It has launched its first major global fundraising and volunteering campaign, Challenge Accepted, aiming to mobilise its worldwide community of more than half a million alumni, partners and supporters. With a target of £400 million and one million hours of volunteer engagement, the campaign seeks to accelerate impact across research, student support, innovation and culture.

The campaign is closely tied to the University’s long-term strategy, Manchester 2035: From Manchester for the World, which sets out an ambitious vision to become the partner of choice for those committed to turning knowledge into real-world impact.

Leading this effort is President and Vice-Chancellor Duncan Ivison, who spearheads both the global campaign and the Manchester 2035 strategy. Speaking during a recent visit to Hong Kong, he outlined a vision that is at once grounded in Manchester’s identity as a civic university and expansive in its global ambitions.

A civic university with global impact

“I think Manchester has a really distinctive identity as a city, and that shapes us as a university deeply embedded in our region, yet also very globally oriented,” Professor Ivison said. “I think great universities combine these two dimensions.”

That duality – deep local engagement paired with global connectivity – is central to the University's identity. Its international footprint includes centres in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai and Singapore, and a student body where around 40% come from overseas.

“It’s about being very conscious of the place where we’re based, in this case Manchester, but also very open to the world,” Professor Ivison added.

This approach extends beyond branding into how the University builds partnerships. In Manchester, the University works closely with local government, industry and the wider community. Internationally, it maintains deep collaborations with universities, research institutions and businesses across regions including East Asia.

“We see both local and global partnerships as a crucial part of our success,” Professor Ivison said. “If you think about the world right now, and the challenges we face, they require universities to work together both locally and globally.”

Born in what is often described as the world’s first modern city, the University has long pursued new ideas in the public interest. Its history is marked by breakthroughs that have shaped modern life, from Ernest Rutherford’s splitting of the atom, which laid the foundations of nuclear physics, to Alan Turing’s pioneering work in computing and artificial intelligence.

As the University enters its third century, that legacy is being reframed to address increasingly complex global challenges spanning climate change, migration, geopolitical tensions and the transformative impact of technology.

“The University was founded during the Industrial Revolution, at a time of incredible economic and cultural change,” Professor Ivison said. “The founders were asking what kind of knowledge and leaders were needed for that period of transformation. We felt we needed to ask the same question now.”

The Challenge Accepted campaign was designed as part of that response. It aims to mobilise the University’s global community to help translate knowledge into real-world impact.

Alongside traditional funding streams including tuition, research income and government support, the University is now looking to deepen engagement with its global community through philanthropy and volunteering.

Philanthropic support will be channelled into four key priorities – research with purpose, innovation and enterprise, culture and community, and student inclusion and success – offering tangible pathways for alumni and partners to contribute, whether through funding, mentoring or collaboration.

“Even in a time of global uncertainty, we’re choosing to look to the future with aspiration and hope, and accept the challenges coming at us,” Professor Ivison said. “And we’re inviting our community to accept that challenge as well.”

From discovery to real-world impact

At the heart of Manchester 2035 is a focus on accelerating the journey from academic discovery to tangible societal impact. “We need to accelerate the point between the discoveries we make, and their impact in the world,” Professor Ivison said. “If there was ever a time for a university not to be an ivory tower, it’s now.”

This means rethinking how research is translated into applications, whether through industry partnerships, policy engagement or commercialisation.

The University is placing increasing emphasis on innovation, including supporting spinouts and entrepreneurship among both faculty and students. “One very powerful way of getting your work out into the world is through innovation and commercialisation,” Professor Ivison explained.

To support this, the University has launched a new initiative, Unit M, designed to rethink how universities contribute to innovation ecosystems. The goal is to bring ideas, from clean energy technologies to healthcare breakthroughs, into real-world use more effectively, often through global collaboration.

In healthcare, the University is expanding international partnerships such as its dual medical degree programme with Peking University, where students train across China and the UK while researchers collaborate on areas including cancer and ageing.

In sustainability and clean energy, it is building on its strengths in materials science and nuclear research, working with partners in regions at the forefront of green innovation.

Artificial intelligence is another key focus, particularly the ethical and responsible deployment of the technology. “How do you deploy this technology in a way that helps people and societies rather than undermines them?” Professor Ivison asked. “Tech companies won’t do it on their own, governments will struggle to do it on their own. I think universities have a crucial role to play.”

A different kind of student experience

Alongside research, Manchester 2035 places strong emphasis on reshaping the student experience, particularly through what the University calls “partner-enabled learning.”

“We want all of our students to put their learning into context, to put their learning into practice whilst they’re studying,” Professor Ivison explained.

Under this model, every student will have the opportunity to work on real-world projects with external partners, ranging from corporations and government agencies to charities and cultural organisations, as an integrated part of their academic programme.

The University is also focused on strengthening cross-cultural engagement within its diverse student societies, exchange programmes and international experiences.

The approach reflects both evolving labour market demands and shifting student expectations.

“Our students really want the opportunity to do this,” Professor Ivison noted. “It’s essential in a world being transformed by technology, where human skills such as critical thinking, communication and the ability to engage become even more important.”

 East Asia’s role in the next chapter

Central to the University’s campaign is its global community of more than 550,000 alumni, an international network that the University is increasingly looking to mobilise as a force for impact.

Within this global network, Hong Kong plays a pivotal role.

During his visit to Hong Kong, Professor Ivison met alumni eager to support current students, whether by opening up career opportunities or sharing professional networks. “They’re willing to connect and help our students in so many ways,” he said.

The University of Manchester East Asia Centre, with more than three decades of presence in the city, serves as a key platform for engaging over 10,000 alumni across the region.

Beyond alumni engagement, the Centre supports postgraduate education, including part-time programmes such as the Global MBA, enabling professionals to access Manchester’s academic expertise while advancing their careers. It also acts as a bridge for partnerships across Hong Kong and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

The University has built longstanding collaborations with leading institutions such as The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The University of Hong Kong, spanning disciplines from medicine and engineering to the humanities.

“It’s not only about tech and science and economics,” Professor Ivison said. “It’s also about culture, language, history, that’s what creates the conditions in which collaboration can occur.”

Looking ahead, he sees alumni, students and partners in the region as playing a defining role in shaping the University’s next decade. “We want to continue to attract the very best students from East Asia, and support them as they become future leaders,” he said. “We also want this to be a lifelong relationship.”