President's Weekly Update
25 February 2016
Since the visit of the President of China last year, we have had significant interest in collaboration from a range of groups in China. This week, we were visited by a group led by Mr Liu, Vice Mayor of the city of Qingdao in north-east China, where there is significant growth in technology companies. Professor Andre Geim and I met the group, told them about the University and our research on materials and took them to the National Graphene Institute to see exhibitions and tour the building. Mr Liu, Andre and I all donned what seemed like space suits to tour the clean rooms from the inside. You can view photos of the visit on Flickr at:
I met with Nick Whittingham, the British Consul of Wuhan in China, which is twinned with the City of Manchester. This is the 30th anniversary of the twinning, so we will be hosting several visits from Wuhan to Manchester and hope that some of their senior politicians will attend the opening ceremony of ESOF on 23 July at Manchester Central.
During a visit to the School of Materials, we met a group of PhD students from all over the world and I had quite a few photos taken with Chinese students! In the staff meeting we discussed the forthcoming referendum on Europe, plans for the major new engineering building (MECD) and support for training of technicians.
I gave the welcome for the launch of LinguaSnapp, led by our School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, the focus of which is to understand multilingual cultures. Our staff and students have developed the first mobile teaching and research app which will ask the public to upload pictures of multilingual signs in the City. The project, led by Professor Yaron Matras, is a great example of a research project that not only involves our students and local community, but also aims to develop internationally and represents a great collaboration between academic and IT staff.
Dr Mark Treherne, Chief Executive of the Life Sciences Organisation at the Department of UK Trade and Investment, visited to discuss how they can better link into health and life sciences research and innovation in Greater Manchester and help with links to international companies.
At the Board meeting of the Manchester International Festival (MIF), of which I am a member, we discussed plans for MIF 2017 and the exciting development of Factory Manchester, which will become the home of MIF.
Mike Oglesby, Chair of our Manchester Cancer Research Centre, and Professor Nic Jones, Director of the Centre, came to see me to talk about the success to date in fundraising for the Cancer Biomarker Centre, which is already attracting very significant external funding.
I also met Chris Oglesby, Chief Executive of Bruntwood, to discuss the partnerships we have with the company. In particular, we discussed the development of our Alliance Manchester Business School, Corridor Manchester, of which we are both members, and Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP) which owns Alderley Park, City Labs and many other science facilities. The University is a shareholder in MSP and works closely with a number of the companies and other activities located in their premises.
I talked to the Chair and Chief Executive of the Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI) about a forthcoming dinner with their Board which will be held in Manchester. At this event, they will hear about the recent developments in health research here and the opportunities offered for collaboration with industry through ‘Devo Manc’ and Health Innovation Manchester.
Professor Luke Georghiou, Vice-President for Research and Innovation, and I discussed progress on planning for EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in July. Much of the programme is now agreed, with some excellent speakers and sessions. The sponsorship is growing and a London launch will take place in April with a number of business and science leaders.
Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor
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