The Dating App Connections, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, is a project that is researching and providing free resources with the aim of supporting the healthy, safe, and fun use of dating apps. Based on research on heterosexual and LGBT+ dating app users in the UK, the resources explain some important considerations, how dating apps are shaping our worlds, and some do’s and don’ts for dating app users.

Each year we launch a report which highlights how we are addressing key issues facing humanity as set-out by the United Nations.  As the UK’s first university to have social responsibility as a core goal, we’ve developed a strategy to tackle the SDGs in four inter-related ways: through our research, learning and students, public engagement and operations.   

Our latest SDG report shows that the University published over 22,000 pieces of research on the SDGs in the past five years, which is 4% of the UK’s entire share of publications. It details teaching and learning programmes that address the SDGs, such as our ‘Creating a Sustainable World’ interdisciplinary unit. 

The University’s School of Social Sciences hosts a four-day Summer School on Women in Logic every year. The programme is aimed at 16- to 18-year-old women and girls from widening participation backgrounds, with the goal of addressing the underrepresentation of women in logic and philosophy, while also encouraging more widening participation students to pursue philosophy as a field of study. 

Co-founded by the University’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health PhD student Beth Barnes, the Alternative Football League (AF League) is the North West’s only fully inclusive football league for women, non-binary and transgender individuals. AF League have three leagues across Manchester and Liverpool with 30 teams and over 400 players. They aim to use football as a platform to improve the mental health of women and non-binary people throughout the UK with their very own mental health and inclusivity workshops.

Once a Month, created at the University of Manchester, is a student-led volunteer initiative tackling period poverty. They host monthly packing sessions to supply charities with period products and publish a monthly newsletter on topics such as menstrual health and the gender pain gap. The project’s success has led to its expansion across UK universities. 

Elimisha Msichana Elimisha Jamii na Astronomia (Swahili for “educate a girl, educate the entire community with Astronomy”) is a project founded by Faculty of Science and Engineering PhD student Ann Njeri. The project is addressing the issue of gender disparity and inequality in education amongst girls in rural Kenya and Uganda through outreach, mentorship, scholarships and targeted STEM workshop programmes which are guided by long-term student tracking and monitoring.

We’ve worked with our Students’ Union and current Women’s Officer to initiate and fund a new scheme providing free period products for our students, helping to combat period poverty and ensure sanitation for all.

Our Equality and Diversity Policy prevents discrimination based on gender and/or sex.

Our Dignity at Work and Study Policy covers harassment and discrimination against women.

Our Report and Support system addresses alleged cases of bullying, sexual harassment or discrimination.