THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

Their core work

The University of Manchester is a major UK research university with world-leading expertise in graphene and two-dimensional materials, particle physics, high-performance computing, and biomedical sciences. They translate fundamental materials science discoveries into sensor technologies, energy applications, and advanced manufacturing processes. The university also operates significant research infrastructure for radio astronomy, nuclear physics, and computational neuroscience, and serves as a training hub through extensive Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship and doctoral network programs.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early H2020 period (2015-2018), Manchester's work centered on graphene discovery and characterization, radio astronomy infrastructure, regenerative medicine, and building HPC/exascale capabilities. By the later period (2019-2022), the focus shifted markedly toward applied uses of 2D materials, machine learning, simulation, sustainability, and FAIR data principles — reflecting a transition from fundamental discovery toward computational methods and real-world impact. The emergence of proteomics and supramolecular chemistry as recent keywords also signals diversification of their chemistry and life sciences portfolio.

Manchester is pivoting from materials discovery and infrastructure building toward data-driven, simulation-heavy research with increasing emphasis on sustainability and applied machine learning — making them an ideal partner for projects that need computational depth alongside materials expertise.

How they like to work

With 131 coordinated projects (36% of their portfolio), Manchester is a confident consortium leader that also readily joins as a partner in large multi-national projects. Their 2,298 unique partners across 79 countries indicate a hub-style network — they connect widely rather than working with a fixed circle. This makes them easy to approach for new collaborations but also means they are selective and experienced in managing large consortia.

Manchester has collaborated with 2,298 unique partner organizations across 79 countries, making it one of the most extensively networked universities in H2020. Their reach spans virtually all EU member states and extends well beyond Europe, reflecting their status as a global research hub.

What sets them apart

Manchester is the birthplace of graphene research (Nobel Prize 2010) and remains the European epicenter for 2D materials science — no other university matches their depth and breadth in this domain within H2020. They combine this materials expertise with serious computational infrastructure (HPC, exascale, simulation) and a massive international network, meaning they can anchor consortia that need both experimental and computational capabilities. Their 366-project track record and €215M in EC funding make them one of the most experienced and reliable partners in the entire H2020 ecosystem.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FNPMLS
  Coordinated by Manchester with €1.85M EC funding — their largest coordinated ERC-scale project in nuclear physics using laser spectroscopy.
• GRAPHENERGY3
  Exemplifies their signature graphene expertise — electrochemical exfoliation for large-area graphene synthesis, directly linking their 2D materials leadership to energy applications.
• Triangulum
  Nearly €1M EC contribution to a flagship smart city demonstration project, showing Manchester's ability to apply research to urban-scale real-world deployment.