ANNUAL REVIEW 2010 - 2011 INTRODUCTION ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE YEAR by Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor This Annual Review covers the first full year of indicator of our international standing and applied research and skills training for the varied my tenure as President and Vice-Chancellor. It competitiveness. In the 2011 Rankings, we rose needs of the nuclear industry”, but that is has been an eventful year in which the six places on the year to 38th position – a rise of strictly outside of the scope of this review – so University has celebrated many achievements some 40 places since the merger in 2004 when more of that in the next Annual Review. and made good progress on many fronts, the Victoria University of Manchester was despite the very fast-changing and uncertain ranked in 78th position. On the broader research front, our Research external environment. Grant and Contract (RGC) income rose very The highlight of the University’s achievements in slightly compared with recent years. In part, this It is a real tribute to my colleagues from across 2010-11 was undoubtedly the award of the is a reflection of the fact that RGC funding is the campus that, despite the obvious external Nobel Prize for Physics to Professor Andre Geim coming under increasing pressure from public pressures, the University ends this turbulent year and Professor Konstantin Novoselov for their funding austerity, but we also acknowledge that with a continuing focus on our strategic pioneering work on graphene, which was we are not performing quite as well as our priorities and in such a healthy financial state. discovered at this University in 2004. Andre and competitors in this crucial area and must do Kostya have barely been out of the media and better. It also illustrates the urgent requirement The core driver for all of our activities during public spotlight since their award was for the University to diversify its research 2010-11 was our “2015 Agenda” and, as you announced in October 2010 and this high funding streams, especially from will see below, we continue to make good profile has presented them and the University non-government sources. progress against many of the key performance with many exciting opportunities for investment measures outlined in that document. and collaboration. Within the University, we have been using the intelligence gained from our internal Research During the past year, we have also begun to The University itself won the Queen’s Award for Profiling Exercise to assess the quality of our identify our future priorities for the next decade. Enterprise, the most prestigious corporate research and to begin to prepare for the We conducted a major University-wide award for British business. It won the award in national Research Excellence Framework, which consultation on our ambitions for the future the “international trade” category for its will require submissions by November 2013, and and the final Manchester 2020 strategic vision outstanding achievement in more than doubling to develop a comprehensive research strategy document was enthusiastically endorsed by the annual overseas income over the last six years. that begins to address the issue of how we can Board of Governors at their meeting in The award demonstrates that the University’s significantly increase the proportion of our November 2011. Work is now underway to reputation truly spans the globe and that research that is world-class and world-leading. prepare the enabling strategies, performance thousands of international students recognise measures and operational plans to ensure that the quality of education, the value of a The newly established Manchester Doctoral this vision becomes a reality. Manchester degree and the support and College (MDC), which was formally launched on guidance that we are able to offer. 1 August 2011, aims to optimise the research The University continues to perform well in the experience for postgraduate research students “Academic Ranking of World Universities” In November 2011, we also heard that the and supports the University’s research strategy carried out annually by the Institute of Higher University had won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize by helping to develop and nurture the careers of Education in China’s Shanghai Jiao Tong for Higher and Further Education in the Queen’s excellent researchers and to increase the University, which we regard as the primary Diamond Jubilee Round for our: “World-leading number of quality research outputs. The University of Manchester 1 We continue to work hard to improve the support activities, new lecture theatres, widening participation. We have opened a student experience for all of our students. It is a laboratories and student study facilities. stunning new Discovery Centre at Jodrell Bank major concern, however, that the investment of Construction is well underway on the “Learning and we have launched an innovative package of time, energy and resource in improving the Commons”, a new student learning facility at scholarships and widening access activities that student experience is not yet being reflected in the heart of the campus, which will be named have been welcomed by the Office for Fair the results of the National Student Survey (NSS), in honour of Alan Gilbert. Access. We have appointed a new Associate which is conducted amongst final-year students Vice-President and a new Director of Social across the UK. The NSS results for this University We have begun to invest real substance in our Responsibility to take this agenda forward and in 2011 were, once again, disappointing with proposal to establish a University College, which we have identified six “Flagship Projects” that the overall result for student satisfaction at aims to improve the educational experience of will showcase the University’s distinctive work in 79%, which is below our benchmark figure our students by encouraging their development this important field. (84%) and very much lower than most of our both as mature adult learners and as comparable institutions. contributors to society in general. The Academic I am pleased that in the face of significant Director has now been appointed and the first uncertainties – not least the global financial NSS performance across the University is very courses will be made available to students in climate and the impact next September of the variable. The detailed results show some September 2012. £9,000 home undergraduate fee – the main encouraging signs of improvement in specific focus of this University’s attention during the areas of teaching and learning, such as 2010-11 was also another good year for home academic year 2010-11 was on delivering transparency of assessment, quality of feedback, and international student recruitment. The world-leading research and first-class learning academic support and staff contact and some of University remains an enormously popular experience for our students. our courses have performed exceptionally well, destination for undergraduate and postgraduate with many subjects demonstrating more than study, a reputation that is bolstered by surveys We have also spent some time during the last 90% student satisfaction. But our overall from employers commenting on the year discussing and determining our ambitions performance remains unacceptable. attractiveness and employability of our and plans for the next decade and there can be graduates. There has undoubtedly been no clearer signal to our colleagues and the We are addressing the quality of our student “knock-on” impact on applications of the wider world that we intend to continue being experience as a matter of urgency. We have heated political debates around student funding an ambitious University and that will invest in its appointed two new Associate Vice-Presidents to and immigration rules for international students, future success. work in this area and established a new but this does not appear to have affected Directorate of Student Experience to bring applications to this University too severely. together all the administrative, professional and support services for students. We are radically As a University, we are now beginning to invest redesigning the way in which some courses are some real substance in our Goal Three activities delivered and appointing new staff in some and the “social responsibility” agenda. I have schools to increase the numbers available to been personally leading on this issue and we teach on some courses. We are also directing have made good progress by building on our Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell significant further investment to student recent successes in public engagement and President and Vice-Chancellor 2 FEATURES MANCHESTER: THE GLOBAL HUB OF GRAPHENE The world’s eyes are on Manchester to see Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and what’s next for super-material graphene, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “The following the award of the Nobel Prize for announcement is fantastic news for the University Physics to the two men who discovered the and fantastic news for the City of Manchester. It is material last year – Professor Andre Geim and also timely, because it is almost exactly a year Professor Konstantin (Kostya) Novoselov. since the Nobel Prize was announced. Over this time, the pace and scale of graphene research in The interest and excitement generated by the Manchester has escalated dramatically, and its award was substantial, attracting attention from commercial potential is growing by the day.” the scientific community and media from across the globe, as the two physicists from the School Graphene is the world’s thinnest, strongest of Physics and Astronomy received the award material, which is one atom thick. Among other from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at a traits, it can be made magnetic and conduct formal ceremony held in Stockholm. electricity. One of the world’s most versatile materials, its potential applications include were the first to exploit its remarkable qualities In October 2011, Chancellor of the Exchequer touchscreen and roll-up mobile phones, paper-thin in 2004.