President's Weekly Update
18 February 2016
Professor Sir Mark Walport, the Government Chief Scientific Advisor and co-chair of the Council for Science and Technology (I am the other co-chair), visited the University with two of his colleagues, mainly to see and hear about progress in the National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the commercial opportunities around graphene and other two-dimensional materials. We showed Mark the planned sites for new developments, notably our Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD), the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) and the Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials Research and Innovation, which will be built almost next to NGI, and Professor Colin Bailey, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, talked about each of these projects.
The main presentations for Mark’s visit were from companies collaborating with us on materials and included BP, 2D-Tech, Eksagon and Morgan Advanced Materials. These provided an opportunity to discuss new innovations and different business models. They then saw practical applications of graphene and other 2D materials and were taken on a quick tour of the clean rooms in the NGI by Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov.
On a visit to Manchester Medical School, senior colleagues and I heard very positive messages from a small group of students and talked to staff about the forthcoming changes around the new Faculty and devolution of the health budget to Greater Manchester (DevoManc). We were also asked about facilities and new buildings.
The next phase of planning for the new Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has been announced. For details, see:
In the School of Computer Science, students praised their teachers but like many students I meet, expressed some concerns about how many assignments and reports have to be submitted at the same time. Staff raised concerns about our research finance systems and communications to staff. The latter is something that senior colleagues and I are considering in some detail. I would welcome comments about how we best communicate and even more importantly engage staff across such a large organisation – please send them to:
I spent a day with Kostya Novoselov at McLaren in Woking, hosted by Ron Dennis, their Chair and Group Chief Executive, to discuss potential collaborations on materials and health. We toured their very impressive research and manufacturing facilities, saw the next season Formula 1 car, their spotless production area, and simulator and test facilities, and heard about their research which spans many areas, notably in data analytics.
After much work by a large team of staff, including much input from me, we submitted our first outline proposals for Biomedical Research Centre support from the National Institute for Health Research. We should hear next month if we will be invited to proceed to the next stage.
It was a pleasure to meet Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam. Winnie is one of our alumni (in aerospace engineering) and quite a remarkable individual who has served in the Ugandan parliament, has held roles in the World Bank and is an expert on inequalities and women’s rights.
I chaired the formal launch of our GDI which brings together our world leading research on global poverty, international development and inequalities. The audience of about 500 was first addressed by Professor David Hulme, joint lead of GDI with Professor Uma Khotari, then we heard from Winnie Byanyima about inequalities, before asking questions of the three of us. Winnie gave an inspirational talk and was generous in her time afterwards to have photos with many students. The event was attended by several of our most generous donors, most notably Rory and Elizabeth Brooks who are supporting the Rory and Elizabeth Brooks Doctoral College.
We are busy with recruitment for two senior posts: the Director of the Division of Development and Alumni Relations and the Director of IT Services.
We recently hosted a visit for Fulbright scholars to visit Manchester and the University, led by Mike Gibbons, Director of Student Recruitment and International Development. See their fantastic write-up of their visit:
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
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