The 2020 review of the year at the University of Manchester

[dullhunk]

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For analysis at dullhunk.github.io/whats-the-story-learning-glory

Intro

It has undoubtedly been an extraordinary year in every sense of the word. From the pandemic to the Black Lives Matter movement via the US Elections and Brexit, 2020 has seen political, social, and cultural upheaval across the world. These issues have been reflected here at Manchester and across the higher education sector.

It has as also been an extremely challenging year for our staff and students. But, despite everything that has happened in the past 12 months, our entire University community has come together to produce the amazing stories and research that make up The Review of Year 2020…and there is much to be proud of and celebrate.

January: Mummy Mystery

To kick off the new year, our researchers found two reasons why it’s important to get a good night’s sleep. That’s because our body clocks affect how the immune system works and beauty sleep could actually be a real thing. We also started the year with some important local and national political figures visiting our campus, with Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and the then Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, Chris Skidmore, visiting our materials experts. We also named a New Chair in Materials Physics and Innovation Policy.

Our students weren’t to be outdone, as some from our law department took part in a new BBC series whilst one of our medical students joined the England netball team. There was more good news for students and graduates as Manchester was named the most targeted university by the UK’s top 100 graduate employers for the third year in a row. As if all that wasn’t enough, there was a £5m boost for new world-class cancer centre in Manchester; our poets and psychologists joined forces to save school playtime and, in true Scooby Doo style, some of our Egyptologists solved a genuine mummy-mystery by revealing the “shocking truth” behind Takabuti’s death.

February: A trip to Buckingham Palace

February saw our cancer researchers find a way to stop breast cancer cells from spreading whilst identifying risk factors for endometrial cancer. It was also a busy month for our political researchers as they found ethnic minority candidates face bias during UK elections as well helping produce a report that called on our leaders to “think big” when tackling the UK’s severe regional inequality.

University leaders made first (and last) overseas trip of the year as a delegation went to India and gave an honorary doctorate to one of the country’s most famous philanthropists. As well as giving out awards, the University was also on the receiving end of a special one, as the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) collected the Queen's Anniversary Prize at a Buckingham Palace ceremony. And, of course, February wouldn’t be complete without a Valentine’s Day story (of sorts).

March: Pandemic response

March was the month where COVID-19 really took hold in the UK and, in an unprecedented move, scientists and clinicians from across Greater Manchester formed a rapid response research group in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Away from the pandemic, our astronomers shed new light on black hole ejections whilst two more researchers were awarded the first Stephen Hawking Fellowships.

In the month the National Graphene Institute celebrated its fifth birthday there was also a unique collaboration between a clinical psychologist, robotics engineers and a robotics entrepreneur that improved the way robots can walk like humans. In Humanities, renowned broadcaster Sir Peter Bazalgette joined the University as our first ever Honorary Professor of Creative Industries, whilst important but varying research in the Faculty found that older women are facing greater financial problems and underwater avalanches were trapping microplastics in the deep ocean.

April: An army of volunteers

Coronavirus-related activity at the University increased massively in April as, like many people across society, our staff, students and alumni came together to combat the pandemic. We had an army of student volunteers helping the NHS on the ground as well as sewing their scrubs. Our staff joined forces with colleagues at Manchester Metropolitan and Salford Universities to 3D print safety equipment for front-line NHS workers whilst our health academics were key leads in setting up Manchester’s Nightingale Hospital. On the research side of things, our data and health scientists combined to create a COVID-19 “heat map” whilst another team from MIB helped developed a simple COVID-19 home-test. Our psychologists and social scientists were also busy as well, asking questions like can talking, sharing on social media or writing about lockdown help people cope with it? That’s because our researchers also found social distancing was already having a significant impact on our mental health.

Away from COVID-19, April was also a big month for sustainability and environmental research at our University. Not only did our researchers demonstrate the environmental cost of ‘fast fashion’ and find the highest ever level of microplastics on the seafloor, we also received £5million to launch a sustainability Hub to support Greater Manchester SMEs with plastics innovations at the Henry Royce Institute. And, last but not least, our University was named top in the UK (according to latest world rankings) for our social and environmental impact.

May: Making a difference

As the world, and the University, adapted to the ‘new normal’ our students and staff continued to help with a whole host of pandemic-related problems, both in Manchester and overseas. These ranged from publishing a ‘staying healthy in lockdown’ guide for older people and testing 150,000 pieces of PPE for Manchester City Council to helping tackle coronavirus in Kenya whilst students from our law department volunteered to help people affected by the pandemic. To help with home schooling and general lockdown boredom Professor Brian Cox launched the University’s ‘Lockdown Lectures’ series.

It was also another busy month for coronavirus-related research at our University. This included some sobering studies that found the North will be hit harder and the UK’s racial inequalities are likely to worsen due to the pandemic. But Manchester researchers also launched a project capturing how BAME people with mental illness were coping with the pandemic and developed an app for older people to help reduce the risk of falls during and after lockdown.

Away from COVID-19, we investigated dead Sea Scroll fragments and brought two of our annual stalwart events, the Great Science Share and the Making a Difference Awards online for the first time ever. It was another big month at an institutional level too, as we announced we were decarbonising our investment portfolio and our President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell was named the first female Chair of the Russell Group. There was also more big news for our cancer researchers who discovered a new method of detecting endometrial cancer whilst others received major funding for urine testing that may transform cervical cancer screening.

June: Black Lives Matter

Following the death of George Floyd in late May in the US, June saw the rise of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Our Vice-President for Social Responsibility, wrote a personal letter to all staff and students about BLM and what it meant to him and for our University which was followed up with our Race Matters report. Researchers published a timely study that showed ethnic minorities’ employment prospects lag behind due to ‘persistent racism’ and a report into racism in schools criticised increased police presence. Our coronavirus work continued unabated, as our scientists produced a new tool that computes the risk of getting COVID-19, and led a programme to assess instant testing. Away from research, our staff answered the NHS call for 3D printed parts for COVID-19 ventilators. June was a big month for our astronomers and astrophysicists as the ‘sleeping giant’ Jodrell Bank ‘awoke’ after its historic lockdown. They also managed to confirm a cornerstone of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and prove Earth’s nearest supergiant is cooling down at the end of its life. Not to be outdone by astronomers and physicists, some 11 of our chemists won prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry awards. At an institutional level we had another good result in the QS World University Rankings, maintaining our highest ever position.

July: Summer of love for Marcus Rashford

From explosive secrets in volcanoes to an exotic, never before seen particle at CERN it was safe to say July was another varied month at Manchester. But by far our biggest story of the month (if not the year) was the announcement that Marcus Rashford will receive an Honorary Degree for his remarkable campaign against child poverty and his sporting achievements. Coronavirus-related research carried on at pace through the summer with our scientists playing a leading role in ‘breakthrough’ COVID-19 drug research, discovering hearing deterioration was reported COVID-19 patients and being tall more than doubled the probability of having a coronavirus medical diagnosis. Our environmental researchers said the pandemic could be a historic moment for UK’s environmental future whilst our social scientists provided even more evidence that the North is being hit hardest.

Beyond the pandemic, our medical researchers continued to combat other serious illnesses. These included discovering ways to stop the spread of devastating childhood cancer and aggressive breast cancer whilst also becoming part of multimillion pound scheme that could make early diagnosis of liver disease a reality. Meanwhile, our linguists said all Northern regional accents are becoming more similar and there was also a creepy-crawly sense to some of other our sciences stories as researchers found spider silk could be a biodegradable alternative to traditional glue and that “unusual blue woodlice” may help develop new antiviral materials.

There were also more grants and awards for our academics with a new multimillion-pound project to support academic engagement with public policy and some of our humanities professors being elected as Fellows of the British Academy

August: Innovation and teaching excellence

As the summer peaked in August, there was more world rankings success, the launch of the Innovation Factory, and the national £32m Productivity Institute found a home at the Alliance Manchester Business School. There was also more progress on racial equality as Manchester became part of UK’s first national pledge to reduce ethnic inequalities in mental health care.

However, there was also more sobering research into mental health which found young women are the most vulnerable to postpartum mental illness and bisexual people up to six times more likely to self-injure. More research showed that the pandemic had been tough on young people with one study saying it had been “an emotional rollercoaster for teenagers” whilst another found a “significant increase” in child-to-parent violence during lockdown. On more positive pandemic-related news, our COVID-19 history project was given £1million and the British people said they hoped to keep up their new sustainable habits discovered during lockdown. August also saw the launch of the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium and our experts helping to develop a strategy for children to get back to school in Manchester post-lockdown.

Away from the pandemic, our nuclear scientists joined forces with Sheffield to launch a £2.5m research project for the safe disposal of nuclear waste; our audiologists found that a third of over fifties with hearing loss could be undiagnosed; our palaeontologists found newly discovered rare dinosaur embryos show sauropods had rhino-like horns and three was the magic number for our academics at the Teaching Excellence Awards.

September: Is there anybody out there?

As the summer drew to a close were breakthroughs by our astronomers and astrophysicists in their search for intelligent life in the Milky Way and the century-long mystery of dying stars. But the biggest story of the month which garnered headlines around the world was the discovery of hints of life on Venus. Not to be left out our physicists down on earth helped to upgrade the Large Hadron Collider. On the COVID-19 front there was an innovative new PPE respirator design and a new tool to help students to learn effectively online during coronavirus, and collective group researchers and scientist at the University came together to say tackling inequality is key for the post-COVID economic recovery. In cancer, a new screening study could affect treatment for thousands in the UK and The Christie and University joined forces and committed to improving cancer outcomes in Kenya.

Also in September, university research into refugee experiences was part of major new exhibition and a virtual exhibition was also held to mark World Suicide Prevention day. There was a first look inside new £105m Henry Royce Institute which is based on our campus and, after months of lockdown, Manchester Museum and The Whitworth reopened to the public.

October: Black history and African cities

October was Black History Month and (alongside MMU) we marked the 75th anniversary of Manchester’s role in the African independence movement whilst Professor Dawn Edge was featured in an exhibition celebrating Britain's Black female professors. It is also the month we usually celebrate our Foundation Day and this year we produced a short film in tribute to our University community. Some members of said community were honoured in the delayed Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Despite the autumn chill and dark nights setting in, there was some excellent news for the Global Development Institute which secured £32million in funding for African Cities research. This wasn’t the only investment of the month with four of our academics among recipients of a £109 million ‘future leaders’ fund. We weren’t just on the receiving end of financial gifts either as more than £1 million was made available to our students, thanks to generous donations to the Emergency Hardship Appeal. But those figures pale in comparison to the £375bn new deal needed to ‘level up’ the UK outlined in a new report published by our social scientists.

Although this was the month of Clean Air Day our researchers found a methane release from UK shale gas site equivalent to 142 trans-Atlantic flights whilst they also using drones to forecast volcanic eruptions

November: Olusoga and Obama

It was another awarding winning month for the University as we won the “Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community trophy” at the annual THE Awards. The University dedicated the prize to the much-loved Paul Maccabee, our Deputy Head of Capital Projects, who sadly passed this year. As we entered the second national lockdown our coronavirus research seemed match the nation’s mood. It found the pandemic has had a massive impact on the North’s health and economy whilst face masks leave us feeling isolated and stressed and the death toll in care homes could be “hugely underestimated”. In other coronavirus research the lockdown also caused dramatic changes in water consumption.

But there was more good news as one of our researcher’s work lead to an activist being granted asylum after a 15 year wait and the Manchester 24-hour run made 'virtual' comeback. November also had a presidential feel about it at the University as another historic American election got under way. This saw Professor Gary Younge discussing race and US election in a public lecture whilst Professor David Olusoga interviewed Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama on BBC One. Away from US politics, there was a “major step change” for the University as we carried on our journey to zero-carbon and wider work on sustainability. For example, at a citywide-level we secured £1.5m for a project to revolutionise plastic waste in Manchester, whilst internationally we were one of an alliance of top universities that urged G20 leaders to prioritise net zero emissions. Our experts were also part of the launch of England’s Nature Recovery Network and carried global analysis of forest management.

December: Can your Christmas dinner help save the planet?

So, that almost brings us up to the present day and even though we are entering the festive season, we haven’t been winding down at all. In fact, in the first couple of weeks of December, our colleagues have won awards for research into LGBT+ sexual health services during COVID-19 and one of world’s top prizes in suicide prevention. Not to mention Manchester Museum has received a £1.3million Capital Kickstart grant from Government’s Culture Recovery Fund whilst half a million pound has been awarded to evaluate new NHS mental health and wellbeing services, ‘Resilience Hubs’

Our researchers haven’t stopped either and designed new face masks to overcome communication issues; produced information campaign to help older people keep well this winter; written a new report that reveals victims of crime presently lack an independent enforcer of victims’ rights; found out why the heart slows down at night; used 3D scanning technology to bring Manchester’s cultural sites to you and asked the age-old festive question can your Christmas dinner help save the planet.

For more on the University's role in the Greater Manchester response to coronavrius read our reflections on the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks to everyone in our community who has contributed to this impressive list of achievements and all the colleagues working behind the scenes to support students and keep our University functioning during the pandemic.

Many of those colleagues will also be working over Christmas, including supporting our students. There’s lots of support on offer for those staying with us over Christmas and we’ve published it on our website.

• See next The 2021 review of the year at the University of Manchester #986