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President's weekly update

8 September 2022

The new academic year

We are preparing for the start of the new academic year and welcoming our new students. I hope that you had a well-earned break.

As reported in August, our popularity remains very strong and we are over our targets for recruitment of both UK and international undergraduate students, though final numbers are confirmed at the HESA return date (1 December). We won’t know about PGT and PGR students for a while.

The extra students, together with other factors, including changes in regulations for landlords and many more graduates staying here as the post-study work visa has come into play, is putting pressure on accommodation in Manchester. This summer there were only about 10% of the number of places for purpose-built private accommodation available compared to last year. Other cities across the UK, and indeed Europe, are facing similar challenges. Our accommodation and comms teams have been working hard, including through the last few weekends to find rooms for all our students.

I had a call with the current Universities Minister, Andrea Jenkyns to discuss student recruitment. I reported that accommodation is a problem in many places.

Northern collaborations

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and I met Dr Annette Bramley, Director of the N8 Research Partnership of Northern research-intensive universities, to discuss current projects and future plans for the group. We will continue with ‘Net Zero North’ and ‘Child of the North’ but also await plans of the new leadership in government.      

I met Professor Tim Jones, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool from January 2023. We discussed our major collaborations in advanced materials and health and new opportunities.

Research and innovation

Professor Richard Jones, Vice-President for Regional Innovation and Civic Engagement, and I met Ilan Gur, the Chief Executive of the new funding body ARIA (Advanced Research and Invention Agency). They are still considering how ARIA will operate and we had the opportunity to give our views.

At the Paterson Redevelopment Project Board, we heard that good progress is being made on the new building on the Christie site, with a planned move in for Spring next year and the formal opening later in the year. From the outside, and the pictures we saw, it looks very impressive. After the Board, we discussed how we can use this opportunity, along with recruitment of a new Director for the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, to further strengthen cancer research over the next ten years.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Over the past year I have greatly valued being part of the national ‘100 Black Women Professors Now’ programme, working with our participants and our senior leaders to support participants’ development. We will soon be launching a call for eligible colleagues and PhD students to apply to join our next cohort, and I look forward to working with them in the new year. 

External meetings

The Law Family Commission, of which I have been a part, held a meeting before releasing their final report on the charitable sector. The Commission has already published over 30 reports and articles and had about 150 engagements.

Farewell with our outgoing Chair

On his very last day as Chair of our Board, I met Edward Astle to thank him and reflect on the many events over the past few years and what the future may bring. I expressed my biggest worry as inflation and the impact it is having on our staff and students. We also spent some time thinking about the many positive outcomes and celebrations over recent times, despite the many pressures and challenges we have all faced.

Visiting Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Next week I will be travelling to Abu Dhabi and Dubai to meet staff at our centre, collaboration partners and alumni. This will be my first visit there.  As a result, there will be no message next week, but will return the week after. 

Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

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