April 2015Issue 6 Volume 12

unilifeManchester Graphene –open for business

The free magazine for The University of Manchester

Message from the President

Last October we celebrated the tenth anniversary of ourUniversity; so how is the University performing against thetargets set in Manchester 2015 and Manchester 2020?

NewsThe Whitworth – a picture of success

NewsUniversity links with Mexico4 6

he strategic plan of the ‘new’ University,developed in 2004, was called ‘The Manchester2015 agenda’, and set out ambitious goals tobe achieved by 2015. This was subsequently

revised to form ‘Manchester 2020’, which itself willbe reviewed and refreshed this year.

Now that 2015 is upon us, it is timely to reflect onour achievements to date, our ambitions for thefuture and the actions we need to take now torealise those ambitions.

We are at the point in our annual Planning andAccountability cycle when we consider ourperformance over the past year and our plans in theshort and longer terms, including the ever-changingexternal pressures facing the higher educationsector, which will have a significant bearing on therefresh of our strategic plan.

Performance is reviewed for each area of theUniversity and measured against each of ourpublished key performance indicators. A summaryof the University’s performance will soon be availablein our annual Stock Take Report. This year we haveintroduced ‘infographics’ to give a quick view ofeach of our core activities across the University.

The Stock Take Report was an important focus ofdiscussion at our recent annual Board of Governors’Planning and Accountability Conference as ithighlights our current position and futureprojections. A large part of the two-day conferencewas spent on planning our future and the actionsneeded to deliver our ambition.

The goal that grabbed most attention back in 2004 was our stated aspiration to be amongst thetop 25 universities in the world, as measured by the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

In 2004 we were ranked 78th, today we are ranked38th which is a respectable position, but remains along way from the top 25, and climbing further inthe ARWU is becoming increasingly difficult as wecompete on a global stage with some of the world’sfinest institutions.

According to the ARWU, we are currently 5th in the UK, which accords with the recent ResearchExcellence Framework (REF) results which werereported just before Christmas, where we were placed 5th in ‘research power’ (the number of staffsubmitted multiplied by the quality score for research).

Our own ‘benchmarking’ of our researchperformance against competitor universities overthe past couple of years reveals that we are behindwhere we should be in research grant income peracademic member of staff, though the growth inincome over the last 12-18 months is nowimproving our position significantly.

We are also behind some of our competitors in thepercentage of staff with world-leading researchoutputs and the percentage of overall staff submittedto REF. However, the impact cases that we submittedto REF, together with our research environment, were ranked very highly and we have done very wellon business partnerships, patents, start-up companiesand research income from business.

We continue to excel in the recruitment of qualityinternational students, we remain the most popularuniversity for undergraduate applications and haveimproved significantly in undergraduate studentsatisfaction, though for the latter we still need tomeet our target of 90% overall satisfaction.

There have been many notable successes overrecent years, not least in the award of the NobelPrize for the discovery of graphene to Andre Geimand Kostya Novoselov; several Queen’s AnniversaryAwards; major overseas funding for the Graphene

Engineering Innovation Centre and the new studentvillage in Fallowfield; the announcement of over£200 million for the Sir Henry Royce Institute forAdvanced Materials and numerous other nationaland international awards for our activities, our staffand our students, and progress in transforming ourcampus has exceeded our predictions in 2004.

We have performed reasonably well against many of the 2004 targets, in spite of major changes in the external environment during the last ten years.We have been particularly successful over the pastyear, but we now need to significantly step up our performance. This will be challenging as UK universities face rising costs, declining publicfunding and increasing global competition.

Based on our current position and futureprojections, the key messages we delivered to theGoverning Board at the conference were:

• Moving from ‘good-to-great’ as a Universitywhilst maintaining our distinctiveness is a difficultchallenge, but one that we must, and will address in order to meet our ongoingcommitment to excellence.

• We are progressing fairly well, with some areas ofworld-leading research and outstanding learningand student experience, but a step-change inperformance in some notable areas across theUniversity is required.

• To meet our ambition, and address current andfuture external pressures, some re-shaping of theUniversity may be needed.

• We need to create financial headroom, by increasing our income and reducing our costs, to deliver our ambition and mitigate externalpressures.

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Contact usNews and story ideas

Mikaela Sitfordtel 0161 275 2112email uninews@manchester.ac.ukwww.manchester.ac.uk/staffnet/newsDeadline 15 April 2015

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Next issue 5 May 2015

Meeting the Division of Developmentand Alumni Relations team

At the opening of the National Graphene Institute

Contents2 Message from the President

4 News

7 Research

10 Features

15 What’s On

16 Making a Difference

Front cover: Sir Kostya Novoselov and ChancellorGeorge Osborne at the opening of the NGI

Photo by Jill Jennings

ResearchAsian Monsoon rains drovemammal evolution

FeatureGlobal challenges, Manchestersolutions – in cancer research

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Over this next year, we will ‘refresh’ the Manchester2020 plan and targets, in some cases to raise thelevel we aspire to achieve, either because we haveexceeded the current targets or because others aredoing better and we need to step up.

One goal that will not change is our ambition to beamongst the leading universities in the world, whichwas strongly supported at the conference, thoughwe may use a range of measures that better reflectsthe nature and activities of the University.

Achieving those ambitions will require further focus,investment and a commitment to quality in ourresearch - particularly in the five areas of realstrength and distinctiveness which we haveidentified, and in opportunities to build on excellenceand secure both major funding and recognition.

We must also continue to deliver quality anddistinctiveness in our students’ educational and wider

experience, together with high employability in ourgraduates at all levels, whilst ensuring that wedeliver on our aims to make a difference to societythrough our social responsibility goal.

Our scale and breadth are an advantage, butresources are always limited and future funding willbe challenging. As expected, we will see asignificant reduction in government funding underthe Quality Research (QR) core funding allocation,as a result of the lower volume of our staff returnedand those recognised at the highest levels ofresearch quality in the Research ExcellenceFramework 2014, compared to 2008, while somecompetitor institutions grew significantly. Hencethere will be some activities where we will have toreduce investment, cut costs, and others that wemay have to stop altogether.

Discussion at the Board of Governors conferencewas around our ambition and distinctiveness;

a culture of high expectation and delivery; areas offocus in research, education and social responsibility;quality staff, both current and new recruits;operational efficiency and effectiveness and financial flexibility.

The Board agreed that we must create the financial‘headroom’ to continue to invest in our strategicpriorities while meeting future external financialchallenges.

Having received the full endorsement and supportfrom our Board of Governors, we must now turnour plans into actions and outcomes.

Professor Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

Professor Colin Bailey, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor

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With Professor Brian Cox, Dara O Briain and BBC Director General Tony Hall at Stargazing LIVE

News

Last chance to haveyour sayStaff Survey 2015 ends this month but there’sstill time to take 15 minutes to improve yourworkplace, try and win an iPad and help alocal charity.

The first iPad winner Dominic McCullagh, atthe School of Physics and Astronomy, saidone of the most positive changes since StaffSurvey 2013 is improved communicationwithin the School, thanks to support from theHead of School, Professor Stephen Watts.

Dominic isn’t the only one to benefit – aftercompleting the survey you can choose tomake a £1 donation to one of three localcharities, The Christie, St Ann's Hospice orThe Mustard Tree.

• The survey is open until Monday, 20 April.

General Assemblyelections resultsThe results of the General Assembly electionshave been announced.

The General Assembly is a 200-stronggovernance body that represents staff,students and other principal stakeholders inthe University. It scrutinises the work of theBoard of Governors and supports theoversight of the University's financial affairs.

The elected staff members, who will taketheir seats from 1 September 2015, are Dr Shaun Speed, Dr Reinmar Hager, Dr TraceySpeake, Daniele Atkinson, Dr James Hopkins,Dr Kamie Kitmitto, Laura Hill and Dr Pamila Sharma.

The Whitworth – a picture of successhe £15 million revamp of The Whitworth haspaid off with a huge rise in visitor numbers –an amazing 80,000 in the first four weeks ofopening, which is a five times increase on the

same period in 2013.

Gallery Director Maria Balshaw said: “We thoughtwe might get 40,000 visitors, and when we told theHeritage Lottery Fund that number they said, ‘That’squite ambitious’.

“We felt confident of that: we’re much bigger, the exhibitions are fabulous and we’ve opened up to the park. But 40,000 is what we werepreparing for!”

The Whitworth also enjoyed huge success on socialmedia, making the top ten in Instagram’s most likedposts table.

The images, posted by Tim Hatton (@the.hat), oneof several Instagrammers invited to the gallerybefore it re-opened, enjoyed 668,842 views. Youcan join Tim and post your own images of theWhitworth using #galleryinthepark.

The Whitworth has bucked a new trend from someLondon galleries of clamping down on photography,in particular the use of selfie sticks. The gallery ishappy to encourage visitors to photograph andshare their images.

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Universitywelcomes twonew Deans

he University has appointed two new Vice-President and Deans, at the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS)and the Faculty of Medical and Human

Sciences (MHS).

Professor Martin Schröder, an expert in materialschemistry applied to energy research, will lead EPSand Professor Ian Greer, a clinician scientist andleader of international note, will lead MHS.

Professor Schröder joins Manchester from theUniversity of Nottingham, where he is currentlyExecutive Dean of the Faculty of Science, responsiblefor leading the Faculty’s research and teachingstrategies, infrastructure and financial planning.

He said: “The breadth of work that is carried out inManchester is truly impressive and I can’t wait toplay my part in developing even further the worldclass expertise that the Faculty contains. These areexciting times for us all.”

Professor Greer is currently Pro-Vice-Chancellor ofthe Faculty of Health and Life Sciences and Provostresponsible for research policy at the University ofLiverpool, where he significantly increased researchincome, instituted practices to develop progressionfor early career researchers, recruited internationallyrenowned scientists and attracted new investment

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A youngster tries her hand at the Whitworth

in partnership with the private sector, NHS andgovernment. He is also Chair of the Northern HealthScience Alliance (NHSA).

He said: “I’m delighted to be joining The Universityof Manchester, which is internationally renowned inthe healthcare field. The city and the University arealso at the forefront of new ideas for the delivery ofhealth and social care services in the UK.”

Professor Martin Schröder

Professor Ian Greer

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Chancellor officially opens National Graphene Institute

hancellor of the Exchequer George Osbornehas officially opened the University’s £61 million National Graphene Institute (NGI).

The Chancellor visited the recently completedinstitute and toured its state-of-the-art cleanroomsand laboratories with Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov.

The NGI is the national centre for graphene research and will enable academics and industry to work side-by-side on the graphene applicationsof the future.

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Chancellor George Osborne at the National Graphene Institute with Sir Kostya Novoselov and Antonios Oikonomou

Sun, moon and starscome out at Jodrell Bank

Manchester rises inTHE ranksThe University has risen to #50 in the TimesHigher Education World Reputation Rankings 2015.

The reputation-only rankings are a subsidiaryof the annual THE World University Rankings,published in the autumn. The 2015reputation rankings are based on the world’slargest invitation-only survey of academicopinion, featuring 10,500 respondents from142 countries.

In just five annual rounds the survey, now carried out by THE in partnership with Elsevier, has attracted almost 70,000responses from senior published scholars,providing a rich and unique insight into the academic prestige of universities acrossthe globe.

Online course winsnational awardThe University is celebrating winning theGuardian University Award for Online andDistance learning for the Massive OpenOnline Course (MOOC) “Introduction toPhysical Chemistry”.

“Introduction to Physical Chemistry” hasalready attracted 15,520 active participantsfrom 159 countries.

The University was also runner up in fourcategories: Employability - Meet theProfessionals speed networking events(Development and Alumni Relations);International project – In Place of War (Music and Drama); Social and communityImpact – work on international disaster relief(Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute);and Sustainability project – the end of term re-use scheme for leftover student equipment(Directorate for Student Experience).

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More than 35 companies from across the worldhave already chosen to partner with the Universityworking on graphene-related projects.

The construction of the NGI was managed by theDirectorate of Estates and Facilities and is one of the flagship projects of the Campus Masterplan. The Government provided £38 million for theconstruction via the Engineering and PhysicalSciences Research Council (EPSRC), with theremaining £23 million provided by the EuropeanRegional Development Fund (ERDF).

Youngsters use solar glassesto safely watch the eclipse

or the fifth year in a row Jodrell Bankhosted Stargazing LIVE. And this yearwas unique as the BBC broadcast aspecial solar eclipse live show.

An estimated 4.7 million people tuned inon Friday morning to see the moon slide infront of the Sun. The clouds in Cheshiredrifted away at just the right time to givethe schoolchildren assembled in front ofthe Lovell telescope, and viewers on TVaround the world, a full view of thecelestial spectacular.

Hosts Professor Brian Cox and Dara O Briaintalked viewers through what washappening.

Afterwards President and Vice-ChancellorProfessor Nancy Rothwell said: “What a

fantastic experience it was watching the eclipseand it was great watching it from Jodrell Bank.”

And a delighted Brian Cox said: “That was a spectacular event – and we all feel very lucky because the weather forecasts weren’tthat great.”

Dara O Briain praised the University teamsworking hard behind the scenes to make thelive shows such a success. “We have been herefive years now and, for me, Jodrell Bank hasbecome a home-from-home, it’s always a realpleasure to come back to the University.”

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News

Workplace Giving is growingAn increasing number of our staff aresupporting their favourite charities frommonthly pay.

Since the new Workplace Giving scheme waslaunched in October 2014, figures show thatdonors have increased by 187%; donationshave increased by over 100%; and thegenerosity of our staff will provide at least£109,000 in annual donations to theirfavourite charities.

Staff join the scheme by committing todonate a minimum of £5 a month to a charityfeatured on the Workplace Giving UK website.

• Visit: www.workplacegiving.co.uk/giving

Film firstManchester is the first Russell Group universityto offer an MA Screenwriting course.

The University’s Centre for New Writing willequip emerging screenwriting talent with thepractical skills required to succeed in the UKfilm and television industry pioneered byProfessor of Creative Writing and celebratedauthor, Jeanette Winterson.

Students will be taught through workshops,seminars and one-to-one meetings withtutors and visiting professionals and also gainhands-on industry experience throughinternships with leading productioncompanies including Red Productions (LastTango in Halifax, Queer as Folk), HammerFilms (The Woman in Black, Let Me In) andBBC Films (Billy Elliot, Philomena).

University links with Mexicohe University has signed three majoragreements with Conacyt, an organisationwhich promotes and strengthens thescientific development and technical

modernisation of Mexico.

The signing comes as 2015 marks the Dual Year ofUK and Mexico – a year-long celebration of cultural,educational and business exchange between thetwo nations.

The three agreements include a partnership thatgives research staff the chance to carry out definedresearch projects in Manchester, the expansion of a current scholarship programme to allow a wider

range of research projects to be undertaken byMexican research students and the creation of apurpose-designed Research School at the University.

Professor Colin Bailey, Deputy President and DeputyVice-Chancellor, said: “The relationship betweenManchester and Conacyt has been built throughhard work and trust over a number of years, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all thepeople involved. Without the dedication of staffwithin Conacyt and Manchester, this relationship,which affects the lives and futures of so manyyoung people, would not be possible.”

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Museumelephant’s famouswalk recreated

ne of Manchester Museum’s prize exhibits isthe skeleton of Maharajah – now a comicbook artist is to recreate the famous storyof his journey south in The Elephant that

Walked to Manchester.

In 1872 Maharajah was transferred fromWombwell’s travelling menagerie in Edinburgh toManchester’s Zoological Gardens at Belle Vue. Afterthe intransigent elephant wrecked his railwaycarriage at Waverley Station, his keeper Lorenzowalked him the 200 miles instead.

Comic artist Oliver East will retrace the walk over 10 days, accompanied not by the elephant but by his phenomenal imaginative, drawing and narrativeskills. He will arrive at the Museum, to be reunitedwith Maharajah, on the afternoon of Friday, 17 April.

To mark the completion of Oliver’s walk and forManchester Histories Festival, the Museum will alsounveil the Tigon – a half lion, half tiger that lived atBelle Vue Zoo 100 years ago.

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Director General of Conacyt Dr Enrique Cabrero Mendoza and Professor Colin Bailey

Oliver East with Maharajah

Workplace Giving charity Unicef

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Research

Extinct marine reptile uncoverednew type of ichthyosaur, an extinct marine reptile which was alive at the same time as the dinosaurs, has beenidentified from a fossil found on Dorset’s

Jurassic coast.

The fossil had been in the collections of DoncasterMuseum and Art Gallery for more than 30 yearsuntil Dean Lomax, palaeontologist and HonoraryScientist here at Manchester, uncovered its hidden secrets.

Dean first examined the fossil in 2008 when henoticed several abnormalities in the bone structure,which made him think he had something previouslyunidentified. Working with Professor Judy Massareof Brockport College, New York, he spent over fiveyears travelling the world to check his findings.

Similar-shaped to dolphins and sharks, ichthyosaursswam the seas for millions of years during theTriassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, beforebeing wiped out.

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A life restoration of Ichthyosaur Anningae by James McKay

Graphene shows potentialin cancer treatment

niversity scientists have used graphene totarget and neutralise cancer stem cells whilenot harming other cells.

The team of researchers, led by Professor MichaelLisanti and Dr Aravind Vijayaraghavan, has shownthat graphene oxide, a modified form of graphene,acts as an anti-cancer agent that selectively targetscancer stem cells.

The flakes inhibited tumour sphere formation in allsix types, suggesting that graphene oxide can beeffective across all, or at least a large number ofdifferent cancers, by blocking processes which takeplace at the surface of the cells.

The researchers suggest that, used in combinationwith conventional cancer treatments, this maydeliver a better overall clinical outcome.

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Graphene oxide flakes interact with cell membrane by Sir Kostya Novoselov

University part ofcourt roll outUniversity researchers are part of a newnational unit which will establish Family Drugand Alcohol Courts (FDAC) across England.

Dr Karen Broadhurst and Ian Jacob will bepart of the new National FDAC DevelopmentUnit funded by the Department for Educationwhich will support the roll-out of more ofthese specialist courts across England.

Being 'laid off' canlead to a decade of distrustPeople who lose their jobs are less willing to trust others for up to a decade after beinglaid-off, according to Dr James Laurence, an ESRC Future Research Leaders Fellow atManchester.

Dr Laurence explores experiences in thelabour market and how they spill over intothe wider community.

He finds that being made redundant or forcedinto unemployment can scar trust to such anextent that, even after finding new work, this increased distrust and cynicism persists forat least nine years after the initial experience.

He says: “The study shows that the experienceof redundancy can scar an individual’s trust inothers. This has important implications not justfor the person involved but for society as awhole as trust can have significant benefits,from health and happiness, to social cohesion,efficient democratic governance and economic development.”

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Research

Do politicianscommunicateeffectively?Politicians will have to do better at two-wayconversations with the electorate, accordingto researchers at the Cathie Marsh Institutefor Social Research.

Dr Kingsley Purdam and Rosalynd Southernsent covert emails to 775 parliamentarycandidates from a hypothetical voter togauge how MPs and hopefuls werecommunicating.

A textual analysis of the replies suggestedthat only 27% of candidates provided adirectly relevant answer. Increasedcommunication and dialogue could transformthe model of democratic representation inthe UK, they find in their working paper.

Self-harm inManchestercontinues to riseThe latest figures released by Universityexperts show that self-harm rates inManchester are increasing.

Data made available by the Manchester Self-Harm Project (MaSH) shows thatbetween 2008 and 2012 the biggest increasein hospital presentations following self-harmwas in men aged 35-54, though the groupwith the highest overall self-harm rate is stillyoung women aged 15-24.

Dr Pauline Turnbull explained: “It does looklikely that the increase in men between 35 and 54 could be linked to the effects ofthe recession.”

Poetry of rap revealedstudy of tracks from the debut albums ofmajor hip hop artists found that rhymingpatterns come as second nature to some of rap's biggest stars – likening them to

modern-day poets.

A third year Linguistics student led the research, which looked at the tracks of artists including multipleGrammy award-winners Eminem and Public Enemy.

Louise Middleton, supervised by Dr Wendell Kimper,found that traditional and complex rap rhymes are

so intuitive for some rappers that they appeared to come naturally and ‘not within their consciouscontrol’.

She also found that some artists boast bettervocabularies than most other rappers, with artistslike Eminem having a natural flair for words.

The study looked at rhyming patterns, vocabularysize, rhyme rate and the position of the rhyme in or across lines.

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On board NASA’sGlobal Hawk

cutting-edge science instrument developedby University researchers took to the skiesaboard NASA’s Global Hawk research aircraftfor the first time.

The aircraft is flying above the equatorial regions ofthe Pacific Ocean at an altitude of 20km, where thelowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere,meets the stratosphere above. Scientists believe thisarea, known as the tropopause, plays a critical rolein Earth’s climate.

Professor Martin Gallagher and Dr James Dorseyhelped to develop AIITS (the Aerosol Ice InterfaceTransition Spectrometer) which measures particleslike dust, water droplets, and ice crystals.

AIITS is able to detect and measure the scatteringand surface properties of single ice crystals in theseclouds. These fundamental measurements will beused to improve weather models.

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Rap singer Eminem

(l-r) Dr James Dorsey and Professor Martin Gallagher

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Monsoon drove mammal evolutionew research has shown that the AsianMonsoon rains played a key role in theevolution of mammals.

And the findings, published in the Nature journalScientific Reports, could have implications forconserving species living in the vast area affected by monsoon rains.

A team from the Faculty of Engineering and PhysicalSciences, along with researchers from the Universityof Bristol, the Chinese Academy of Science andHarvard University, looked at the pattern of variationof the South Asian monsoon over time andcompared it with the evolution of African mole ratsand bamboo rats.

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Rhizomys Pruinosus by Vincent Herbreteau

No link between incentive and reduced mortality

study conducted at the University’s HealtheResearch Centre found that there was nolink between a £10 billion pay-for-performanceincentive scheme aimed at GPs and a

reduction in premature deaths.

The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) wasfirst introduced in 2004 and links up to 25% of aGP’s income to their performance in over 100quality indicators.

The team, led by Dr Evan Kontopantelis, applied acomplex data-analysis method that was able tofocus on the available information and analyse therelationship between specific GP surgeries and thepopulations they serve.

They found that there was no corresponding drop inpremature mortality for the surgeries that scoredhigh on performance.

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Creating cartilagefrom stem cells Professor Sue Kimber and her team havesucceeded in producing cartilage formedfrom embryonic stem cells that could infuture be used to treat osteoarthritis.

During the study, the researchers analysed theability of embryonic stems cells to becomeprecursor cartilage cells. They were thenimplanted into cartilage defects in the kneejoints of rats.

After four weeks cartilage was partiallyrepaired and following 12 weeks a smoothsurface, which appeared similar to normalcartilage, was observed.

Policing policy andpractice partnershipA new programme of research andknowledge sharing involving the University’sSchool of Law is to play a key role ininforming future policing policy, followingfunding for a major new researchcollaboration in the North of England.

A £3 million grant from the Higher EducationFunding Council for England, which issupplemented by more than £3 million frompolicing partners and other universities, willenable academics and the police to take amajor step forward in developing and testinginnovative approaches to policing and crime reduction.

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Human stem cells

Police at an EDL march in Batley

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Feature

esearch is a key weapon in our fightagainst cancer. Survival rates from thedisease have doubled in the last 40 years in the UK. Developing new

treatments to cure cancer and tackle side-effects is crucial for people around theworld, but this work must be carried outalongside new methods to change lifestyles,build resilient health services and help reduce cancer’s impact.

The University of Manchester has a rich historyof cancer research, stretching back to the early 20th century research of Sir Arthur Schusterinto x-radiography and radium. Today, we’reworking on the full range of ways to tacklewhat is the cause of more than one in fourdeaths in the UK.

“Things happening right now in Manchesterwill have an impact around the world,”comments Professor Sir Salvador Moncada,Director of our Institute for Cancer Sciences.“Indeed, we are contributing to theunderstanding of not only prevention, earlydiagnosis and effective management of thedisease, but also to the understanding ofemotional and community support that isrequired for the patients and their families.”

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Global challenges,Manchester solutions– in cancer research

CRUK Manchester Institute medicinal chemistry PhD student Dan Mould investigates the potency of potential new epigenetic modifiers

UoM sandwich student Kelly Ayton preparingnovel test compounds in the CRUKManchester Institute Drug Discovery Unit

The University hasidentified five ‘researchbeacons’ where we have aunique concentration ofhigh-quality researchactivity and are at theforefront of the search forsolutions to some of theworld’s biggest challenges.These are: industrialbiotechnology, advancedmaterials, cancer, energy,and addressing globalinequalities.

In this, the third of fivefeatures, we look at how ourexperts are committed tothe full spectrum ofcombating cancer to helpreduce its impact.

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Fundamental science and drug discovery

Fundamental discoveries made by our cancerscientists have led to greatly improvedunderstanding of how cell division goes wrong andthe mechanisms behind the onset of the disease.This has led to breakthroughs such as clinical trialswith AstraZeneca for the drug anastrozole, whichprevents relapses in breast cancer.

Our trials have played a key role in developinginternational standards. One example is the ALL3trial, designed by Professor Vaskar Saha, whichfocused on acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), a form of cancer diagnosed in around 370 childrena year in the UK. This work has helped to improvethe outcome by 10% for children with relapsed ALLin the UK, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

Behaviour change

Research at Manchester has helped identify reasonsfor the growing number of skin cancer cases. Ourresearchers found that rather than more affluentpeople and those from the south of the country,who receive more sunlit hours in the day, it’s the lessaffluent in the north who are increasingly likely todevelop a skin cancer. This is due to the rise incheaper holidays and tanning salons.

This research has been followed up with educationprogrammes, such as behaviour change initiatives tomake sure sunbeds are used safely.

The consequences of cancer

We’ve contributed substantially to governmentinitiatives which have helped the 90,000 workingpeople a year diagnosed with cancer return to workafter treatment. Studies involving GPs, patients,managers and occupational health workers allcontributed to this research base, helping moresurvivors than ever before to return to employment.

The University also piloted the Carer Support NeedsAssessment Tool to help carers ask for help with thephysical and psychological cost of looking aftersomeone who is dying of cancer. Around 4,500people have now been helped with this tool and it isbeing rolled out across the country.

An all-round approach

We’re blessed with scale – hundreds of researchers are based in our Faculties and the Institute of CancerSciences, the Manchester Cancer Research Centre andthe Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute. We alsohave close links with the Christie NHS FoundationTrust, western Europe’s largest cancer centre.

This partnership approach is well demonstratedthrough the Manchester Cancer Research Centre. Anew £28.5 million building will open in 2015 andhouse an additional 150 scientists and a further 100clinical trials support staff using new and advancedequipment. This joint venture between the Christie,Cancer Research UK and the University will delivereven more world-class research into cancer biology,drug discovery and clinical trials.

At a glanceCancer research in Manchester

• £30 million is being invested in recruitinginternationally leading investigators to theManchester Cancer Research Centre.

• Six NHS trusts work with us as part of theManchester Academic Health SciencesNetwork, providing unrivalled access topatients and samples.

• 60,000 women will be invited to join astudy into whether personalised breastcancer risk prediction can be introducedinto the NHS Breast Screening Programme– the largest study of its kind in the UK.

Bioscientist Samantha Fritzl at work in the CRUK Manchester Institute Drug Discovery Unit

Professor Sir Salvador Moncado

Feature

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his year the University soared 115 places upthe Stonewall Index, making it the UK’s 43rdbest place to work for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexualand Transgender (LGBT) employees.

It already holds the bronze award for genderequality through the Athena SWAN charter; it hassigned up to the Two Ticks scheme to make suredisabled candidates are encouraged to apply forjobs; and it backs the Time To Change pledge,supporting those with mental health issues.

It has been recognised by Business in theCommunity for its inclusive approach to its Blackand Minority Ethnic population and it is also pilotingthe Race Charter Mark.

The man at the Equality and Diversity helm, Patrick Johnson, says it’s not just about meetinglegal obligations but about creating “a harmoniousenvironment” for everyone.

“There are three key areas for us,” he says.“Eliminating any form of discrimination orharassment for staff and students; advancingequality of opportunity; and fostering good relations between different people who have a ‘protected characteristic’ as it’s known.”

Since he took charge in 2007 the main changeshave been the increase in public awareness –

and the commitment of Manchester’s seniorleadership to an equality and diversity strategy.

Jobs of grade 7 and above are now advertisedexternally to help improve the diverse nature of the shortlists.

And Equality and Diversity team members support up to ten staff networks themselves, often meeting members on a one-to-one basis to offer help and advice.

Research associate Hamied Haroon, co-chair of thedisabled staff network, says that has gone a longway to dealing with the isolation many disabledpeople feel.

“At the time Patrick took over, it became a legalrequirement for the University to have a disabilityequality scheme,” he says. “Until then I never knewthere were any other disabled staff at the University!

“Disability is such a varied thing; there is such a rangeof conditions that can make you disabled – physical ormental health problems, autism, learning difficulties.

“The biggest issue for many of us is isolation so havinga staff network where you can all get together and talkabout shared issues is hugely supportive to people.”

Not that anybody is sitting on their laurels – andthere is still a way to go.

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Creating a campus in harmony

(l-r) Georgina Lewis, Patrick Johnson, Hamied Haroon and Paul Marks-Jones

It’s less than ten years since theUniversity’s Equality and Diversityteam was busy knocking on doorstrying to persuade people just tothink about the subject. These daysit’s setting the trend: plenty of workto do and with awards to match. HereUniLife celebrates its work, simplyput, to “create a harmoniousenvironment” for everyone.

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While 44% of university lecturers are women, only22% of them are professors; while 14% of staff areBlack and Minority Ethnic (BME), just 6-8% are insenior positions.

Postgraduate programmes manager Georgina Lewis,who is part of the BME network, remembersapplying to the Manchester Gold mentoring systemand being asked if she wanted to be paired with a staff member of the same gender and ethnicity.

“I said: ‘It would be nice to think there were enough senior female BME staff, but there’sprobably about three!’

“They weren’t able to match me with anyonebecause there were such small numbers and it reallystruck a chord with me.

“Things are really improving though. In the five anda half years I’ve been here I’ve seen positive changeand we are taking steps in the right direction.”

Paul Marks-Jones co-ordinates several networks andis chair of the LGBT group “All Out”which has justwon an award for the best in the North West.

He believes it’s about creating awareness of theneeds and struggles of different communities.

“We always say you may not be LGBT but youmight work with a lesbian or transsexual person or manage someone who is.

“People need to feel open – if you’re talking aboutyour husband or wife, a LGBT person should feelequally at ease talking about their partner and beinginvolved in the conversations. It’s about mutualsupport and acceptance.”

There are challenges, however.

Patrick agrees some attitudes are changing but saysthe University’s global reach means some staff andstudents hail from countries where equality anddiversity are completely unheard of. And there willalways be issues that need tackling.

He and his team see Manchester as a perfectbackdrop for their ambitions.

The city has already paved the way for disabilityrights and equal benefits. The Trades Unionmovement started here and it was also at theepicentre of the Pankhursts and Votes for Women.

In 1948 the University also appointed the first black professor in the UK, Nobel Prize winner Sir Arthur Lewis.

The building named after him – on a linkway to a local school – sports a giant information boarddetailing his achievements.

“It’s about encouraging the local community to see there are people like them who have gone onand done great things,” says Patrick. “Role modelsare important.”

But the real power, he acknowledges, comes frommany voices – and he’s keen for all staff andstudents to get involved in activities.

As Hamied puts it: “Individual voices are low andquieter – when you bring them together they aremuch stronger and they have to be listened to.

“Together they can help make change and thechanges we make are for the benefit of everyone.”

Signing the Time to Change pledge

The Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion team

The Athena SWAN team

The University supporting its Pride entry

What’s On

The WhitworthNo longer do you have to take timeout from your working day or comeback during the busy weekends tovisit the University’s recentlyrevamped art gallery.

Having re-opened on Valentine’s Day,the gallery is now open late everyThursday with Thursday Lates –eclectic late-night openings until9pm with music, performances, talksand screenings.

The Thursday Lates programmeinvites you to start the weekendearly with this series of sociable, afterwork and late night openings thatare the perfect place to meet up withfriends, explore the gallery and enjoya specially curated selection of talks,

performances, film screenings, livemusic and artist interventions.

Upcoming highlights include theThursday Late on 23 April, which willinclude a talk by artist Cornelia Parkerat 6pm. For the next three yearsCornelia Parker will be an HonoraryProfessor within The University ofManchester. To mark this and also herrole as Visiting Pilkington Professorwithin Art History and Visual Studies,the artist will speak, among otherthings, about her acclaimed exhibitionat the Whitworth, forthcomingprojects and how she collaborateswith scientists, pyrotechnicians andothers to make art.

To see this and other events, visit:whitworth.manchester.ac.uk

Manchester MuseumThe monumental stone statues ofRapa Nui – named Easter Island byEuropean explorers – in the Pacificare some of the most widelyrecognised and fascinatingarchaeological objects in the world.

More than a thousand of theseimpressive statues – known as moai– are known, about half of which stillremain in the quarry where theywere carved at Rano Raraku invarious stages of completion. Many were made out of a volcanic rock called volcanic tuff.

Following recent fieldwork on theisland, Colin Richards, Professor ofArchaeology at the University, hascontributed to this new exhibition,which will take a fresh look at the moai.

‘Making Monuments on Rapa Nui:The Statues of Easter Island’ will look

at how the statues and their top-knots(known as pukao) were made, the role they played in the lives ofthe islanders, how they werequarried and transported across theisland, and what they might havemeant to the people of the islandwho call themselves Rapanui. It willalso deconstruct some of the mythsabout the island, and discuss currenttheories about the decline of thisastonishing culture.

As part of the exhibition, ManchesterMuseum will show one of thestatues, Moai Hava, which wascollected on Rapa Nui in 1868, and ison loan from the British Museum.

The exhibition runs until 6 September.

To see this and other events, visit:museum.manchester.ac.uk

Jodrell Bank Discovery CentreThroughout the Easter holidays,Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre ismarvelling at the Moon with a seriesof lunar themed activities followingthe recent partial solar eclipse.

Alongside our science shows, youcan try your hand at making yourown flick book to understand thephases of the moon, or have a go atfiring you own rocket to the Moon!

You can also find out what areresident astronomers are up to atone of our daily ‘Meet an Expert’sessions.

Complete your visit with a chance torelax and reflect in our lovely Caféand our beautiful Gardens.

Our Easter events will take place inour Wolfson Auditorium in therecently opened Star Pavilion facilities.These new facilities will extend thecapacity of our schools programme,and provide a smart and sophisticatedspace for holding events.

We celebrated the formal opening of the Star Pavilion on 25 March, withthe launch of our new Garner Lectureseries, a programme that will explorethe ways that science interacts withculture. The inaugural Lecture wasgiven by Alan Garner, the writer whohas lent his name to the series.

To see this and other events, visit:jodrellbank.net

15

The John Rylands Library‘Merchants of Print: From Venice toManchester’ celebrates the legacy of publisher and humanist scholar Aldus Manutius, and puts on showsome of The John Rylands Library’s world-leading collection of his editions.

This year marks the 500thanniversary of the death of theItalian Aldus Manutius (1449-1515),who brought the Greek and Romanclassics to the masses through thenew technology of printing,introduced the world to italic type,and pioneered the pocket formatbook we now take for granted.

This exhibition – which runs untilSunday, 21 June 2015 – examineshow such a rich collection wasamassed in a city more famous for its

textiles than its texts, moreassociated with mills than libraries. In the process, a story of culturaltranslation emerges in which theparallels between mercantileRenaissance Venice and industrialManchester were not only displayedin the neo-Gothic architecture ofManchester’s cotton palaces, butalso in the literary and educationalcultures of both cities.

Visitors will enjoy learning about thejourneys undertaken by books printedby Aldus 500 years ago, theirindividual owners and readersthrough the ages, and how theyfound their final home in Manchester.

To see this and other events, visit:manchester.ac.uk/library/rylands

What’sOn

For events and exhibitions at other venu es, visit:

Martin Harris Centre – martinharriscentre.manchester.ac.ukInternational Society – internationalsociety.org.ukGig Guide – manchesteracademy.net

Feature

The University's strategic plan,Manchester 2020, lists one of ourgoals as contributing to the socialand economic success of thelocal, national and internationalcommunity. Through ourengagement campaign, theUniversity collects stories of howour staff, students and alumni aremaking a difference to society,and here UniLife shares some ofthose stories with you…

Next Issue 5 May 2015

M1294 03.15 The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL Royal Charter Number RC000797Created by the Division of Communications and Marketing

Cert no. SGS-COC-3059

lice Kelly’s experience as part of the University’sManchester Leadership Programme and PeerMentoring Scheme, and as a volunteer atthe Manchester Children’s Hospital, was so

rewarding she wanted to take it further.

In fact, 7,000 miles further!

After graduating with a Management andMarketing degree in July 2013, Alice wanted totravel and experience other cultures – not as atourist but as a volunteer within communities whereshe could make a positive contribution.

She worked as an Up Close Bolivia volunteer for twomonths, helping a children’s centre run by localwomen for local children aged six months to fouryears, many from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Alice helped with after school clubs and put herartistic skills to the test when she helped paint oneof the many Up Close murals around the village.

She recalls: “One of the loveliest things aboutBolivian culture is the friendliness of everyone, eventowards strangers, and I met so many inspiringpeople that I didn’t want the experience to end.”

As she returned to the UK, she immediately appliedto the International Citizen Service and was acceptedfor placement with the charity Progressio. She joinedeleven other volunteers for a placement in the smallindigenous community of Monimbó, in Nicaragua.

She says: “The three months were challenging in so many ways: earthquakes during our first week;

no fridges, washing machines or showers; intenseheat and humidity day and night; various creaturesand insects of every description.

“We lived with a host family and it was the mostrewarding and life changing aspect of the wholeexperience. Our family welcomed us with suchwarmth and friendship that we quickly became the‘bebitas’, big sisters to our new brothers and sistersand it was a privilege to be part of their family.

“This is definitely the best way to be completelyimmersed in another culture and it taught me theimportance of understanding and respecting localcustoms and beliefs to make the most positivecontribution.”

Alice and the team ran workshops on recycling,anti-bullying, women’s health and English classes,carried out surveys to assess the need for sanitation and water systems, and built a classroom for a local school.

Back home again, Alice is now volunteering atManchester Children’s Hospital for Radio Lollipop, a charity that is always looking for enthusiasticvolunteers to visit and play with children on the wards.

She says: “There are many opportunities for us tomake a difference, in our local communities as wellas overseas, and it is worth remembering that eventhe smallest things can make a difference.”

The road best travelled…Alice Kelly in Nicaragua

A