President's Weekly Update
2 April 2015
We held an event to celebrate and thank some of our most generous benefactors and to initiate two ‘President’s Circles’. The Beyer and the Langworthy Circles, named after two of our great philanthropists of the past, recognise members who donate to the University at a very significant level.
Several hundred donors to the University who have given at every level visited us and some went on tours of the campus. In a packed event in University Place, three of our students interviewed Professor Brian Cox about his career, his research and his own support for our Manchester Access Programme. They were: Nick Dann, a PhD student in particle physics who is supported by George Rigg; Becky Hardman, a previous Manchester Access Programme (MAP) student now supported by a Pauline Karpidas scholarship in her final year in English Literature; and Bilal Christie, a student at Oldham Sixth Form College who is on the MAP programme and has an offer to study engineering with us. All three did a fine job of quizzing Brian.
Then we held a formal ceremony in the Whitworth Hall to admit members of the two President’s Circles, followed by a dinner for the members and their guests.
I co-hosted a dinner with the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Warren Smith, to discuss volunteering. At the dinner, General Sir Nick Parker described the national organisation that he leads called ‘Step Up To Serve’ which aims to encourage and support 10-20 year olds to volunteer. The event was attended by the leaders of many Greater Manchester organisations involved in volunteering, including some inspirational people with whom we will aim to work.
We held a meeting to discuss the strategy for Life Sciences in Greater Manchester and Cheshire East (encompassing Alderley Park) which I co-chair with Dr John Stageman, a member of our Board of Governors. We agreed on the ‘vision statement’ for the strategy, a lengthy report on strengths, gaps, opportunities and next steps.
I met Professor Malcolm Press who will take up the role of Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University on 1 June. Malcolm previously worked at our University in the Faculty of Life Sciences before moving to Sheffield and then on to Birmingham. He is very excited to be coming back to Manchester. He will take up his post on 1 June.
I also met Dr Mike Burrows, who leads the Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network, to discuss the exciting opportunities resulting from devolution of the health budget (£6 bn per annum) to Greater Manchester.
I gave a welcome to a ‘CLASS’ event, which provides support and training for our clerical and administrative support staff from across the University. I also introduced Dr Nick Merriman, Director of the Manchester Museum, who gave a fascinating talk on the secrets of our Musuem.
I was filmed giving support to our women’s rugby players. They had picked up from my Desert Island Discs that I played rugby at University. I met several members of our team and was given a great T-shirt (purple of course). It was very encouraging to hear that about 60 of our female students play rugby - and do well nationally!
I had a meeting with Sally MacDonald, Director of the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), and Dr Sheena Cruickshank, Academic Lead for Public Engagement with Research. We now have a very close partnership with MOSI and collaborate on many activities including special exhibitions, Manchester Science Festival and many projects with our own Museum.
I managed to catch up on our own research this week. As well as attending our weekly lab meeting, I had a longer discussion about infection and stroke, a meeting on our plans for clinical research, some one-to-one meetings with my collaborators, and made some progress with a review we are writing.
Just another reminder to complete your Staff Survey. Many staff have already taken part and I’m pleased to report that three local charities are benefitting as a result – for every survey completed the University donates £1 to either The Christie, The Mustard Tree or St Ann’s Hospice – you can find out more about the Staff Survey and watch a video about one of the charities at:
There won’t be a message next week as I will be away for a few days over Easter. I hope that you all manage to take a break over the holidays - and that the weather is fine!
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
Feedback
Please send comments to president@manchester.ac.uk
President's Weekly Update
2 April 2015
We held an event to celebrate and thank some of our most generous benefactors and to initiate two ‘President’s Circles’. The Beyer and the Langworthy Circles, named after two of our great philanthropists of the past, recognise members who donate to the University at a very significant level.
Several hundred donors to the University who have given at every level visited us and some went on tours of the campus. In a packed event in University Place, three of our students interviewed Professor Brian Cox about his career, his research and his own support for our Manchester Access Programme. They were: Nick Dann, a PhD student in particle physics who is supported by George Rigg; Becky Hardman, a previous Manchester Access Programme (MAP) student now supported by a Pauline Karpidas scholarship in her final year in English Literature; and Bilal Christie, a student at Oldham Sixth Form College who is on the MAP programme and has an offer to study engineering with us. All three did a fine job of quizzing Brian.
Then we held a formal ceremony in the Whitworth Hall to admit members of the two President’s Circles, followed by a dinner for the members and their guests.
I co-hosted a dinner with the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, Warren Smith, to discuss volunteering. At the dinner, General Sir Nick Parker described the national organisation that he leads called ‘Step Up To Serve’ which aims to encourage and support 10-20 year olds to volunteer. The event was attended by the leaders of many Greater Manchester organisations involved in volunteering, including some inspirational people with whom we will aim to work.
We held a meeting to discuss the strategy for Life Sciences in Greater Manchester and Cheshire East (encompassing Alderley Park) which I co-chair with Dr John Stageman, a member of our Board of Governors. We agreed on the ‘vision statement’ for the strategy, a lengthy report on strengths, gaps, opportunities and next steps.
I met Professor Malcolm Press who will take up the role of Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University on 1 June. Malcolm previously worked at our University in the Faculty of Life Sciences before moving to Sheffield and then on to Birmingham. He is very excited to be coming back to Manchester. He will take up his post on 1 June.
I also met Dr Mike Burrows, who leads the Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network, to discuss the exciting opportunities resulting from devolution of the health budget (£6 bn per annum) to Greater Manchester.
I gave a welcome to a ‘CLASS’ event, which provides support and training for our clerical and administrative support staff from across the University. I also introduced Dr Nick Merriman, Director of the Manchester Museum, who gave a fascinating talk on the secrets of our Musuem.
I was filmed giving support to our women’s rugby players. They had picked up from my Desert Island Discs that I played rugby at University. I met several members of our team and was given a great T-shirt (purple of course). It was very encouraging to hear that about 60 of our female students play rugby - and do well nationally!
I had a meeting with Sally MacDonald, Director of the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), and Dr Sheena Cruickshank, Academic Lead for Public Engagement with Research. We now have a very close partnership with MOSI and collaborate on many activities including special exhibitions, Manchester Science Festival and many projects with our own Museum.
I managed to catch up on our own research this week. As well as attending our weekly lab meeting, I had a longer discussion about infection and stroke, a meeting on our plans for clinical research, some one-to-one meetings with my collaborators, and made some progress with a review we are writing.
Just another reminder to complete your Staff Survey. Many staff have already taken part and I’m pleased to report that three local charities are benefitting as a result – for every survey completed the University donates £1 to either The Christie, The Mustard Tree or St Ann’s Hospice – you can find out more about the Staff Survey and watch a video about one of the charities at:
There won’t be a message next week as I will be away for a few days over Easter. I hope that you all manage to take a break over the holidays - and that the weather is fine!
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
Feedback
Please send comments to president@manchester.ac.uk