University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is a public research university in northwest England. It took its current form in 2004, when the Victoria University of Manchester merged with UMIST. The Victoria University traced its roots to Owens College, founded in 1851, and UMIST grew out of the Manchester Mechanics' Institute of 1824. Manchester's research history includes Ernest Rutherford's work on the atomic nucleus and the Manchester Baby of 1948, the first stored-program computer. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov isolated graphene there in 2004.

The university has three faculties: Biology, Medicine and Health; Science and Engineering; and Humanities. It is known for materials science, physics, chemical engineering, computer science, development studies and business. The Alliance Manchester Business School runs its graduate management programs. Research facilities include the National Graphene Institute and the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre. Other major centers are the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, the Royce Institute hub for advanced materials and the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire.

Manchester has about 45,000 students, and roughly a third are postgraduates. International students come from more than 160 countries. Around 25 Nobel laureates have studied or worked there, including Rutherford, Geim and Novoselov. Former students include the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who studied engineering there, the physicist Brian Cox and the actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

Graduate students choose from one-year taught MSc and MA degrees, the research-training MRes, and PhDs lasting three to four years. Many PhD places are funded through UKRI doctoral training partnerships and industry-sponsored centers. The year runs on two semesters. Doctoral funding comes from research councils, faculty studentships and industrial partners. The main campus runs along the Oxford Road corridor just south of the city center, in a large and relatively affordable city.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, University of Manchester lists 461 graduate programs across 56 subjects: 309 master's programs and 134 doctoral programs, with the widest choice in health & medical sciences, biology and earth & environmental sciences. University of Manchester holds rank 67 in the GSN Overall University Ranking.