Unilife march 2014

3 March 2014 Issue 5 Volume 11

unilife The free magazine for The University of Manchester

Our impact on the community... and beyond

1.9bn £807m

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Total output generated by University amounted to £1.9 billion in 2011/12.

Turnover of £807 million in 2011/12 – more than Manchester United, Manchester City and Manchester Airport combined.

16m £1.05bn £750k

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£16 million of economic value was created through ‘The Works’ employment programme.

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266k

Manchester Leadership Programme students contributed £266,000 of economic value to the region.

The University contributed £1.05 billion to Britain’s gross domestic product in 2011/12.

Fastest growth in School Governors of any University, contributing £750,000 in value from staff time volunteered.

21k

18k

21,000 jobs have been created by the University.

Of these 18,000 are in Manchester – some 6% of all jobs in the city.

Message from the President

The value of a higher education There has been much recent public debate and many articles written about the ‘economic value’ of a university degree. It is no surprise that with the introduction of higher fees and students taking on more debt, that such questions should be asked and answered.

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onsiderable data shows that a good university degree improves employability and future earnings. Of course this can depend on the nature of the degree and on the career and life choices of the graduate, so the ‘answer’ is complex and variable.

Here at our University, we put a great deal of effort into providing an education that will enhance the employability of our graduates and we know that many employers seek out our students. We are considering carefully what more we can do in this area.

Having said that, I hope that most students do not choose to come to The University of Manchester simply on the basis of how it will enhance their future earning power - though of course we believe it will.

As I say in my speeches at our degree ceremonies, if our graduates leave with just a piece of paper, some letters after their name and greater earning power, I would consider that we have failed them, as they have not fully grasped the huge opportunities of a university education, which should be a transformational experience.

We aim to provide an education that not only enables our students to develop a deep

Meeting our students Atma Amin, Michael Aquilina and Gabbi Gardiner

understanding of their subject, but also the wider skills needed for their future success. Our employability strategy is based around opportunities for workplace experience, developing student competencies and recognising both student academic and non-academic achievement.

And here at Manchester our students have many opportunities to broaden their educational experience and take part in volunteering. They may get involved in the Manchester Leadership Programme, take the courses we provide through University College, or take some of our courses in entrepreneurship.

But even these considerations miss an incredibly important part of higher education. Listening recently to a speech by Sir Andrew Witty, who is Chief Executive of Glaxo SmithKline, reminded me of my own time at university.

Then of course there is the social side of attending university. I certainly made great use of it! Many students will make life-long friends or meet their future partner while at university.

This is a time which can challenge principles, take you outside your ‘comfort zone’, influence views and attitudes, widen horizons and deepen awareness. There are opportunities to learn about so many things outside your subject, to take up new hobbies, participate in the students’ union, meet students from different countries, different cultures, different interests and different views.

It is not only students, their parents and funders who should recognise the wider value of a university degree, but also all of us as staff in our University.

Delivering the highest standards of academic training is very important for our students and their future employers, but it is only part of what we must offer.

Professor Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor

Contact us News and story ideas Mikaela Sitford tel 0161 275 2112 email uninews@manchester.ac.uk www.manchester.ac.uk/staffnet/news Deadline 19 March 2014 Events and listings information Philippa Adshead tel 0161 275 2922 email unievents@manchester.ac.uk Deadline 19 March 2014 Ads Sarah Davenport tel 0161 275 2922 email uniads@manchester.ac.uk Deadline 19 March 2014 Next issue 7 April 2014

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News Freedom of the City for Nobel Laureates

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News Our medics’ battle to save stranded typhoon victims

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ith the landscape of the higher education sector seeming to change with every new government announcement, there is a lot of talk in the national student movement at the moment about the value of going onto higher education and gaining a degree.

Under the new fee regime, the average UK/EU undergraduate student is likely to find themselves with a debt of nearly £40,000 if they do a three year course, so it is quite natural that prospective students are beginning to question whether higher education is right for them.

But it’s worth considering that time spent at university is not just about studying. Many students use the experience to help them decide what they are going to spend the rest of their lives doing.

Others will use some of the political and campaigning techniques learned in the Students’ Union to influence the world around them.

Indeed, ‘employability’ seems to be a theme that comes up time and time again in conversations about the value of a degree. Phrases such as: "You're more likely to earn more if you go to university," or: “You’re more likely to earn even more if you go to a Russell Group university,” fill column inches in the media.

Employability and opportunity also frame many of the arguments around why university should be as accessible as possible to students from low income families. This alone is enough for anyone interested in higher education to be concerned about recent government cuts to student support funds. It also serves as a reminder of the generosity of alumni who donate to scholarship funds to help those most in need of support at university; these funds really are crucial in the current climate.

The opportunities that a university education can provide are why it's so important that no one is barred from going onto higher education because of their personal circumstances. Because access to education is so important, the Students’ Union has a member of staff who works solely with University of Manchester students on projects in Greater Manchester that help people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds gain a place at our University and others like it.

With Grace Skelton

On a recent visit to our Students’ Union, Director of the Office for Fair Access, Les Ebdon, described our work in this area as ‘sector leading.’

Of course it’s not only work that Manchester students can do for others that’s important. With over 300 societies, our students are always busy putting on great events for each other! The skills they learn by running their own groups, some with over 1,000 members, are invaluable. Whether it’s

learning how to budget and organise a fundraiser, or building relationships with other societies; these are all skills that our students will find useful in later life. I’m proud to head up an organisation that puts so much work into making sure we can constantly deliver on these opportunities for our students.

Grace Skelton, General Secretary, Students’ Union

Contents 2 4 13 16 18 20

Research Bubble bursts on bathing

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Feature Saving our planet… and a way of life

Message from the President News Research Feature: Our research impact What’s On Feature: Making a Difference

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© Photo by London News Pictures / REX

News

Database reaches one million milestone The milestone of one million patient records was passed for the software solution, FARSITE, which enables GPs and research networks across the UK to accurately carry out feasibility studies and patient research.

FARSITE – designed and built by NorthWest EHealth, a not-for-profit partnership of the University, Salford Royal Hospital and Salford Clinical Commissioner Group – began its rollout to 250 users in 2011 and now securely houses one million patient records.

The software provides a safe, convenient and effective way for the family GP to control the recruitment of their patients into clinical research, while allowing NHS-based researchers to run complex and powerful searches over anonymised population level health record data.

Shami Chakrabarti

Human rights campaigner joins University

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ne of the nation’s leading human rights campaigners, Shami Chakrabarti has been made an Honorary Professor of Law at the University.

The appointment will give our Law students and staff an exciting opportunity to meet with the Director of Liberty, which campaigns to protect rights and freedoms.

A familiar face on TV and radio, she is a regular contributor to Question Time, Newsnight and the Today programme. In February, she was judged to be one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio Four.

She was invited to be one of six independent assessors advising Lord Justice Leveson in his Public Inquiry into the Culture, Practice and Ethics of the UK Press and

was also one of eight Olympic Flag carriers dressed in white at the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

She said: "Liberty began with the struggles of the Hunger Marchers 80 years ago, and Emmeline Pankhurst hailed from Manchester. So it’s an honour indeed to join a great Northern Law school at a time when rights and freedoms are once more on the line."

David Blunkett debates Roma migration

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ormer Home Secretary David Blunkett took part in a public discussion on Roma migration at the University.

Roma migration has been hitting the headlines over the past few weeks, with politicians and journalists – including Mr Blunkett – debating the lifting of EU restrictions for Romanians and Bulgarians.

Professor Yaron Matras, who organised the event, leads an international research consortium on Romani migration.

Professor Yaron Matras and David Blunkett

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The project, a European model for active engagement with Roma migrants, has successfully shown how building bridges can prevent tension. In partnership with Manchester City Council, the project also employs three

Roma outreach workers based at the University.

Yaron said: “The University has been working closely with the community of Roma migrants since 2007, in partnership with local schools, Manchester City

Council, and other agencies.

We have seen and shown that once public perception of the Roma changes and prejudice is confronted, then the barriers for social integration are removed.”

Becky Burns keeping bees at Jodrell Bank Observatory

Chris Livingston, 1000th employee of The Works, discusses his experience

More than 15,000 visitors enjoyed the Whitworth Weekender

Student volunteers on the Manchester Leadership Programme organised a shoe amnesty for the British Heart Foundation

University creates thousands of jobs

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new report has revealed the amazing impact our University has had on the economy and the lives of people across the region and beyond.

With more than 40,000 students and 10,000 staff, we are one of the biggest employers in the region, generating significant spending power to impact on the regional economy.

But more than that, our unique goal of social responsibility - committing us to making a difference to the social and economic well-being of our communities through our teaching, research and public events and activities - is bearing remarkable fruit.

As part of the recent launch of our new social responsibility, engagement campaign an independent report was commissioned called 'Measuring the Difference: the Economic and Social Impact of The University of

Manchester' by the Office for Social Responsibility. This showed: • Our University helped to create and support more than 21,000 new jobs in the last financial year.

• Of these 18,000 of them were in Manchester, representing 6% of new employment across the city.

• In partnership with a number of employers and training providers, we also helped to take more than 1,000 unemployed people into fulltime work through our unique project, The Works, creating £16 million of economic value last year.

• Student volunteers on one programme alone, the Manchester Leadership Programme, contributed £266,000 of economic value to the city region, through working in a variety of organisations across the city.

• We enjoyed a turnover of £807 million in 2011/12 - more than Manchester United, Manchester City and Manchester Airport combined.

As a non-profit making organisation, all of the University's income goes to support its educational and research mission.

• Total output generated by University amounted to £1.9 billion and our contribution to Britain's GDP in 2011/12 totalled £1.05 billion.

• The Manchester Museum and Whitworth Art Gallery visits alone generated nearly £12 million of socially-modified economic value through its visitor programmes.

• We achieved the fastest growth in School Governors of any University in the UK, contributing £0.75 million in value from staff time volunteered.

Director of Social Responsibility, Julian Skyrme, said: "Many staff and external partners have been astonished by the scale of our social and economic impact evidenced in this report.

"It provides an independent baseline across a selection of different areas that rigorously measures the positive impact we are creating in the regional economy and in wider society."

Associate Vice-President for Social Responsibility, Professor Aneez Esmail, agreed: "The data in this report not only demonstrates the significant social and economic impact we have created, it also points to ways we can further refine, prioritise and measure our impact through our wider range of social responsibility programmes.”

To see the report visit: www.socialresponsibility.manchest er.ac.uk/includes/uploads/Impact_ Report_1OCT.pdf

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News Top economist appointed Professor One of the UK’s leading economists is to become a Professor here at Manchester.

Diane Coyle OBE, Vice Chair of the BBC Trust and a former Economics Editor of The Independent newspaper, will take on the parttime role in September.

The bestselling author was formerly a regular presenter on BBC Radio 4's Analysis.

A Harvard PhD Diane Coyle OBE graduate, she runs the consultancy Enlightenment Economics. She is also currently a member of the ESRC Research Committee, was a member of the Migration Advisory Committee, the Browne Review of higher education funding and on the Competition Commission.

She will teach undergraduates, give a public lecture each year and work with academic colleagues and policy makers.

Her interests are competition policy, network markets, the economics of new technologies and globalisation.

She said: “It's a privilege for me to have this opportunity to teach undergraduates at Manchester, and I hope to offer them a distinctive perspective on economics from somebody who has been involved in the world of public policy as well as research and writing. Economics is particularly exciting and important when it engages with real world events, and I'm looking forward to debates with students as well as my new colleagues."

The Study – for researchers young and old

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anchester Museum has been awarded £200,000 from the DCMS/Wolfson Museum and Galleries Improvement Fund to undertake extensive renovations to one of its historic galleries.

The Study – as the new space will be known – will revitalise the entire third floor of the Museum’s Grade II* ‘1885 Building’, the original Museum building designed by Alfred Waterhouse.

Opening in March 2015, the gallery will encourage all visitors, regardless of age or experience, to think of themselves as potential researchers, in an intriguing and stimulating environment which is as welcoming to an inquisitive child as to an adult researcher.

It will involve extensive restoration of original Waterhouse design features to evoke the historic ambience of the nineteenth century gallery and encompass three separate areas: a temporary exhibitions space using the Museum’s collection to showcase our cutting-edge research; a research activity area providing ‘hands-on’ experiences; and an expanded Collections Study Centre, with improved facilities for in-depth research.

Director of Manchester Museum Nick Merriman said: “At Manchester Museum we believe that research is for everyone. The funding for our new gallery will allow us to make more of our wonderful collection accessible and to create a beautiful environment to inspire researchers of all kinds – from curious children to world class academics and Nobel Prize winners.”

Find your green guru

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he University has launched Living Lab – a website that helps our colleagues and students find like-minded people when they are about to embark on an environmental sustainability or social responsibility project.

This network of people and projects has now been turned into a searchable website – described as “a University LinkedIn for sustainability and social responsibility” – with 250 keywords that, when typed in, lead you to others who could help you.

With a campus covering some 85 hectares, the University today faces similar challenges to that of a rapidly developing small town.

So in July 2013, a Living Lab workshop brought together more than 40 key players who looked at project ideas addressing issues such as reducing carbon, sustainable procurement, environmental design and behaviour change.

It also hosts case studies of successful collaborations, provides live opportunities to work with the Estates Directorate and gives information on how to propose and advance your projects.

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Funded by the University of Manchester Research Institute and the Higher Education Innovation Fund, the team comprises Lead Researcher

(L-R) Living Lab Team, James Evans, Ross Jones, Lucy Millard and Andrew Karvonen

Dr Ross Jones, Principal Investigators Dr James Evans and Dr Andrew Karvonen and Research Associate Lucy Millard.

You can follow all the latest news about the Living Lab via twitter at @ULLManchester or visit http://www.universitylivinglab.org/

Manchester to recruit another 100 academic stars Sir Kostya Novoselov and Sir Andre Geim with the resolution

Freedom of the City for Nobel Laureates

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ir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov have been awarded the Freedom of the City of Manchester.

The scientists won the Nobel prize in 2010 for their groundbreaking achievements with graphene.

The council recognised their importance and that of the University to the growth and regeneration of the city.

At a ceremony at Manchester Town Hall, Sir Andre and Sir Kostya were honoured

by The Lord Mayor of Manchester Councillor Naeem ul Hassan.

Sir Andre said: “It is a great honour to be awarded the Freedom of the City of

Manchester. Manchester has been my home now for almost 14 years and is very close to my heart."

Sir Kostya said: “I’m thrilled to have been awarded the Freedom of the City. Manchester was home for the largest proportion of my most exciting experiments, and the local support we get is tremendous.”

Cllr Hassan added: “It is a privilege to be a ble to present the freedom of the city to Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov.

“The significance of their work on graphene is truly breath-taking and we are yet to truly grasp the magnitude of its real-life applications.”

The University is investing up to £20 million to appoint 100 new academic staff, covering teaching and research in a wide range of disciplines across all four of our Faculties.

President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, said: “The University remains in a strong and stable position, so we are now able to recruit a further 100 academic stars, following on from a similar exercise just over two years ago.

“As one of the UK’s largest universities we are committed to pioneering research, which enriches the learning environment for our students and helps to improve the quality of the student experience, which remains one of our top priorities.”

The University already has many world-leading scholars on its staff, including three Nobel Prize winners, and these new posts will help the University to build upon its proud record of achievement and ambitious vision for the future.

Professor Rothwell added: “We are looking to attract the highest quality researchers and teachers from right across the world. Great thinking got us where we are today, and this new talent will help us to enter the top 25 universities in the world by 2020.”

A global advertising campaign ‘World Leading Minds’ has been launched and a new website has gone live at: www.manchester.ac.uk/wlm

Mein Kampf worries fuel debate More needs to be done to understand Hitler’s infamous autobiographical manifesto “Mein Kampf” to avoid a resurgence of anti-Semitism when its copyright expires in 2016, according to a holocaust historian.

Dr Jean-Marc Dreyfus – who debated the issues with an international panel of experts at a special workshop last month – says not enough is known about the book which preaches hatred against Jews, and why it is still popular in some parts of the world.

E-book sales of “Mein Kampf”, which gives a racist account of world history, have made the top spot on Amazon’s propaganda and political psychology chart and entered the top 20 bestselling iTunes politics and events titles.

Sir Kostya and Sir Andre with Manchester City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese

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News Obituary: Professor John Pickstone Professor John Pickstone, one of the nation’s most important historians of science, technology and medicine and tireless champion of The University and Manchester's heritage, has died following a short illness, at the age of 69.

He was the founding Director of the Centre of History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM) and was founder of the Manchester Histories Festival, the UK’s leading event of its kind.

Born and raised in Burnley, Lancashire, his education took him to Cambridge, London, Ontario and Minnesota. His most recent work was on the history of modern medicine and medical technology, especially the recent history of the NHS. He also had a long-standing interest in the regional history of science and medicine.

Current Director of CHSTM, Professor Michael Worboys, said: “We are devastated that John, our good friend and colleague, and a world renowned historian of science, technology and medicine, has died.

“He was also a great champion of the heritage of the University, the City and the North West, working tirelessly to inform the public and the academic world that we can learn from what has happened in the past.

“Our thoughts are with his family and many friends.”

Manchester Histories Festival starts on 21 March (see page 10 for details).

Latest picture of new home for graphene

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his is the latest artist’s impression of the £61million National Graphene Institute (NGI), set to open in early 2015.

The 7,800 square feet building will see academics and industrial partners working side by side to produce the graphene applications of the future.

Built over five storeys, the NGI’s exterior features a formula wrapped around the building. This is a complex set of equations that featured in graphene research papers around the time it was first isolated in 2004.

University remembers the Holocaust

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n academic who fled from the horrors of Nazi Germany in 1939 as an 11-year-old child has bequeathed over £1.5 million to the University.

Professor Fanni Bogdanow, who died in July 2013 aged 86, was one of the 10,000 Jewish children rescued by the UK in a mission known as the Kindertransport.

Her legacy will fund a series of lectures which will take place around Holocaust Memorial Day starting from next year, prizes for high performing students and includes a significant gift to provide flexible support for the University’s strategic priorities The University and the Students’ Union marked this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day with a screening of the film "Paperclips", documenting an extraordinary experiment in which the pupils of Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee collected six million paper clips to help them understand the extent of this crime against humanity and also met Holocaust survivors from around the world.

Other events on campus during Holocaust Memorial Week included an exhibition of pictures and maps illustrating the Genocide, a panel discussion around the theme of immigration, and a reading by Julie V Gottlieb, of The University of Sheffield, from her mother’s Holocaust memoir.

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• Sir Andre Geim will be speaking at Manchester Business School at 5.30pm on 13 March to promote the £50,000 Eli and Britt Harari Graphene Enterprise Award – the deadline for which has been extended to Friday 16 May. To register for the event email lisa.heywood@manchester.ac.uk and for more details on the Award visit www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk/ news-and-events/

The aftermath of typhoon Haiyan

Our medics’ battle to save stranded typhoon victims

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anchester medics have spoken about their role treating the victims caught up in the typhoon in the Philippines to mark the three-month anniversary of the disaster.

A 12-strong team led by Professor Tony Redmond, from the Humanitarian Conflict Response Institute, were involved in the UK’s first joint civilian and military humanitarian response effort.

Part of the team boarded HMS Daring to treat hundreds of people cut off on remote islands

by the typhoon which struck last November, while the other half assisted at a hospital in Tacloban.

Professor Redmond said: “The Navy got us to the islands that nobody else could get to. Some of the islands had no jetties so we had to wade waist-high in the water carrying all the medical kit above our heads.

“It was very moving when we flew over the first island in the helicopter, they’d seen helicopters before but no one had landed.

They had written “help” in the sand and everyone ran out of

their homes waving towels to bring us in.”

Once the medics, who also included Dr Amy Hughes from the University, arrived at each island they worked with community leadership groups, known as barangays, and their captains who let the team know what type of medical assistance was needed and the numbers of casualties.

Clinics were then put in place which ran from dawn to dusk, treating mainly wounds which had become infected, chest infections and diarrhoea.

Service of Thanksgiving for body donors The Service of Thanksgiving for Body Donors, in which the University pays tribute to selfless actions of the donors, will be held this Wednesday (5 March).

Each year the University accepts a number of human bodies, which are used to teach anatomy to medical, dental and science students. The bodies are those of people from the Manchester area who have indicated, prior to their death, that they wish to donate their bodies for this purpose. This selfless and publicspirited action benefits the education of around 2,000 students each year.

This annual event is a non-denominational Service, unrelated to the final committal or funeral service of any individual, and intended as an opportunity for the public-spirited actions of the donors to be acknowledged.

Dr Ingrid Gouldsborough, Senior Lecturer in Anatomy, said: “The Service last year was attended by approximately 400 people including many relatives and friends of the deceased, current students, a variety of University staff, senior civic officials and clergy. The feedback from families of the donors made it clear that the Service was greatly appreciated.”

Left to right Rob Holden (Save the Children), Deb Lau (UKIETR), Tony Redmond (UKIETR), Sean Hudson (UKIETR), Karen Livingstone (UKIETR), Amy Hughes (UKIETR), Andy Hill (DFID), Anthony Roberts (UKIETR) and Ullyses (Merlin/Save the Children)

• Everyone is welcome to the service, on Wednesday 5 March 2014 (12.30 pm for 12.45pm) at the Whitworth Hall.

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News

Ben brings The Empty Shop to Manchester Manchester alumnus Ben Davis has launched a UK first in the Arndale centre – a shop that donors fill with clothes each day.

The Empty Shop Project was developed in Brazil as a new way for people to donate clothes to local charities.

Ben, who graduated in 2013 and has been working as Marketing Executive with Clarke Gough shop fitters through the Manchester Graduate Internship Programme, was responsible for bringing the project to Manchester.

Donors saw their contributions fill the shop – displayed by a team of stylists and fashion bloggers.

Families handle Roman objects at Manchester Museum

Celebrating bygone Manchester

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anchester Histories Festival is back to celebrate the familiar and reveal the hidden histories across our city.

The University is a principal partner in the festival, which runs 21-30 March and includes more than 160 events, such as the chance to handle Roman objects at Manchester Museum and watch historians turn comedians at a special one night only Bright Club!

The University is also hosting ‘Manchester: a personal history’ featuring our Professor of Public History Michael Wood in conversation, as well as I HEART MCR Big Saturday, the 120 years of fighting cancer in Manchester walking tour, Roman and Dark Age Manchester Showcase Seminar and Godlee Observatory tours.

For full listings, dates, times and booking information go to www.manchesterhistoriesfestival.org.uk

And at the end of the day, the clothes were taken to charity for the homeless Mustard Tree.

Fifty ideas to celebrate half a century of Sociology The University is celebrating 50 years of Sociology with a blog highlighting our academics’ greatest ideas and a range of activities and events.

Manchester appointed its first Professor of Sociology in 1964 – Peter Worsley, a noted British sociologist and social anthropologist, who introduced the term “third world” into the English language.

Today Sociology at Manchester is recognised, both nationally and internationally, as a leading centre for social research. It ranked joint first in the UK in the last Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in 2008 and has more than 35 academic staff and 35 PhD students, making it one of the largest centres of Sociology in the country.

The department will also organise events, and a web archive of key works and videos.

• Follow the blog on http://blogging.humanities.manchester.ac .uk/mcrsociology/ or on Twitter @mcrsociology

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Prestigious prize for art historian Professor Mark Crinson, in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, has won the prestigious Historians of British Art Prize 2014 for his book ‘Stirling and Gowan: Architecture from Austerity to Affluence’.

The book, which won the post-1800 category, is the latest of four books and more than 40 articles exploring two major themes in architecture of the last two hundred years: the relation of architecture to colonialism; and the role of architecture in the cultural mediation of industrial production.

Michael Owen runs Marathon for Manchester

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ootballer Michael Owen is to run the London Marathon to support University scientists in their mission to find new treatments for families with genetic eye disorders.

The former England striker, who played for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, said he hoped his support would help boost developments by scientists and doctors where currently there is no available cure.

The University, in partnership with Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which runs Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, is making a major contribution to the future of genetic medicine through the Manchester Centre for Genomic Medicine.

Professor Graeme Black and his team aim to improve treatments available to patients and families with conditions such as cataracts in young children and blindness caused by inherited diseases of the retina.

Michael said: “It’s a cause that’s very close to my heart and I hope my support will boost their quest to find more treatments for patients.”

Professor Black said: “We have no doubt that Michael's support will further accelerate these developments.”

Our marathon man Michael Owen

Stroke patients’ artwork takes pride of place at the Museum

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rt work created by stroke patients and their carers is on display at Manchester Museum, as part of its Coral: Something Rich and Strange exhibition.

Objects from the museum collections are regularly taken into hospitals to inspire creative activity, provide interesting and stimulating distraction therapy and enhance both patient and staff experience and wellbeing as part of the award-winning arts for health programme at the Museum and Whitworth Art Gallery.

Stroke patients create artworks

Patients at Trafford General Hospital’s stroke unit got to exhibit in one of Manchester’s most sought-after venues after an advert asking for art supplies was posted by their occupational therapist Luan Marsh. It was spotted by Chris Keady, who coordinates the Healing Environments project at Central Manchester University Hospitals, and he suggested the collaboration.

Now silk banners printed with designs created by the patients are hanging in the foyer of the Museum, while intricate pieces of crocheted coral made by hospital staff and visitors form part of the stunning Manchester Satellite Reef.

• Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Museum are also hosting and curating a number of events for the Stroke Association during Action on Stroke Month in May 2014.

• The University has teamed up with the Stroke Association to run a month-long series of events in May to raise awareness about stroke and the work being done in science and art to help stroke survivors. For more information about the Science Stroke Art programme, please email northwest@stroke.org.uk.

Crotcheted coral pieces

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News

New Gallery, New Art!

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ere’s your chance to own original art and support the redevelopment of the Whitworth.

As part of the fundraising campaign towards the Whitworth’s amazing new gallery in the park, leading artists who have a connection to the Whitworth – such as Richard Wentworth, Nick Cohen and Ian Rawlinson, and Michael BrennandWood – have generously donated artworks for an auction, which starts today (Monday 3 March).

There are prints, paintings, textiles, sculpture and signed books.

The auction closes at 12pm (noon) on Friday, 25 April.

• You'll find the works, information on the artists and details of how to bid here: bit.ly/whitworthartauction

Boom Boom by Michael Brennard-Wood - made of toy soldiers

A meeting with… Gail Heathcote-Milner Sports Development Co-ordinator Gail HeathcoteMilner joined the University in May 1988 – as a Life Guard at the McDougall Sports Centre on Burlington Street. Although this is still a University building, it’s no longer a sports centre. Her role is to organise a Health and Fitness programme across the University, helping students and staff keep active and healthy. The Be Active programme has a wide range of activities from Tai Chi for health to hard core cardiovascular sessions.

How did you get to the role you have now?

An opportunity came up to turn a part-time post of Recreation Officer into a full-time role and over the years this has evolved into my current role of Sports Development Co-ordinator.

What’s the best part of your job?

The best part of the job is teaching classes – Pilates, Zumba, all types of fitness class. I like to see complete beginners getting fit and keeping up their regime.

Any future projects coming up?

I am working with a group of staff on Wellbeing Wednesdays and the Wellbeing Week event. We have organised four Wellbeing Wednesdays, each with a different theme. The first one was at

Any challenges?

Sometimes getting people to participate in organised activities can be a bit of a challenge, and barrages of emails can make working life a little hectic.

the beginning of February and the second one will be held on 2 April and the working title is Be Calm. We have a further two Wellbeing Wednesdays planned for May and June, Be Healthy and Be Relaxed. Wellbeing Week will encompass all the above themes and will be held in November. The events aim to offer students and staff the opportunity to try something new, meet new people, have fun and adopt a healthy happy lifestyle.

Who would be your ideal dinner party guests?

Leonardo DiCaprio as he is nice to look at. Ella Fitzgerald and Andy Williams doing a duet set list from the 1950s to 1970s. Derren Brown so he can convince people that my cooking is the best they have ever tasted.

What would you say to your 16-year-old self now?

Do your homework and listen to your teachers.

Favourite book, film and TV programme?

One of my many favourite films is The Shawshank Redemption. I don’t often watch TV but I like Homes Under The Hammer.

What is your earliest childhood memory?

Sitting outside in a big old pram looking down the hallway watching my mother do the washing up, I must have been a baby.

Any interesting hobbies?

I like to sing, run on the hills and play netball (badly).

For more details of the next Wellbeing Wednesday events, visit: http://www.sport.manchester.ac.uk/wellbeing

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Research Ghostly particles solve a cosmological conundrum Manchester scientists have helped solve a major problem with the current standard model of cosmology – by measuring the mass of ghostly sub-atomic particles called neutrinos.

The head of 2,700 year old mummy of Asru

New mysteries uncovered at the Museum

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he 2700-year-old mummy of a woman called Asru is one of the most well-known displays at Manchester Museum, with investigations undertaken on her body by the University for the last 40 years. But now researchers have more to add.

The team, led by Professor Richard Battye from the School of Physics and Astronomy, used observations of the Big Bang and the curvature of space-time to accurately measure the mass of these elementary particles for the first time.

If this result is borne out by further analysis, it will add to our understanding of the subatomic world and be an important extension to the standard model of cosmology which has been developed over the last decade.

Cancer deaths higher in Greater Manchester

Recent CT-scans have revealed that Asru’s brain was not removed in the traditional manner of mummification, through the nose, but instead through the eye-sockets.

And new translations of the hieroglyphs on her coffins reveal the name of her parents, with her father – called Pa-Kush, ‘The Kushite’ – a high ranking official at the time Egypt was ruled by Kushite kings.

People in Greater Manchester are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer compared to the UK average, according to Cancer Research UK figures – highlighting the need for the city’s Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC).

Elsewhere at the Museum, another surprise awaited Egyptologists in an unassuming limestone statue fragment.

The cancer death toll is around 10 per cent higher than the UK average.

A careful re-reading of its hieroglyphic text led to the identification of the statue owner as one of the most famous people to live in ancient Egypt: Senenmut, the architect, chief minister and possible lover of Egypt’s female pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut (c. 1473-1458 BC).

Allan Jordan, Head of Chemistry at the Drug Discovery Unit at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, part of the University, said the findings show the importance of the MCRC’s work in finding new, personalised treatments for many types of cancers, including lung cancers.

Egyptology Curator Dr Campbell Price said: “These exciting discoveries show that even the best-known collections still have secrets in store.”

Fragment of limestone statue

Gay workers twice as likely to be bullied

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esbian, gay and bisexual employees are twice as likely to experience bullying and discrimination at work, according to a research at Manchester Business School.

bullying; bullying behaviour is more likely to stem from senior staff; a quarter of those who experience discrimination ‘do nothing’ about it; and lesbians and bisexual women are particularly negatively affected.

Helge Hoel, Professor in Organisational Behaviour at MBS, together with Anna Einarsdóttir and colleagues from Plymouth University, unveiled their report looking into workplace experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) employees.

Helge said: “These findings have a number of clear implications for employers and managers, who need to act if progress is to be made on the problems we’ve identified.”

The report, which draws upon over 1,200 face-toface interviews, revealed that one in three lesbians and bisexuals experience workplace

• Helge will be drawing upon his research and the recent controversy surrounding the 2014 Winter Olympics for HR Magazine’s next ‘Hot Topic’.

Smoking rates are around seven per cent higher than the national average. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in Greater Manchester, with around 930 men and 790 women dying from the disease every year in the area.

Mr Jordan said: “We must do more to tackle this by helping to reduce the number of people smoking as well as improving treatments and diagnosing the disease earlier, when treatment is most likely to be effective.”

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Research Cognitive therapy “safe and acceptable” for schizophrenia Researchers have shown cognitive therapy can be a safe and acceptable treatment for people with schizophrenia who have chosen not to take antipsychotic drugs.

Antipsychotic drugs are usually the first line of treatment for schizophrenia; however, many patients refuse or discontinue their pharmacological treatment.

Research led by Professor Anthony Morrison, from the School of Psychological Sciences, shows cognitive therapy significantly reduced psychiatric symptoms in patients not taking antipsychotic drugs.

Tackling childhood obesity The solution to childhood obesity is to offer broader public health strategies such as nutritional education, parental support and physical activity.

Cane field in Brazil

UK failing to harness bioenergy potential

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he UK could generate almost half its energy needs from biomass sources, including household waste, agricultural residues and home-grown biofuels by 2050, new research suggests.

Scientists from the University’s Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research found that the UK could produce up to 44% of its energy by these means without the need to import.

Study author Andrew Welfle said: “The widely discussed barriers for energy from biomass include the competition for land that may otherwise be used to grow food and the narrative that biomass will have to be imported to the UK if we want to use increased levels of bioenergy.

“But our research has found that the UK could produce large levels of energy from biomass without importing resources or negatively impacting the UK’s ability to feed itself.”

A team from Manchester Urban Collaboration of Health found single dietary interventions are not the solution to tackle the global obesity epidemic.

The research findings come ahead of worldleading speakers from across the globe descending on Manchester for the International Conference in Urban Health for Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre in March.

Success for data-mining research bid Professor Sophia Ananiadou, from the School of Computer Science and National Centre for Text Mining (NaCTeM), has been awarded a grant on ‘Mining Biodiversity’ as part of the transatlantic Digging into Data challenge 2013.

The project targets how computational techniques can be applied to big data in the humanities and social sciences.

Drs Lynne and Ian Hampson

HIV drug kills virus in world-first clinical trial

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commonly-used HIV drug has been shown to kill-off the human papilloma virus (HPV) that leads to cervical cancer in a world-first clinical trial.

Drs Ian and Lynne Hampson, from the Institute of Cancer Sciences, worked with Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi on the trial. They examined 40 women diagnosed with HPV positive early stage cervical cancer who were treated with the antiviral HIV drug lopinavir in Kenya.

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The results, due to be presented at two international scientific conferences, showed a high proportion of women diagnosed with HPV positive high-grade disease returned to normal following a short course of the new treatment.

Ian said: “We have seen women with high-grade disease revert to a normal healthy cervix within a comparatively short period of time. It is our hope that this treatment has the potential to revolutionise the management of this disease, particularly in developing nations such as Kenya.”

Lymphoma treatment trial The University has teamed up with Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office to launch a new clinical trial to treat blood cancer patients.

The trial will use the body’s own immune system to attack cancerous B-cells growing out of control in lymphoma patients.

This is an early phase trial to test how 40 patients will deal with the drug which will be led from Southampton General Hospital, with other centres including The Christie hospital in Manchester.

Dr John Radford, Professor of Medical Oncology at the University and trial lead at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, said: “New treatments have made a real impact for patients with lymphoma, but we need more therapies for those with tumours that become resistant.

This trial offers new hope for patients who have otherwise run out of options.”

© Courtesy Everett Collection / REX

Bubble bursts on bathing

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lmost a fifth of Britons living in the South East are likely to wash just four times or less per week, according to new research.

However, less frequent bathing or showering, which is much more likely to be a habit of older people, may be dying out – with huge implications on the demand for water and energy consumption.

Academics at the Universities of Manchester, Edinburgh, Lancaster and Southampton analysed 1,802 survey respondents and found daily showering is now dominating our

bathroom habits, replacing bathing and flannel washing as a way to get clean.

Bathing, they say, is almost extinct as a way to dislodge the dirt: people have baths often only when there’s no shower unit available to use, or when it is part of a pampering and relaxation routine.

Dr Alison Browne, at the Sustainable Consumption Institute, said: “These changes in our bathing habits have potentially huge implications for water and energy consumption if these trends continue.”

Simple protein test may predict survival

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cientists demonstrated that a simple protein test could prove more useful in predicting survival chances for patients with head-and-neck cancer than existing methods.

Professor Catharine West and her team, from the Institute of Cancer Sciences, believe the test could allow doctors to choose more personalised treatments.

Increasing numbers of oral cancers are linked to human papillomaviruses (HPV) – which occur in younger people and have a better

prognosis. Existing methods to detect HPV DNA may not accurately classify a tumour.

The researchers instead used a marker of HPV known as p16 protein. This protein usually disappears in tumours that are not caused by HPV.

Professor Michael Lisanti

Study shows how dense breast tissue drives cancer Scientists from the University working with IBM Research have identified a key biological mechanism that for the first time explains why women with dense breast tissue are at greater risk of developing breast cancer.

The research, led by Professor Michael Lisanti and Dr Federica Sotgia, from the Institute of Cancer Sciences, teased out the biological mechanisms at play by studying the micro-environment of breast cancer cells.

Their findings could help to improve breast cancer prevention by targeting these specific biological mechanisms with cancer therapies in at risk patients and potentially lead the way for a new strategy for the use of preventative treatments.

Professor West said: “Many studies have shown p16 status is strongly linked to survival. Now we have shown the test works better than routine staging for some cancers, we would recommend this test be offered as standard.”

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Feature

Saving our planet…and a way of life The Research Excellence Framework – the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions – asks us to show the impact that our research has on the world. Here UniLife looks at how our researchers really are changing the world…

Pioneering research in the rainforests of Ecuador is playing a vital role in preserving wildlife and the culture of indigenous people by deterring potentially disruptive western industries.

Thanks to the intrepid fieldwork of Life Sciences students and staff, new insect species have been discovered, hundreds of native birds and mammals have been recorded, and the community’s ancient agricultural practices have been proven not to harm wildlife.

These vital discoveries have empowered the traditional Kichwa community in Payamino to continue their way of life, arming their local government with the evidence needed to discourage giant oil and gold companies, intent on investigating in the region.

“Exploration could have a devastating effect on the community in Ecuador,” explains Professor Richard Preziosi, chair of the Timburi research station.

“Our studies prove there is an urgent need for conservation, enabling local people to make a stand against rich industries and illegal hunting, something they did successfully with an oil company two years ago.

“The disruption caused by these events could wipe out the area’s wildlife, and if modern western practices seep into the

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community, the people there risk losing their culture for good. We’re helping to protect their way of life.”

Since 2005 around 80 zoolology, plant science and genetics students a year have travelled to the remote tropical research station for scientific field placements. Permanently manned by the local Ecuadorian community and jointly managed by the University and Amazon State University, the solarpowered hut site is a two-hour truck drive and half-hour canoe ride from the nearest serviced town.

Giant anteaters, pumas and jaguars are just a few of the large mammals to be identified by the University’s camera trapping studies, with over 360 species of birds recorded and even an entirely new species of beetle discovered there.

As well as wildlife conservation, work at the site provides income to local people, which is, in turn, being invested in much-needed medical services and equipment, school supplies and water filtration systems.

According to the Payamino community president in a recent letter, the station is ‘a thriving community project that has helped to keep oil companies and illegal meat hunting at bay, while enabling the community to preserve their culture.’

Professor Richard Preziosi

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Listings Whitworth Art Gallery Re-opening Autumn 2014 The Whitworth Art Gallery has started a new and exciting chapter in its history. A major building project is now taking place to transform and extend the 120-year-old gallery, doubling its public areas whilst reducing its carbon footprint and improving facilities for visitors.

This new development by architects MUMA will re-connect the 19th century building with Whitworth Park through an elegant contemporary extension. The new Whitworth will bring you more art, more activities, more events and more space. It will be all things our many visitors have always loved about the Whitworth.

We look forward to welcoming you back in autumn 2014.

Visit our website for details of our forthcoming outreach events…..

Whitworth Art Gallery Oxford Road, Manchester 0161 275 7450 email whitworth@manchester.ac.uk www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth

International Society Visit some of the most beautiful and interesting locations around England, Scotland and Wales. There are visits taking place almost every weekend throughout the year.

What’s On

Manchester Museum

Sat 22 Mar, 11am-4pm <3MCR Big Sat

EXHIBITIONS

Sat 22 Mar, 12pm-1pm Roman Object Handling

All exhibitions at The Manchester Museum are FREE Fragmentary Ancestors: Figurines from Koma Land, Ghana until 5 May FAMILY ACTIVITIES Most activities are FREE and drop-in Every Sat and Sun, 11am-4pm Discovery Centre Drop into the Discovery Centre for drawing and other art activities inspired by the Museum’s collection and pick up one of our free Museum activity sheets.

Sat 15 Mar, 11am-4pm The Body Experience

Fri 28 Mar, 10.30am and 11.30am, (booking essential) Magic Carpet Story making and activity sessions. For toddlers up to 5yrs and their families/carers.

Sat 22 Mar, 2pm-3pm Exploring African Medicinal and Religious Objects in Manchester Museum Wed 26 Mar, 2pm-3pm Romans in Ancient Worlds Tour Thurs 27 Mar, 2-3pm Rock Drop: Geology Identification Session

FREE TALKS, TOURS AND WORKSHOPS FOR ADULTS

Sat 29 Mar, 2pm Urban Naturalist: Pond Life

Every Tues and Thurs, 12pm Vivarium Tours

Opening times Open: Tues-Sat 10am-5pm Sun-Mon (and Bank Holidays) 11am-4pm FREE admission The Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, Manchester 0161 275 2648 www.manchester.ac.uk/museum Follow us on Twitter @McrMuseum www.facebook.com/ ManchesterMuseum

Every Weds and Thurs, 1pm Taster Tours

Available Sat and Sun, 10am or 2pm – bookings one month in advance New! Children’s Birthday Parties

Weds 5 Mar, 1.05pm Collection Bites: Bee Keeping at the Manchester Museum

Tues 4 and 18 Mar, 10.30am, 11.30am and 1pm, (booking essential) Baby Explorers Sensory play and interactive story sessions for babies who aren't walking yet.

Sat 8 Mar, 1-4pm Connecting Communities and Coral

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Sat 22 Mar, 11am-2pm Roman and Dark Age Manchester, Showcase Seminar Talk

Tues 18 Mar, 5.30pm Manchester Museum Book Club

Sat 8 Mar to Sun 9 Mar Overnight trip to Bath and Stonehenge Sat 8 Mar North Wales visiting Anglesey (with full day guided tour) Sun 9 Mar Yorkshire Dales visiting Ingleton Waterfalls and White Scar Caves Sat 15 Mar Central Lake District visiting Aira Force Waterfall and Ambleside Sat 15 Mar to Sun 16 Mar Overnight trip to Edinburgh Sun 16 Mar North Wales visiting Chirk Castle and Erddig Sat 22 Mar The Lake District – take a cruise on Lake Windermere Sun 23 Mar Whitby Sat 29 Mar Alton Towers Sun 30 Mar North Wales visiting Ffestiniog Railway and Portmeirion Village Sat 5 Apr Oxford (with guided tour) Sun 6 Apr North Wales visiting Bodnant Gardens and Penrhyn Castle Opening times Mon-Fri 9.30am – 7pm (during term time) Mon-Fri 9.30am – 5pm (during vacation) Small World Café opening times Mon-Fri 11am – 3pm 327 Oxford Road (next to Krobar) 0161 275 4959 email int.soc@manchester.ac.uk www.internationalsociety.org.uk

Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre offers a great day out for all the family. Come and explore the planets using our model of the Solar System. Find answers to the wonders the Universe, listen to the sounds of the Big Bang and discover what the scientists are researching ‘Live’ in our interactive Space Pavilion. The glass-walled café offers spectacular views of the iconic Lovell telescope and fantastic homemade cakes!

EVENTS Sat 8 Mar, 7pm, £12 Girls Night Out – Under the Stars!

Weds 26 Mar, 7.30pm, SOLD OUT Beauty in the Heavens Workshop Information: Live from Jodrell Bank website Tickets: http://ow.ly/hQCFU Tickets include entry to the Discovery Centre.

Opening times 10am-5pm For more information and prices please visit our website Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 9DL 01477 571 766 www.jodrellbank.net

Chaplaincies St Peter’s House Chaplaincy Sunday, 11am Holy Communion 12.45pm Lunch (1st Sun) Sunday, 5.30pm Student Service (term-time only) Wednesday 12.15pm Eucharist, followed by free soup lunch (term-time only) RC Chaplaincy Avila House Mass Times (term-time only) Sun, 7pm (in the Holy Name Church) next door to the Chaplaincy Mon, Tues, Thurs and Friday, 5.30pm in the Chaplaincy Chapel Weds, 1.05pm in the Chaplaincy Chapel The Jewish Student Centre and Synagogue 07817 250 557 Email Rabbi Mati Kos: rabbikos@mychaplaincy.co.uk Muslim Chaplaincy South Campus Mosque, McDougall Centre Jammaat (Group Prayer) Daily Juma Prayer Friday 1.15pm Honorary Imam: Imam Habeeb, h_chatti@hotmail.com North Campus Mosque Basement of Joule Library, Sackville Street Building Jammaat (Group Prayer) Daily Juma Prayer Friday 12.30pm The role of Volunteer Muslim Chaplain is to provide pastoral support, guidance and a listening ear to Muslim staff and students.

Chaplains’ contact details are available in the prayer rooms or via St Peter’s House.

The Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama

The John Rylands Library (Deansgate)

TALKS

EXHIBITIONS Aftermath: Exhibition to Mark the Centenary of the IWW Bus Stop Stories The Space Between: Exhibition of Artworks by Anthony McCarthy FAMILY FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES Thurs 6 Mar, 4.30pm-6pm Thursday Late: Make a Book for World Book Day Thurs 13 Mar and 3 Arpil, 10.30am Toddler Tales Sat 15 Mar, 11am Enchanting Tales Sat 15 Mar, 12pm Here be Dragons THINGS TO DO Sat 8 Mar, 11am and 2pm International Women’s Day Tues 11 Mar, 2pm-4pm Knit and Natter Thurs 13 Mar, 5pm-7pm Thursday Late: Storytelling for Grownups Tues 18 Mar, 11am-4pm Whimsical Weekday Workshop: Personal Patterns Fri 21 Mar, 11am-3pm Tag the Library Sat 22 Mar, 12pm-4pm Water Day Sun 23 Mar, 2pm-4pm Voices Manchester Mon 24 Mar, 2pm-3pm Aftermath: Drawing on Experience Thurs 27 Mar, 5pm-7pm Thursday Late: Harpist Sun 30 Mar, 12pm-4pm Make Do and Mend Wed 2 Apr, 12.30pm-12.45pm Bitesize Talk Fri 4 Apr, 11am-4pm Whimsical Weekday Workshop: The Write Stuff Sun 6 Apr, 12pm-4pm Epiphany Music Performance TOURS booking required Fri 14 Mar, 11am Aftermath: Curator Tour Sun 16 Mar, 3pm Explorer Tour Weds 19 Mar, 11.30am Conservation Studio Tour Thurs 20 Mar, 2pm Tours and Treasures Fri 21 Mar, 3pm Unusual Views For further details of our events, please visit our website.

FREE ADMISSION Public opening times: Sun-Mon 12-5pm, Tues-Sat 10am-5pm Reader opening times: Mon-Weds, Fri-Sat 10am-5pm, Thurs 10am-7pm The John Rylands Library 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH Telephone: 0161 275 3764 Email: jrul.specialcollections@manchester.ac.uk Visitor and Event Enquiries Telephone: 0161 306 0555 Email: jrul.visitors@manchester.ac.uk

Mon 10 Mar, 6.30pm, £12/£10 Jeanette Winterson in conversation with Mark Billingham and Val McDermid LITERATURE LIVE Mon 17 Mar, 6.30pm, £6/£4 Maureen N McLane and Glyn Maxwell Mon 31 Mar, 6.30pm, £12/£10 2013 Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton FREE LUNCHTIME CONCERTS Thurs 6 Mar, 1.10pm Fieri Consort Mon 10 Mar, 1.15pm RNCM Monday Recital Series Thurs 13 Mar, 1.10pm Quatuor Danel Thurs 13 Mar, 2.30pm Quatuor Danel Seminar: Masters of Composition Mon 17 Mar, 1.15pm RNCM Monday Recital Series Thurs 20 Mar, 1.10pm The Michael Kahan Kapelye - Klezmer Ensemble Mon 24 Mar, 1.15pm RNCM Monday Recital Series Thurs 27 Mar, 1.10pm Featured Artist: Richard Casey (Piano) Fri 28 Mar, 1.10pm Manchester University Baroque Orchestra Thurs 3 Apr, 1.10pm Gamelan Degung Fri 4 Apr, 1.10pm Electroacoustic Works EVENING CONCERTS Fri 7 Mar, 7.30pm, £10/£5/£3 Psappha: The University of Manchester’s Contemporary Ensemble in Residence Sat 8 Mar, 7.30pm, £10/£6/£3 MUMS Symphony Orchestra Sat 15 Mar, 7.30pm, £10/£6/£3 MUMS String Orchestra and Brass Band Fri 21 Mar, 7.30pm, £10/£6/£3 Cosmo Singers Sat 22 Mar, 7.30pm, £10/£6/£3 Manchester University Wind Orchestra (MUWO) Sun 30 Mar, 7.30pm, £12/£9/£3 The University of Manchester Chorus and Symphony Orchestra Fri 4 Apr, 5pm, £10/£6/£3 Ad Solem: University of Manchester Chamber Choir Fri 4 Apr, 7.30pm, £10/£6/£3 Ad Solem: University of Manchester Chamber Choir The Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama Bridgeford Street, Manchester, M13 9PL 0161 275 8951 email boxoffice@manchester.ac.uk www.manchester.ac.uk/ martinharriscentre

Gig Guide Weds 5 Mar Fri 7 Mar

Sat 8 Mar

Thurs 13 Mar

Fri 14 Mar

Sat 15 Mar

Wed 19 Mar Thurs 20 Mar

Fri 21 Mar

Sat 22 Mar

Sun 23 Mar Tues 25 Mar Weds 26 Mar

Thurs 27 Mar Fri 28 Mar

Sat 29 Mar Tues 1 Apr

Weds 2 Apr Thurs 3 Apr

Fri 4 Apr Sat 5 Apr

Sun 6 Apr

R5 – Louder World Tour £16 Architects + Stray From The Path + Northlane + Landscapes £14 Haim - £15 Black Lights + Folks + Coupe De Ville + Jade Ann - £7 All Time Low + Tonight Alive + Only Rivals - £22.50 All Time Low + Tonight Alive + Only Rivals - £22.50 Maximo Park - £18.50 Heaven 17 + Blancmange - £20 Sex Pistols Experience - £10 Kodaline + James Bay - £16 NME Awards Tour 2014 with Austin, Texas: Interpol + Temples + Royal Blood + Circa Waves - £21.60 Space and Republica – 20th Anniversary Tour - £15 OneRepublic - £23.50 Ian Prowse and Amsterdam (rescheduled from 8 Nov original tickets valid) - £10 Quadrophenia Night - £10 Franz Ferdinand - £22.50 Transmission – The Sounds of Joy Division £8 Heaven’s Basement + Glamour of The Kill + The Dirty Youth - £10 Daughtry – £20 Earl Sweatshirt - £15 Azealia Banks - £18.50 Deathstars - £13.50 Bonafide + Bad Touch + Afterlife - £10 Jack Savoretti - £12 Tyrese, Ginuwine and ank (TGT) - £32.50 Loveable Rogues - £10 The Stranglers - £23 Katy B - £14 Five Finger Death Punch - £18 Hopsin - £13.50 The Robert Glasper Experiment - £17.50 Therapy? – Troublegum 20th Anniversary + The Lonely Brave - £17.50 Halestorm - £14 Deaf Havana + The Maine + Moose Blood - £15 Mentallica v Megadeth UK - £10 Riverside - £17

Tickets from Students' Union, Oxford Road Piccadilly Box Office @ easy Internet Café (c/c) 0871 2200260 Royal Court (Liverpool) 0151 709 4321 (c/c) Students’ Union Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL 0161 275 2930 www.manchesteracademy.net

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Feature

Dr Michael Bane

Saddle up to go green The University’s strategic plan Manchester 2020 lists one of our goals as contributing to the social and economic success of the local, national and international community. Our new engagement campaign to encourage staff to highlight how they are ‘making a difference’ to society was launched featuring campus installations and a new blog. Here UniLife looks at a colleague we can be proud of…

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r Michael Bane works in IT Services, helping researchers with their computational research. He has been concerned about humanity’s adverse effects on our planet for two decades. As a PhD student at Manchester he helped set up paper recycling, and when he returned to work on campus he got involved in setting up the University of Manchester Bicycle Users’ Group (UMBUG).

Michael – awarded the UK Universities’ National Environmental Hero Green Impact Award in 2009/10 – explains: “Cycling, whether doing a long, fast commute or a more leisurely pedal, cuts carbon dioxide emissions that would otherwise be associated with car or public transport journeys.

“UMBUG began in 2007 with a small group of cyclists who shared an aim of making cycling a

success at our University. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength; through successful funding bids, fantastic volunteer support, a website, monthly events, a Bike Buddy system and innovative initiatives aimed at getting more staff on their bikes.

“I have chaired the group throughout and am really pleased to see UMBUG reach 1,000 members, making it the biggest (and best!) university BUG in the country. Furthermore, more than 10% of staff now commutes by bike – the highest rate across Greater Manchester.”

This year, as well as the Big Annual Cycle Event on Wednesday 18 June, UMBUG is inviting all members to a celebration on Thursday, 3 April.

More about these events and all that the group does can be found at http://umbug.manchester.ac.uk

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