University of Manchester

Profile narrative

The University of Manchester is a public higher education institution located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It provides undergraduate and postgraduate education across a broad range of disciplines, including arts, humanities, sciences, engineering, medicine and social sciences. The university also conducts research and knowledge transfer activities, working with industry, government and international partners. Its core mission is to advance learning and contribute to societal development through teaching, scholarship and innovation.

The institution operates from a main campus situated in the city centre, supplemented by several affiliated sites and teaching hospitals across Greater Manchester. It serves a substantial number of students and staff, supporting a diverse population of domestic and international learners. The university is organised into faculties, schools and departments that support its academic and research programmes. Its scale enables it to offer a wide portfolio of courses and to host extensive research facilities.

The University of Manchester is a member of the Russell Group, reflecting its status as a research-intensive university with a strong emphasis on scholarly output and innovation. It has produced numerous Nobel laureates among its staff and alumni and is recognised for contributions in fields such as materials science, computer science, health sciences and social research. The university maintains a commitment to widening participation and to fostering equality, diversity and inclusion across its community. These attributes distinguish it within the UK higher education sector.

In June 2023 the university disclosed a cyberattack in which an unauthorised party accessed its systems and likely exfiltrated data, leading to temporary disruption of internal services and a triple extortion attempt involving threatening communications to staff and students. The incident highlighted the importance of cybersecurity resilience for large academic institutions. The University of Manchester is a charitable corporation established by Royal Charter, governed by a council and senate, and receives public funding through the Office for Students and UK Research and Innovation. It is not a subsidiary of another entity but operates as an independent higher education corporation.

Incidents

1 incident linked to this organisation.