President's Weekly Update
27 October 2016
Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, and I spoke at an event at the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Manchester to celebrate the success of European City of Science and all the many public ‘Science in the City’ events that were held around EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in July and to thank the many people who delivered such a fantastic event. The occasion, attended by over 150 people, including many from the University, was followed by a dinner for about 40 people hosted by the national Science Museum Group of which MSI is a part. I was really privileged to be awarded Fellowship of the Science Museum Group by its chair, Dame Mary Archer, particularly so as the group of Fellows is quite small and includes the Queen! It was especially nice to receive this national award here in Manchester and amongst so many friends, colleagues and collaborators.
I attended an event to discuss the opportunities for partnership between Greater Manchester and China which took place at the airport. Sir Richard Leese and Sir Howard Bernstein, Chief Executive of the Council, spoke about the great importance of Chinese students to Manchester, our 30 year twinning with the City of Wuhan and major investments from China in the airport and in Manchester City Football Club. Dr Sun, the Chinese Consul General, whom I met last week, talked of the opportunities and willingness of China to collaborate and we heard that, in addition to the current direct flights from Manchester to Beijing and Hong Kong, one was planned next year to Shanghai.
Many current and past staff of the University attended the funeral of Professor Katharine Perera who had played such an important role in the merger of UMIST and the Victoria University and after that in developing our equality and diversity initiatives. I spoke about Katharine’s great qualities and impact on the University and Professor Kersti Borjars talked about how Katharine had mentored and supported her and many other women who are now in senior leadership roles.
At the group which I chair to consider the impact of Brexit on the University, we welcomed the government’s statement that students from the EU looking to study in the UK in September 2017 will be treated the same as home students for the duration of their studies, but were very concerned about some of the recent statements on international students. We have engaged an immigration expert from Eversheds solicitors and are holding workshops to advise EU (and other non-UK nationals) on how to obtain UK residency or citizenship if they wish to do so. For more information on these events, visit:
Steve Dauncey, our Director of Finance, and I met a senior member of staff from HSBC bank to discuss the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ and rebalancing the UK economy. They provide advice to universities and companies on activities in the UK and, of course, in Hong Kong.
I attended a dinner with Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov with a small number of our senior alumni hosted by Coutts bank. I gave a general update on the University and Kostya talked about the very fast moving developments and applications of graphene and other two dimensional materials.
Several academic colleagues and I met staff from the Stroke Association, including the Chief Executive, Juliet Bouverie, to talk about the many public events we undertake to work with stroke survivors and their families and carers. Staff in Manchester have been using arts to help stroke survivors and there is now growing evidence that music, art, drama, poetry and literature help patients with many disorders - could be a new collaboration between humanities and health!
This week we completed the Annual Performance Reviews (APRs) for the three Faculties (Humanities, Science and Engineering and Biology, Medicine and Health). Each, of course, has unique achievements and challenges but all discussed the impact of Brexit, the need to improve student satisfaction, recruitment of high quality students and enhancing research grant income and outputs. There was particular concern about the numerous messages coming from government and the growing financial pressures from reduced or at best capped income and many increased costs - some known and some as yet unknown.
I paid a visit to our shop in University Place and our Greenhouse Vegetarian café in George Kenyon Building - both are flourishing. I bought an excellent piece of courgette quiche from the café - I would certainly recommend that you try it!
Professor Gordon Marshall, Director of the Leverhulme Trust, which funds many research projects in the University, spent a day with us meeting grant and fellowship holders and senior staff. I talked to him about the value of Leverhulme funding, particularly for fundamental research and projects which are less likely to be funded by some other bodies.
Mark Hughes, Chief Executive of Manchester Growth Company (part of Manchester City Council), met Professor Luke Georghiou and I to discuss further partnership on business engagement, international links, apprenticeships and student work experience.
Alan Ferns has been appointed as Associate Vice-President for External Relations and Reputation and will take up his new role on 2 January 2017, when he will step down as Director of Communications and Marketing. Visit:
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
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