UK sees its first university merger
For the first time ever, two UK research-led universities have joined together to become the largest 'super-university' in the country. The University of Manchester, newly named following a merger between the Victoria University of Manchester and the Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), will educate 34,000 students a year and will have more academic subjects and departments that any other UK university. 'We now have the opportunity to create a truly world class university that will continue to attract the best students, the most talented staff and significant research funds from around the world,' stated the Vice-Chancellors of the two universities in a joint statement when the plans for the merger were first approved in October 2002 It is hoped combining resources and departments will help the University of Manchester develop the critical mass necessary for world-class teaching and research, making it the equal of leading UK institutions such as the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Former Vice-Chancellor of the Victoria University of Manchester, Professor Sir Martin Harris, said in 2003, 'What [the merger] will mean is a further range of opportunities and capacity. There will be combinations in the new university that neither UMIST nor ourselves can currently offer. Combinations such as medicine and engineering, which are really part of the future, will be much, much easier to bring about.' The merger was made possible after the UK government and the Science Research Investment Fund provided total funding of 80 million GBP (116 million euro).
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