Poots, has been that it presents only new commissions - many involving leading artists. This year MIF will run from 2-19 July. To find out more and book tickets go to:
I gave the plenary lecture to the Neuroanaesthesia Society of Great Britain and Ireland on our research on cerebral ischaemia (low blood flow to the brain which causes brain damage and is often fatal). I talked about our laboratory studies which have led to clinical trials. We know the result of our latest one - but I couldn’t reveal it just yet!
Some great news this week-the Society of Biology of which I was the inaugural president from has been granted Royal title. I need to somehow try to get elected to the Royal Society of Chemistry then I can have FRSA, FRSB and FRSC!
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
Feedback
Please send comments to president@manchester.ac.uk