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President’s Weekly Update

28 July 2016

This week has been dominated by ESOF 2016 (EuroScience Open Forum) of which I was the President and ‘Champion’, along with Professor Luke Georghiou, Vice-President for Research and Innovation, who was co-Champion.

The conference hosted about 3,000 attendees from 83 countries with 700 speakers, over 150 sessions and over 400 science journalists and communicators. It was based mainly at Manchester Central, with many events taking place at the University.  Some delegates also visited the National Graphene Institute, Jodrell Bank Observatory and the headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) at Jodrell.

The opening ceremony, hosted by Professor Brian Cox, included live link ups to Jodrell Bank and the SKA centres in Western Australia and South Africa; a debate on key issues in gene editing; and children who had participated in the great ‘Science Share’. It was followed by the launch of the amazing exhibition with numerous stands. Our own University stand, which featured our Research Beacons, was excellent and, of course, very purple - as was my hair.

Then we had the President’s Dinner in the beautiful Great Hall at Manchester Town Hall. Professor Mark Ferguson, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland, who was a professor at Manchester for many years, gave a hilarious after dinner speech.

I attended many fantastic presentations - sometimes trying to be in several places at once - and met many friends from science, business and the press. Certainly the funniest session was about the Ig Nobel prize -  a parody of the Nobel Prizes given each year for ten unusual achievements in scientific research and which aim to: "honour achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." This session included contributions from Professor Sir Andre Geim who has received both an Ig Nobel Prize and Nobel Prize.

In the evenings I attended a reception for sponsors at the Hilton (where they had constructed a ‘cocktails laboratory’), a dinner at the new Grafene restaurant (yes it is based on graphene), the press reception at the Museum of Science and Industry where I saw the brilliant ‘Wonder Materials’ exhibition on graphene, multiple other dinners and receptions, and of course the ESOF party in the Albert Hall. I think I gave over ten talks at various events!

Many attendees said how much they enjoyed the conference, which was largely due to the fantastic team, led by Vicky Rosin, which included many staff and volunteers from the University.

The week long ‘Science in the City’ which accompanied ESOF was also a huge success, starting with the Bluedot Festival at Jodrell Bank last weekend, attended by over 20,000 people each day.

Professor Danielle George’s Robot Orchestra, built with the help of many local school children and engineers from Siemens, was a great success and there were numerous events across the City for the public and particularly children.

I also spoke at a packed Media Reception at the Museum of Science and Industry to thank many, including all the University’s own Media Relations contributors and invite delegates to see the great exhibitions at the Museum. There was excellent press coverage for the University as a result of ESOF including international coverage of a new£3 million project with China to research how graphene could be used to develop super-light aircraft and high-speed trains that will revolutionise world travel.

Amongst the many eminent scientists, business leaders and policy makers, Jo Johnson, Minister for Universities and Science, spoke at the opening event on Monday morning with Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation for the European Commission, with Professor Sir Mark Walport, the Government Chief Scientific Advisor, hosting. Jo then held a round table for Vice-Chancellors, which I chaired, on the impact of the EU referendum result and the government’s Higher Education Bill.

In addition to my engagements at ESOF I spoke at a site visit to consider renewal of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Matrix Research where I highlighted the importance of the centre to the University, the investments we had made and plans for the future.

Last week’s interview for Biomedical Research funding, which several colleagues and I attended in Windsor, went as well as we could have hoped and we should hear the outcome sometime in September.

Next Monday, 1 August sees the launch of a new Faculty structure for our University with all academic activity reconstituted around three Faculties - the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health; the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Faculty of Humanities. 

Since many people will be away on holidays, at conferences or on study leave, I will not send out my weekly message over the summer, resuming again in September. I hope you all manage to have a very well deserved break.

     

Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

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