The University of Manchester has unveiled a prestigious plaque awarded by the American Chemical Society, to celebrate the legacy of Manchester pioneer Sir Edward Frankland.

Sir Edward published his seminal work in 1852 which established the theory of chemical valence, now recognised as a cornerstone of our understanding of chemistry. He is also widely credited as one of the originators of organometallic chemistry - compounds with metal-carbon bonds.

The University’s School of Chemistry hosted an event to commemorate these milestone achievements, which featured talks by leading experts Professor Bill Evans, from University of California, Irvine; Professor Philip Power, University of California, Davis; and Professor Igor Larrosa, plus Dr Mike Ingleson and Dr Vanesa Marcos from The University of Manchester.

The lecture programme was rounded off by a talk from Dr Robert Anderson from the Chemical Heritage Foundation, which gave a flavour of the life of Sir Edward.

The event was attended by several of Sir Edward’s descendants - including his great-great-great-grandchild Miriam O’Hanlon - who concluded the occasion by unveiling the commemorative plaque.

The plaque will be permanently displayed in the foyer of The School of Chemistry, adjacent to an earlier plaque bequeathed by the American Chemical Society that recognises seminal work on radioactivity accomplished by another 91Ö±²¥ pioneer, Nobel Laureate Sir Ernest Rutherford.

“The University of Manchester has a proud heritage where this area is concerned, and in addition to the work of Frankland and Rutherford it has close ties to atomic structure and bonding luminaries John Dalton, Joseph Thompson, and James Chadwick.”

Professor Richard Winpenny, Head of the School of Chemistry, added: “Between them, Frankland, Rutherford, Dalton, Thompson, and Chadwick discovered the proton, neutron, electron, atomic structure theory and the concept of chemical valence, so the atom is very much a Mancunian.”

The role of a 91Ö±²¥ pioneer who helped the RAF when facing one of its greatest challenges is remembered to coincide with the celebrations marking the 75^th anniversary of the end of The Battle of Britain.

Beatrice Shilling – nicknamed ‘Tilly’ – an electrical engineering graduate from The University of Manchester made a small adjustment to RAF fighter planes during World War Two which transformed their performance and helped them to match the powerful Luftwaffe. She was later awarded an OBE for her work.

During the early part of the war, RAF pilots reported a serious problem with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines powering their Spitfires and Hurricane. When pitching their planes into a hard nose dive the resulting negative g-force would flood their engine's carburettor, causing the engine to stall.

Frustratingly, this negative g-force often occurred when manoeuvring against an enemy aircraft in a  – remedial action by the RAF pilot inevitably allowed the enemy plane to escape. German fighters used fuel injection technology and could therefore out-turn their pursuing RAF counterparts.

A solution was urgently required at this critical stage of the war – and Beatrice Shilling then working for the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), an aeronautical research centre, came up with a timely and elegant solution.

She invented the RAE restrictor, effectively a small metal disc with a hole in the middle that fitted into the Merlin engine's carburettor helping to limit fuel flow and prevent flooding at critical moments.

After successfully testing the device it was quickly praised by Allied fighter pilots and soon entered service – and RAF folklore. Beatrice and her team visited frontline RAF fighter bases to fit the breakthrough restrictor before continuing work on developing a more substantive solution in the shape of the RAE Hobson injection carburettor.

More than seventy years later, the University is celebrating Beatrice Shilling’s work by including her on a special timeline to be fitted into the newly refurbished student hub based in the Barnes Wallis Building, at The University of Manchester’s North Campus.The timeline artwork features Beatrice’s achievements and she is placed alongside other 91Ö±²¥ pioneers, including famous physicist Ernest Rutherford, as well as women who have also made an impact in science and engineering, such as Danielle George, a radio frequency expert, and e-science pioneer Carole Goble.

“Beatrice Shilling is such an inspiration to our students and we are delighted to be celebrating this woman who made such a significant impact to engineering and responded so brilliantly to the technical challenges of her time,” said Rachel Brealey, the Faculty’s Director of Operations.

Beatrice Shilling Timeline

1924: Beatrice decided in her mid-teens she wanted to be an engineer

1929: She enrolled on the Electrical Engineering degree as one of two women students

1932: She finished her degree in Electrical Engineering at The University of Manchester in 1932 followed by an MSc in Mechanical Engineering

1933: Beatrice completed an MSc in Mechanical Engineering at 91Ö±²¥

1934: Began racing at the Brooklands track with a Norton M30 500cc motorcycle, adding a supercharger and lapping the Brooklands track at 106mph. Tilly was recognised by being awarded the Brooklands Gold Star for outstanding performances in track and road racing

1936: Joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) and became a leading specialist in aircraft carburettors

1940: She invented the RAE restrictor to counter engine cut-out in early Spitfire and Hurricane fighter aeroplanes during the Battle of Britain

1947: Awarded the OBE for her work during World War II

The updates tell the stories of those who lost their lives and are published on a special to commemorate the centenary of start of the WW1 on August 4.

A number of other soldiers with a connection to the University died during the Gallipoli campaign, in which more than 100,000 troops were lost and hundreds more wounded.

The website also contains revealing transcripts of letters written to Professor Thomas Frederick Tout, by current and former students in the armed forces, which are held at the John Ryland’s Library.

Robert Harold Bedford, a history student who left his course to join the armed forces, wrote to Tout describing his need for intellectual respite from the harsh realities of army life.

He wrote: “When I tell you that we are on parade for nine hours every day and that our leisure time is taken up with kit inspections, feed inspections, gas drills, roll call, orderly room and a multitude of other things, you will see that reading is out of the question…”

“Given the chance I could sit in the biggest library and read every book cover to cover.”

Bedford survived the Battle of Gallipoli but was killed on the Western Front on 25 March, 1918.

His letter provides a snapshot of the profound impact of WWI on the University and the significant contribution made by its staff and students.

“To gain a fuller picture of the University’s role during the Great War, we are keen for the public to get involved and submit any relevant images, letters or documents” conclude Dr Hopkins.

The Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Charity is being set up with an endowment anticipated to be in excess of £1.75M, and will fund, in perpetuity, Visiting Professors and associated costs at the University of Manchester, in order to break new ground in a discipline that was close to Dame Kathleen’s heart and inspire the Alan Turings of the future.

The Professors will deliver the annual Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Lecture, which is already well established at the University, and engage with the University’s staff, students and schoolchildren across the Greater 91Ö±²¥ region to share findings and spread excitement about a discipline that has been fundamental to scientific and economic breakthroughs in the UK and at 91Ö±²¥. The Trustees of the Fund also have the flexibility to support work at the interface between mathematics and astronomy, recognising Dame Kathleen’s passion for Jodrell Bank and other observatories. 

John Timpson, CBE, close relative of Dame Kathleen and Trustee of the new Charity, said: “The Trustees are honoured to have the opportunity to take forward such important work in Dame Kathleen’s name. Kathleen selected the University as the focus for this initiative to mark the long-standing connections she enjoyed with successive University Vice-Chancellors, and with the School of Mathematics. Her driving force was the possibility of connecting the deep history in pure mathematics at 91Ö±²¥ (including Alan Turing’s work) to the present and future.  The idea of attracting the world’s best mathematicians to the 91Ö±²¥ campus as a hub for engaging students, researchers and the wider public in new ideas, discussion and debate motivated her very deeply.”

Dame Kathleen, who lectured in mathematics part-time at the University in the years following the second world war, published over 25 mathematical papers and was a former President of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. She was a former member of Court at the Victoria University of Manchester, and was Deputy President of UMIST for 10 years. She received an honorary degree from the combined University of Manchester at the age of 100.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “Everyone who met Dame Kathleen knew quite what an inspirational and special leader she was in so many different aspects of life, from educational reform, civic and political leadership, through to her passion for mathematical ‘magic squares’ for which she was held in the highest esteem by mathematicians of international repute. We are honoured and delighted to be the focus for support from this important new charity.” 

Professor Peter Duck, Head of the School of Mathematics at the University, said: “We are planning a range of innovative and inspiring activities around the appointment of future Visiting Professors from the world’s other leading centres in pure mathematics. Dame Kathleen well understood the vital role of mathematics as the critical foundation for scientific and economic development. This charity will create a wonderful programme of mathematical discovery and excitement in Dame Kathleen’s honour, which is most appropriate as she was a great friend of the mathematics community in 91Ö±²¥, over many years.”

Notes for editors

Media contact

Sam Wood
Media Relations Officer
University of Manchester
Tel: +44 (0)161 2758155
Mob: +44 (0)7886 473422
Email: samuel.wood@manchester.ac.uk  

The University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory has received Heritage Lottery Fund support* for a £12,147,200 bid for the ‘First Light’ project, it was announced today (Wednesday).

The project aims to conserve and restore the heritage of the Jodrell Bank site and create a spectacular new space in which visitors can engage with and learn about the journey to explore our place in the Universe. Development funding of £784,800 has also been awarded to help the University progress their plans to apply for a full grant at a later date.

Jodrell Bank is an internationally important place in the heritage of astronomy. It is the only site remaining in the world that shows the whole history of the development of radio astronomy – the first step towards the field of modern astrophysics that we know today. Its story includes revolutionary scientific discoveries, amazing feats of post-war engineering, the dawn of the Space Age and the creation of the Grade-1 listed Lovell Telescope, an icon of UK science and engineering.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, said: “We are incredibly proud of our current science and great heritage at The University of Manchester and of our iconic site at Jodrell Bank. The announcement today is great news, not only for the University, but for our city-region and the UK-wide science community.”

Dr Teresa Anderson, Director of the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre said:  “We are absolutely delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund is supporting the ‘First Light’ project. Jodrell Bank epitomises a ‘can do’ approach to science and engineering and this funding will allow us to tell the story of all the amazing men and women who – sometimes, with help from younger family members – created the Observatory from scratch. Our mission is to inspire the scientists of the future, key to which is understanding that scientific discovery needs grit and determination, just as much as it needs creativity and inspiration!”

Professor Brian Cox, University of Manchester Physicist and Broadcaster, said: “I am really pleased to hear that the Heritage Lottery Fund is supporting the heritage of Jodrell Bank. The rich scientific history of the UK is a key part of our culture and Jodrell Bank is the stand-out icon of UK science and engineering. When I was young, visiting Jodrell Bank was one of the things that inspired me to become a scientist. This new project will inspire many more young people to carry on our great tradition of science and engineering.”

Sara Hilton, Head of HLF North West, said:  “Jodrell Bank is a remarkable and world famous site.  These initial proposals are ambitious and inspiring; they will encourage people to learn about and celebrate the UK’s longstanding tradition of innovation in science, technology and engineering.  The ‘First Light’ project has a clear focus on volunteering, skills and learning and we know that it will make a big difference in reaching out to a wide range of people, including those of school age.”

Notes for editors

*’Support’ means the project meets HLF criteria for funding and HLF believes the project has potential to deliver high-quality benefits and value for Lottery money. The application was in competition with other supportable projects, so this is an endorsement of outline proposals. The project now has up to two years to submit fully developed proposals to secure a firm award.

About Jodrell Bank Observatory

Jodrell Bank Observatory is the home of the Lovell Telescope and operates e-MERLIN, the UK's national radio astronomy facility comprising up to seven radio telescopes spread over 217km and connected by an optical fibre network. It also hosts the International Headquarters of the Square Kilometre Array, an ambitious project to build the world’s next large radio telescope in South Africa and Australia. Jodrell Bank is a world leader in radio astronomy-related research and technology development with a research programme ranging from the study of stars and planets to the origin of the Universe in the Big Bang.

The Jodrell Bank site is also home to the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre, which welcomes visitors to the Observatory and engages them directly with research happening at the site. The Centre features exhibitions on topics from cosmology to the search for life, including the work of the Lovell Telescope and others around the world. It offers opportunities to meet the scientists, short courses and other events including in literature, music and the arts. Visitors can also explore extensive gardens and enjoy the award-winning café.  

About the Heritage Lottery Fund

From the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife, we use National Lottery players' money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about. . For more information please contact Katie Owen, HLF Press Office, on 020 7591 6036/07973 613820.

For further information, images and interviews contact:

Aeron Haworth
Senior Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 8387

Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk

Exactly 100 years after the first President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, made his vital discovery about acetone at The University of Manchester, the institution is celebrating his legacy through new scientific discoveries made in collaboration with the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel thanks to the generosity of Lord Alliance.

In 1915, in the university’s Bio-Chemistry labs, Weizmann discovered a more sustainable way of making acetone which was required for the manufacture of the explosive powder cordite. His work attracted the attention of the British Government and eventually six distilleries were requisitioned for the mass production of cordite. As a result, shell production rose from 500,000 in the first five months of the First World War to 16.4 million in 1915, demonstrating the significant impact Weizmann had on the war effort.

Today, the scientific link between The University of Manchester and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel is stronger than ever with eight current partnerships in the area of Life Sciences which are yielding significant research. Funding is also now in place for seven further partnerships thanks to the generous support of the Alliance Family Foundation. 

The fact that one of the UK’s top universities is working in partnership with one of Israel’s pioneering scientific institutes is significant according to Britain’s Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould.

He says: “The partnership being built between Weizmann and 91Ö±²¥ is about the past, the present and the future. It is about the past, because it is only right to strengthen the link between the institute that bears Chaim Weizmann's name and the university where he worked. It is about the present, because such collaboration is the best answer to those calling for boycotts of Israel and the future because I can think of no better model for relations between Israel and Britain than our world-leading scientists working together for the benefit of humanity.”

On 24 March a two day symposium was held at the Weizmann Institute, celebrating the scientific discoveries already made through the Lord Alliance Get Connected Grants and encouraging additional partnerships. 

During this symposium the Lord Alliance Prize of £100,000 was awarded to one of the current partnerships, that of Professors Werner Muller (UoM) and Steffen Jung (WIS). Their work has shed light on how the cells in our gut respond to foreign parasites like worms and how these cells may trigger diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Some of the other scientific discoveries that have been made possible through the Lord Alliance Get Connected grants impact on neural conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, food security, wound healing and cancer.

Lord Alliance says: “The University of Manchester and the Weizmann Institute are both so close to my heart. To have the opportunity to bring the very best scientists together and see where their collaboration can lead has been a wonderful opportunity. I am truly delighted to see the results the Get Connected programme has had so far and am very much looking forward to more far-reaching scientific partnerships being created at the Symposium in Israel.”

Professor Martin Humphries, Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences helped establish the connections between 91Ö±²¥ and the Weizmann Institute:

“Both the University of Manchester and the Weizmann Institute of Science have an esteemed heritage, exemplified by many highly impactful contributions to knowledge. Both our heritages interact at multiple points, but none more significant than the work of Chaim Weizmann while he was in 91Ö±²¥. In establishing the concept of the Get Connected scheme, Benny Geiger and I aimed to build on this historical link and provide a means for the excellent scientists in both institutions to forge new interactions. The Get Connected programme is a shining example of what can be achieved when such researchers are given the freedom and resources to join forces with other like-minded teams. Put simply, what is achieved is progress at an accelerated rate.”

Professor Benny Geiger, Dean of the Faculty of Biology at the Weizmann Institute of Science adds:

“The extraordinary increase in the complexity and diversity of modern science, leads to an increasing need for multi-disciplinary teamwork based on scientific collaboration between those with complementary expertise. The 91Ö±²¥-Weizmann Get Connected programme is an excellent example of a goal-oriented and synergy-driven collaboration, carried out in a highly friendly and warm atmosphere. On top of these considerations there is also the historical element of the partnerships manifested in the vision of Chaim Weizmann. One of his statements referred specifically to the role of science in shaping the future of the state of Israel, and is still very relevant today: “I feel sure that science will bring to this land both peace and a renewal of its youth, creating here the springs of a new spiritual and material life… I speak of science for its own sake and applied science.”

Notes for editors

A copy of the original appointment letter from The Victoria University of Manchester to Chaim Weizmann dated 1905 is available. Images from the symposium are available as well as a illustrating the work of the Lord Alliance prize winners.

Attendants at the symposium included Lord Alliance, the British Ambassador to Israel, current Get Connected researchers as well as those hoping to be awarded funding for new partnerships. The theme for further partnerships was developmental biology and regenerative medicine.

For more information please contact:

Morwenna Grills
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Life Sciences
The University of Manchester

Tel: +44 (0)161 275 2111
Mob: +44 (0)7920 087466
Email: Morwenna.Grills@manchester.ac.uk
Tweet: @MorwennaGrills

Weizmann UK’s primary objective is to raise funds for the maintenance and further development of the Institute’s scientists, laboratories and development projects. In addition, communicating the work and breakthroughs of the Institute’s scientists remains central to our mission of garnering support for the basic scientific research undertaken at the Institute. www.weizmann.org.uk 

For more information contact Lizzie Clark, Communications Manager on lizzie@weizmann.org.uk or +44 (0)20 7424 6865 

• Tuesday 27 Jan - From Humanitarian Relief to Holocaust Rescue: A Young American in Vichy France.
• Wednesday 28 Jan - Why Did They Kill? Revisiting the Perpetrators
• Thursday 29 Jan - Holocaust History and Survivor Testimony: The Case of the Starachowice Factory Slave Labour Camps

You can find out more about the Bogdanow Lectures at the .

Professor Bogdanow, who died in July 2013 aged 86, fled from the horrors of Nazi Germany in 1939 as an 11-year-old child. She was one of the 10,000 Jewish children rescued by the UK in a mission known as the Kindertransport.

The academic was an only child, who was taken in by a Quaker family in Denton. Professor Bogdanow was one of the few Kindertransport children whose parents survived, between them, the appalling concentration camps of Dachau, Wulzberg and Bergen-Belsen and the ghetto of Theresienstadt. She was reunited with her mother in 91Ö±²¥ during the 1950s.

After receiving distinctions in seven out of eight subjects at Fairfield High School for Girls, she was awarded three entrance scholarships to The 91Ö±²¥ University in 1945 where she studied French.She went on to spend much of her career at the University as postgraduate student, lecturer, reader and professor, to become one of the world’s foremost scholars in her field – literature on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

The University of Manchester will mark the contribution made by staff and students during the First World War at an event in Whitworth Hall.

The conflict had a significant impact on the University and its community. As a centre of knowledge, expertise and personnel, the War saw our predecessors play a diversity of roles in military, medical, relief and agricultural service, through research and in efforts for peace.

The centenary commemoration event will mark the impact of the War, the University’s contributions and all those whose lives were affected and lost. It will feature readings from academic staff, senior officers and students of the University, original music composed and performed by current students and opportunities for reflection.

President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell said: “The First World War had a significant impact on the University and its community and one hundred years on it is fitting that we commemorate, with a great sense of pride, the contributions of our students and staff, including, of course, those who lost their lives.”

Dr James Hopkins, the University’s Historian and Heritage Manager and Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, said: “The University made diverse contributions to the war. Over 600 staff and students from the University lost their lives in military action. Many members of the University community volunteered for roles that provided relief and care for the injured, took up essential work in fields and factories and assisted those displaced by conflict. The University also made significant research contributions including treatments for gunshot wounds and the effects of shell shock, measures to counter the submarine threat to shipping and work to increase bread production. The University has a strong community of students, staff and alumni that existed both then and now, so it’s important that we mark the contribution of our community and those whose lives were lost or changed forever."

Media are invited to attend and interviews can be set up by prior arrangement. The order of proceedings will be available upon request.

The service will feature:

• Welcome by the Chancellor, Mr Tom Bloxham.
• An article on the impact of the War by Professor FE Weiss, who was the University’s Vice-Chancellor from 1913–1915, Anglo-German and educated across Europe, to be read at the event by President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell.
• Letters from the front, written by students serving in the War and to be read by our current students. They include a note on how difficult life was in the trenches, especially having to write to the parents of his friends who had been killed. The author himself was later killed. Other letters are from a medic and a female student who worked with refugees but later died. The final letter is from a student who survived and returned the University, finally graduating in 1920. There will also be a poem by Florence M Grier Evans, a student during World War I who went on to become the first History PhD graduate from 91Ö±²¥. Her poem was published in the 91Ö±²¥ University Magazine on 13 May 1915.
• An explanation of the social and cultural impact of WW1 by Dr Ana Carden-Coyne who is a Senior Lecturer in War and Conflict and Co-Director of the Centre for the Cultural History of War.
• An original composition for the event by Rory Wainwright Johnston, an undergraduate music student in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. It gives a returning soldier’s view of the traumatic experience of war. It will be performed by The Cosmo Singers of The University of Manchester Chorus, conducted by Rory Wainwright Johnston and set to the poem ‘Back’ by Wilfred Gibson.
• An original composition called Memoriam Retinebimus, composed for the event by Yvonne Eccles, a PhD music student in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. It uses the motto of the University to symbolise the University community during the First World War and now, with writings from staff and students during the war. It will be performed by The Cosmo Singers of The University of Manchester Chorus, conducted by Luke Mather, an undergraduate music student.
• An original composition performed by The Cosmo Singers of The University of Manchester Chorus, conducted by Ellie Slorach, an undergraduate music student. It will explore the contrasts between the reality of war on the front line and the view of war back home. Boreas is an original composition for the event by Emma Wilde, a PhD music student in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.

University campus, Whitworth Hall, 12.30pm, Tuesday 25 November, 2014

Notes for editors

Media enquiries:

Deborah Linton
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 8257, 07789 948783
Email: deborah.linton@manchester.ac.uk

The award was presented for the , an initiative set up to tackle the challenge of capturing and preserving the email archive of Manchester’s world-renowned publisher, Carcanet Press. 

The project team included Fran Baker, Dr Philip Butler, Caroline Martin and Ben Green.

Archivist Fran Baker, accepting the award on behalf of The University of Manchester Library, said: "This means a great deal ... particularly having seen the presentations of the other contenders."

The Digital Preservation Awards celebrate organisations across the world that have made significant and innovative contributions to ensuring that digital objects are accessible to future researchers.

Maureen Pennock (the British Library) and Paul Wheatley (University of Leeds) presented the award on behalf of the  at a prestigious gala evening in London.

The other contestants for the award were: the University of Freiburg and Rhizome for their Conservation and Re-enactment of Digital Art Ready-Made project; the Digital Repository of Ireland and Partners for their Inspiring Ireland project; and the Archives and Records Council of Wales for their The Cloud and the Cow project.

Here is the video of the awards ceremony:

Carcanet Press Email Preservation Project

During the Carcanet Press project, more than 200,000 emails and 65,000 attachments which were in danger of being lost forever were rescued and preserved for the future. As a result of the work done, material that would otherwise have been lost will be available to future readers, students and scholars.

The University Library created a significant archive to which material will be added on an annual basis. A test-bed for practical digital preservation, the project allowed the development of systems that will ensure that the Library is well-placed to deal with similar born-digital archives in the future. 

Carcanet Press

Carcanet itself publishes many established, award-winning poets from around the world, including Nobel laureates, recipients of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry and Pulitzer Prize-winners. The Carcanet list also includes new and emerging writers – no less than four of its authors appeared in the Poetry Book Society’s once-in-a-decade list of 20 Next Generation Poets earlier this year.

Shami Chakrabarti, the leading human rights campaigner and director of civil liberties organisation Liberty, has praised 91Ö±²¥’s place in civil rights history ahead of a lecture to students at The University of Manchester.

Chakrabarti, who was made an Honorary Professor of Law at the University earlier this year, will be talking to students today (Tuesday 18 November) about her career and her role at Liberty, which campaigns to protect rights and freedoms.

She will also meet students from The University of Manchester keen to follow in her footsteps as socially responsible future leaders.

Shami Chakrabarti said: “91Ö±²¥ has a long and proud history of producing strong leaders who have fought for our rights and the rule of law – a fight that’s more critical today than ever. Throughout my life I’ve been incredibly fortunate to learn from a number of inspiring mentors, and I’m delighted to meet these young people who are committed to making a difference as the leaders of the future.”

The Director of Liberty is a familiar face on TV and radio and is a regular contributor on 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.

Since becoming Liberty’s Director she has written, spoken and broadcast widely on the importance of the post-WW2 human rights framework as an essential component of democratic society.

At today’s lecture Chakrabarti will meet members of the 91Ö±²¥ Leadership Programme which provides students with the opportunity to enhance their university experience while giving something back to the wider community.

Dinah Crystal OBE, Director of External Relations and Clinical Education at the School of Law at The University of Manchester, said: “Once again Shami Chakrabarti is committing to take the time to inspire and promote the causes she believes in to our students. This will help to enthuse and will help us in our mission to promote debate about justice.”

Tonight at the Shami Chakrabarti will be in conversation with Owen Jones who is a political author and writer for The Guardian.

After the show, Chakrabarti will be meeting a Syrian student from The University of Manchester’s School of Law who founded a human rights and rule of law organisation which is teaching Syrian rebel fighters to prevent human rights abuses.

In 2013, whilst studying as a law undergraduate at the University, Ibrahim Olabi founded to promote legal education which will help the Syrian people set the foundations for a future Syria.

Notes for editors

Shami Chakrabarti is available for phone interviews in relation to this between 1pm and 3.30pm on Tuesday 18 November. To request an interview please contact the Liberty press office on 0207 378 3656.

Media enquiries to:

Kath Paddison
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 275 0790
Mob: 07990 550050
Email: kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk

91Ö±²¥ scientistd Ernest Rutherford – famed for “splitting the atom” – also deserves better recognition for helping to pioneer a system we now know as sonar as part of a top secret World War One defence project.

Rutherford, who worked at The University of Manchester, produced a ‘secret report’ during The Great War which was to form the basis of research to develop an acoustic system to detect German U-boats, then terrorising British merchant shipping and Royal Navy battleships.

Rutherford’s great genius was put to the test as he continued his ground-breaking work on nuclear science –successfully “splitting the atom" in 1917 – while also covertly leading a band of researchers to develop an effective method to detect submarines and safeguard Britain’s vital sea routes.

In 1915, the Nobel prize-winner published an historic paper entitled, ‘On methods of collection of sound from water and the determination of the direction of sound’.  In this document Rutherford “discussed the possibility of a system of secret signalling by the use of sound waves of frequency beyond the limit of audition”.

“This is the first mention of the system that would one day become modern sonar,” explained Dr Christine Twigg from The University of Manchester, who has researched this less well-known part of Rutherford’s brilliant career.

“This momentous report was the foundation of subsequent anti-submarine warfare and would safeguard thousands of Allied lives in both world wars.”

Rutherford’s team conducted clandestine experiments using water tanks at landlocked labs at The University of Manchester to test hydrophone systems before full-scale testing was conducted using two donated fishing trawlers at a research outpost based at Hawkcraig, on the south coast of Fife, Scotland.    

Rutherford attracted the talents of former students and associates, including Albert Beaumont Wood, Harold Gerrard, Robert Boyle and William Henry Bragg. Critically, these exceptional pioneers would share their ideas with their French counterparts, such as Paul Langevin, to produce a working prototype of what the British originally called ‘ASDIC’ and later dubbed sonar.

Early versions of the technology were being installed on Royal Navy war ships just as the war came to an end but would be used to great effect in the following global conflict.

As sonar research progressed, Rutherford led an official British scientific mission to the USA in the spring of 1917 which coincided with America’s entry into the war – partly related to the outcry following  a German U-boat torpedoing the liner RMS Lusitania, with the loss of 128 American lives.

As a direct result of this trip a new naval research centre was set up in New London, America’s primary East Coast submarine base, and Rutherford continued to share his expertise with the Americans on naval research into peacetime.

This crucial work was kept from the public – and early biographers – for many years, as it was strictly embargoed by the Official Secrets Act.  

However, Dr Twigg believes Rutherford and his team deserves full recognition for the significant contribution they made to science and the Allied war effort, a role that has been long overlooked. 

“Rutherford’s role in the development of this field is relatively unknown and was rarely mentioned by his associates as it was one of the greatest official secrets at the time of his death in 1937,” added Dr Twigg.

“Nevertheless, it is believed to be an example of his great genius in an area of intellectual adventure which few had previously entered.”

Ends

Notes for editors

• More information about the

Media enquiries to:

Aeron Haworth
Senior Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 8387
Mob: 07717 881563
Email: 

Established at the University of Kent and now split between Kent, 91Ö±²¥ and the London School of Economics and Political Science, was founded in 1974.

It was originally designed to address foreseen problems with an ageing population and the greater support that older people, many with long-term health conditions, would need outside of the home.

has had many successes in influencing policy, such as the development of case management in the UK; and developing assessment of needs including a UK replication of a policy initiated in Australia, enabling older people to have clinical assessment at home before entry to care homes – saving money and resulting in fewer admissions to hospital.

The researchers are currently working on funded by the National Institute of Health Research to investigate effective home support in dementia care, including whether different types of home support combine together in better or worse ways and the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different models of support.

leads the PSSRU 91Ö±²¥ branch and was one of the early staff members based in Kent.  He said: “The idea behind the PSSRU was a response to the looming problem of an ageing society, an issue that is very much now upon us.

“Our work on dementia and home care is backed by the many decades of working with patients, health and social care providers and policy makers, which let us gain access to data and implement solutions that benefit people and conserve resources.”

As well as working with the NHS, the PSSRU also works with local authorities and increasingly private companies which operate care homes.

The Unit is also member of the highly prestigious and membership has just been renewed for a further five years, placing it among the elite of UK research centres in the field.

To find out more about the PSSRU’s 40^th Anniversary celebrations, .

Notes for editors

Media enquiries to:

Jamie Brown
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
Tel: 0161 2758383
Mob: 07887 561318
Email: jamie.brown@manchester.ac.uk

A new fiendishly-challenging online brain-teaser, featuring cryptic clues, has been launched by mathematicians at The University of Manchester.

The has been designed to coincide with the launch of the film ‘The Imitation Game’, which tells the real-life story of mathematician Alan Turing, who is credited with cracking the German Enigma Code.

The cryptic conundrum is based around a true story of how in 1940, Alan Turing converted his savings into silver ingots and buried them in Bletchley Park.  In real life the silver has never been found, but for the purposes of the competition, a location has been chosen and three coded clues are there to be deciphered.  The answers to the clues can then be used to find the location of the silver.  Participants submit their solution and winners, who will be drawn at random from correct solutions, receive film-related merchandise kindly donated by StudioCanal, distributors of the film.

Turning, who was a pioneer of computing, artificial intelligence and mathematical biology had close links with the University of Manchester.  In 1948 he was appointed Reader in the Mathematics Department and soon afterwards he became Deputy Director of the Computing Laboratory at the University, working on software for one of the earliest true computers - the 91Ö±²¥ Ferranti Mark 1.  Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Turing in the film, also has ties to the city and The University, where he was a former drama student.

Dr Andrew Hazel from the School of Mathematics said, “Having seen our annual online Alan Turing Cryptography Competition, StudioCanal contacted us to propose a one-off competition related to the release of The Imitation Game. We were delighted to take the opportunity to share our enthusiasm for mathematics and cryptography, and to highlight the close ties between the University, Alan Turing and Benedict Cumberbatch.”

The Imitation Game Cryptography Competition will close at midday on 28th November 2014.  It is free to enter and open to any resident of the United Kingdom but only one prize will be awarded per household.  Full details available online.

Notes for editors

The competition can be found along with full details of rules of entry at

About Alan Turing and the University 

During his time at The University of Manchester, Alan Turing proposed a famous experiment now known as the Turing test, an attempt to define a standard for a machine to be called `intelligent‘. The idea was that a computer could be said to `think’ if it could fool an interrogator into believing that the conversation was with a human.

In 1952 Alan Turing turned his attention to the then emerging field of morphogenesis, proposing a new hypothesis for pattern formation in biological systems. Tragically, Turing did not have time to further develop his ideas in this area; he died on the 7 June 1954, at the age of 41.

In recognition of his achievements, the home of The School of Mathematics at The University of Manchester, completed in 2007, was named the Alan Turing building. The building also houses the Photon Science Institute and the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics.

The annual Alan Turing Cryptography Competition

The School of Mathematics at The University of Manchester also organises the annual Alan Turing Cryptography Competition, sponsored by the travel search company Skyscanner.  This was initially intended as a one-off competition and formed part of the Alan Turing Centenary Celebrations in 2012. The competition proved to be so popular that it is now run as an annual event. Now in its fourth year, the competition is organised by The School of Mathematics at The University of Manchester and is aimed at secondary school children up to Year 11 (England and Wales), S4 (Scotland), Year 12 (Northern Ireland). 

The competition will conclude with The Second Alan Turing Cryptography Day on Wednesday 29th April 2015. Registration for the fourth edition of the Competition will open December 1st.  More information available at

About the film

Based on the real life story of Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), who is credited with cracking the German Enigma code, THE IMITATION GAME portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team at Britain's top-secret code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II. Turing, whose contributions and genius significantly shortened the war, saving thousands of lives, was the eventual victim of an unenlightened British Establishment, but his work and legacy live on.

THE IMITATION GAME stars Benedict Cumberbatch ( Star Trek Into Darkness, TV's Sherlock) as Turing and Keira Knightley (Atonement) as close friend and fellow code breaker Joan Clarke, alongside a top notch cast including Matthew Goode (A Single Man), Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Charles Dance (Gosford Park, TV's Game of Thrones), Allen Leech (In Fear, TV's Downton Abbey) and Matthew Beard (An Education).  In UK Cinemas, 14th November 2014.

Media enquiries to:

Katie Brewin 
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 8387
Email: katie.brewin@manchester.ac.uk 

A rare display of the some of the historic medical curiosities that have been collected by The University of Manchester over the past 150 years has opened at 91Ö±²¥ Central Library.

Nine cabinets placed in the corridor outside the reading room on the first floor cover a range of topics from hearing and visual aids to equipment made of glass, silver and ceramics and a special display of packaging.

The items on display are rarely seen by the public. Some of the highlights include a Second World War Penicillin syringe made from the oil can of a Bren gun, a delftware ceramic jar used for storing drugs dating from the 1700s, hearing aids spanning several decades including bejewelled ones made to look like hair clips and illustrations by the renowned medical artist Dorothy Davison. 

The curiosities on display come from the University’s which is normally housed in the Stopford Building.

Also running as part of the exhibition are images taken with a Victorian camera of hearing loss patients, and narratives of their hearing loss experiences. The work is part of a project, “Silence of The Photograph”, that explores what hearing loss means through the use of imagery. Images and narratives from this project can be viewed on the first floor and in the Shakespeare Hall Foyer.

The exhibition’s curator Dr Jenna Ashton says: “This is a fantastic opportunity for people to see some really fascinating medical equipment. We’re also really pleased to have the images on display from our project.”

She continues: “It’s been an interesting experience putting the collection together for display in the newly refurbished library with its circular space.”

“Artefacts and Experiences, Reframing Narratives Across Medicine and Health” runs until November 7 and is part of the 91Ö±²¥ Science Festival, proudly supported by MOSI.

Notes for editors

Images of the items are available from the press office. It is also possible to arrange a visit to the exhibition where journalists can handle some of the items on display.

For images and interview requests please contact:

Morwenna Grills
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Life Sciences
The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 2111
Mob: 07920 087466
Email: Morwenna.Grills@manchester.ac.uk 

Museum of Medicine and Health 
The museum came in to being when the Medical School moved from its old building on Coupland Street to its present home in 1973. During the course of the relocation, hundreds of items of historical interest were identified, catalogue and over the years many have been on display. The Museum of Medicine and Health contains a vast and diverse array of artefacts dating from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. For more information, click .

91Ö±²¥ Science Festival – Supported by Siemens
A burst of creation, experimentation and wonder is at the heart of this year’s 91Ö±²¥ Science Festival (MSF) proudly produced by the Museum of Science & Industry – supported by Siemens and Lead Education Partner University of Salford. Running from 23 October – 2 November in over 40 venues across Greater 91Ö±²¥, this award-winning Festival is now in its eighth year. With more city-wide and creative collaborations than ever before, this diverse and inspiring 11 day programme features World Premieres, internationally acclaimed art and artists, cutting-edge science, comedy, hands-on workshops, evening events, talks and a jam-packed family programme all designed to inspire, engage and immerse visitors of all ages with the science that lives all around us.

Museum of Science & Industry
The Museum of Science & Industry tells the story of where science met industry and the modern world began whilst telegraphing 91Ö±²¥ as a 21st century city of science. The Museum (MOSI) sits on one of the nation’s most historic industrial heritage sites. Covering 7.5 acres and including five listed buildings, this small corner of Manchester is one of the key places in the UK, and therefore in the world, where the Industrial Revolution began. On MOSI’s site are some of the city’s finest 19th century warehouses - including the first railway warehouse - and it is home to the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway station.  The museum’s mission is: To explore where science met industry and the modern world began, and to understand the impact that 91Ö±²¥ science, technology, and innovation continues to have on all our lives.

The degree ceremony forms part of the University’s Foundation Day celebrations   which this year mark the tenth anniversary of the bringing together of the Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).

The formal creation of The University of Manchester took place on Friday, 22 October 2004, when Her Majesty the Queen visited the campus to present the institution with its new Royal Charter.

Each year, this important date in the University’s calendar is marked by the delivery of the Foundation Day lecture, which this year will be given by Jeanette Winterson. Prior to the lecture, the following short film will be shown to celebrate the tenth anniversary. The Foundation Day lecture will be followed by the conferment of honorary degrees on the three remarkable and distinguished individuals.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “The creation of The University of Manchester, with a history dating back to the formation of the 91Ö±²¥ Mechanics Institute in 1824 and Owens College founded in 1851, has been hailed as one of the boldest and most ambitious initiatives in UK higher education.

“Today’s Foundation Day is a celebration of our illustrious heritage, the impressive progress we have made since 2004 which is thanks, in no small part, to the dedication of our talented staff and students, as well as our ambitious plans for the future. We will also celebrate the remarkable achievements of our three honorary 2014 graduates, Jeanette Winterson, Julia King and Simon Weston.”

91Ö±²¥-born Professor Jeanette Winterson OBE is Professor of Creative Writing at The University of Manchester. She published her first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, in 1985 and her BBC television adaptation won her a BAFTA for Best Drama and the Prix d’Argent at the Cannes Film Festival. She has won numerous prizes for her work, here and abroad, and her fiction is published in more than 20 countries.

Professor Dame Julia King DBE has had an illustrious career in both academia and industry and currently advises the government as a member of the Committee on Climate Change, the Science and Technology Honours Committee and the Airports Commission. She became Vice-Chancellor of Aston University in 2006 and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Simon Weston OBE was on board HMS Sir Galahad when it was hit and destroyed by a missile in Bluff Cove on the Falkland Islands in 1982. The Welsh Guardsman suffered major burns in the resulting fire and his heroic struggle to overcome his terrible injuries – both physical and mental – became a national source of pride and inspiration. Among his many charitable endeavours, Simon is an ambassador for the Healing Foundation, which helps fund a research centre within the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Life Sciences.

Notes for editors

Interview and filming requests can be made through the University’s press office.

The tenth anniversary film, to be shown during the Foundation Day lecture, will be available for the media to use from 5pm on Wednesday, 22 October. A link to download the film tomorrow will be sent on request.

Media enquiries to:

Aeron Haworth
Senior Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 8387
Mob: 07717 881563
Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk

Sixty-five years ago today (Friday) a landmark development in the history of computing took place at The University of Manchester.

For on 21 June 1948, the 91Ö±²¥ Small Scale Experimental Machine – nicknamed ‘The Baby’ – became the first computer in the world to run a program electronically stored in its memory, rather than on paper tape or hardwired in.

The occasion has been described as the ‘birth of software’; it was the first implementation of the stored program concept that today underpins modern computing.

Developed by ‘Freddie’ Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill, The Baby was a test bed for the experimental Williams-Kilburn tube, a means of storing binary digits or ‘bits’ using a cathode ray tube.

“This was a big deal because, up to this point, computers had no cost-effective means of storing and flexibly accessing information in electronic form,” says Professor Simon Lavington, a research student in Kilburn’s team in 91Ö±²¥ between 1962 and 1965.

“The 1948 Baby marked the start of the ‘digital revolution’. 91Ö±²¥ played a leading role in this revolution, just as it did in the Industrial Revolution 200 years earlier."

The Baby was the first of a succession of Manchester computer innovations.  It inspired a long-running partnership between the University and Ferranti Ltd.  This partnership led to the Ferranti Mark 1, the world's first computer to be sold commercially in 1951, as well as to the UK's first supercomputer, the Ferranti Atlas in 1962, for a time the most powerful computer in the world. 

To mark the Baby's 65^th anniversary, Google has produced a telling the story, including archive footage and interviews with some of Manchester's early computing pioneers.  While today nothing remains of the original Baby, a working replica is on display at the Museum of Science and Industry (Mosi) in 91Ö±²¥.

Professor Lavington adds: “The greatest problem facing all the early computer design groups was how to devise a suitable memory, or storage, system. The University of Manchester was the first to get its storage system working at electronic speeds – it was the first RAM or random-access memory.

"The partnership between the University and Ferranti Ltd, inspired by the Baby, went on to produce much of the UK's total computing power up to the mid-1960s.”

Ends

Notes for editors

Watch the Google video here:

Images to accompany this press release are available on request.

For further information contact:

Aeron Haworth
Media Relations
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
The University of Manchester

Tel: 0161 275 8387
Mob: 07717 881563
Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk

For the first time in public, Mr Kasparov played a match against Turing’s chess program live on stage at ’s Alan Turing Centenary Conference.

Although he won in just 16 moves, Mr Kasparov praised the prototype program called Turochamp, which was created by Turing without using a computer.
 

Turing, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday last Saturday, is considered to be the father of the modern computer. The conference was held as a celebration of his life and to show how his legacy has endured in the fields of computing and computer science.

As part of his lecture at the conference, Mr Kasparov, playing in black, took on the program that Turing had painstakingly written out by hand more than 60 years ago.

Turing designed his program to play semi-intelligently using rules of thumb to pick smart moves. He tried to implement his program in 1950 as soon as the 91Ö±²¥ Ferranti Mark 1 computer was constructed at the University, but never managed to finish the work.

Turochamp was designed to play two moves ahead, calculating the hundreds of potential moves available, whereas Mr Kasparov is more used to thinking at least ten moves ahead – which explains his simple victory.

Nevertheless, the Russian grandmaster was full of praise for Turing’s research. He said: “I suppose you might call it primitive, but I would compare it to an early car – you might laugh at them but it is still an incredible achievement.

“He wrote algorithms without having a computer – many young scientists would never believe that was possible. It was an outstanding accomplishment.

“Although it’s only thinking two moves ahead, I would have thought it would give the amateur player some serious problems.

“Alan Turing is one of the very few people about who you could say that if he had lived longer the world would be a different place.”

On Saturday, Mr Kasparov unveiled a plaque commemorating Turing on the building at the University where he used to work.

The four-day conference, which finished yesterday, [MON] featured speakers from all over the world, including Vint Cerf, Vice-President of Google, and David Ferrucci of IBM.

In total Nine ACM Turing Award winners and one Templeton Prize winner spoke at the conference. The Turing Award is recognized as the highest distinction in Computer science and the Nobel Prize of computing.

Notes for editors

The video clip of Garry Kasparov playing against the Turochamp program is available on request from the Press Offic, or from . Please credit VideoLectures.net.

Images from the conference and from the plaque unveiling are available from the Press Office.

Members of the University’s School of Computer Science are available for interview on request.

Further information about the Alan Turing Centenary Conference can be found at

For media enquiries please contact:

Daniel Cochlin
Media Relations Officer
The University of Manchester
0161 275 8387
Daniel.cochlin@manchester.ac.uk
 

After months of careful restoration, the famous Vimto monument has returned to its home on Granby Row at The University of Manchester.

Matthew Nichols, the great grandson of the founder of Vimto, was there to welcome it back.

The grapes and raspberries have been restored with the grapes changing from red to green to reflect the ingredients of Vimto, while the blackcurrants have been replaced. A new wooded barrel has been constructed to replace the bottom of the Vimto bottle and new labels have been carved and painted.

The monument was first carved by Kerry Morrison and installed in Granby Row in 1992. Granby Row is the site of the factory where the first batch of Vimto was made by John Noel Nichols back in 1908.

After 19 years of the 91Ö±²¥ weather and attention from city revellers, the monument was in need of a refresh and it has been brought back to its former glory by Nick Lumb at Acorn Furniture in Wrexham.

Nick said: “It has taken a lot of work to restore the monument but it has been a wonderful challenge and it is wonderful to see it back where it belongs in Granby Row.”

Matthew Nichols said: “I am very proud that the birthplace of Vimto is commemorated with this monument and that my great grandfather’s achievements are recognised. We have been inundated with people asking what has happened to the monument so I am pleased it has returned and is looking at its best.”

Fans have been following the progress of the make-over at

Notes for editors

Jon Keighren, Media Relations Manager, University of Manchester 0161 275 8384

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell has been appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester.

Dame Nancy was selected following an international search which produced an impressive shortlist of candidates.

A distinguished Life Scientist, Dame Nancy has been a member of staff at the University since 1987 and Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor since 2007.

She will take-up her post on 1^st July 2010 succeeding Professor Alan Gilbert, who is retiring after six years.  Professor Gilbert was the inaugural President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, which was established following the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST.

Dame Nancy becomes the first woman to lead The University of Manchester or either of its two predecessor institutions.

Commenting on her appointment, Dame Nancy said: "I am honoured and delighted to be invited to lead the University at this exciting time. I am determined to maintain the strategic focus that we have developed over the past six years and to work closely with colleagues to identify new priorities and opportunities for the University in the very challenging external environment that we will face over the next few years."

Chairman of the Appointment Panel and Chairman-elect of the University’s Board of Governors Mr Anil Ruia said: "Dame Nancy will bring her own distinctive strengths, perspective and style to the role of President and Vice-Chancellor which will enable the University to build upon the remarkable progress that we have made under Professor Alan Gilbert’s leadership."

Notes for editors

An image of Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell is available upon request

Contact: Jon Keighren, Media Relations Manager, The University of Manchester, 0161 275 8384

Biographical Notes

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell was born in Tarleton, near Preston, and educated at Penwortham Girls’ Grammar School.  She obtained a first class degree in Physiology, a PhD and a DSc from the University of London. In 1984 she was awarded a Royal Society Research Fellowship and was awarded a Chair in Physiology at 91Ö±²¥ in 1994, then a prestigious Medical Research Council Chair in 1998.  She has served as president of the British Neuroscience Association, a council member of MRC, BBSRC, the Academy of Medical Sciences and Cancer Research UK.

In 1999 Dame Nancy was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; in 2003 she won the prestigious Pfizer Research Prize, in 2004 was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 2005 was honoured with a DBE.  She is a member of the Royal Society Council, Vice President of the Royal Society, Chair of the Royal Society Education Committee, President of the Society of Biology and a non-executive director of AstraZeneca.

Dame Nancy began her research career in the field of obesity and metabolism, an area in which she rapidly acquired an international reputation. But more recently she has investigated how brain cells are damaged as a result of several different diseases, such as stroke and Alzheimer’s. 

Dame Nancy takes a strong and active interest in public communication of science and regularly gives talks to schools and the public, and contributes to television, radio and press, particularly on sensitive issues in science.  In 1998 she delivered the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture, televised by the BBC.

The University of Manchester is the largest single-site university in the UK. It has 22 academic schools and hundreds of specialist research groups undertaking pioneering multi-disciplinary teaching and research of worldwide significance. According to the results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, The University of Manchester is one of the country’s major research universities, rated third in the UK in terms of ‘research power’ behind only Oxford and Cambridge.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has released a statement on the Second World War code-breaker and brilliant mathematician , recognising the ‘appalling’ way he was treated due to his sexuality.

Turing worked at The University of Manchester from 1948 to 1954 and made significant contributions to the emerging field of artificial intelligence and .

While at 91Ö±²¥, Turing worked on the 91Ö±²¥ Mark 1, one of the first recognisable modern computers.

Turing was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ in 1952 and underwent chemical castration as part of his punishment.

Gordon Brown’s statement came in response to a petition posted on the Number 10 website which has received thousands of signatures in recent months.

In the statement Brown said: “Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war.

“The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ - in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence - and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.”

He concluded: “So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better."

In 1999 Time Magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.

The full statement from Gordon Brown can be read at:

Notes for editors

For information about Alan Turing's time at The University of Manchester please contact Alex Waddington on 0161 275 8387 or 07717 881569.

A world renowned children’s author had a life tainted by tragedy, despised Enid Blyton and dabbled in the paranormal, according to her private diaries published for the first time this month.

A world renowned children’s author had a life tainted by tragedy, despised Enid Blyton and dabbled in the paranormal, according to her private diaries published for the first time this month.

Alison Uttley –known to millions across the world as the author of Tales Of Little Grey Rabbit and Sam Pig –kept a diary for more than 40 years which is now archived at The University of Manchester’s .

After her husband James’ suicide in 1930, Uttley launched her writing career  to support her only child John, and went on to write more than 100 books.

Sam Pig, Brock the Badger, Tim Rabbit, Little Grey Rabbit, Squirrel and Hare have mesmerised children ever since.

In the diaries Uttley wrote of her admiration for poet Walter de la Mare and other male figures, including her former Professor at The University of Manchester – known at the time as the Victoria University of Manchester.

The author-  who in 1906 as a physics student became the second woman ever to graduate at the University - bequeathed a third of her literary income to support students at the University’s Ashburne Hall.

But she hated many women and was bitterly resentful of comparisons with Beatrix Potter

She and scornfully dismissive of her near neighbour Enid Blyton, who she called a ‘vulgar, curled woman’ and whose success provoked her envy and dislike. She also detested her main illustrator, Margaret Tempest.

The former suffragette and close friend of first Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald wrote about her dreams and her psychic abilities as well as expressing a deep love for her son John.

John also tragically took his own life by driving his car off a cliff two years after his mother's death in 1978.

She also described in loving detail her fondly remembered childhood in rural Derbyshire. She lived out her old age in suburban Buckinghamshire and died in 1976, aged 91.

The book – The Private Diaries of Alison Uttley 1932 to 1971 – is edited by Professor Denis Judd, author of Uttley's biography. Professor Judd who along with the members of the Ashburne Association is a trustee of her literary estate.

, which turned 107 this year, is the organisation of past and present students living at the University of Manchester’s Ashburne Hall.

He said: “These diaries chart Alison Uttley’s rise as a best-selling author and are a fascinating read.

“They describe some surprising attitudes to the people she knew as well as highlighting the tragedy of her husband’s death which blighted her life.

“She recorded her frustration with publishers, wrote beautiful descriptions of the countryside and described her early financial struggles.

“Her competitive and passionate nature often clouded her judgement and drastically affected her private and professional life.

“Though she ended her life as a grande dame of literature, she was acclaimed but never entirely content.”

Alison Uttley on:

• Enid Blyton:  ‘False teeth, red lips... boastful. ... we only met once, and when I asked her which books she wrote, she replied “Look in Smith’s window” and turned away, and never spoke again.’.
• Margaret Tempest: ‘She is a humourless bore, seldom does a smile come, her eyes cold and hard... she is absolutely awful...’
• Walter de la Mare: ‘He was smiling and very charming, so that I quite loved him.’
• Her characters: ‘Why do children love them? Because I believe in them. Mine aren’t made up. They are real...I don’t sit down to write a story, they come.’

Notes for editors

Images are available:

• Alison at a picnic at about the time she became engaged to James
• Drawings of her animal characters drawn by Margaret Tempest, her illustrator.

The Private Diaries of Alison Uttley 1932 to 1971 is edited by Professor Denis Judd and published by Pen and Sword books.

Journalists are welcome to photograph a blue plaque commemorating Alison Uttley on the steps of the grade 2 listed Behrens House, Ashburne Hall Campus at The University of Manchester.

Professor Judd is available for comment.

For media enquiries contact:

Mike Addelman
Media Relations Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
0161 275 0790
07717 881 567
michael.addelman@manchester.ac.uk

A £39M research centre that will make 91Ö±²¥ home to one of the largest biomedical complexes in Europe will be officially opened today (May 7th).

will house 300 scientists in 50 research groups, mainly focussing on neuroscience and immunology, from the University of Manchester's Faculty of Life Sciences and Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences.

The 6000 sq metre facility connects the Core Technology Facility, Michael Smith and Stopford Buildings, thus creating a linked complex housing more than 300 research groups. The complex is adjacent to the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility and the Central 91Ö±²¥ and 91Ö±²¥ Children’s University Hospitals NHS Trust and is therefore sited at a focal point in the University's 'biomedical corridor'.

The building is named after , who won in Physiology or Medicine while he held the Chair in Physiology at the University of Manchester. Professor Hill shared the 1922 Nobel Prize with Otto Fritz Meyerhof for work on the generation of heat by muscles.

One of the pioneering physiologists of the 20th Century, AV Hill made outstanding contributions in the field of muscle physiology and was regarded as one of the founders of Biophysics. In the 1930s he played a leading role in the establishment of the Academic Assistance Council (AAC), later to be known as the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (SPSL), which rescued many German refugee academics from Nazi persecution and provided employment and financial support. During the Second World War, he accepted an invitation to stand for Parliament representing Cambridge University, and used his considerable influence in support of many worthy causes.

AV Hill's grandson Nicholas Humphrey, a Professor at the London School of Economics, Dr Ralph Kohn, a University of Manchester alumnus and winner of the Queen's Award for Export Achievement who founded the Kohn Foundation, will officially open the building. A replica of AV Hill’s Nobel Prize medal, kindly provided by Blundell’s School, which he attended, will be on display at the opening.

Professor Humphrey said: “My grandfather loved laboratories. But he could never have imagined a lab of this magnificence!”

Dr Kohn said: “I am deeply honoured to officially open the building named after such a great man as AV Hill, who was an outstanding physiologist, humanitarian and parliamentarian, together with his grandson Professor Nicholas Humphrey.”

The Deans of FLS and FMHS Professor Martin Humphries and Professor Alan North said: “This facility will further enhance the major programme of biomedical research established in 91Ö±²¥ over the past ten years.

“The operations group behind its design spent eighteen months considering not only how this building will operate, but also how the 'biomedical corridor' – incorporating the teaching hospitals – can be better integrated. Benefits include the clustering of core equipment, easily accessible resources for researchers and enhanced opportunities for collaboration.”

The building houses a number of internationally-recognised groups examining novel approaches for treatment of human disease. For example neuroscience research group which is investigating the causes and possible prevention of brain damage from stroke. The researchers have found that if the immune system has been stimulated by infection, it can attack the brain following a stroke. This has important implications for the elderly who are most at risk of stroke and frequently suffer from infection and other conditions, such as atherosclerosis, that stimulate the immune system. The team believe their findings could change the way stroke patients are treated in the future. For example, anti-inflammatory drugs that are currently being tested in human trials may be able to dampen the activated immune system and so reduce brain damage.

immunology research group have discovered how parasitic worms subvert the host's immune system to allow them to survive. One in five people in the developing world (1,000 million) suffer from parasitic worm infection, which results in anaemia, tiredness and general morbidity. Dr Else's group is now trying to identify the molecules made by the worms which allow them to subvert the host's immune system.

And recent arrival is researching human developmental biology and stem cells with the aim of understanding the process so that it can be re-enacted in regenerative medicine, specifically to help diabetes sufferers.

Notes for editors

The official opening of the AV Hill Building will take place at 5pm on Thursday 7th May.

The AV Hill Building represents an investment by the University of 

£39M and includes £11.6M from SRIF. The delivery of this four-year project was overseen by the Directorate of Estates and the building was designed by Wilson Mason. The project sponsors were Andrew Loudon and Julian Davis and client group Simon Merrywest, Gary Porteous and Louise Hewitt. The stunning complex recently won the Best Corporate Workplace in the North regional heat of the British Council for Offices awards and will compete in the final in October.

High-resolution images of the building are available - photographer Oliver Foxley must be credited.

For more information, photographs or to arrange an interview with 

Professor Martin Humphries, Professor Alan North, Dr Ralph Kohn or Professor Nicholas Humphrey contact Media Relations Officer Mikaela Sitford on 0161 275

2111, 07768 980942 or Mikaela.Sitford@manchester.ac.uk.

The birth of the first modern computer is being celebrated on Friday 20 June 2008 at The University of Manchester and MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry).

Digital 60 Day marks the 60th anniversary of the birth of the world’s first stored program digital computer, which was designed and built at The University of Manchester by the late Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams.

On June 21, 1948, shortly after 11am, the Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) - nicknamed The Baby - executed its first program.

The Baby changed the world and was the forerunner of all modern computers, iPods, mobile phones and other gadgets we take for granted today.

A number of special events will take place on Digital 60 Day, including a large event for schools.

Hundreds of school pupils from across Greater 91Ö±²¥ and the UK will arrive on campus to see the winners of the UK Schools Computer Animation Competition announced.

They will also see a live video link-up with MOSI in 91Ö±²¥, complete with live demonstration of the working Baby replica housed there, plus a computer science magic show. The Museum will also hold a number of family activities and demonstrations of Baby on 21 June.

Professor Alan Gilbert, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester, said: “Sixty years ago The University of Manchester won the race to create the first digital stored program computer. It was an arresting achievement that put 91Ö±²¥ at the forefront of a global technological revolution.

“The University has continually built on this legacy of innovation and The School of Computer Science enjoys an international reputation for being at the very cutting edge of research in computer science and new technology.

“With excellent industry links and numerous outstanding technological spin-out companies, the influence of the computer science research being done at The University extends regionally, nationally and internationally.”

Professor John Perkins, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at The University of Manchester, said: “The University is extremely proud of what Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams achieved in 1948.

“The birth of the Baby changed the world forever and we hope the Digital 60 Day celebrations will raise the profile of computer science and encourage the brightest and best of the next generation to engage in the challenges facing computing over the coming decades.”

This evening, at a special awards ceremony and drinks reception, the surviving pioneers from the Baby design and development team Geoff Tootill, Dai Edwards and Alec Robinson and Tommy Thomas will each be awarded The University of Manchester's Medal of Honour and also a Medal of Honour from The British Computer Society.

The ceremony will be followed by the inaugural Kilburn Lecture, delivered by Professor Steve Furber CBE from The School of Computer Science on ‘The Relentless March of the Microchip’.

For further information on the events planned please see http://www.digital60.org or www.mosi.org.uk

Notes for editors

For more information please contact Alex Waddington, Media Relations Officer, The University of Manchester, on 0161 275 8387 / 07717 881569 or Sarah Roe, press and publicity officer, MOSI on Tel: 0161 606 0176 / 07847 372647.

A wide selection of images and videos are available to support this story.

Computer scientists and engineers at The University of Manchester took part in the first ever recording of digital music in the early 1950s, it has been revealed.

Evidence of the achievement has come to light in the form of an astonishing audio recording that has emerged from the archives of the Computer Conservation Society.

The Ferranti Mark 1 computer – the immediate successor to the famous ‘Baby’ computer – is heard playing God Save The King, an aborted attempt at Baa Baa Black Sheep and finally a truncated rendition of In The Mood.

The recording was done during a visit to The University of Manchester by the BBC’s Outside Broadcasting team in the autumn of 1951.

The Ferranti Mark 1 played a series of tunes for the programme Children’s Hour – and after the recording had been completed, one of the engineers, Frank Cooper, asked if it would be possible to get his own copy of the recording.

He was told this could not be done due to copyright issues – but the BBC team agreed to make a separate, one-off recording on a single sided acetate disc of the Mark 1 playing three songs, which was then given to Mr Cooper.

The recording was later passed to the Computer Conservation Society and then taken to the National Sound Archive, where it was transferred to audio cassette.

The recording has been unearthed during the preparations for Digital 60 Day on Friday 20 June 2008 – the 60^th anniversary of the birth of the ‘Baby’ or Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), which is the forerunner of all modern computers.

The Computer Conservation Society says it’s not aware of any earlier recordings of computer-generated music.

‘The Baby’ successfully executed its first program in 91Ö±²¥ on 21 June 1948. That program was written by Tom Kilburn who designed and built the machine at The University of Manchester with the late Freddie Williams.

Chris Burton, a leading member of the Computer Conservation Society and the engineer who led the team who built a replica of The Baby in 1998, said: “The Mark 1 had an instruction in its order code called ‘Hoot’. If a programmer used that in a program then the loudspeaker emitted a brief tone. It was used for warning about end of program. All Ferranti computers had the feature in one way or another.

“In 1948 the mathematician Alan Turing came to the University of Manchester and started using and working on the Mark 1. In 1951, Turing invited a friend of his called Christopher Strachey to write a draughts program for the machine. When it terminated Strachey had programmed it to use the ‘Hoot’ instruction in such a way that the machine played the tune God Save the King.

“Strachey was then persuaded to create a music program that could load and play any tune. Later, it became traditional for all Ferranti maintenance engineers to write a music program for each new type of machine.”

In an introduction to the 1951 recording, the late Frank Cooper says: “At that time Alan Turing was in charge of the programmers and had in facts written a programmers manual. He sent a copy of this to a friend of his [Christopher Strachey] who was alleged to be a maths master at one of the better known public schools.

“The outcome of this was that [Stratchey] was invited to write a program and bring it up to 91Ö±²¥ and try it out on this brand new computer. In due course he arrived with sheets of paper and installed himself a tape punch and laboriously transcribed his program onto punch paper tape, which was the done thing in those days.

“He successfully accomplished this task and put the tape into the computer. It obviously worked, the program ran and to the astonishment of everyone in the room, the computer started to play the national anthem in a very raucous manner. We were all agog to know how this had been done.”

“Eventually word got around that this marvellous computer – or the electronic brain as it tended to be called by the press in those days – and everyone wanted to hear this.

“One of the groups that came along at the time was a recording crew from BBC Children’s Hour. In those days the machine wasn’t all that reliable but we managed to get it working for the necessary four or five minutes for the BBC to make a recording of various tunes that had been written for the computer and they were all very happy.”

For more information on Digital 60 Day on please see . 

Notes for editors

An MP3 recording of the Mark 1 playing the songs God Save The King, Baa Baa Black Sheep and In The Mood is available

An MP3 recording of the introduction by Frank Cooper is also available.

A selection of images, video and audio is available to support coverage of Digital 60 Day on request.

For more information please contact Alex Waddington, Media Relations Officer, The University of Manchester on 0161 275 8387 or 07717 881569.

Here is the first known photograph of the great grandfather of modern digital computers – but you couldn’t use it on the train or take it jogging with you.

The panoramic black and white image, which has been unearthed in the archives at The University of Manchester, shows a development version of ‘The Baby’ taking up a whole room with its towering Post Office racks and jumble of wiring.

The Small Scale Experimental Machine – to give the 91Ö±²¥ invention its full title – successfully executed its first program on 21 June 1948 – and paved the way for the computers, iPods and mobile phones we all take for granted today.

Built and designed by Tom Kilburn and Freddie Williams at The University of Manchester, it was the first electronic digital computer capable of storing a program.

There are no photographs of the original Baby from June 1948. The panoramic image is often described as a photograph of the Baby machine, but it actually shows an intermediate stage, beginning to resemble the later University Mark 1.

The panoramic view of the machine was first published in The Illustrated London News in June 1949 and is actually a composite view made up of about 24 separate photographs taken by one of the project team, Alec Robinson. An entry in his notebook showed that they were taken on 15 December 1948.

The Baby was built using metal Post Office racks, hundreds of valves or vacuum tubes and the keyboard was a series of push buttons and switches, mounted vertically. Instead of a screen, the output was read directly off the face of a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT).

In modern terms the prototype Baby had a RAM (random access memory) of just 32 locations or ‘words’. Each word in the RAM consisted of 32 bits (binary digits) and so The Baby had a grand total of 1024 bits of memory – and a computing speed of 1.2 milliseconds per instruction.

And amazingly, today a pocket-sized 80Gb Apple iPod is capable of storing 640 MILLION times more information than the original room-sized Baby.

91Ö±²¥, Cambridge and institutions in the United States all battled to built the first stored program computer but 91Ö±²¥ won the race – a feat that shook the world and placed the city at the forefront of a global technological revolution.

Tom Kilburn founded and led the Department of Computer Science at the University, the first in the UK.

On Friday 20 June 2008, The University and the City of Manchester will celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the tremendous achievement of Kilburn and Williams with Digital 60 Day.

The programme includes a live demonstration of the working replica of The Baby at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), an interactive Baby exhibit and a Computer Science Magic Show.

Four surviving member of the Baby design and development team will be awarded the Medal of Honour by The University of Manchester and also by the British Computer Society.

Professor Steve Furber CBE, designer of the BBC Microcomputer, will then deliver the inaugural Kilburn lecture on ‘The Relentless March of the Microchip’.

For more information about Digital 60 please see .

Notes for editors

For more information please contact Alex Waddington, Media Relations Officer, on 0161 275 8387 or 07717 881569.

A high resolution 19Mb JPEG scan of the full panoramic photograph is available on request.

A written and audio explanation of the photograph is available here:

Further video and images are available to support Digital 60 coverage on request.