UniLifeThe free magazine forThe University of Manchester

1 June 2009 Issue 8 Volume 6

Nobel Laureate honouredas AV Hill Building opens

News

Poet Laureateunveiled inManchester

page 4

Research

Promising results for drug to stopscarring

page 9

Feature

Students as Partners

page 12

Working on the final stages of Advancing theManchester 2015 Agenda, the new version of ourStrategic Plan, has reminded me of the dangers ofover-reliance on quantification as a planning tool.

Many of the most important things in life are hardto define and still more difficult to measure. In thefinal analysis, St Paul famously remarked, only threethings truly matter: “faith, hope and love”.

We all make vague attempts to quantify such things,referring routinely to little faith, no hope, much love,etc, and St Paul himself judged that “the greatest ofthese is love.” But few of us seriously try tomeasure them.

No doubt someone, somewhere has invented a faithindex or tried to measure hope and love on a scale of1-10. There may even be an heroic academicresearcher somewhere who, having combined St Paul’stop three in a quality of life index, is happily publishingrefereed articles measuring the quality of life offamilies, communities, cities and nations – much to therelief of harassed news editors on poor news days.

But the truth remains that there are importantthings that cannot be quantified precisely.

Managers often find that truth challenging. Theyvalue trend analysis, embrace management toolsthat translate success and failure alike into “metrics”and can be all too readily suborned by the primafacie plausibility of spurious measurement.

Total quality management theory (TQM), one of thebetter-credentialed approaches to the complexitiesof management, provides a case in point. With itsemphasis on being able to measure “small stepimprovement – for ever”, TQM produced a numberof aphorisms about quantification that haveinfluenced the way planning and management havebeen conducted ever since. One was that “if youcan’t measure something you don’t fully understandit”; another that, “if you can’t measure it, you can’tmanage it”.

Such aphorisms contain much salutary truth. Thediscipline of using quantitative data to identifytrends early and measure them accurately isimmensely helpful in any kind of enterprise. Wherethe performance indices being used are at oncerelevant and reliable, much of the guesswork anduncertainty is removed from management processesand business planning. The better themeasurement, the greater are the opportunities forimproving effectiveness, efficiency and quality.

But over-dependence on quantification is dangerous.

For one thing, if the data being used are flawed orthe index adopted is a poor surrogate for what itpurports to measure, and resulting trend analysis isspurious. Managers are misinformed, not edified.

A second danger of over-dependence onmeasurement is the more insidious managementheresy that if you can’t precisely quantify somethingit isn’t important!

In Advancing the Manchester 2015 Agenda bothdangers arise in relation to Goal Three, whichcommits the University community to a “thirdmission” agenda that is far wider and more diffusethan the more conventional higher educationagendas encompassed in Goal One (Research) andTwo (Higher Learning).

We understand a leading university such asManchester has a vital “third mission” role, locally,nationally and internationally. We want our presencein the Manchester community to enrich theeducational, social and cultural lives of Mancunians.We want every Manchester student to graduate, notjust with outstanding professional qualifications andsuperb employability skills, but also as a broadlyeducated human being whose “Manchesterexperience” has provided opportunities fordeveloping a strong personal value system andreflecting on the great challenges facing 21st centurysocieties. We want Manchester graduates to be thekinds of people who will exercise leadership inbuilding just, prosperous, sustainable civil societieswherever in the world they choose to live.

We can measure some of the activities weundertake in pursuit of such outcomes, such asnumbers of visitors to our Whitworth Gallery, theManchester Museum, the Rylands Library or JodrellBank. We can also measure the numbers ofscholarships and bursaries we reserve foreducationally disadvantaged students, whether inthe UK or internationally.

But evaluating the more intangible aspects of our“third mission” impact is always going to be a farless precise exercise than enumerating researchincome, analysing citation data or using trendanalysis based on reliable student satisfaction surveys.

In the end, however, the wider transformational rolethat The University of Manchester is committed tomay turn out to have been among our mostimportant contributions to the long-term progress ofhumankind in the 21st century.

Professor Alan GilbertPresident and Vice-Chancellor

Contents3 News

6 Research

10 Profile

12 Students as Partners

14 Teaching and Learning

15 Reaching Out

16 What’s On

20 Discover the Museum

Front cover:Professor Nicholas Humphrey andProfessor Martin Humphries at theopening of the AV Hill Building

Features Letter from the President

The Northwest Regional DevelopmentAgency (NWDA) has agreed further fundingand support for Manchester’s pioneeringBiomedical Research Centre (BRC) with aninvestment of £9.5 million to supportoperating costs whilst sustaining andfurther developing the BRC’s business planup to 2012.

The investment this month follows the Agency’sinitial investment, exactly one year ago, of £4.1 million to help launch the centre.

Run by a partnership led by the Central ManchesterUniversity Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and TheUniversity of Manchester, the £35 million BRC will be part of an influential groupof hospital and university research centres

throughout the UK developing innovative treatmentsand medicines. The Manchester Partnership hasprovided matched funding of £9 million to furtherenhance the BRC research capacity.

The Manchester BRC is one of the NationalInstitute of Health Research Biomedical ResearchCentres across the UK, designated by theDepartment of Health as the nation’s flagshipclinical and academic partnerships, to driveforward the translation of excellent basic scienceinto world leading therapeutics, diagnostics andtreatments; supporting UK pharmaceutical andhealthcare businesses.

Professor Phil Baker, director of the BRC, added:"We are extremely grateful for the outstandingsupport we have received from the NWDA. The

funding has helped us to attract more world-renowned researchers to Manchester, investin state of the art facilities and equipment andlaunch a major training programme. The widerange of research projects now underway are set todeliver tremendous benefits to patients across theNorth West and beyond. This award enables thepartnership of the Trust and The University ofManchester to move at a pace of investment tobuild our future research platform that we couldn’tconsider without the backing of the NWDA."

The BRC is based at the Trust's Oxford Road siteand is contributing to the creation of over 150jobs and significant opportunities to engage innew collaborations with similar UKknowledge based industries

The University has officially opened the AV HillBuilding, an award-winning £39 millionresearch centre that will make Manchesterhome to one of the largest biomedicalcomplexes in Europe.

The AV Hill Building will house 300 scientists in 50research groups, mainly focussing on neuroscienceand immunology, from the Faculty of Life Sciences(FLS) and the Faculty of Medical and HumanSciences (FMHS).

The 6,000 square metre facility connects the CoreTechnology Facility, Michael Smith and StopfordBuildings, thus creating a linked complex housingmore than 300 research groups. The complex isadjacent to the Wellcome Trust Clinical ResearchFacility and the Central Manchester and ManchesterChildren’s University Hospitals NHS Trust and istherefore sited at a focal point in the University's'biomedical corridor'.

The building is named after Archibald Vivian Hill,who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicinewhile he held the Chair in Physiology at

The University of Manchester. Professor Hill sharedthe 1922 Nobel Prize with Otto Fritz Meyerhof forwork on the generation of heat by muscles.

One of the pioneering physiologists of the 20th century, AV Hill made outstandingcontributions in the field of muscle physiology andwas regarded as one of the founders of Biophysics.In the 1930s he played a leading role in theestablishment of the Academic Assistance Council(AAC), later to be known as the Society for theProtection of Science and Learning (SPSL), whichrescued many German refugee academics from Nazipersecution and provided employment and financialsupport. During the Second World War, he acceptedan invitation to stand for Parliament representingCambridge University, and used his considerableinfluence in support of many worthy causes.

The building – opened by AV Hill's grandsonProfessor Nicholas Humphrey and Universityalumnus Dr Ralph Kohn - recently won the BestCorporate Workplace in the North regional heat ofthe British Council for Offices awards and willcompete in the final in October.

Professor Humphrey said: “My grandfather lovedlaboratories. But he could never have imagined alab of this magnificence!”

Dr Kohn said: “I am deeply honoured to officiallyopen the building named after such a great man asAV Hill, who was an outstanding physiologist,humanitarian and parliamentarian, together withhis grandson Professor Nicholas Humphrey.”

The Deans of FLS and FMHS Professor MartinHumphries and Professor Alan North said: “Thisfacility will further enhance the major programmeof biomedical research established in Manchesterover the past ten years.

“The operations group behind its design spenteighteen months considering not only how thisbuilding will operate, but also how the 'biomedicalcorridor' – incorporating the teaching hospitals –can be better integrated. Benefits include theclustering of core equipment, easily accessibleresources for researchers and enhancedopportunities for collaboration.”

News

3

£39 million Research Centre honoursManchester Nobel Laureate

Funding boost for BRC

Left to right: Professor Alan North, Dr Ralph Kohn, President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Alan Gilbert, Professor Humphrey and Professor Martin Humphries

News

4

Professor John Perkins, Vice-President andDean of the Faculty of Engineering andPhysical Sciences, is to leave the Universityto take up a new post as Provost of theMasdar Institute of Science andTechnology in Abu Dhabi.

Since joining the University in 2004, ProfessorPerkins has played a major role in establishingthe Faculty of Engineering and PhysicalSciences, which has a student population of8,600 and employs around 2,000 staff.

Professor Perkins has overseen a dramaticgrowth in the quality, breadth and volume ofresearch activity in the Faculty – as evidencedby the performance in the 2008 ResearchAssessment Exercise and the 71% growth inresearch income since October 2004.

Professor Alan Gilbert, President and Vice-Chancellor, said: “We congratulate Johnon his new appointment which offers a chanceto lead an energy and environmental researchand postgraduate education Institute in apristine net zero carbon city.

“We also thank him for all his hard work andleadership in establishing the Faculty – andthe University - as a major global player inthe fields of Engineering and the PhysicalSciences and a world leader in the field ofNuclear Engineering.”

Professor Perkins said: “During the five years Ihave spent in Manchester, as a part of theteam building the new University, I have beenextremely fortunate to work with so manytalented and supportive colleagues, bothwithin and outside the Faculty.

“Of course I am looking forward to thechallenge of playing a part in the formation ofa new Institute of Science and Technology inMasdar City, but I will always remember withaffection my time at Manchester.”

Professor Perkins will take-up his new post atthe beginning of June. Professor Colin Bailey,currently Head of the School of Mechanical,Aerospace and Civil Engineering, will becomeActing Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences,pending an international search for a newVice-President and Dean.

Dean takes on top Gulfscience role

The University’s John Ryland’s Library onDeansgate provided the perfect backdrop forthe historic announcement of the new PoetLaureate last month.

In the surroundings of the Christie Gallery, CarolAnn Duffy made history as she became the firstfemale and first Scottish poet appointed to the role.

Talking about her appointment Carol Ann said:“I'm very honoured and humbled to become PoetLaureate, not only when I think of some of thegreat poets who have occupied the post since the17th century, but when I think of some of thewonderful poets writing now. In accepting thisLaureateship, I hope to contribute to people'sunderstanding of what poetry can do, and where itcan be found.”

Carol Ann Duffy is considered to be one of themost successful literary figures of our time and isthe writer of poetry, plays and fairy tales. She isthe Creative Director of the Writing School at theManchester Metropolitan University and hasproduced and contributed towards more than thirty

publications, one of which, “The Poetry of CarolAnn Duffy” is published by the ManchesterUniversity Press.

Announcing her appointment, Secretary of Statefor Culture, Andy Burnham said: “I am delightedthat she has accepted the Laureateship. She will bea very worthy successor to Andrew Motion whoseapproach to the role has done so much to revivepublic interest in the post.”

The installation of Carol Ann Duffy as Poet Laureateat the Rylands, coincides with the exhibition: “ASmall Eternity: The shape of the sonnet throughtime,” currently on show. The exhibition exploresthe origins and development of the sonnet as aform of poetry and is centred around the work ofWilliam Shakespeare.

Dr Stella Butler, Deputy Librarian and AssociateDirector of Special Collections, Infrastructure andPlanning said: “In 2007 the Ryland’s Poetry Readingwas given by the then Poet Laureate, AndrewMotion so it was wonderful for us to welcome hissuccessor and we will be inviting her to visit again.”

Library welcomes new Poet Laureate

The School of Nursing, Midwifery and SocialWork, the School of Community BasedMedicine and the Institute of Health Sciencesnow have a new home – the newly openedJean McFarlane Building.

Born in Cardiff in 1926, Jean McFarlane enjoyed a distinguished nursing career, leading the Royal College of Nursing’s now-famous ‘Study of Nursing Care’ programme of research in the late 1960s.

Jean was then invited to become the head of theNursing Section of the Department of Social andPreventive Medicine at The University of Manchester.

In 1973, she was made the first Professor ofNursing in England and became Head of the newly-established Department of Nursing.

In 1979, in acknowledgement of her services tohealth care, Professor McFarlane was madeBaroness McFarlane of Llandaff. She retired fromthe University in 1989.

Jean McFarlane building opens

UG first prize: ‘Breaking-out’ by Sean Lyons

PG first prize: ‘Ferroelectric Domains in0.95Na0.5K0.5NbO3 - 0.05LiNbO3 (NKLN)Ceramics’ by Margaret Wegrzyn

UG Second Prize: ‘Differentiated NG108-15 cell(nerve cell line) on 50% PCL - 50% PLLA surface’ byKuan Hung, Liu

PG second prize: ‘Breakfest - Before the start of aday's testing’ by Robert McCluskey

These stunning images are the winning entriesin a new science photography competitionhere at the University.

The contest was launched to encourage students inthe School of Materials to explore their artistic side.

Organizers were delighted with the response,which saw around 50 images submitted fromover 20 students.

They are now considering expanding futurecontests to include staff and alumni – and possiblyother science students from across the University.

Watch out for these winning images beingdisplayed around the campus, on the Web and inpromotional material for the School.

The University of Manchester came out ontop in the 38th annual Two Cities BoatRace held at Salford Quays last month.

The six-race regatta was watched by around3,000 spectators, with Manchester runningout 4-2 winners against its rivals fromSalford University.

Race spokesman Jon Keighren said: “It wasreally tough out there for the rowers, with astrong head wind making life difficult for allthe competitors. But the standard wasincredibly high and this will go down as one ofthe most competitive years ever. We were alsodelighted to see so many people from the cityof Salford come out to support us.”

5

Campus lifethrough a lens

http://frogblogmanchester.wordpress.com/

Boat Racevictory

A mission to conserve a rare species oftropical frog has come to fruition for Andrew Gray, the Curator of Herpetology atManchester Museum.

Several years ago Andrew was given specialpermission from the Costa Rican authorities tocollect a few rare specimens of the Splendid LeafFrog, Cruziohyla calcarifer, to start a captivebreeding programme at the Manchester Museum.

Although this had never been done before, hemanaged to establish the only captive breedingcolony of this species in the world. Now the frogsare being distributed to zoo’s both here in the UKand in the USA and Canada.

Andrew commented: “The conservation of thesefrogs is so close to my heart and it is wonderful tothink that will be going to others who appreciatehow very special they are.”

Frogs hop off to new homes

www.npcrdc.ac.uk/R6.3

Research

6

Scientists testing a cosmetic anti-ageing product sold on the highstreet have shown it can clinicallyreduce wrinkles and improve theappearance of skin damaged byeveryday exposure to sunlight.

Dermatologists at The University ofManchester carried out a clinical trialon 60 volunteers with typical signs ofsun-damaged skin and found that thecosmetic, No7 Protect & PerfectIntense Beauty Serum, could improvesome of these clinical features.

The study, published in the BritishJournal of Dermatology showed that70% of individuals using the beautyproduct had significantly fewerwrinkles after 12 months of daily use compared to volunteers using a placebo.

The research team, headed byProfessor of Dermatology ChrisGriffiths, reported last year that theoriginal No7 Protect & Perfect BeautySerum stimulated the production offibrillin-1, a protein that promoteselasticity in the skin.

For this latest, year-long study, theresearchers wanted to discoverwhether the new No7 Protect &

Perfect Intense Beauty Serum alsopromoted fibrillin-1 production butalso wished to test whether this wouldresult in a reduction in wrinkles.

“Very few over-the-counter cosmetic‘anti-ageing’ products have beensubjected to a rigorous, scientific trialto prove their effectiveness,” saidProfessor Griffiths, who is based inthe University’s School ofTranslational Medicine at SalfordRoyal Foundation Hospital.

“Although prescription retinoids can have a reparative effect on photo-aged skin, there is scantevidence that any of the plethora of cosmetic ‘anti-ageing’ products can produce similar effects.”

“Our findings demonstrate that acommercially-available cosmetic canproduce significant improvement inthe appearance of facial wrinklesfollowing long-term use,” saidProfessor Griffiths.

“It is rare for such benefits to bereported for an over-the-counter anti-ageing product and this study pavesthe way for larger studies with morestatistical power.”

Anti-ageing cosmetic reducedwrinkles in clinical trial

Researchers at the University have beenawarded £1.2 million to extend a pilotscheme looking at the performance of GPpractices across England.

A team led by Professor Helen Lester at theNational Primary Care Research andDevelopment Centre (NPCRDC), won theNational Institute for Health and ClinicalExcellence (NICE) bid with colleagues at theUniversity of York Health Economics Consortiumand The Society for Academic Primary Care.

The project, termed the ‘Quality and OutcomesFramework’, rewards GP practices on the basis ofthe quality of the care they provide to theirpatients. Points are awarded for each area coveredand practices are then rewarded financiallydepending on how many points they achieve.

Further details about the NPCRDC project canbe found at the web address below.

Research teamto examine GPperformanceindicators

Wealth and social class have a greater impact on the health and well-being of the elderly than previouslyrealised, according to newresearch.

The Economic and SocialResearch Council funded studywas led by Professor JamesNazroo from The University ofManchester with a team atUniversity College London andthe Institute for Fiscal Studies.

People from lower socio-economic groups, they found,on average die earlier than theirwealthier counterparts.

People from lower socio-economic classes are more likelyto suffer from both self-reportedillnesses such as depression andalso from long-term conditionssuch as high blood pressure,diabetes and obesity.

Inequalities in health and lifeexpectancy arising fromsocioeconomic inequalitiespersist into the oldest ages,although they are larger forthose aged in their 50s and 60s.

Early retirement was found to begenerally good for people'shealth and well-being unless ithas been forced on them.

And older people whoparticipate in non-work activities,such as volunteering or caringfor others, have better mentalhealth and well-being, but onlyif they feel appreciated andrewarded for their contribution.

"Increases in life expectancyraise major challenges for publicpolicy. Among these is the need

to respond to markedinequalities in economic positionand life expectancy at olderages,” said Professor Nazroowho is based at The School ofSocial Sciences.

"In addition, despite the factthat we are all living longer,many people now stop workbefore the statutory retirementage and a large proportion ofthese still have the potential toprovide a positive input intosociety, the economy and theirown well-being.”

Wealth is good for your health

Stockport based hearing aid manufacturerStarkey Laboratories has announced a£200,000 research grant to the Audiologyand Deafness Research Group at theUniversity over a three-year period.

Starkey Laboratories, who supply more than onemillion hearing aid units globally each year, isfunding the research in order to look at thebenefits of bilateral amplification – fitting hearinginstruments to both ears.

Dr Kevin Munro, who is leading the research atthe University comments: “This funding andcollaboration with Starkey is an excellentopportunity for us to answer some extremelyimportant research questions that will benefithearing-impaired people throughout the world.”

Research grant is music toUniversity’s ears

7

Friedrich Engels's time in Manchester had aprofound influence on his Marxist ideasaccording to two of the country's leadingexperts on the subject.

TV historian Tristram Hunt (above right) hasrevealed how the co-author of the iconicCommunist Manifesto - written with Marx himself - discovered that Manchester's classdivisions influenced the way roads were built,neighbourhoods developed and the city was organised.

In a lecture to launch The University ofManchester's Global Urban Research Centre(GURC) last month, Dr Hunt joined leadingdevelopment theorist Professor Caroline Moser(right) to explore the relevance of Engels's thinkingin the developing and developed world.

Drawing on new research from Professor Moserand others at GURC, Dr Hunt revealed theimportance of the city of Manchester in formingthis vision.

His new book: ‘Engels the Frock-CoatedCommunist’ is also published this month.

He said: "Friedrich Engels changed the way wesee how cities work in Britain and abroad, in the19th century and today. And he did so because ofhis years in Manchester as a young man in themid-1840s.

"He was one of the great chroniclers of urban lifeand described how the streets, private homes and

Manchester'sclass war'changed ourunderstandingof cities'

public places of Victorian Manchester were theproduct of class war.

"Like few before him, he appreciated the city'sspatial dynamics as expressions of social andpolitical power."

Professor Moser, who is Director of GURC said:"The same class dynamics identified by Engels inVictorian Manchester are at work in the mega-citiesof today right across the globe.

"In many developing Latin American cities, forexample, security, not schools or water, is thebiggest priority and increasing crime, burglary andgangs - all associated with growing inequality - hasagain shifted the focus on to class.

"Elites respond by constructing gated communitiesand electric fences.

"It also explains how a dramatically expandingprivate security system - protecting the wealthy -has mushroomed in many cities."

Scientists have developed a new wayof dating archaeological objects –using fire and water to unlock their‘internal clocks’.

A team from Manchester and Edinburghhas discovered a new technique that canbe used on fired clay ceramics like bricks,tile and pottery.

Working with The Museum of London,they have been able to date bricksamples from Roman, medieval and modern periods with remarkable accuracy.

The method relies on the fact that firedclay ceramic material will start tochemically react with atmosphericmoisture as soon as it is removed fromthe kiln after firing. This continues overits lifetime, causing it to increase in

weight – the older the material,the greater the weight gain.

This process is well known, but in 2003the research team discovered a new lawthat precisely defines how the rate ofreaction between ceramic and watervaries over time.

The application of this law underpinsthe new dating method, as the amountof water that is chemically combinedwith a ceramic provides an ‘internalclock’, which can be accessed todetermine its age.

Lead author Dr Moria Wilson, SeniorLecturer in the School of Mechanical,Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE),said: “These findings come after manyyears of hard work. We are extremelyexcited by the potential of this newtechnique, which could become anestablished way of determining the age of ceramic artefacts of archaeological interest.”

Fire and water reveal newarchaeological dating method

Research

8

The explosive growth of mobile phones in thedeveloping world has sidelined tens ofmillions of people, according to new research.

The study by experts from The Universities ofManchester and Strathclyde found that despite theobvious benefits of mobile phones, the "haves" inAfrica's informal sector are getting richer, while the"have-nots" are losing income.

"For sure, the benefits of mobile phones to thedeveloping world are huge as they are used as aprimary form of communication: landlines are muchless common," said Professor Heeks, who isDirector of The University of Manchester's Centrefor Development Informatics.

"But that growth does not reach everyone andwithout a mobile, you are cut off socially andeconomically.

"We talked a few years back about the "digital divide"; now we are recognising the"mobile divide."

Part of the research examined the experience of agroup of workers in Nigeria's informal cloth-weaving sector.

The sector employs tens of thousands and centreson the weaving of ceremonial dress for occasionslike birth celebrations and marriages.

"The mobile divide was starkly brought out in ourinterviews with the weavers."

"There is no reason to doubt that inequalities inNigeria will be consistent across the developingworld," said Professor Heeks.

Latest International Telecommunication Unionfigures reveal stark differences in mobile ownership:

in Europe there are 111 mobiles per 100 peoplebut in Africa, the figure is 28 per 100.

And around 350 million Africans live in areas notyet reached by a mobile signal according to theGSM Association.

Where they can get a mobile phone, the poor, saysProfessor Heeks, spend up to 20 per cent of their

disposable income on it - more than they spend on education.

"More than 300 million Africans have access to amobile phone, though some are shared for examplewithin families.

"But that still leaves hundreds of millions of peopleon the wrong side of the mobile divide."

Mobile phone"have-nots"sidelined

A new £8.2 million Composites Certification andEvaluation Centre – which will allow companies andresearchers to test the quality of innovative new productsand processes – has been announced.

The facility will be part of the North West Composites Centre atthe University, which was launched in 2006 to carry out cuttingedge research into composite materials for aerospace compositedesign and manufacture to be used in the construction oflighter, more fuel efficient aircraft.

The North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is toinvest £4.7 million in a groundbreaking new facility to supportcompanies in the aerospace supply chain. It will be supported by£2.5 million of academic commitment and resources from theUniversity. The remainder of the funding will come from theprivate sector.

The facility will be unrivalled in Europe and will provide expertise and evaluation techniques to support companies of all sizes in the development of new composite products andmanufacturing processes.

New compositesfacility will boostaerospace industry

In brief

Manchester gets kit toresearch reactor safetyThe University has reinforced its position as oneof the world’s leading academic centres fornuclear research by taking delivery of powerfulnew research hardware.

The Nuclear Graphite Research Group, led byProfessor Barry Marsden, has receivedequipment which will allow research into thesafety of nuclear reactor systems to take place.

Jodrell Bank stars in Eurospace missionCutting-edge engineering by staff at the JodrellBank Centre for Astrophysics will play a crucialrole in a European space mission to study thefading glow of the Big Bang.

Staff at the facility have designed and builtradio receivers at the heart of one of the majorinstruments on board the Planck satellite – themost sensitive receivers of their type ever built.

The European Space Agency’s Herschel andPlanck satellites – launched in May – will collectthe most detailed information yet about thebirth and evolution of our Universe and its starsand galaxies.

Dr Richard Davis from the Jodrell Bank Centrefor Astrophysics said: “The project has involvedus in the construction of space qualifiedhardware, which has been a new excitingventure for our team of engineers, technicians,academics and students at Jodrell Bank. We areprivileged to be a part of this majorinternational project.”

9

Manchester’s National Institute for HealthResearch Biomedical Research Centre (NIHRBRC) is celebrating a £540,000 research awardfrom the Wellcome Trust, to help develop anew blood test to identify women with highrisk pregnancies.

A team led by Professor Phil Baker, the BRC’sDirector and a consultant at St Mary’s Hospital,and Dr Louise Kenny, a visiting senior lecturer atThe University of Manchester, will use the award to

help develop a simple blood test to predictmothers at risk of pre-eclampsia and otherpregnancy complications.

Commenting on the award, Professor Baker said:“The funding will enable us to turn our researchinto a practical benefit for patients.

“The award will make a tremendous difference toour work, and hopefully mothers and babies shouldbenefit from the new screening test within the nextfive to ten years.”

Award aims to make pregnancy safer

A drug designed by a University spin-offcompany to reduce scarring after surgery orinjury has shown promising results in earlyhuman trials.

Avotermin – developed by Professor MarkFerguson’s spin-off biotechnology company Renovo– was tested in healthy volunteers with scarsmonitored over the period of a year. The scarsresulting from wounds injected with the treatmentwere less red, raised and visible than those treatedwith a dummy drug (placebo), a paper published inThe Lancet medical journal reported.

Early work on the drug was done at the University’sFaculty of Life Sciences before Renovo was set upto develop it further.

People taking part in three trials had identical onecentimetre full thickness skin incisions made onboth arms and were given an injection ofAvotermin in one and placebo in the other whenthe wounds were made and then 24 hours later.Doctors assessing the subsequent appearance ofthe scars on a 100-point scale did not know whichwound was treated with which drug or placebo.

The studies, which were done to test safety andfind the best dose in more than 200 people, foundthe scars treated with Avotermin looked more likenormal skin than the scars treated with placebo.

Professor Ferguson said that advanced clinicalstudies were underway in over 50 European centresincluding Manchester, where the trial’s leadinvestigator, Professor Gus McGrouther, Professorof Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is based."We're recruiting 350 patients who are undergoingscar revision operations where the original bad scaris cut out and we inject one end of the new scarwound with the drug Avotermin and one end with placebo.”

He argued that if proven to be successful, theAvotermin treatment could be used in the earlymanagement of wounds from surgery and injury.

"What we know from our studies is you have togive the treatment drug when you close up thewound so if someone has had trauma it could begiven within the first 48 hours after injury,"Professor Ferguson said.

Promising results fordrug to stop scarring

Profile

As great good fortune would have it, CancerResearch UK’s £8 million initiative to set up a DrugDiscovery Centre at the Paterson Institute, within theManchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC),coincided with Donald’s decision to move on after 20years in industry. The convergence of the new centreand his career shift could not have been better.

The story gets even more remarkable, because bychance his first job after leaving school in 1975, ina gap year before going to Oxford University to

study chemistry, was in cancer research -at St Bartholomew’s Hospital MedicalSchool in London. So, even then, by

chance, the die was being cast. His young eyeswere opened to the possibility of medical research,especially cancer-related.

The excitement of drug discovery lay many yearsahead and came about through structural changesin ICI, later Zeneca/AstraZeneca. He joined thecompany in 1988, when ICI expanded itsdiagnostics research facility at Northwich under Dr Alex Markham, who was later to become Headof Cancer Research UK.

That didn’t last long. Due to the vagaries ofindustry, with which he is all too familiar, the

diagnostics facility was closed in 1989 and he wastransferred to the Biotechnology department in ICIPharmaceuticals at Alderley Park.

There, using his genetics expertise, he worked onthe causes of a number of diseases – Alzheimer’s,Cystic Fibrosis and Lung Cancer. Again, anotherreshaping exercise resulted in him being moved tothe Cancer Drug Discovery group.

“At last, everything came together and I landed onmy feet,” he says. That was in 1993 – and was thebeginning of 16 years of successful endeavour. Heinitially worked on a new anti-angiogenic approach

10

Ogilvie’s OdysDiscovering drugs is what Donald Ogilvie does. Two of those – Vandetanib and Cediranib -developed for cancer treatment, are currently in the final phase of clinical trials – a remarkable achievement.

CV

to cancer therapy. From being a one-man bandworking at his bench, he progressed to leadinglarge multidisciplinary drug discovery teams andrunning a 100-strong Bioscience department.

Talking to him gives one a sense of the excitementand the potential disappointment of attemptingdrug discovery. “You have to have the mentalityfor it,” he says. “Most projects stop. You have totake a long-term view and it tests your patience.Your job is to provide high quality scientific dataso that decisions can be made about theprogression (or not) of a project – and only one ina hundred make it to deliver a drug.”

In terms of drug development and the highinvestment needed to get a new drug to market,he draws a useful analogy with the GrandNational – most of the horses won’t finish, youhave to decide which to back and which to pullup, and you know that an outsider can win.

In his own case, the two compounds, Vandetanib and Cediranib, were discoveredabout ten years ago but they still have a fewmore hurdles to jump before they can be sure togo into circulation.

Ironically, it was another bout of AstraZenecareshaping which enabled him to take up his newjob. “The UK cancer drug discovery group wasbeing downsized and the company was offeringvoluntary redundancies. After my initial dismay at this turn of events and much heartsearching I began to see that this was an opportunity tostart out all over again and decided it was time tomove on. In parallel, the chance to be involved ina new cancer drug discovery venture in the MCRCwas irresistible.”

So, things seem to have come together and he’slanded on his feet again. His job is to set up thenew centre, oversee the setting up of new state-of-the-art labs, recruit first-class biology andchemistry leaders and get drug discovery projectsoff the ground.

The aim is to generate a portfolio of cancer drugdiscovery projects, whilst spreading a drug-huntingculture and developing chemical research tools forthe MCRC.

“Located in the Paterson Institute, adjacent to TheChristie, we have the double advantage of beingclose to the people most likely to benefit from ourdiscoveries, Christie patients, and being able totap into the scientific strength of the University,”he says.

Now 52, Donald can trace a journey that seemeddestined to bring him to this place. He has aneasy-going manner and an informal amiability, buthe is a no-nonsense leader with a clear-mindedvision. Even in his early days, he knew his ownmind – taking that transforming gap year to workat Bart’s after school, determinedly switching fromChemistry to Biochemistry at Oxford, deciding ongraduation to get a job rather than stay on to dohis DPhil. (He did complete his DPhil later, but hedid it the hard way – working by day and writinghis thesis by night).

His first jobs were in the Pathology Departmentof the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, where hespent four years looking at the role of proteasesin breast cancer and then another fourelucidating the genetics of inherited human bonediseases with Dr Brian Sykes. “They wereproductive and exciting years, a real education ina clinical environment,” he says. Then cameICI/Zeneca/AstraZeneca – a huge opportunity tolearn and grow and work with many world class scientists.

Oxfordshire was also the place where he met hiswife, Carol. They have two teenage children,Sarah, 17, and 16-year-old Joshua for whomDonald serves as a part time, unpaid, taxi driver.The family belong to SMCF, a large church in Sale,for which Donald is a Charity Trustee and he alsoenjoys gardening, walking, reading (all sorts) andcryptic crosswords.

So, his new role has an added bonus. “When Iwas looking for a new job, the field was inevitablyvery narrow, so it was amazing to find the perfectopportunity only five miles from home.”

ssey

Name

Dr Donald Ogilvie

Position

Head of Drug Discovery, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research,The University of Manchester

Education

1968-75: Dulwich College, London

1976-80: University of Oxford: MA Biochemistry

1986-88: University of Oxford: DPhil Human Genetics

Employment:

1984-88: Research Assistant, NuffieldDepartment of Pathology,Oxford: Molecular genetics ofinherited human connectivetissue disorders

1980-84: Research Assistant, NuffieldDepartment of Pathology,Oxford: Role of proteases intumour invasion and metastasis

1975-76: Research Technician, St Bartholomew’s HospitalMedical School, London: Effectof dietary lipid on carcinogenmetabolism

1988-2008: ICI Diagnostics thenICI/Zeneca/AstraZenecaPharmaceuticals:

1988-1992: Cloning/mapping genes inhuman disease (including cancer)

1993-2008: Cancer drug discovery anddevelopment

1988: Senior Research Scientist

1994: Principal Research Scientist

1996: Senior Group Leader

1997-2006: Bioscience SectionManager/Director

2006-2008: Project Director

1998-2008: Senior Discovery rep on oncologydrug development team

The University of Manchester has been oneof the pioneers of peer assisted study sinceit was introduced in Chemistry in 1995. Thelevel of enthusiasm and support for thescheme among students has seen it growsignificantly since, resulting in officialrecognition in April as the National Centrefor Supplemental Instruction (SI)/PeerAssisted Study Sessions (PASS).

PASS, which is the UK adaptation of theinternational Supplemental Instruction (SI) model,is now operating in 16 disciplines across allFaculties with more than 400 student leaders.

In PASS sessions, higher year students as PASSleaders, help lower year students in groups, todevelop study and learning strategies. Sessionsare voluntary and regularly timetabled enablingstudents to informally review material fromhistorically challenging courses in a non-threatening, group situation.

The programme at Manchester has developed itsreputation whilst growing in size and for overfive years has been recognised as the NationalBenchmark. It is overseen by the ‘Students asPartners’ programme of work managed by theTeaching and Learning Support Office (TLSO) incollaboration along with Faculties.

Louise Walmsley, Head of the TLSO, said:”TheUniversity’s establishment as the UK NationalCentre for PASS recognizes The University ofManchester as the national leader in peer

assisted study. Within the University,we’ve seen steady and significantgrowth in PASS. We’re anticipating

further growth (including its expansion intohigher years of study and postgraduate study)and it is a key part of the personalising thestudent experience agenda which is being takenforward as part of the University’s Review ofTeaching, Learning and the Student Experience.

“All of this would not have been possiblewithout the commitment of my colleagues in theTLSO who support our Students as Partnersprogramme. But even more importantly it wouldnot have been possible without the dedication ofthe student leaders and staff co-ordinators.”

Now as the UK National Pass Centre, theUniversity is accredited to deliver training for staffwho act as PASS supervisors, the training ofthese supervisors is delivered by Certified Trainersand to coincide with the announcement of theUniversity’s new ‘National’ status. Marcia Odyfrom the TLSO received certification from Dr GlenJacobs of Executive Director of the InternationalCenter for Supplemental Instruction (SI) whichthe University has long worked closely with.

Marcia said:” The benefits to all stakeholders aresignificant with participants developingconfidence in their discipline discourse and, ashas been evidenced internally, but alsointernationally, an improvement in academicperformance. The Leaders develop key skillsthat are vital for today’s graduate. For academicstaff, the engagement of students as well as adevelopment of a stronger community withinthe discipline is recognised, but the feedback ofsession discussion is probably the mostsignificant benefit.

Feature

12

Students as PartnersThe Student Teamworking Awards sponsoredby PricewaterhouseCoopers recognises teamsof students who have taken part in a groupproject as part of their course or in their owntime as extra curricula activity.

This year’s winning team in the Extra-Curricularcategory was a group of medical students who tookover the production of the long-running magazinefor Manchester Medical School, now calledMediscope. Originally established in 1898 as TheManchester Royal Infirmary Gazette, it is nowpublished three times a year and is a multi-faceted,32-page, full colour high quality magazine cateringto the diverse interests of its readers as well asintroducing them to areas of medicine they may nothave been aware of.

The team’s success was due to the carefuldelegation of roles based on team members’strengths. They overcome initial problems suchas generating articles from the School andacquiring funds to print the magazine viasubscriptions and advertising and devisingeffective distribution methods.

The team members, all 4th year students (exceptone): Andrew Cheng, James Goodman, AhmedHankir, Lucy Hollingworth, Khimara Naidoo andPrizzi Zarsadias received a prize of £500. There werea further two prizes of £250 and £100 awardedand three prizes for the Curricular category, thewinning team in the curricular category were “Savethe Bees” a team of first year students from theFaculty of Life Sciences.

13

The Students as Partners’ presentationevening took place in April and celebratedthe significant growth of Peer Support acrossThe University of Manchester and recognisedand rewarded Peer Mentors and PASS Leadersfor their valued voluntary contributions aswell as presenting certificates to thosestudents who completed thePricewaterhouseCoopers skills course in‘Personal Development and Effectiveness’.

Each year those students who have shownoutstanding contribution to Peer Support whilemaintaining their own studies are recognised withan awards scheme. There were five individualstudent awards and an individual staff award andThis year’s team award went to four 3rd yearMedical students who together have laid firmfoundations for an outstanding mentoring supportprogramme at Manchester Medical School duringtheir placement years in various hospitals.

Thomas Hogan, Yousef Gargani, Sophie Curtis andRasitha Perera (pictured) were appointed studentco-ordinators in 2008-09. Their engagement andorganisation has been described as extensiveincluding working with Students as Partners toestablish training scenarios that reflected issuesencountered by fellow students as well asestablishing a series of social events.

Thomas Hogan, said: ”I feel very privileged to havebeen given the opportunity to study medicine. Ifeel there is a big responsibility attached to thatprivilege. I see being a medic a bit like being arelay runner in that you only get to hold the batonfor a short period of time. How well you dodepends on those coming before you who pass thebaton on to you. In turn it is your duty to pass thebaton on to those coming after you.

Fellow student co-ordinator Yousef Gargani said:”Ifelt that working as part of the Peer MentoringScheme would actually help my studies despite theimmense commitment required and I was right.Working as part of the scheme helped me developmy time management skills as well as providing abreak from Medicine.”

Dr Ioan Davies, MBChB, Phase One Co-ordinator,said:” The MBChB encourages students to beresilient and resourceful and our 2008-09 mentorcoordinator team showed all these characteristics.Their approach to the role was “full on”,generating ideas and carrying them through tocompletion with some valuable support from HelenFranklin at the Manchester Medical School.

14

Teaching and Learning

The Teaching Excellence Awardswere formally presented at theTeaching and Learning Conferencelast month by Professor ColinStirling, Vice-President forTeaching and Learning. Thesecompetitive awards are made toindividuals who havedemonstrated a significant andsustained commitment toexcellence in their teaching orsupport of teaching. This year’swinners were:

• Dr Marion Birch (School of Physicsand Astronomy) is the Physics PeerMentoring Staff Co-ordinator, andhas implemented innovativeteaching methods such as Just InTime Teaching, Peer Instruction,and interactive feedback systems.She has also been an eLearninginnovator and has developed arich suite of material for use withfirst year students and is fullyintegrated into the Just In TimeTeaching model.

• Dr Grant Campbell (School ofChemical Engineering andAnalytical Sciences) is a dynamicclassroom teacher who has

attracted a range of internal andexternal funding to support thedevelopment of new material,most recently to develop a book-based assessment for final yearMEng students. He balances ahigh teaching load with aninternationally recognised researchprofile and holds a prestigiousinternational teaching award, theICHemE Frank Morton Medal forExcellence in ChemicalEngineering Education.

• Dr Joseph McGonagle (School ofLanguages, Linguistics andCultures) has demonstratedexcellence whilst still in the earlydays of his academic career. Heconvenes a range of highly ratedcourse units and has beensuccessful in attracting funding tosupport his research informedteaching. He is a keen adopter ofnew technology and is currentlydeveloping EBL eLearningresources in Blackboard. To ensurehe maintains a goodunderstanding of the studentexperience he also attends LEAPArabic classes.

• Julia McMorrow (School ofEnvironment and Development)was an early adopter of eLearningtechnologies and hasdisseminated her work throughthe GEES subject centre andthrough peer-review publication.She is also a prominent championfor EBL and is the HumanitiesCEEBL co-ordinator. In that roleshe has supported 12 projects andadvised on nearly 30 fundingapplications. Through her EBLwork she was invited to take ateam from Manchester to MIT toparticipate in an invitation onlysymposium. She is currentlyworking with Manchester CityCouncil on the Green City Project.

• Dr Keith Brennan (Faculty of LifeSciences) has developed and leadsan innovative degree programmein Developmental Biology, one ofonly five programmes in the UK inthis emerging field. He hasfacilitated student engagementwith world-leading researchersand cutting edge research. Hiswork on Scenario-based learningintegrated with eLearning tools

has been highly innovative, as hasbeen his work with theManchester Museum, introducingstudents to the collections and thework that surrounds them.

• Marcia Ody (‘Students asPartners’, Teaching and LearningSupport Office) is now theNational Certified Trainer for PeerAssisted Study Sessions in the UK,and has been instrumental insecuring National Centre statusfor the University. Her work in thefields of Supplemental Instructionand Students as Partners has beeninternationally recognised withinvitations to speak at high profileconferences, and contribute topublications on studentengagement and co-consultancy.Through her work ‘Students asPartners’ is now a recognised termin use at other universities andManchester is seen as a home forgood practice and innovation inthis area.

The Teaching Excellence Awards areavailable annually. If you would likefurther information please visit

The 2008/09 Teaching Excellence Awards

www.campus.manchester.ac.uk/tlso/excellence/

Left - right: Marion Birch, Julia McMorrow, Marcia Ody, Colin Stirling, Joseph McGonangle, Keith Brennan, Grant Campbell

Four students have undertaken an ambitiouseight-week project to raise money for the‘Your Manchester Fund’.

Their efforts form part of a Career ManagementSkills course unit run by the MLP, Careers andEmployability Division.

The group was keen to tell their fellow studentsabout the work that PhD researchers do at theUniversity and raise funds to secure furtherscholarships for future students, particularly in thearea of cancer research. The group raised over£400 in a four-week period by holding bake salesand an evening charity event.

And thanks to the Government’s Matched Fundingscheme, where the value of a donation to aneducational institution is increased by a third, thegroup handed over £535.45 to support vitalresearch into cancer at the University.

Research Impact Scholarships form one of the fivestrands of the Fund which support students. Theyencourage final year undergraduates and recentgraduates to join top-quality research teams in

seeking to solve some of the most challengingproblems we face today.

Head of Annual Giving, Nicola Cobham, whocoordinated the scheme said: “We were verypleased when the students nominated to fundraisefor the ‘Your Manchester Fund’ and areencouraged that our students recognise theimportance of the research that the University isundertaking. I know our alumni donors will befurther encouraged to support the work of the

‘Your Manchester Fund’ knowing that the studentsare behind our work too. We are very grateful tothe students and hope this will help us to engagefurther with the student community.”

One of the group, Bethan Jones, a second yearGeography student, also visited the ChristieHospital to find out about some of the processesinvolved in current research into leukaemia withProfessor Tony Whetton, Head of the School ofCancer and Imaging Sciences.

Volunteers from the ‘In Touch’ Project at TheManchester Museum and Imperial WarMuseum North are celebrating after winningthe ‘National Opening Doors to AdultLearners Award’ as part of National AdultLearners Week.

The In Touch programme provides training andskills to people across Greater Manchester, workingwith local people at risk of social and economicexclusion. Volunteers undertake training and workexperience in the Museum, getting involved withall aspects from caring for collections andsupporting educational visits, to running object-handling sessions for visitors on the galleries.

In Touch volunteer and winner of the RegionalIndividual Award, Gary Jaye, commented: “I feelvery humbled winning the regional award and amdelighted that the In Touch programme has wonthe national award. It’s a great achievement andwe didn’t expect to win. Learning in the Museumis fantastic – it really doesn’t matter what age youare or what your background is. These awardsrecognise the hard work that everyone puts in.”

Other award news from the Museum includes theshortlisting of the Marketing Campaign andEducational Initiative for ‘Lindow Man: A bogbody mystery’ exhibition at the Museums andHeritage Awards.

15

Reaching Out

‘In touch’ volunteers celebratenational award success

A group of women activists from one ofthe world's poorest communities came tothe North West of England to pass ontheir expertise.

The initiative - supported by The University ofManchester's Brooks World Poverty Institute(BWPI) - took place last month at theUniversity, and at community centres inSalford and East Manchester.

The South Africa women were from 'SlumDwellers International', an association ofcommunities from 15 countries.

"The impoverished of the developing worldhave a great deal to offer people in our owncountry - they really are experts on how toget things done", said Professor DavidHulme, Executive Director at BWPI.

"So the purpose of this initiative is toorganise stronger contact between grassroots organisations of the developed and thedeveloping world."

Africans onmission to helpNorth West'sgrassroots

Students support ‘YourManchester’

Bethan Jones and Luke Pedley with Professor Tony Whetton

Music and Drama at ManchesterFri 12 - Sun 14 June, Various timesCosmo Rodewald Concert Hall Quatuor Danel Open House Weekend The University of Manchester and its internationallyrenowned resident string quartet invite you to anotherfabulous music-making opportunity. This three day eventsees the Quatuor Danel and Professor David Fanningcoaching students and members of the public, direct sight-reading sessions and taking part in group workshops.

Tues 23 June, 6.30pm, £10/£5 per session John Thaw Studio Theatre The Manchester Theatre of Spontaneity Experience the creative action methods of psychodramaand sociodrama with qualified and experiencedpractitioners. In the face of the many challenges of life,being able to be spontaneous and creative helps us livemore fully, overcome difficulties, have fun and enjoyrelationships with others.

Mon 8 - Thurs 11 June, Various times, LunchtimeConcert: Free, Beat the rush hour concert: £4/£2,Evening Concert: £8/£5/£3 Estival, The biggest student classical music festivalin Manchester!A week-long celebration of some of the city’s finest youngmusicians, presenting 12 concerts of soloists, chamberensembles and symphonic orchestras. Full programmedetails to be announced at www.mumusicsociety.co.uk

Mon 29 June, 5pm, £4 John Thaw Studio Theatre Peter Sanson and Chris Killen Sansomis editor of The North and the founder of ThePoetry Business. His collections include January andEverything You’ve Heard is True, and his New andSelected Poems is published in 2009.

The Martin Harris Centre for Music and DramaBridgeford Street, Manchester M13 9PL0161 275 8951/8950email boxoffice@manchester.ac.ukwww.manchester.ac.uk/martinharriscentre

Gig Guide MANCHESTER ACADEMY 1, 2 and 3

Dan Deacon Ensemble with Future Islands + Adventure Tues 2 June - £11 AdvNothing Sinister Fri 5 June - £6 AdvMastodon Sat 6 June - £15 AdvBlue October Sat 6 June - £10 AdvJunior Boys Tues 9 June - £10 AdvLady Sovereign Fri 12 June - £9 AdvJon Allen Weds 17 June - £8 AdvBaskery Thurs 18 June - £8 AdvDiana Jones Fri 19 June - £10 AdvAqualung Fri 19 June - £12 AdvUFO Sat 20 June - £20 AdvM Ward Mon 29 June - £11 AdvTickets from:Students' Union, Oxford RoadPiccadilly Box Office @ easy Internet Café (c/c) 0871 2200260Royal Court (Liverpool) 0151 709 4321 (c/c)Students’ UnionOxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL0161 275 2930 www.manchesteracademy.net

International SocietyWINTER TRIPS Sat 6 - Sun 7 June Overnight weekend trip to

Bath and Stonehenge Sat 6 June Alton Towers Theme Park Sun 7 June York Sat 13 - Sun 14 June Overnight weekend trip

to Edinburgh Sat 13 June Lake District visiting Keswick Sun 14 June Blackpool Sat 20 June North Wales visiting Chirk

Castle and Erddig Hall Sun 21 June Lake District visiting South

Lakes Wild Animal Park Sat 27 June North Wales visiting Conwy

Castle and Llandudno Sun 28 June Peak District visiting Poole's

Cavern and Hardwick Hall Opening hours Mon-Fri 9.30am – 7pm (during term time)Mon-Fri 9.30am – 5pm (during vacation)Small World Café opening hours Mon-Fri 11am – 3pm

327 Oxford Road (next to Krobar)0161 275 4959 email int.soc@anchester.ac.ukwww.internationalsociety.org.uk

Centre for New Writing DISPLAYS/COLLECTIONS

Mon 29 June 2009Summer in the City with Peter Sansom and Chris Killen2009 sees the publication of Sansom's New andSelected Poems and Killen's debut novel The BirdRoom. This event will be followed by a Q & A session. Please note that this event begins at 5.00pm, and therewill be no drinks reception.The Martin Harris Centre , 5.00pm, £4.00 (£2.50conc/UoM students and staff) Book tickets at www.quaytickets.com or call 0870 4280785

Fri 3 July 2009Summer in the City: fiction and poetry readings byCentre for New Writing MA studentsJoin us at Manchester Central Library for this freeshowcase of work by this year's MA in poetry andfiction-writing students.The Central Library, 1pm, FREE and un-ticketed

Fri 3 July 2009Martin Amis Public Events: Literature and Suicidewith guests Al Alvarez and Melvyn Bragg Martin Amis's classic 1984 novel, Money, was subtitled'A suicide note', and it is a subject to which he hasperiodically returned in his later novels. This reading willbe followed by a Q & A session. As these events arevery popular, we recommend usingwww.quaytickets.com or call on 0870 428 0785 University Place, Oxford Road, 6:30pm, AdmissionPrice: £5.00 (£3.00 conc/UoM students and staff)

Wed 22 July 2009Summer in the City: Geoff Ryman Ryman's The Child Garden won the Arthur C. Clarke,John W. Campbell and British Science FictionAssociation awards. His mainstream novel 253 won thePhilip K. Dick Memorial award.Central Library, 1pm, FREE and unticketed

Website: www.manchester.ac.uk/arts/newwriting

Online journal: www.themanchesterreview.co.uk

The Martin Harris Centre for Music and DramaBridgeford Street, Manchester M13 9PL0161 275 8951/8950email boxoffice@manchester.ac.uk www.manchester.ac.uk/martinharriscentre

The Manchester MuseumSPECIAL EXHIBITIONSLindow Moss: A Place of Finding until 12 JulyThis photographic exhibition documents the landscapeat Lindow Moss; the mysterious place where thepreserved body of Lindow Man was found.

FAMILY ACTIVITIESBig Saturday: Manchester GallerySat 6 June, 11am–4pmJoin in this fun-filled family activity day linked to ournew Manchester Gallery.

Summer HolidaysSat 18 July – Fri 28 AugLots of fun family activities linked to Darwin, BritishArchaeology festival and Manchester Hermit.

TALKS AND TOURS Walking tour of Lindow MossSun 14 June, 2-4pmMeet at The Plough & Flail, Mobberley. Suitable fordogs but not for prams or wheelchairs. Wear walkingshoes. Book on 0161 275 2648, £3, 10+

Showcase MOSIWed 17 June, 3-5pmIts central role in heritage leadership and educationalexcellence with Steve Davies MBE, Director, Museum ofScience and Industry. Drop-in, Free.

Ideas Café: The Manchester HermitTues 23 June, 6-8pmExplore issues around loss and extinction with theManchester Hermit.

Inspiration amidst asylum Sat 27 June, 11am-4pmInspirational photographs by women working with theRed Cross.

MANCHESTER CAFÉ SOCIETY Manchester’s Café Society is a place where, for the priceof a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, anyone can explorethe latest ideas in science, culture and the arts. Talks areeither in the café or the Museum’s Discovery Centre.

Opening hours Open: Tues-Sat 10am - 5pmSun-Mon (and Bank Holidays) 11am - 4pm FREE Admission

The Manchester MuseumOxford Road, Manchester 0161 275 2634www.manchester.ac.uk/museum

Jodrell BankJodrell Bank Plant Fair Sun 5 July, 10am – 4pm An opportunity to purchase rare, unusual and highquality plants directly from the growers with freegardening advice. Friendly nurseries selling plants notnormally found and retail outlets and at much cheaperprices. Come along and enjoy a lovely day out.Entrance to the plant fair is £2 per person plusentrance to Jodrell Bank, if required, at a discountedrate of £1 per person, if purchased together.

Jodrell Bank Observatory Visitor CentreMacclesfield, Cheshire 01477 571339www.manchester.ac.uk/jodrellbank/viscen

16

What’s On

John Rylands Library(Deansgate)EXHIBITIONS:A Natural Selection: The life and literature ofCharles Darwin16 July to 29 November 2009Charles Darwin is arguably one of the greatest scientistsof all time, and this year marks a double Darwinanniversary - the bicentennial of his birth in 1809 and150 years since the publication of his most famouswork, On the Origin of Species, in 1859.

Mapping Manchester: Stories of the City25 June 2009 to 17 January 2010Maps can tell us many different stories about the placeswhere we live and work. This exhibition shows howmapping is particularly ingrained into urban life; itdemonstrates how maps work and how they haveevolved over time - reflecting changes in technology,society and economic conditions.

LAST CHANCE TO SEEA Small Eternity: The shape of the sonnet throughtime ends 27 June 2009Histories of Healing: Celebrating 175 years of theManchester Medical Society ends 14 June 2009EVENTSIllumination Online: Digitising the MediaevalEnglish Manuscript Collection Thurs 4 & Sat 13 June, 12-12.45pm. Tickets £2.50This year the Library is embarking on a major project todigitise our world-renowned collection of Middle Englishmanuscripts.

Unusual Views: Library tour for photographersTues 23 June, 12-1pm. Tickets £2.50Take the opportunity to photograph the Library buildingfrom spectacular viewpoints not normally open to thepublic!

Collection Close-Up with Library TourThurs 18 June (and every third Thurs in the month)12.15-1pmWith one of our curators, enjoy a closer look at materialfrom the Library’s world famous collections and find outmore about this magnificent building.Booking for this event is essential, as spaces are limited.

Open Studio – Conservation Close-UpWeds 24 June 12-12.45pm Tickets £2.50 Come behind the scenes and see the team at work inthe studio. This will include the opportunity to visit oneof our collection storage areas, not normally open tothe public.

Conservation in Action Tues 9 June. 10am-3pm. FREE EVENTThe Conservation team will be out and about in thegalleries and Historic Reading Room. Take theopportunity to meet them and to talk about their work.

The AHRC Rylands Genizah ProjectA Peek into the Classroom: Going to school inmedieval Jewish communitiesMon 22 June. 5.45-7.30pm. FREEPublic lectureProfessor Judith Olszowy-Schlanger, a specialist inmedieval Hebrew paleography at the Sorbonne, will bespeaking about child literacy, writing exercises and otheraspects of school-life in the Middle-Ages.

Public opening hoursMon 12-5pm, Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12pm-5pm Reader opening hoursMon-Wed 10am-5pm, Thurs 10am-7pm, Fri-Sat 10am-5pm FREE ADMISSION

The John Rylands Library 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH 0161 306 0555 email jrl.visitors@manchester.ac.ukwww.manchester.ac.uk/library

Courses for the Public Wed 10 JuneT.S.Eliot: The Waste Land, Dr Roger Holdsworth

Thurs 11 JuneClimate Change Science and Policy, Tyndall CentreTwo Centuries of Housing in Manchester, Anthony GilbertOpen or Closed: Can Interfaith Dialogue ReallyWork?, Dr Irene Lancaster

Sat 13 JuneMummies, Science and Egyptology, NatalieMcCreesh and Roger ForshawArchitectural Sketching, Dr Andrew CromptonShakespeare’s Sonnets, Dr Malcolm HicksPlaywrights in Workshop, Maureen McDonagh andJulian HillFrom Elvis to the Beatles: Transatlantic Rock &Roll, Professor Brian Ward

Mon 15 JuneA Beginner’s Guide to World Cinema, Dr Felicia ChanRushes, Sedges and Grasses, Dr Robert Callow

Tues 16 JuneEnergy and Climate Change, Tyndall CentreThe Making of Multicultural Manchester, Rebecca Ehata

Wed 17 JuneThe Psychology of Stress, Eirini KapetanakiHeroes & Villians: Jack the Ripper to PrincessDiana, Dr Max Jones

Fri 19 JuneComing to terms with the Past in ModernAmerican Fiction, Katherine AllanMaking Faces: the Language of Portraits, Dr Victoria Whitfield

Thurs 25 JuneVisual Allegory: Art of Disguise, Nirvana RommellFeinstein, Hughes and the Archive, Barry WoodFamily History in Context, Professor Carol Smart, Dr Alan Sennett, Judi Goodwin

Sat 27 JuneIntroduction to Criminal Profiling, Eirini Kapetanaki Going Wild: An Introduction to the last BritishHunter Gatherers, Dr Hannah CobbHow to Run A Book Group, Jackie WilkinWhat Makes a Classical Hit, Dr Robert Beale

Plus evening walks on Local History, Geology andArchaeology in and around the City and two SummerSchools in July – Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Beginnersand Exploring the Classical World.

For a full list of all our courses and an application formplease visit our website or call in at our Reception,10am – 4pm Monday to Friday. Pre-enrolment isrequired. We do not accept telephone bookings.

CCE 1st Floor, Ellen Wilkinson Building0161 275 3275www.manchester.ac.uk/coursespublic

The Whitworth Art GalleryDISPLAYS/COLLECTIONS

Making Space 22 June – 3 July & 20 – 31 JulyTo prepare for Marina Abramovic presents... theWhitworth’s public spaces are to be emptied of all artand design. This is the first time since the gallery wasreconfigured in the 1960s that it has been seencompletely without its collection.

Art and Labour’s Cause is One, Walter Crane andManchester until 16 June 2009Manchester at the end of the 19th century saw arteducation, design theory, community activism andsocialist politics come together to make a uniquely richvisual culture. Walter Crane, the Arts and Craftsdesigner, theorist and socialist, was a key figure in theworld. The exhibition features items such as bookillustrations, political cartoons, socialist emblems andworks of art.

Putting on the Glitz, wallpapers and wall coveringswith that extra something until Nov 2009Traditionally, wall coverings incorporating preciousmetals could only be afforded by the wealthy. For thoseaspiring to wealth, such luxury was highly desirable.Putting on the Glitz explores how this desire has been(and can still be) satisfied, both by the real thing andextremely effective imitations.

Some Smaller Things until Summer 2009Inspired by, and acting as a counterpoint to, the iconicstatus of Stonehenge, a new selection has been drawnfrom the Whitworth’s collection of drawings and prints.

Art and Labour’s Cause is One, Walter Crane andManchester 1880-1915 until Sept 2009 The exhibition features items such as book illustrations,political cartoons, socialist emblems and works of art.

Agents of Change until Summer 2009 The Whitworth has recently purchased the final editionof Lynn Hershman Leeson’s most significant work ofart, the 172 item Roberta Breitmore. A small collectionof this work will be shown alongside five newlyacquired monoprints by Tracey Emin.

EVENTS

Historic Gardens of England: Cheshire Saturday 13 June 2009, 2pm, Tickets on the door, £7(Students Free) Lecture and Book signing with author ProfessorTimothy Mowl, Bristol University.

Arty Picnics Tuesday 2 June 2009, 11am -12.30pm, FreeBring your family and some food (if you fancy lunch),and meet an artist for fun creative activities. Don’tworry if it’s a terrible Tuesday and raining outside, we’llhave a picnic in teepees or in the Gallery surrounded bysunny landscapes.

Colourful SundaysEvery Sunday 1.30pm - 3.30pm, Family Friendly, Free Drop into the gallery any Sunday afternoon for free andfun creative activities at Colourful Sundays. Suitable forall ages, no need to book.

Tuesday Talks Every Tuesday 11am -12.30pm, FreeEach week an artist, thinker or critic talks about theirwork, influences and inspirations.

Collection Exhibitions Archive Now OnlineThe Whitworth’s online ‘Collections Catalogue’ nowallows you to browse and search selected exhibitionsheld at the Gallery over the past 10 years. Follow thelink from homepage at:www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk

The Whitworth Art GalleryOxford Road, Manchester0161 275 7450email whitworth@manchester.ac.uk

17

18

Small family run nurseryMature qualified, experienced and knowledgeable staff

Caring and friendly atmosphere - Secure, nurturing

environment

Open from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday -

3 months to pre-school Happy children -

Outdoor play area

88 Carmoor Road (off Hathersage Road/Upper Brook Street), Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester M13 0FB

For information, please telephone Sharon on 0161 248 5340 or visit our web site www.ciarastots.com

19

Discover the Museum

The Manchester Hermit

www.manchester.ac.uk/museum

News and story ideasInternal Communications Office

tel 0161 275 2112email uninews@manchester.ac.ukonline www.manchester.ac.uk/staffnet/news

News ContactEvents and listings informationPhilippa Adsheadtel 0161 275 2922email unievents@manchester.ac.uk

Events ContactAds Janice Drewtel 0161 275 2113email uniads@manchester.ac.uk

Adverts Contact

Next Issue Monday, 5 October 2009

J2496 05.09 The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL Royal Charter Number RC000797

Full colour and black and white digital printing and copyingHardback and Softback Binding

International Fax BureauDesign for Posters, Flyers etc

T-Shirts and Mouse Mats

Barnes Wallis Building, The University of Manchester, Sackville St, Manchester

tel: (0161) 306 3269 email: contact@u-print.com www.u-print.com

Isolated from all physical contactwith others for 24 hours a day,over a period of 40 days and 40nights, The Manchester Museum’sHermit will take up residency inthe Museum’s gothic tower laterthis month.

After an international call forexpressions of interest, AnsumanBiswas has been chosen to take onthis challenge. A London-basedinterdisciplinary artist, he wasselected because of his track record

of work in isolation, and thecoherence of his vision.

Undertaking an initial period ofresearch, the Hermit will work withthe Museum’s collection, exploringideas around memory and extinction.Posing questions about who collectsand why, he will focus on the unseenhidden gems of the Museum.

Once in the tower, the Hermit willopen a wider public forum via theinternet, examining and debating our

values and attitudes towardsownership, conservation and loss. Hewill also practice vipassanameditation. Music will be anotherimportant element, being a vital partof many reclusive traditions. As an artthat lives in performance, it is virtuallyimpossible to store in any museum.

Foregoing the richness and diversityof his life, the Hermit willmetaphorically become extinct.Treating himself as a museum, he willcatalogue every aspect of his

embodied self, putting himself at theheart of the collection as the‘ultimate exhibit’.

Don’t miss the first opportunity tomeet Ansuman and find out moreabout what he will be doing at theMuseum’s Ideas Café: ‘TheManchester Hermit’ on Tuesday 23June, 6-8pm. Follow his activitiesthrough an online blog and find outabout other related events at the webaddress below.