The University of Manchester is one of Britain's most famous and forward-thinking universities, with a rich heritage stretching 180 years and an exciting agenda for the future. Today, research remains at the heart of the University and the quality, breadth and volume of research activity is unparalleled in the UK, with strong collaborative links with industry and public services.
    
World-leading

The University of Manchester researches in a wider range of academic areas than any other UK university, and our commitment to research excellence is reflected in the outstanding results received in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in 2008.

Manchester is ranked third behind only Oxford and Cambridge in terms of 'research power' with 65% of research activity - amounting to 1,193 full-time equivalent staff - judged to be 'world-leading' (4*) or 'internationally excellent' (3*). This puts us among only a handful of universities with an internationally significant research profile over a wide range of subject areas. Further information about Manchester's performance in the 2008 RAE can be found on our website.

The University of Manchester has climbed six places in the Shanghai Jiao Tong annual league table, to 38th. Manchester is now ranked sixth in Europe, and fifth in the UK.  The University has made steady progress in the rankings, from 78th in 2004 to this latest high of 38th.

Each year, the University attracts more than £250 million of research funding from external sources and we invest a further £96 million of our own funds into research. We are amongst the top three universities for grant funding from the main UK engineering, science and bioscience research councils.

As a postgraduate student at The University of Manchester, you will make a major contribution to our research excellence, adding to the flourishing research culture of our schools, research groups and institutes. You will also benefit from international research leadership under distinguished scholars. Whether you are studying for a taught postgraduate award or a research degree, you will be directly involved with cutting-edge research at the highest level.