The University of Manchester is using Wellcome Trust funding to weave its biomedical research together, breaking down silos between departments and centralising shared facilities. This matters because large research institutions often struggle with fragmentation—teams working in isolation, duplicated equipment, and early-career researchers falling through gaps between grants. The funding addresses these structural weaknesses by creating networks of research coordinators, supporting cross-disciplinary consortia, and providing bridging awards that keep promising scientists employed while they wait for follow-on funding. If this approach succeeds, it could change how universities manage biomedical research infrastructure. The model of strategic coordination—rather than leaving individual labs to compete for survival—could become a template for other institutions. Early-career researchers have already secured major fellowships, suggesting the support system works. The public engagement component, run through the Nowgen Centre, ensures that this institutional restructuring also connects with the public, making the science visible beyond the university walls. The impact is primarily institutional and systemic, not a direct consumer product—it is about making the engine of discovery run more smoothly.
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The University of Manchester has been successful in securing just over £5millon since 2011 from the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF). This funding is helping the University to realise its biomedical strategy, by: +/- Facilitating integration ISSF has part-funded a network of strategic research co-ordinators who ensure closer integration of biomedical research and merging of core facilities. +/- Facilitating research ISSF has supported 25 Research Consortia that integrate the expertise of principal investigators from FLS and FMHS. This scheme has now been expanded to facilitate integration with colleagues in FEPS and FH. +/- Supporting early career fellows ISSF has funded seven fellowship awards to early career researchers. To date, one recipient has been appointed to a lectureship, while two recipients have secured Wellcome Trust-funded Sir Henry Dale Fellowships and one recipient has received a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship. +/- Supporting research careers ISSF supported 42 bridging awards for researchers where follow-on grant applications were submitted. The success rate of these applications is ~50%. +/- Supporting collaborative academic visits ISSF has supported 25 awards for international academic visits to establish research collaborations, and an additional 21 awards for researcher training. +/- Enhancing core facilities Driven by ISSF support, core research facilities in FMHS and FLS have been integrated and enhanced. +/- Enhancing research infrastructure Eight ISSF-funded Experimental Officers, embedded within core facilities, have disseminated state-of-the-art techniques to individual laboratories. +/- Support for public engagement activities ISSF continues to part-fund the Public Programmes team at the Nowgen Centre, and has supported 19 response-mode public engagement projects that pursue innovative cross-disciplinary projects. In 2014-2016, the Public Programmes team at the Nowgen Centre, Central Manchester NHS Trust, will be working with the ISSF team to evaluate the impact of ISSF public engagement funding in this period.
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