Message from the Vice-President and Dean

01 Nov 2024

This week, Fiona reports on Manchester 2035 discussions and feedback, reflects on the launch of the Global Humanities Alliance, and celebrates further research and successes.

Dear All

We are now well into Manchester 2035 phase 1 – the ‘listening and discussing stage’ where we all have the chance to have our say and help build the foundations of our strategy for the next 10 years.

Earlier this week I was excited to join Patrick Hackett in hosting a ‘Becoming one university’ in-person workshop, welcoming colleagues from across the University to discuss one of the five core themes for Manchester 2035. We were thrilled that over 100 people joined us for the session.

It was a fascinating and stimulating workshop, with some great discussions and sharing of ideas on how our institution can become a more integrated and connected community, on small tables, via a plenary discussion and on Padlet where comments were posted online.

If you missed the workshop but would still like to be involved in the ‘Becoming one university’ conversation, there is an online workshop coming up on Monday, 2 December. It is just one of several workshops being held online and in person into December covering all five strategy themes.

Duncan is also visiting all four of our Schools to introduce himself and spark further discussion on Manchester 2035, with the SoSS and SALC sessions taking place yesterday. Thank you to all colleagues who attended the visits, either on campus or online.

There were some thought-provoking questions for Duncan and well-considered feedback which will be passed on to the strategy project team. I am looking forward to the AMBS and SEED visits later this month.

Beyond workshops and visits, you can also give your views on Manchester 2035 through a feedback form. Find out more and get involved at the Manchester 2035 web page. The strategy’s ultimate objective is to create a new strategic plan that guides us to be a leading global university by 2035.

As a Faculty, we recently launched the Global Humanities Alliance on campus. A collaboration of eight international universities, the Alliance aims to raise the social and political impact of the humanities and social sciences in addressing global issues in our research and teaching.

At the launch, I spoke of how together we can facilitate new ways of collaborating on research and teaching to tackle worldwide challenges. On the day, a panel discussion focused on sustainability and climate change, one of the key areas of interest for the Alliance.

I was delighted to experience another facet of our international outlook when meeting Chinese and North American students at separate events recently. I joined colleagues from across the Faculty and University at a UK-China diplomatic dialogue lunch with guests including China’s Consul General for Manchester, Tang Rui, UK government representatives and some of our Chinese and British students.

I was also pleased to welcome incoming students from the USA and Canada at an annual reception held in Christie’s Bistro to give the students an opportunity to meet fellow North Americans who have also recently made the move to Manchester. I always enjoy speaking with our students and hearing about their impressions of the University and city, and their academic ambitions.

A project supporting postgraduate students through multi-university collaboration closer to home is the North West Social Science Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP). Involving the universities of Manchester, Central Lancashire, Keele, Lancaster and Liverpool, the partnership is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and provides postgraduate studentship funding and training in the social sciences.

I was involved in a recent site visit by colleagues from Liverpool who lead on the NWSSDTP. We considered a range of areas of importance for postgraduate training. Late last year, the ESRC allocated £20m in funding for 44 studentships per year, equating to 60 studentships each year overall with institutional match funding.

The NWSSDTP allows the partner universities to offer an excellent research environment and experience for PGRs and helps attract the best candidates to Manchester and the region. It is so important for us to provide the best environment we can for our PGRs to thrive.

Our academics continue to excel in securing funding reflecting the outstanding quality of their work. Recent examples include Jason Allen-Paisant (SALC), who has secured an award under the British Academy’s ‘The Times of a Just Transition’ funding strand with colleagues at the University of Bristol.

David Buil-Gil (SoSS) has received an Administrative Data Research UK Fellowship from the ESRC on ‘Exploring the dynamics of school absenteeism and antisocial behaviour and crime over the life-course’. Ser-Huange Poon (AMBS) has been awarded a UKRI Impact Acceleration Account proof of concept grant for work looking at the use of chatbots for handling workers’ grievances.

Emma Shuttleworth and Ian Thornhill (SEED), with Liz Lewis of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE), have been awarded a cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) valued at £22,300 with Groundwork Greater Manchester, to create more climate-resilient river valleys in the Irwell catchment. Congratulations, all!

You may have read recently about some changes to the senior leadership teams in two of our Schools. Alison Wilson will be retiring from her role as Director of School Operations (DoSO) in SoSS in the new year, while SEED DoSO Kay Hodgson will become DoSO in the School of Engineering.

We have appointed Darien Rozentals to take over as DoSO for SoSS, moving from her role as Head of Faculty Research and Business Engagement in FBMH and Deputy Director of Operations. David Pattwell will join SEED as DoSO from the equivalent role in the School of Medical Sciences.

Please join me in thanking Alison and Kay for their huge contributions to the Schools and Faculty, and to welcome Darien and David.

Finally, as he steps down as Vice-Dean and Head of SEED, I would like to thank Martin Evans for his considerable contribution to the School, Faculty and University. Martin is a superb colleague and I will miss his wise counsel greatly. I wish Martin all the best in his new role as Executive Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Health, at Durham University.

Juup Stelma, SEED’s Director of Teaching, Learning and Students, has now taken up the Head of School role on an interim basis. I know that he and colleagues will follow in Martin’s footsteps in continuing the School’s great work.

Regards Fiona

Professor Fiona Devine, Vice-President and Dean, Faculty of Humanities