Ranked seventh in the world according to the QS World University Rankings® 2018, the University of Manchester is a prestigious red brick university and is also a member of the Russell Group: a select network of leading research-intensive universities in the UK. The University is investing £1 billion over 10 years into its campus and facilities, helping to sustain its incredible history of innovation, with 25 Nobel Prize winners among its current and former students and staff. The University helped with the development of the world's first modern computer in 1948, and was where Ernest Rutherford first split the atom in 1917.
Today, The University of Manchester is at the forefront of cutting edge research conducted by its Manchester Institute of Education. The Manchester Institute of Education (MIE) undertakes research that is at the cutting edge of theory and practice. We contribute to improvements in the overall quality of education for learners, their families, and communities in educational settings throughout the world. 78% of our research activity was defined as “world-leading” or “internationally excellent” in a nation-wide exercise in during REF2014, considerably above the sector average. MIE's international research expertise crosses diverse areas, including educational policy and leadership, critical pedagogies and maths education, special educational and additional needs, student mental health, and equity, disadvantage and poverty.
Our University is a very diverse community: 16% of our staff are from a black and minority ethnic background, women make up 48% of our workforce, international staff members make up 22%. We also have more than 40,000 students, including 11,000 international students from more than 160 countries.
People
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Professor Pamela Qualter is a Professor of Psychology for Education who has researched loneliness among youth for the past 25 years. In her work, she has explored the causes and consequences of loneliness, and examined individual differences in the prospective profile of loneliness across the lifespan. Prof. Qualter collaborated with Prof. Manuela on the BBC Loneliness Experiment, the world’s largest survey of loneliness. In the Radio 4 series ‘Anatomy of Loneliness’, she offered expertise on age differences in the experience of loneliness, and discussed how there a key transition points during adolescence and young adulthood that increase vulnerability to loneliness. |
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Ms. Lily Verity is a PhD student at The University of Manchester. She is conducting interviews and focus groups with young people in the Fit2Belong project, so we have a clear idea of what loneliness means to youth across the different countries. Those findings will feed into the development of teaching and learning materials developed by project partners. Lily received a BSc (hons.) in Forensic Psychology from the University of Central Lancashire and has recently completed MSc Research Methods (with Education) at the University of Manchester. Lily’s research interests centre around mental health in young people. She is currently in the second year of her PhD which investigates experiences of loneliness in childhood and adolescents, including how children and adolescents cope with loneliness. She previously worked as a research assistant on several projects including one that examined mental health screening in cystic fibrosis centres across Europe, and another that identified effective evidence-based social and emotional learning strategies for teachers and schools. |
