Looking to 2035, how will our university come to be recognised as a place that played a pivotal role, through our research and its impact, in addressing the big challenges that the country and the world faced? 

Introduction  

The next decade will be tough for the UK. After a decade of stagnation, we must return to economic growth, particularly in cities like Manchester – which still haven’t fully recovered from deindustrialisation – and restore our public services.  The transition to a net zero energy economy will be wrenching, and national security will rise-up the agenda in a more dangerous and unpredictable world.   

Looking back from 2035, will universities like Manchester be recognised as institutions that played a pivotal role, through their research and its impact, in addressing the big challenges that the country and the world faced?  Or will they be characterised as institutions that self-indulgently tried to cling to a privileged position, apart from wider society? 

The world in 2035 

Let’s imagine a 2035 where the UK is a leader in green technology, its people are optimistic about their own improving personal circumstances and the state of public services, where the economy is strongly growing, and where Manchester is a great world city, with widely shared prosperity.   

Just as it has done in its previous 200-year history, the University has not just adapted to changing circumstances – it has been an agent of change.  Outstanding research and its impact have drawn the world’s attention to the university, attracting talent and funding. New research-based businesses and social enterprises spun-out from the university have grown to be major employers in the city. Health and other public services have been improved as a result of university research. The creativity of our staff and students contribute to a cultural vibrancy that makes Manchester the most exciting city in Europe to live in.   

People in Manchester are proud of the University and the part it has played in transforming the city. Across the world people look to Manchester as a model for both civic transformation and global benefit, mediated through an engaged and socially responsible university, where academic excellence is deployed for a purpose.

A University which attracts the best researchers at all career stages from around the world. Where we are connected and collaborate through networks of leading industry, charitable, public service and university partnerships. 

Three potential worlds for the University of Manchester 

What potential worlds do we see for the University in 2035? 

World 1: Broad-based success   

The first world represents an evolution from our current position as a large, full-service university.  Preparations for the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) are in hand, following a respectable performance in REF2029, and our research beacons, institutes and platforms continue to support interdisciplinary research and provide a focus for knowledge exchange activities.   

As the focus of UK research policy and funding changes to support mission-driven government, the university has succeeded in building a portfolio of mission-driven team science, some of it in collaboration with industry, while at the same time attracting a cohort of outstanding researchers who successfully compete for the smaller ring-fenced funds for blue skies research.   

Manchester’s innovation ecosystem continues to develop, with increasing interest in our spinouts from London-based venture capitalists. On the international stage we have rebuilt EU collaborations following the legacy hiatus of Brexit. Our international strategic partnerships have matured and foster fruitful global collaborations, including new partnerships in Africa. Our position in university global rankings of universities remains stable, despite the growing strength of universities in other regions, notably Asia.  

World 2: Focused research excellence   

In a second world, the University has advanced its global research ambition and standing through identifying areas of specialism, and systematically directing resources towards those areas. Our institutional structure for accelerating interdisciplinary research has evolved to support these specialisms, replacing the current arrangement of beacons, institutes and platforms.  

The number of highly-cited, world-leading researchers has grown through a University strategy which embraces differential investment between and within Faculties into priority areas selected because of their potential to remain or become world-leading.  There is a more explicit split between teaching and research, with leading researchers having little or no engagement with teaching.  A substantial philanthropic gift has led to the foundation of an Institute of Fundamental Studies, which offers 10-year fellowships, without administrative or teaching duties, to research leaders in a variety of basic science disciplines.  The outstanding individuals from across the world attracted to Manchester and to this Institute have contributed to a significant rise in the University’s position in global rankings. 

World 3: Leading through engagement and impact  

In a third world, research ambition and global standing has advanced through a strategy which has embraced a focus on innovation and regional engagement combined with a transformation of the University’s research culture and environment.  

New career paths rewarding knowledge exchange and commercialisation are introduced. Postdoctoral ambition and achievement are supported with increased autonomy and resource. There is a purposeful building of ambitious and collaborative teams, including developing and rewarding the type of research leadership needed for such teams to thrive.  

The University has strengthened its position as a thought leader in public service reform, and the relationship with Greater Manchester’s Health Service has deepened to underpin a new kind of medical school focusing on addressing health inequalities.  The success of research beacons, institutes and platforms has prompted a more fundamental reorganisation of Faculties, creating new theme-based transdisciplinary schools to bring together academics to drive challenge-based interdisciplinary research and impact.  Research methods have been transformed through the embedding of new approaches to using technology, including AI, and further development of open research practices.   

Conclusion 

These worlds aren’t predictions or discrete alternatives – they simply sketch some of the challenges, possibilities and choices that we must consider as we build our new strategy. 

We are excited to have this opportunity to work with you to help set a new ambitious vision and strategy for our University’s future; we hope you are too. 

The questions we should ask ourselves now are: what resonates in these visions, what jars?  And, of course, we may be missing something big, so what might that be? 

What do you think? What contribution will you make to help the University reach its ambitious vision for 2035?  

Get involved 

Please share your reflections and ideas – you can post feedback on the Manchester 2035 web page and can register for one of our two accelerating our research impact workshops: in-person (Thursday, 31 October) or online (Wednesday, 6 November). 

You can also leave a comment below – all comments will be captured within the overall feedback we are collating. Share your ideas and help shape our strategy.

Professor Colette Fagan, Vice-President for Research

Professor Richard Jones, Vice-President for Regional Innovation and Civic Engagement. 

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