University of Manchester facts for kids
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| Latin: Universitas Mancuniensis | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Other name
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Manchester University | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Motto | Latin: Cognitio, sapientia, humanitas | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Motto in English
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Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Established | 2004 – The University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria University 1851 – Owens College 1824 – Manchester Mechanics' Institute 1824 – Royal School of Medicine and Surgery |
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| Endowment | £221.6 million (2023) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Budget | £1.346 billion (2022–23) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Chancellor | Nazir Afzal | ||||||||||||||||||||
| President and vice-chancellor | Nancy Rothwell | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Academic staff
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5,280 (2021/22) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Administrative staff
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5,700 (2021/22) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Students | 46,410 (2021/22) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Undergraduates | 30,900 (2021/22) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Postgraduates | 15,505 (2021/22) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location |
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England, United Kingdom
53°27′58″N 2°13′55″W / 53.46611°N 2.23194°W |
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| Campus | Urban and suburban | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Scarf |
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| Colours | Manchester Purple Manchester Yellow |
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| Affiliations |
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The University of Manchester is a large public research university in Manchester, England. Its main campus is located south of Manchester City Centre on Oxford Road. The university owns and runs important cultural places like the Manchester Museum, The Whitworth art gallery, the John Rylands Library, and the Jodrell Bank Observatory. The Jodrell Bank Observatory is even a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The University of Manchester is known as a "red brick university". This means it was built in the late 1800s to teach practical subjects. The university we know today was created in 2004. It was formed when two older universities, the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) and the Victoria University of Manchester, joined together. They had worked closely for about 100 years before merging.
The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology started as the Mechanics' Institute in 1824. The current university uses this date as its official start, as shown on its crest and logo. The founders of the Mechanics' Institute believed that science was important for all jobs. They taught workers how to use science in their jobs to encourage new ideas and improvements. The Victoria University of Manchester began in 1851 as Owens College.
Manchester is the third-largest university in the UK by student numbers. It receives over 92,000 applications from students each year. This makes it the most popular university in the UK for applications. The University of Manchester is part of important groups like the Russell Group and the N8 Group. These groups are for top research universities. The university, including its older parts, has had 25 Nobel Prize winners among its students and staff. This is the fourth-highest number for any single university in the UK.
Contents
University History
Early Years (1824 to 2004)
The University of Manchester started with the Mechanics' Institute in 1824. Its history is connected to Manchester being the world's first industrial city. The English chemist John Dalton and local business people created the Mechanics' Institute. They wanted to make sure workers could learn basic science.
John Owens, a textile merchant, left a large sum of money in 1846. This money was used to start Owens College in 1851. The college was for men and did not favor any religion. It was first located in a house that belonged to Richard Cobden. Later, it moved to a new site. Charles Beyer, a locomotive designer, gave a lot of money to help build the main building, now called the John Owens building. He also helped fund the first engineering department in northern England.
The university has strong links to Germany. The plans for Owens College were inspired by German universities. Many German staff members worked there, like Carl Schorlemmer, the first professor of organic chemistry in Britain.
In 1873, Owens College moved to Oxford Road. In 1880, it became part of the federal Victoria University. This university was the first "civic university" in England. After other colleges became independent, it was renamed the Victoria University of Manchester in 1903. Owens College joined it the next year.
By 1905, both the Victoria University of Manchester and the Municipal College of Technology (which became UMIST) were very active. UMIST became an independent university in 1955. However, the two universities continued to work together. In 2003, they decided to merge into one new university.
Before the merger, the two universities had 23 Nobel Prize winners. Two more Nobel laureates have been added since the merger. Manchester has always been strong in science. The nuclear nature of the atom was discovered here by Ernest Rutherford. The world's first electronic stored-program computer was also built at the university. Famous scientists linked to the university include Ernest Rutherford, Niels Bohr, and Alan Turing. Writers like Anthony Burgess and architects like Norman Foster also studied or worked here.
After the Merger (2004 to Today)
The current University of Manchester officially started on 1 October 2004. Queen Elizabeth II gave it its special royal charter. The university was named the Sunday Times University of the Year in 2006. It also won the first Times Higher Education Supplement University of the Year award in 2005.
The first president of the new university was Alan Gilbert. He wanted the university to be one of the top 25 research universities in the world by 2015. His successor was Dame Nancy Rothwell. In 2011, four Nobel Prize winners were working at the university.
In 2012, the National Graphene Institute was formed at the university. It received £45 million in funding. In 2013, it got another £23 million. In 2012, the university's engineering faculty was chosen to be the main location for a new BP International Centre for Advanced Materials. This was a $100 million project to create new materials.
In 2020 and 2023, students held protests about rent prices and living conditions. The protests in 2020 ended with a rent reduction. In 2023, students protested again, but the university continued to increase rent prices.
University Campus
Most of the university's buildings are in its main area, often called the campus. However, Manchester is not a typical "campus university" because its buildings are mixed in with the city. Non-university buildings and main roads run through it.
The campus has two main parts:
- North campus or Sackville Street Campus: This area is around Sackville Street.
- South campus or Oxford Road Campus: This area is around Oxford Road.
These names are not official but are commonly used. They roughly match the old UMIST and Victoria University campuses.
Fallowfield Campus is the main place where students live. It is about 2 miles (3 km) south of the main site.
The university also has other buildings around the city and region. One example is the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire.
Major Building Projects
After the merger, the university started a huge £600 million project to build new facilities. This included eight new buildings and 15 major renovations by 2010. Some of these projects were:
- £60 million for the University Place building.
- £56 million for the Alan Turing Building, which houses Mathematics.
- £50 million for the Life Sciences Research Building.
- £38 million for the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB).
- £31 million for the Humanities Building, now called the "Arthur Lewis Building".
- £350 million for the Manchester Engineering Campus Development, which opened in 2022.
Old Quadrangle
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The buildings around the Old Quadrangle were designed in a Gothic style. They were built when it was Owens College. The first building was the John Owens Building in 1873. Today, the museum is in part of one side. The beautiful Whitworth Hall is used for graduation ceremonies. Part of the old Christie Library now holds Christie's Bistro. The rest of the buildings are used for university offices.
Contact Theatre
The Contact Theatre shows modern live performances for all ages. It also offers workshops for young people aged 13 to 30. The building has a special energy-saving ventilation system. It uses tall towers to cool the building naturally without air conditioning. The colorful inside has three performance areas, a lounge bar, and a cool art piece called Hot Air.
Other Important Buildings
Other important buildings on the Oxford Road Campus include the Stephen Joseph Studio. This used to be a German Protestant church. The Samuel Alexander Building, built in 1919, is home to the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
On the Sackville Street Campus, you'll find the Sackville Street Building. This was UMIST's main building. It opened in 1902 and is now a Grade II listed building.
How the University is Organized
Faculties and Schools
The University of Manchester used to have four main parts called faculties. But since August 2016, it has three faculties. Each faculty is then divided into smaller schools.
In 2015, the university decided to change how its life sciences faculty worked. Most of its staff joined a new medical/biological faculty. Some also joined a science and engineering faculty.
Biology, Medicine and Health
This faculty has three schools: the School of Biological Sciences, the School of Medical Sciences, and the School of Health Sciences.
Biological sciences have been taught at Manchester since Owens College started in 1851. The medical college began in 1874. It is one of the biggest in the country. The university is a partner in the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre. This center focuses on advanced healthcare research.
In 1883, a pharmacy department was created. In 1904, Manchester was the first British university to offer a special degree in pharmacy. The School of Pharmacy works with local hospitals. This gives students real-world experience.
Manchester Dental School was named the best dental school in the country in 2010 and 2011. It gets a lot of funding because it focuses on research and learning by asking questions.
Science and Engineering
This faculty has two schools. The School of Engineering includes departments like Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. The School of Natural Sciences includes departments like Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics.
The Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics includes the university's astronomy staff. It also includes the Jodrell Bank Observatory. The observatory's Lovell Telescope is named after Sir Bernard Lovell. He was a professor at the university who first suggested the telescope. Built in the 1950s, it is the third-largest movable radio telescope in the world. It has helped a lot in studying quasars and pulsars.
Humanities
The Faculty of Humanities includes the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. This school covers subjects like History, Music, and Drama. It also includes the Schools of Law, Social Sciences, and the Manchester Business School. The Faculty of Humanities also works with Manchester Metropolitan University on the Manchester School of Architecture.
This faculty also has several research institutes. These include the Centre for New Writing and the Brooks World Poverty Institute.
University Finances
In the financial year ending July 31, 2023, the University of Manchester had a total income of £1.346 billion. Its main sources of income were tuition fees (£659.9 million) and research grants (£271.1 million).
Academic Achievements
The University of Manchester is the third largest university in the UK by student numbers. It welcomes students from 160 countries around the world.
Famous people who work at the university include computer scientist Steve Furber, economist Richard Nelson, and physicist Brian Cox.
Research at Manchester
The University of Manchester is a major center for research. It is a member of the Russell Group, which includes leading British research universities. In 2021, the university was ranked fifth in the UK for its research power. Manchester has the sixth-largest research income of any English university.
Historically, Manchester has been known for great scientific discoveries. The university and its older parts have had 25 Nobel laureates among their students and staff. This is the third-highest number for any single university in the UK. Two of the top ten discoveries by university researchers were made here, like the first working computer. The university currently has four Nobel Prize winners on its staff.
The University of Manchester has received the most research money from UK businesses of any university in the country. In 2016–2017, it received over £24 million from UK industry.
University Libraries
The University of Manchester Library is the largest non-legal deposit library in the UK. It is the third-largest academic library after Oxford and Cambridge. It has the biggest collection of online resources of any library in the UK.
The John Rylands Library is in a beautiful Victorian Gothic building in the city center. It holds an important collection of old books, manuscripts, and ancient papers. These papers include the oldest known New Testament document, called the St John Fragment. In 2007, the library reopened after big improvements.
University Collections
Manchester Museum
The Manchester Museum has almost 4.25 million items from all over the world. Its collections include butterflies from India, ancient pottery from America, and ancient Egyptian crafts from Africa. In 2004, the museum got a cast of a fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex called "Stan".
The museum's first collections were gathered in 1821. In 1867, Owens College took over the collections. The college asked Alfred Waterhouse, who designed London's Natural History Museum, to design a museum in Oxford Road. The Manchester Museum opened to the public in 1888.
Whitworth Art Gallery
The Whitworth Art Gallery has collections of famous British watercolors, textiles, and prints. It has 31,000 items. The gallery also has temporary exhibitions throughout the year.
The gallery was founded in 1889 with a donation from Sir Joseph Whitworth. In 1959, it became part of the Victoria University of Manchester. In 1995, the Mezzanine Court in the middle of the building opened. It was designed to show sculptures and won an award.
University Rankings
| National rankings | |
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| Complete (2021) | 22 |
| Guardian (2021) | 24 |
| Times / Sunday Times (2021) | 23 |
| Global rankings | |
| ARWU (2020) | 41 |
| QS (2021) |
34= |
| THE (2021) | 51 |
| British Government assessment | |
| Teaching Excellence Framework | Silver |
According to a 2020 report, Manchester is the most popular university for top graduate employers in the UK.
As of 2021, QS ranked the University of Manchester as the 27th best university in the world. It was ranked 6th nationally in the UK. In 2020, it was ranked 36th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities. It was the 5th highest-ranked UK university on this list. In 2019, the university was 4th nationally in Reuters' list of the World's Most Innovative Universities.
The Sunday Times said in 2006 that "Manchester has a strong reputation in most subjects, especially in life sciences, engineering, and social sciences." The university won an award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts in 2010.
In 2017, the Alliance Manchester Business School was ranked 3rd in the UK and 30th in the world for its MBA program.
While global rankings often place Manchester in the top 10 in the UK, national studies sometimes rank it slightly lower. For example, 'The Complete University Guide 2022' ranked Manchester 13th in the UK.
Student Life
Students' Union
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The University of Manchester Students' Union represents the students. It is the largest students' union in the UK. It was formed when the UMIST Students' Association and the University of Manchester Union merged in 2004.
Unlike many other student unions, it does not have one president. Instead, it is run by an eight-member team who share the responsibility.
Sports at University
The University of Manchester has many sports clubs. Students can join over 44 different Athletic Union clubs. These clubs offer a wide range of sports, including badminton, football, basketball, and cricket.
The athletic union started at Owens College in 1885 with four clubs. In 1901, the women's athletic union was founded. The two unions joined together in 1981. Famous athletes who attended the university include Ron Hill and James Hickman.
The Manchester Aquatics Centre, used for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, is on campus. It is used for water sports. Other main sports facilities are the Sugden Centre and the Armitage Site.
The university has done well in the BUCS competitions. Its men's water polo team won national championships in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
The university competes every year against Leeds and Liverpool universities in the Christie Cup. Manchester has won this cup for seven years in a row. The Christie Cup is one of the oldest inter-university sports competitions.
Every year, top athletes are chosen for the XXI Club. This group was formed in 1932 to promote sports excellence.
University Challenge Quiz
In the eight years leading up to 2013, Manchester won the BBC2 quiz show University Challenge four times. This ties it with Magdalen College, Oxford, for the most wins. Since the merger, the university has often reached the later stages of the competition.
In 2006, Manchester won its first title. The next year, it came in second place. In 2009, Manchester was given the title after another team was disqualified.
Manchester reached the semi-finals in 2010. The university did not enter in 2011. However, Manchester returned and won University Challenge 2012 and then defended its title in University Challenge 2013.
Student Homes
Before they merged, the two universities shared their student housing.
City Campus
Whitworth Park Halls of Residence is owned by the University of Manchester. It houses 1,085 students and is next to Whitworth Park. The buildings have a unique triangular shape. They were built in the mid-1970s.
The area where the halls are located used to have many small streets. Their names are now used for the halls. Grove House is an older building used by the university for different purposes.
The former UMIST Campus has four student halls near the Sackville Street building. Other residences include Vaughn House and George Kenyon Hall.
Victoria Park Campus
The Victoria Park Campus has several student halls. These include St. Anselm Hall, Dalton-Ellis Hall, and Hulme Hall. Halls in Victoria Park are often more traditional and offer meals.
Hulme Hall, which opened in 1887, is the oldest student hall at the university. It moved to its current location in Victoria Park in 1907.
Fallowfield Campus
The Fallowfield Campus is about 2 miles (3 km) south of the Oxford Road Campus. It is the largest student living area. It was mostly built in the 1960s as a "Student Village." The Owens Park halls are at its center. Richmond Park and Unsworth Park are newer additions to the campus.
Who Studies Here?
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| Domicile and Ethnicity | Total | ||
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| British White | 42% |
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| British Ethnic Minorities | 19% |
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| International EU | 5% |
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| International Non-EU | 34% |
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| Undergraduate Widening Participation Indicators | |||
| Female | 55% |
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| Private School | 16% |
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| Low Participation Areas | 9% |
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More students apply to Manchester than to any other university in the UK. In 2020, there were 79,925 applications for undergraduate courses. Manchester had the 16th highest average entry grades for new students in 2019. The university offered admission to 51.5% of its undergraduate applicants in 2022.
About 15.7% of Manchester's undergraduate students went to private schools. This is the 23rd highest percentage among UK universities. Almost half of the international students at the university are from China.
Famous People from Manchester University
Many famous people have studied or worked at the University of Manchester. This includes 25 Nobel Prize winners. Some well-known scientists are:
- John Dalton (who created modern atomic theory).
- Ernest Rutherford (who discovered the nuclear nature of the atom).
- Alan Turing (a founder of computer science and AI).
- Bernard Lovell (a pioneer of radio astronomy).
- Tom Kilburn and Frederic Calland Williams (who built the Manchester Baby, the world's first stored-program computer).
- Physicist and TV presenter Brian Cox.
Famous politicians and public figures include:
- Two current presidents: Michael D. Higgins of Republic of Ireland and Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania.
- Two current prime ministers: Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan and Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda.
- Chaim Weizmann, who was the first president of Israel.
In the arts, famous alumni include:
- Author Anthony Burgess.
- Robert Bolt, who won two Academy Awards for writing screenplays.
- Actors like Benedict Cumberbatch (known for Doctor Strange and Sherlock Holmes).
- Comedians like Ben Elton and Rik Mayall.
Nobel Prize Winners
The University of Manchester, including its older parts, has had 25 Nobel Prize winners among its staff and students. Many important discoveries were made here. Manchester University has the fourth-highest number of Nobel laureates in the UK.
Chemistry
- Ernest Rutherford (1908), for his work on radioactive substances.
- Arthur Harden (1929), for his studies on sugar fermentation.
- Walter Haworth (1937), for his work on carbohydrates and vitamin C.
- George de Hevesy (1943), for using isotopes to study chemical processes.
- Robert Robinson (1947), for his work on plant products.
- Alexander Todd (1957), for his work on important biological molecules.
- Melvin Calvin (1961), for his research on how plants use carbon dioxide.
- John Charles Polanyi (1986), for his work on chemical reactions.
- Michael Smith (1993), for his work on changing DNA.
Physics
- Joseph John (J. J.) Thomson (1906), for his studies on electricity in gases.
- William Lawrence Bragg (1915), for his work on crystal structures using X-rays.
- Niels Bohr (1922), for his contributions to understanding atoms and quantum mechanics.
- Charles Thomson Rees (C. T. R.) Wilson (1927), for making charged particles visible.
- James Chadwick (1935), for discovering the neutron.
- Patrick M. Blackett (1948), for developing the cloud chamber.
- Sir John Douglas Cockcroft (1951), for his work on splitting atomic nuclei.
- Hans Bethe (1967), for his work on how stars produce energy.
- Nevill Francis Mott (1977), for his studies on the electronic structure of materials.
- Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov (2010), for their groundbreaking work on graphene.
Physiology and Medicine
- Archibald Vivian Hill (1922), for his discovery about heat production in muscles.
- Sir John Sulston (2002), for his discoveries about cell development and programmed cell death.
Economics
- John Hicks (1972), for his work on economic balance and welfare.
- Sir Arthur Lewis (1979), for his research on economic development in developing countries.
- Joseph E. Stiglitz (2001), for his studies on markets with uneven information.
See also
In Spanish: Universidad de Mánchester para niños
- Third-oldest university in England debate
