University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public research university in Manchester , England . It was formed in 2004 by the amalgamation of the Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology . It is a member of the worldwide Universities Research Association group , the Russell Group of British research universities and the N8 Group . The University of Manchester has been a " red brick university " since 1880 when Victoria University gained its royal charter . The main site is south of Manchester city centre on Oxford Road in Chorlton - on - Medlock . In 2012 , the university had around 39 , 000 students and 10 , 400 staff , making it the largest single - site university in the United Kingdom . The University of Manchester had an income of £808 . 6 million in 2010 – 11 , of which £196 . 2 million was from research grants and contracts . In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise , Manchester came third in terms of research power and eighth for grade point average quality when including specialist institutions . More students try to gain entry to the University of Manchester than to any other university in the country , with more than 60 , 000 applications for undergraduate courses . According to the 2012 Highfliers Report , Manchester is the most targeted university by the Top 100 Graduate Employers . In the 2012 Academic Ranking of World Universities , Manchester is ranked 40th in the world and 5th in the UK . It is ranked 32nd in the world , 10th in Europe and 8th in the UK in the 2012 QS World University Rankings . The university owns the Manchester Museum , Whitworth Art Gallery , John Rylands Library and Jodrell Bank Observatory . The University of Manchester has 25 Nobel Laureates among its past and present students and staff , the third - highest number of any single university in the United Kingdom after Cambridge and Oxford . Four Nobel laureates are currently among its staff – more than any other British university History . Origins . The University of Manchester can trace its roots to the formation of the Mechanics ' Institute ( later to become UMIST ) in 1824 , and its history is linked to Manchester ' s emergence as the world ' s first industrial city . The English chemist John Dalton , together with Manchester businessmen and industrialists , established the Mechanics ' Institute to ensure that workers could learn the basic principles of science . Similarly , John Owens , a textile merchant , left a bequest of £96 , 942 in 1846 ( around £5 . 6 million in 2005 prices ) to found a college to educate men on non - sectarian lines . His trustee s established Owens College in 1851 in a house on the corner of Quay Street and Byrom Street which had been the home of the philanthropist Richard Cobden , and subsequently housed Manchester County Court . In 1873 the college moved to new premises on Oxford Road , Chorlton - on - Medlock and from 1880 it was a constituent college of the federal Victoria University . The university was established and granted a Royal Charter in 1880 becoming England ' s first civic university ; it was renamed the Victoria University of Manchester in 1903 and absorbed Owens College the following year . By 1905 , the institutions were large and active forces . The Municipal College of Technology , forerunner of UMIST , was the Victoria University of Manchester ' s Faculty of Technology while continuing in parallel as a technical college offering advanced courses of study . Although UMIST achieved independent university status in 1955 , the universities continued to work together . The Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology agreed to merge into a single institution in March 2003 . Before the merger , Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST counted 23 Nobel Prize winners amongst their former staff and students . Manchester has traditionally been strong in the sciences , it is where the nuclear nature of the atom was discovered by Rutherford , and the world ' s first stored - program computer was built at the university . Famous scientists associated with the university include physicist s Osborne Reynolds , Niels Bohr , Ernest Rutherford , James Chadwick , Arthur Schuster , Hans Geiger , Ernest Marsden and Balfour Stewart . The university has contributed in other fields , such as by the work of mathematician s Paul Erdős , Horace Lamb and Alan Turing ; author Anthony Burgess ; philosopher s Samuel Alexander , Ludwig Wittgenstein and Alasdair MacIntyre ; the Pritzker Prize and RIBA Stirling Prize winning architect Norman Foster and composer Peter Maxwell Davies all attended , or worked in , Manchester . 2004 to present . The University of Manchester was officially launched on 1 October 2004 when the Queen handed over its Royal Charter . The university was named " Sunday Times " University of the Year in 2006 after winning the inaugural " Times Higher Education Supplement " University of the Year prize in 2005 . The founding President and Vice - Chancellor of the new university was Alan Gilbert , former Vice - Chancellor of the University of Melbourne , who retired at the end of the 2009 – 2010 academic year . His successor was Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell , who had held a chair in physiology at the university since 1994 . One of the university ' s aims stated in the " Manchester 2015 Agenda " is to be one of the top 25 universities in the world , following on from Alan Gilbert ' s aim to " establish it by 2015 among the 25 strongest research universities in the world on commonly accepted criteria of research excellence and performance " . In 2011 , four Nobel laureates were on its staff : Andre Geim , Konstantin Novoselov , Sir John Sulston and Joseph E . Stiglitz . The EPSRC announced in Feb 2012 the formation of a National Institute for Graphene Research . The University of Manchester is the " single supplier invited to submit a proposal for funding the new £45m institute , £38m of which will be provided by the government " - ( EPSRC & Technology Strategy Board ) . In 2013 , an additional £23 million of funding from European Regional Development Fund was awarded to the insitute taking investment to £61 million . In August 2012 , it was announced that the university ' s Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences had been chosen to be the " hub " location for a new BP International Centre for Advanced Materials , as part of a $ 100 million initiative to create industry - changing materials . The centre will be aimed at advancing fundamental understanding and use of materials across a variety of oil and gas industrial applications and will be modelled on a hub and spoke structure , with the hub located at Manchester , and the spokes based at the University of Cambridge , Imperial College London , and the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign . Campus . The university ' s main site contains most of its facilities and is often referred to as " campus " , however Manchester is not a campus university as the concept is commonly understood . It is centrally located in the city and its buildings are integrated into the fabric of Manchester , with non - university buildings and major roads between . The campus occupies an area shaped roughly like a boot : the foot of which is aligned roughly south - west to north - east and is joined to the broader southern part of the boot by an area of overlap between former UMIST and former VUM buildings ; it comprises two parts : The names are not officially recognised by the university , but are commonly used , including in parts of its website and roughly correspond to the campuses of the old UMIST and Victoria University respectively . Fallowfield Campus is the main residential campus in Fallowfield , approximately 2 miles ( 3 km ) south of the main site . There are other university buildings across the city and the wider region , such as Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire and One Central Park in Moston , a collaboration between the university and other partners which offers office space for start - up firms and venues for conferences and workshops , Major projects . Following the merger , the university embarked on a £600 million programme of capital investment , to deliver eight new buildings and 15 major refurbishment projects by 2010 , partly financed by a sale of unused assets . These include : The Old Quadrangle . The buildings around the Old Quadrangle date from the time of Owens College , and were designed in a Gothic style by Alfred Waterhouse and his son Paul Waterhouse . The first to be built was the John Owens Building ( 1873 ) , formerly the Main Building . The others were added over the next thirty years . The Rear Quadrangle is older than the Old Quadrangle . Today , the museum continues to occupy part of one side , including the tower , and the grand setting of the Whitworth Hall is used for the conferment of degrees . Part of the old Christie Library ( 1898 ) now houses Christie ' s Bistro , and the remainder of the buildings house administrative departments . Contact Theatre . The Contact Theatre stages modern live performance and participatory work for younger audiences . The fortress - style building on Devas Street was completed in 1999 incorporating parts of its 1960s predecessor . It has a unique energy - efficient ventilation system , using its high towers to naturally ventilate the building without the use of air conditioning . The colourful and curvaceous interior houses three performance spaces , a lounge bar and " Hot Air " , a reactive public artwork in the foyer . Chancellors Hotel and Conference Centre . The Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre was built around The Firs , a house built in 1850 for Sir Joseph Whitworth by Edward Walters , who also designed Manchester ' s Free Trade Hall . Whitworth used the house as a social , political and business base , entertaining radicals such as John Bright , Richard Cobden , William Forster and T . H . Huxley at the time of the Reform Bill of 1867 . Whitworth , credited with raising the art of machine - tool building to a previously unknown level , supported the Mechanics Institute – the birthplace of UMIST - and was a founder the Manchester School of Design . Whilst living there , Whitworth used land at the rear ( now the site of the University ' s botanical glasshouses ) for testing his " Whitworth rifle " . In 1882 , The Firs was leased to C . P . Scott , editor of the Manchester Guardian and after Scott ' s death became the property of Owens College . It was the Vice - Chancellor ' s residence until 1991 . The house now forms the western wing of the Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre . The eastern wing houses the circular Flowers Theatre , six conference rooms and most of the hotel ' s bedrooms . Other Notable Buildings . Other notable buildings in the Oxford Road Campus include the Stephen Joseph Studio , a former German Protestant Church , and the Samuel Alexander Building , a grade II listed building erected in 1919 and home of the School of Arts , Languages and Cultures . Organisation and administration . Faculties and schools . The University of Manchester is divided into four faculties , each sub - divided into schools . Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences . The Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences comprises the Schools of " Medicine " ; " Dentistry " ; " Nursing , Midwifery and Social Work " ; " Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences " ; and " Psychological Sciences " . The origins of the Medical School are in the School of Anatomy established at Manchester Royal Infirmary by Joseph Jordan in 1814 . Medical education has continued there since then . The college was established in 1874 and is one of the largest in the country , with more than 400 medical students trained in each clinical year and more than 350 students in the pre - clinical / phase 1 years . Approximately 100 students who have completed pre - clinical training at the Bute Medical School ( University of St Andrews ) join the third year of the undergraduate medical programme each year . The university ' s Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences has links with a number of NHS hospitals in the North West of England and maintains a presences in four base hospitals : Manchester Royal Infirmary ( at the southern end of the university campus on Oxford Road ) , Wythenshawe Hospital , Hope Hospital and the Royal Preston Hospital for clinical medical training for doctors and nurses . The university is a founding partner of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre , established to focus high - end healthcare research in Greater Manchester . Future plans include collaboration with Manchester City Football Club and the National Health Service ( NHS ) to establish a world - leading research facility for sports science and treatment in Sportcity . In 1883 , a department of pharmacy was established at the university and , in 1904 , Manchester became the first British university to offer an honours degree in the subject . The School of Pharmacy benefits from links with Manchester Royal Infirmary and Wythenshawe and Hope hospitals providing its undergraduate students with hospital experience . The school ' s pharmacy students are the only such students in the UK to have access to an extensive course in secondary care . Manchester Dental School was rated the country ' s best dental school by " Times Higher Education " in 2010 and 2011 and it is one of the best funded because of its emphasis on research and enquiry - based learning approach . The university has obtained multi - million pound backing to maintain its high standard of dental education . The number of applicants far exceeds the number of places available ; in 2011 there were 1000 applicants for 75places . Graduates have some of the best employment prospects of UK dental school graduates . Other dental schools are adopting the school ' s teaching style . The University Dental Hospital of Manchester is part of Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust . It was established in 1884 in association with the School of Medicine at Owens College at Grosvenor Street in Chorlton on Medlock and in 1892 moved to Devonshire Street . In 1908 the hospital moved to a new building on Oxford Road designed in the Edwardian Baroque style by Charles Heathcote & Sons . In 1905 the university established a degree and a diploma in dental surgery ( first awarded in 1909 and 1908 respectively ) . A contribution from Godfrey Ermen towards the cost of building the hospital is recorded on a stone tablet near the entrance . Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences . The Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences comprises the schools of " Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science " ; " Petroleum Engineering " ; " Chemistry " ; " Computer Science " ; " Earth , Atmospheric and Environmental Science " ; " Physics and Astronomy " ; " Electrical & Electronic Engineering " ; " Materials " ; " Mathematics " ; and " Mechanical , Aerospace and Civil Engineering " . The Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics comprises the university ' s astronomical academic staff in Manchester and Jodrell Bank Observatory on rural land near Goostrey , about ten miles ( 16 km ) west of Macclesfield away from the lights of Greater Manchester . The observatory ' s Lovell Telescope , named after Sir Bernard Lovell , a professor at the Victoria University of Manchester who first proposed the telescope . Constructed in the 1950s , it is the third largest fully movable radio telescope in the world . It has played an important role in the research of quasar s , pulsar s and gravitational lens es , and in confirming Einstein ' s theory of General Relativity . A £1 . 2 billion Square Kilometre Array with 50 times more sensitivity and the ability to search space 10 , 000 times faster than any other telescope in existence will become operational in 2020 . Faculty of Humanities . The Faculty of Humanities includes the School of " Arts , Histories and Cultures " ( incorporating Archaeology ; Art History & Visual Studies ; Classics and Ancient History ; Drama ; English and American Studies ; History ; Museology ; Music ; and Religions and Theology ) and the Schools of " Combined Studies " ; " Education " ; " Environment and Development " ; " Architecture " ; " Languages , Linguistics and Cultures " ; " Law " ; " Social Sciences " and the " Manchester Business School " . Faculty of Life Sciences . The Faculty of Life Sciences consists of a single school . In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise the Faculty came 3rd in the UK on the basis of Grade Point Average for Biological Sciences with 107 staff submitted , and 2nd in the UK for Preclinical and Human Biological Sciences with 72 staff submitted . Finances . In the financial year ending 31 July 2011 , the University of Manchester had a total income of £808 . 58 million ( 2009 / 10 – £787 . 9 million ) and total expenditure of £754 . 51 million ( 2009 / 10 – £764 . 55 million ) . Key sources of income included £247 . 28 million from tuition fees and education contracts ( 2009 / 10 – £227 . 75 million ) , £203 . 22 million from funding body grants ( 2009 / 10 – £209 . 02 million ) , £196 . 24 million from research grants and contracts ( 2009 / 10 – £194 . 6 million ) and £14 . 84 million from endowment and investment income ( 2009 / 10 – £11 . 38 million ) . During the 2010 / 11 financial year the University of Manchester had a capital expenditure of £57 . 42 million ( 2009 / 10 – £37 . 95 million ) . At year end the University of Manchester had endowments of £158 . 7 million ( 2009 / 10 – £144 . 37 million ) and total net assets of £731 . 66 million ( 2009 / 10 – £677 . 12 million ) . Academic profile . The University of Manchester has the largest number of full - time students in the UK , unless the University of London ' s colleges are counted as a single university . It teaches more academic subjects than any other British university . Well - known figures among the university ' s current academic staff include computer scientist Steve Furber , economist Richard Nelson , novelist Jeanette Winterson ( who succeeded Colm Tóibín in 2012 ) and biochemist Sir John Sulston , Nobel laureate of 2002 . Research . The University of Manchester is a major centre for research and a member of the Russell Group of leading British research universities . In the first national assessment of higher education research since the university ' s founding , the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise , the university was ranked third in terms of research power ( after Cambridge and Oxford ) and sixth for grade point average quality among multi - faculty institutions ( eighth when including specialist institutions ) Manchester has the fifth largest research income of any British university ( after Oxford , Imperial , UCL and Cambridge ) . ( these five universities have been informally referred to as the " golden diamond " of research - intensive UK institutions ) . Manchester has a strong record in terms of securing funding from the three main UK research councils , EPSRC , MRC and BBSRC , being ranked fifth , seventh and first respectively . In addition , the university is one of the richest in the UK in terms of income and interest from endowments : a recent estimate placed it third , surpassed only by Oxford and Cambridge . Despite recent severe cuts in higher education Manchester remains at second place behind Oxford nationally in terms of total recurrent grants allocated by the HEFCE . Historically , Manchester has been linked with high scientific achievement : the university and its constituent former institutions combined had 25 Nobel Laureates among their students and staff , the third largest number of any single university in the United Kingdom ( after Oxford and Cambridge ) and the ninth largest of any university in Europe . Furthermore , according to an academic poll two of the top ten discoveries by university academics and researchers were made at the university ( namely the first working computer and the contraceptive pill ) . The university currently employs four Nobel Prize winners amongst its staff , more than any other in the UK . University of Manchester Library . The University of Manchester Library is the largest non - legal deposit library in the UK and the third - largest academic library after those of Oxford and Cambridge . It has the largest collection of electronic resources of any library in the UK . The John Rylands Library , founded in memory of John Rylands by his wife Enriqueta Augustina Rylands as an independent institution , is situated in a Victorian Gothic building on Deansgate , in the city centre . It houses an important collection of historic books and other printed materials , manuscripts , including archives and papyri . The papyri are in ancient languages and include the oldest extant New Testament document , Rylands Library Papyrus P52 , commonly known as the " St John Fragment " . In April 2007 the Deansgate site reopened to readers and the public after major improvements and renovations , including the construction of the pitched roof originally intended and a new wing . Collections . Manchester Museum . The Manchester Museum holds nearly 4 . 25 million items sourced from many parts of the world . The collections include butterflies and carvings from India , birds and bark - cloth from the Pacific , live frogs and ancient pottery from America , fossils and native art from Australia , mammals and ancient Egyptian craftsmanship from Africa , plants , coins and minerals from Europe , art from past civilisations of the Mediterranean , and beetles , armour and archery from Asia . In November 2004 , the museum acquired a cast of a fossilised " Tyrannosaurus rex " called " Stan " . The museum ' s first collections were assembled in 1821 by the Manchester Society of Natural History , and subsequently expanded by the addition of the collections of Manchester Geological Society . Due to the society ' s financial difficulties and on the advice of evolutionary biologist Thomas Huxley , Owens College accepted responsibility for the collections in 1867 . The college commissioned Alfred Waterhouse , architect of London ' s Natural History Museum , to design a museum on a site in Oxford Road to house the collections for the benefit of students and the public . The Manchester Museum was opened to the public in 1888 . Whitworth Art Gallery . The Whitworth Art Gallery houses collections of internationally famous British watercolours , textiles and wallpapers , modern and historic prints , drawings , paintings and sculpture . It contains 31 , 000 items in its collection . A programme of temporary exhibitions runs throughout the year and the Mezzanine Court displays sculpture . The gallery was founded by Robert Darbishire with a donation from Sir Joseph Whitworth in 1889 , as " The Whitworth Institute and Park " . In 1959 the gallery became part of the Victoria University of Manchester . In October 1995 the Mezzanine Court in the centre of the building was opened . It was designed to display sculptures and won a RIBA regional award . Rankings and reputation . According to " The Sunday Times " , " Manchester has a formidable reputation spanning most disciplines , but most notably in the life sciences , engineering , humanities , economics , sociology and the social sciences " . The 2009 THE - QS World University Rankings found Manchester overall 26th in the world . It was also ranked by the same report 5th internationally by employer reviews ( along with MIT and Stanford and ahead of Yale and Cornell ) by receiving a maximum 100 % rating which the university has retained since 2008 . The separate 2011 QS World University Rankings found that Manchester had slipped to 29th overall in the world ( in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings ) . The Academic Ranking of World Universities 2011 published by the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked Manchester 5th in the UK , 6th in Europe and 38th in the world . If US universities are excluded then the ARWU places Manchester as 10th in the world for 2011 . According to the ARWU rankings for 2009 the university is 9th in Europe for natural sciences and 4th in engineering . Similarly the HEEACT 2009 rankings for scientific performance place Manchester 5th in Europe for engineering , 8th for natural sciences and 3rd for social sciences . And finally THES ranks Manchester 6th in Europe for technology , 10th for life sciences and 7th for social sciences . More recently a survey by the Times Higher Education Supplement has shown that Manchester is placed 6th in Europe in the area of Psychology & Psychiatry . According to a further ranking by SCImago Research Group Manchester is ranked 5th in Europe amongst higher education institutions in terms of sheer research output for 2011 . In terms of research impact a further ranking places Manchester 6th in Europe . Manchester is also one of only seven universities in Europe which are rated Excellent in all seven main academic departments ( Biology , Chemistry , Mathematics , Physics , Psychology , Economics and Political Science ) by the 2010 Centre for Higher Education ' s Development ' s Excellence Rankings . The Manchester Business School is currently ranked 29th worldwide ( 4th nationally ) by the Financial Times . The latest THES rankings place Manchester 11th in Europe with respect to research volume , income and reputation and 7th in the UK . According to the High Fliers Research Limited ' s survey , University of Manchester students are being targeted by more top recruiters for graduate vacancies than any other UK university students for three consecutive years ( 2007 – 2009 ) . Furthermore the university has been ranked joint 20th in the world for 2009 according to the Professional Ranking of World Universities . Its main compilation criterion is the number of Chief Executive Officers ( or number 1 executive equivalent ) which are among the " 500 leading worldwide companies " as measured by revenue who studied in each university . The ranking places the University only behind Oxford nationally . Manchester is ranked 5th among British universities according to a popularity ranking which is based on the degree of traffic that a university ' s website attracts . Also a further report places Manchester within the top 20 universities outside the US . Manchester was also given a prestigious award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts by the " Times Higher Education Awards 2010 " . At a recent ranking undertaken by the Guardian , Manchester is placed 5th in the UK in international reputation behind the usual four : Oxbridge , UCL and Imperial . Furthermore , according to the latest QS World University Rankings , Manchester is ranked 4th in Europe strictly in terms of both academic and employer reputation . However , while as a rule world rankings ( such as the ARWU , THES and HEEACT ) typically place the university within the top 10 in Europe , national studies are less complimentary ; The Times ' Good University Guide 2011 ' ranked Manchester 30th out of 113 Universities in the UK , ' The Complete University Guide 2012 ' in association with The Independent placed it at 29th out of 116 universities whilst ' The Guardian University Guide 2012 ' ranked Manchester at 41st out of 119 universities in the UK . This apparent paradox is mainly a reflection of the different ranking methodologies employed by each listing : global rankings focus on research and international prestige , whereas national rankings are largely based on teaching and the student experience . Manchester University Press . Manchester University Press is the university ' s academic publishing house . It publishes academic monograph s , textbooks and journals , most of which are works from authors based elsewhere in the international academic community , and is the third - largest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press . Student life . Students ' Union . The University of Manchester Students ' Union is the representative body of students at the university and the UK ' s largest students ' union . It was formed out of the merger between UMIST Students ' Association and University of Manchester Union when the parent organisations UMIST and the Victoria University of Manchester merged on 1 October 2004 . Unlike many other students ' unions in the UK , it does not have a president , but is run by an 8 member executive team who share joint responsibility . Sport . The University of Manchester operates sports clubs via the Athletics Union while student societies are operated by the Students ' Union . The university has more than 80 health and fitness classes while over 3 , 000 students are members of the 44 various Athletic Union clubs . The sports societies vary widely in their level and scope . Many more popular sports operate several university teams and departmental teams which compete in leagues against other teams within the university . Teams include : lacrosse , korfball , dodgeball , hockey , rugby league , rugby union , football , basketball , netball and cricket . The Manchester Aquatics Centre , the swimming pool used for the Manchester Commonwealth Games is on the campus . The university competes annually in 28 different sports against Leeds and Liverpool universities in the Christie Cup , which Manchester has won for seven consecutive years . The university has achieved success in the BUCS ( British University & College Sports ) competitions , with its mens water polo 1st team winning the national championships ( 2009 , 2010 , 2011 ) under the tutelage of coach Andy Howard . It was positioned in eighth place in the overall BUCS rankings for 2009 / 10 The Christie Cup is an inter - university competition between Liverpool , Leeds and Manchester in numerous sports since 1886 . After the Oxford and Cambridge rivalry , the Christie ' s Championships is the oldest Inter – University competition on the sporting calendar : the cup was a benefaction of Richard Copley Christie . Every year elite sportsmen and sportswomen are selected for membership of the " XXI Club " , a society formed in 1932 to promote sporting excellence at the university . Most members have gained a Full Maroon for representing the university and many have excelled at a British Universities or National level . University Challenge . In the eight years up to 2013 Manchester have won the BBC2 quiz programme " University Challenge " four times , drawing equal with Magdalen College , Oxford for the highest number of series wins . Since merging as the University of Manchester , the university has consistently reached the latter stages of the competition , progressing to at least the semi - finals every year since 2005 . In 2006 , Manchester beat Trinity Hall , Cambridge , to record the university ' s first triumph in the competition . The year after , the university finished in second place after losing out to the University of Warwick in the final . In 2009 , the team battled hard in the final against Corpus Christi College , Oxford . At the gong , the score was 275 - 190 to Corpus Christi College after an extraordinary performance from Gail Trimble . However , the title was eventually given to the University of Manchester after it was discovered that Corpus Christi team member Sam Kay had graduated eight months before the final was broadcast , so that the team was disqualified . Manchester reached the semi - finals in the 2010 competition before being beaten by Emmanuel College , Cambridge . The university did not enter the 2011 series for an unknown reason . However , Manchester did enter a year later and won University Challenge 2012 . Manchester has since defended its title to win University Challenge 2013 , beating University College London 190 - 140 . Student housing . Before they merged , the two former universities had for some time been sharing their residential facilities . Whitworth Park Halls of Residence is owned by the University of Manchester and houses 1 , 085 students . It is notable for its triangular shaped accommodation blocks which gave rise to the nickname of " Toblerones " , after the chocolate bar . Their designer took inspiration from a hill created from excavated soil which had been left in 1962 from an archaeological dig led by John Gater . A consequence of the triangular design was a reduced cost for the construction company . A deal struck between the university and Manchester City Council meant the council would pay for the roofs of all student residential buildings in the area , Allan Pluen ' s team is believed to have saved thousands on the final cost of the halls . They were built in the mid 1970s . Main campus . The site of the halls was previously occupied by many small streets whose names have been preserved in the names of the halls . Grove House is an older building that has been used by the university for many different purposes over the last sixty years . Its first occupants in 1951 were the Appointments Board and the Manchester University Press . The shops in Thorncliffe Place were part of the same plan and include banks and a convenience store . Notable people associated with the halls include Friedrich Engels , whose residence is commemorated by a blue plaque on Aberdeen House ; the physicist Brian Cox ; and Irene Khan , Secretary General of Amnesty International . The former UMIST Campus has five halls of residence near to Sackville Street building ( Weston , Lambert , Fairfield , Chandos , and Wright Robinson ) , and several other halls within a 5 - 15 minute walk , such as the Grosvenor group of halls . Moberly Tower has been demolished . Other residences include Vaughn House , once the home of the clergy serving the Church of the Holy Name , and George Kenyon Hall at University Place ; Crawford House and Devonshire House adjacent to the Manchester Business School and Victoria Hall in Higher Cambridge Street . Fallowfield and Victoria Park Campuses . The Fallowfield Campus , 2 miles ( 3 . 2 km ) south of the Oxford Road Campus is the largest of the university ' s residential campuses . The Owens Park group of halls with a landmark tower is at its centre , while Oak House is another hall of residence . Woolton Hall is next to Oak House . Allen Hall is a traditional hall near Ashburne Hall ( Sheavyn House being annexed to Ashburne ) . Richmond Park is a recent addition to the campus . Victoria Park Campus , comprises several halls of residence . Among these are St Anselm Hall with Canterbury Court and Pankhurst Court , Dalton - Ellis Hall , Hulme Hall ( including Burkhardt House ) , St Gabriel ' s Hall and Opal Gardens Hall . St Anselm Hall is the only all - male hall in the United Kingdom . Notable people . Many notable people have worked or studied at one or both of the two former institutions that now form the University of Manchester , including 25 Nobel prize laureates . Some of the best - known include John Dalton ( founder of modern atomic theory ) , Ludwig Wittgenstein ( considered one of the most significant philosophers of the 20th century , who studied for a doctorate in engineering ) , George E . Davis ( founder of the discipline of Chemical Engineering ) , Bernard Lovell ( a pioneer of radio astronomy ) , Alan Turing ( one of the founders of computer science and artificial intelligence ) , Tom Kilburn and Frederic Calland Williams ( who developed Small - Scale Experimental Machine ( SSEM ) or " Baby " , the world ' s first stored - program computer at Victoria University of Manchester in 1948 ) , Irene Khan ( former Secretary General of Amnesty International ) , the author Anthony Burgess and Robert Bolt ( two times Academy Award winner and three times Golden Globe winner for writing the screenplay for " Lawrence of Arabia " and " Doctor Zhivago " ) . A number of politicians are associated with the university , including the current Presidents of the Republic of Ireland , Belize , Iceland , Trinidad and Tobago and Somaliland , and several ministers in the United Kingdom , Malaysia , Canada and Singapore and Chaim Weizmann , a chemist and the first President of Israel . A number of well - known actors studied at the university , including Benedict Cumberbatch . Nobel prize winners . Overall , there have been 25 Nobel Prize s awarded to staff and students past and present , with some of the most important discoveries of the modern age being made in Manchester . Chemistry Physics Physiology and Medicine Economics