Momentum is building behind The University of Manchester's groundbreaking partnership with The University of Cambridge, the first cross-UK innovation partnership, with its inaugural board meetings hosted across Manchester this week.
The agenda included a stakeholder meeting at Christie's Bistro on The University of Manchester's campus on Wednesday 4 February, and a creative roundtable in MediaCity on Thursday 5 February, hosted by Professor of Poetry, John McAuliffe, on the role of the creative economy in innovation.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) also hosted a meeting to showcase Manchester's transport network, providing the chance to share learnings between the two cities, before the first partnership advisory board meeting was held at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC).
The events were attended by both the mayors of Greater Manchester and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough respectively, Andy Burnham and Paul Bristow, and the Vice-Chancellors of the Universities of Manchester and Cambridge, Professor Duncan Ivison and Professor Deborah Prentice. Attendees also included the leaders of both city councils, Shaun Grady, UK Chair of AstraZeneca, and industry leaders from both regions.
The visit to Manchester follows on from the launch of the partnership and the initial stakeholder visit to Cambridge last year, after £4.8 million in funding was awarded by Research England for the pioneering city-to-city collaboration.
In October, the partnership announced its advisory board during the 2025 Innovate Cambridge Summit which brings together leaders from academia, industry and policy to guide the collaboration between the two cities.
The partnership is led by the universities of Cambridge and Manchester and their innovation ecosystem organisations Unit M and Innovate Cambridge. The ambitious collaboration was launched to boost UK economic growth and advance inclusive innovation, while supporting the delivery of industrial strategy and local growth plans.
The partnership is connected at every level: University to University, innovation ecosystem to ecosystem, council to council, Combined Authority to Combined Authority and business to business. This multi-layered connectivity allows ideas, talent, investment and opportunity to flow between places and organisations.
