Research
The ESRC festival of Social Science is an annual celebration of the research conducted in social sciences and its profound impact on society. It offers a fascinating insight into some of the country’s leading research and how it influences our social, economic, and political lives – both now and in the future. The festival is open to everyone and is a unique opportunity to engage directly with researchers about the projects they work on.
An Independent Inequalities Commission involved two experts from the University set out a range of measures for tackling inequality and transforming public policy across Greater Manchester.
The Commission outlined specific, ambitious recommendations for the future of our city-region, covering economic growth, health, wellbeing, jobs, housing, transport, skills and training, which will be embedded within public service delivery at all levels and informs the elected Mayor’s next Greater Manchester Strategy.
Learning and students
We partner with small local charities in Manchester right through to major government departments through our Q-Step programme.
This places students on internships in organisations that require data skills and analysis and we’ve collaborated on projects with the Office for National Statistics on global, national and regional datasets used to measure progress on SDGs.
Our new interdisciplinary unit, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI): Your Role in Shaping a Fairer World, is open to all undergraduate students and empowers them to take responsibility for promoting inclusive approaches to study and work.
Public engagement
We deliver free activities and resources for the public, private and third sector including vocational training, executive education and continued professional development.
We’ve helped create a pioneering NGO Explorer to build networks, increase transparency and provide potential for commissioning of work with NGOs through a searchable database.
Our annual Prometheus programme offers learning and development opportunities for third-sector leaders to make their organisations grow and be economically sustainable.
Our Alliance Manchester Business School has partnered with regional organisations and authorities to create the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, which aims to advance decent work and employment standards across our city region.
We have also joined campaigns with Citizens UK to highlight our role as a living wage organisation.
Operations
We’ve become the first higher education institution in the UK to adopt the Social Value Portal, the leading online tool that helps organisations prioritise and measure their social value when they procure, or pay for, major services.
Our Manchester Innovation Factory helps protect and commercialise our innovations and intellectual property by creating 15-20 new spin-out companies each year based on our novel ideas.