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President's Weekly Update

19 February 2015

Our Whitworth Art Gallery (WAG) reopened to the public on Saturday after a major and most spectacular refurbishment and extension. I was fortunate enough to attend the remarkable ‘pre-opening’ event on the Friday evening along with well over 1,000 others. The ‘new Gallery’ is about twice its previous size with amazing new glass wings at the rear giving views of the trees, external artwork and Whitworth Park.

There are many new exhibits, particularly by the acclaimed artist Cornelia Parker, who has an honorary chair with us. The opening event was stunning, with an amazing firework and light display designed by Cornelia and Professor Kostya Novoselov, who took a microscopic sample of graphite from a William Blake drawing at the Whitworth to create graphene which triggered the firework display. You may have seen the huge and very positive national press coverage and if you want to visit the new WAG, I’d suggest you wait a week or two - otherwise you might find it rather busy.

This week I’ve hosted a welcome reception for the new Chinese Consul, Mr Li Yongsheng, his wife and staff from the Chinese Consulate, in Christie’s Bistro which was attended by about 40 staff and students. This is the third time I have met Mr Li since he took up his post and he already seems very committed to Manchester. This week (19 February) is the Chinese New Year, so there have been many celebrations in Manchester. This is the Chinese Year of the goat or the sheep (it is the same word in Chinese). Mr Li preferred sheep as they are calmer and more tranquil. He gave me three lovely bright pink sheep/goats (not real)!

Econsultancy is an international consultancy which publishes regular reviews of organisations websites. They picked 15 of the best responsive websites launched in the last year and I’m delighted to say that our new website has been included - we are in good company with the likes of Cathay Pacific, The AA, Expedia, and The Los Angeles Times.  You can find out more at:

I attended a dinner at the annual ‘away day’ for our Professional Support Services (PSS) Leadership Team where we discussed the future ambitions of the University and how the PSS plays a critical role in initiating and supporting change.

I attended a dinner organised by the Russell Group of universities with Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service. No-one could predict the likely outcome of the General Election in May. The topics covered were the obvious ones - the economy, UK exports and the UK’s fiscal deficit, infrastructure - particularly the housing shortage, immigration, the EU, devolution and of course many factors affecting universities including caps on home fees, international students, research funding and the sources of support for universities.

I met Gareth Davies, the new Director General for Science and Innovation at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to discuss a number of ongoing projects that the University is involved in, including EuroScience Open Forum which BIS is supporting, the forthcoming budget, general election, spending review and the departments in BIS and beyond that support science and innovation.

I then travelled to Cambridge to give a research seminar at their annual post-graduate research symposium on our research and my career. I heard great talks by Professors David Colquhoun about ‘miscommunicating science’ and Tony Kouzarides on his research on cancer, his career and his advice to young scientists.

At the most recent meeting of ‘Health Innovation Manchester’ chaired by Sir Mike Deegan (CEO of the Central Manchester University Foundation Trust), the Director, Professor Jackie Oldham outlined plans to integrate and better disseminate the strengths in health research, business links and impact across Greater Manchester.

The University and our Students' Union work closely on a wide range of initiatives, one of which is a forthcoming event being organised by the Students' Union called ' Reclaim the Night ' next week. You can find more details at:

     

Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

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