She is one of 44 new Fellows announced this year, recognised for their outstanding contributions to research, innovation, leadership, and public life in Wales and beyond. Fellows of the LSW are part of distinguished body of interdisciplinary experts who promote, support, and advise on research and policy benefitting Wales by sharing their expertise, informing on policy, fostering collaboration, and providing mentorship.

Professor Hywel Thomas, President of the Learned Society of Wales, said: “Welcoming our new Fellows to the Society is always one of the highlights of the Society’s year. I congratulate them on this recognition of the excellence and importance of their work and contributions to life in Wales and beyond. We look forward to bringing their experience and knowledge to our work on policy and researcher development.”

Specialising in the mathematics of liquid crystals and partially ordered materials, Professor Majumdar’s research has been instrumental in advancing the field in an interdisciplinary context. Bridging mathematical modelling, applied analysis and theoretical physics, she has led international and interdisciplinary research networks, collaborating with partners across four continents.

Throughout her career, she has also been a committed advocate for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), leading national and international initiatives to support underrepresented groups in mathematics. In 2015 she became the inaugural winner of the London Mathematical Society’s Anne Bennett Prize, awarded for contributions to mathematics and for inspiring women mathematicians. She also pioneered and co-led the hugely acclaimed “UK Retreats for Women in Applied Mathematics” from 2023-2026.

The 2026 cohort of LSW Fellows reflects the breadth of expertise across Welsh academia and civic society, spanning the arts, humanities, sciences, and engineering. This year marks a significant milestone for the Society, with 52% of new Fellows being women, the highest proportion in its history.

Professor Thomas added “I am also thrilled that our work on equity, diversity and inclusion is starting to see the Fellowship include increasing numbers of women. In three of the last five years, women have made almost or just over 50% of the new intake. This has been the result of concerted efforts to embed our EDI commitment at every turn, to make the nomination process more accessible, and to run a series of events that specifically target women academics and civic leaders who might be interested in joining the Fellowship.”

This year’s Fellows include leading figures in music, heritage, sculpture, climate science, coastal research, and ocean governance, highlighting Wales’s global contributions to cultural vitality and environmental stewardship. The Society also emphasised the growing importance of engineering and artificial intelligence, recognising researchers pioneering AI applications in manufacturing and innovators developing technologies to improve energy and carbon management in buildings.

Professor Majumdar’s election places her among a distinguished community of scholars whose achievements continue to shape Wales’s academic, cultural, and scientific landscape.

Professor Apala Majumdar said "I am delighted and honoured to be elected Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales. It is a fantastic opportunity to engage with the best minds in Wales, and to contribute to Welsh higher education and Welsh mathematics. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the support of my nominator, Professor Marco Marletta and my seconder, Professor Gennady Mishuris, and the generous and continuous encouragement of my parents and friends in Cardiff. I look forward to working closely with the Learned Society of Wales and bringing different communities together".

Organised by , the roundtable was hosted at the University as one of 24 research-intensive universities which have pledged to strengthen the NHS and the public health system under the Russell Group’s Healthier Communities 2030 commitment, through expanding training, widening access to health careers and accelerating innovation.

A vital part of this commitment is engaging stakeholders in each region, to make sure universities are best applying their globally renowned expertise to local needs and experiences.

Attendees included representatives from the NHS and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), in addition to academics, local councils, alumni and current students.

They heard from Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor, and Professor Ashley Blom, Vice-President and Dean for the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľ, and medical students and graduates of the Manchester Access Programme (MAP).

The discussion was framed on the themes of pipeline, skills and partnership, and how these can be aligned to create a more resilient and inclusive future health workforce.

ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľ is proud to run the UK’s largest medical school and it is the biggest provider of graduate healthcare professionals to the NHS in the North West. This is underpinned by the University’s deep partnerships across the health and care ecosystem.

MAP, which marks its 20^th anniversary this year, has supported more than 8,500 young people from under-represented backgrounds access higher education.

Under the Healthier Communities 2030 commitment, Russell Group universities are aiming to train 181,000 UK graduates with the skills the country needs to build a healthier future.

The universities have also pledged to harness research expertise to increase support for new life sciences spinouts, with the aim to help them secure around ÂŁ5 billion in external investment.

For more information on the Healthier Communities initiative, please visit the .

The research partially answers a quandary puzzling scientists for decades on why squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) in the mouth, lungs, and skin often look similar under the microscope, but vary dramatically in how aggressively they grow and spread. Squamous cell carcinomas are a type of epithelial cancer.

Co-author from ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľ says the key to the difference lies not in the cancer cells themselves, but in the fibroblasts—supporting cells in the surrounding tissue—that send powerful biochemical signals shaping how the cancer behaves.

The translational study published in Nature Metabolism is funded by Cancer Research UK, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research.

According to the study, fibroblasts from the mouth and lungs have strikingly different patterns of fat metabolism, producing and transferring different types of fats to nearby cancer cells.

The transferred fats act as molecular cues that push SCC cells to become more invasive through a process known as epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition, a change that allows cancer cells to move more freely and spread.

In oral cancers, fibroblasts supply cancer cells with sphingomyelins, a type of fat that activates the ceramide/S1P/STAT3 pathway, a chain of molecular events known to drive cancer cell migration and invasion.

In lung cancers, fibroblasts instead transfer another type of fat called triglycerides, which stimulate cholesterol production inside the cancer cells and fuel a highly invasive behaviour associated with poorer patient survival.

By contrast, fibroblasts in the skin contain far fewer fats, and as a result, cutaneous SCC tends to be less invasive than its oral or lung counterparts.

Dr Viros said: “These findings highlight that the tumour microenvironment—particularly the fibroblasts and the fats they produce—plays a decisive role in determining how dangerous a particular SCC will become.

“It suggests several promising therapeutic strategies, including blocking fat production in fibroblasts, preventing cancer cells from taking up these fats, or disrupting the pathways that break them down once inside the tumour. It is encouraging that many drugs that already exist approved for lipid disorders, like statins, can potentially be repurposed to prevent aggressive epithelial cancers”.

Co-author Dr Timothy Budden from the University of Liverpool said: “Targeting these fat‑driven interactions could slow or even halt the spread of oral and lung SCC, offering new hope for patients with these aggressive cancers.

“So we think this work opens the door to more personalized cancer treatments based on the biology of the tissue where the tumour arises, rather than treating all SCCs as a single disease.”

• The paper Tissue-specific fibroblast lipid cues impose the rate of epithelial cancer invasion is available DOI:

This new technique utilises self‑assembling polymer carriers for gene delivery, improving effectiveness and reducing the toxicity to cells over existing techniques in lab tests. These advances rely on safe and efficient methods for delivering gene‑editing tools into cells, which is a key bottleneck in enabling widespread application. Improving upon existing gene delivery methods has become essential to enable these developments and allow more effective transfection.

The process of introducing DNA or RNA into cells to change gene expression, can be achieved using viral or non‑viral vectors. While viral vectors are powerful, they raise safety and manufacturing concerns, driving intense interest in the development of safer, non‑viral alternatives. Transfection, using polymeric carriers or lipid nanoparticles to deliver genetic material, is a key non‑viral strategy. However current systems often struggle to balance efficiency and toxicity. In order to develop polymer systems for molecular delivery applications, more advanced polymer systems need to be developed and screened.

In research published in ACS Materials Letters, the team demonstrates that polyplexes produced via Polymerization‑Induced Electrostatic Self‑Assembly (PIESA) offer a more effective and versatile route to gene delivery than conventional produced polymeric polyplexes. Polyplexes are formed when positively charged polymers bind to negatively charged DNA or RNA, creating nanoscale complexes that can enable genetic material to enter cells. Traditionally, polyplexes are prepared using pre-synthesised polymers which are then mixed with DNA or RNA. However, this post‑assembly step can lead to instability and increased cell toxicity, often limiting the size of genetic payloads that can be delivered effectively.

PIESA using PET‑RAFT (Photoinduced Electron/Energy Transfer Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain-Transfer) polymerisation overcomes these limitations by driving electrostatic self‑assembly during polymer growth. As the polymer forms, it binds to the genetic material, producing polyplexes with controlled sizes, structures, and physicochemical properties. By using a “one‑pot” approach to produce polyplexes, the need for complex post‑processing is avoided, resulting in improved consistency and facilitating high‑throughput screening of formulations

The study shows that PIESA‑derived polyplexes are less toxic to cells than their conventionally assembled counterparts and act as more effective gene delivery vehicles in transfection trials, achieving higher gene expression while preserving cell viability.

Transitioning to advanced synthesis and assembly strategies such as PIESA could open the door to the next‑generation of non‑viral gene delivery systems, with improved transfection, broader formulation windows, and reduced cell toxicity.

Dr Lee Fielding added “This approach potentially opens up a more reliable and scalable route to non‑viral gene delivery. By innovating in how polyplexes can be prepared and screened for improved efficiency, while reducing toxicity, we hope it will help accelerate the development of gene delivery technologies and make them more accessible across biomedical research and clinical applications."

• Higher levels of education are consistently linked to longer life expectancy
• In some countries, the gap between education levels exceeds a decade of life
• Women aged 20-49 show particularly large differences in mortality by education
• New statistical methods allow researchers to estimate mortality even where data is missing
• The study provides new evidence from under-researched regions including North Africa and Western Asia

What did the study find?

The study, funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences analysed mortality patterns across 13 countries in South-East Europe, Western Asia and North Africa between 1980 and 2015. 

Researchers reconstructed mortality rates by age, sex and education level using a new statistical model designed to work even where official data is incomplete or inconsistent.

The findings revealed a clear and consistent pattern: people with more education live significantly longer than those with little or no formal education. 

How was the research done?

The research was carried out by Professor Arkadiusz Wiśniowski from ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľ, alongside Dr Andrea Tamburini and Dr Dilek Yildiz from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.

The team developed an innovative modelling framework that combines data from multiple international sources, including the United Nations, Eurostat and Demographic and Health Surveys.

This approach made it possible to estimate life expectancy differences even in countries where reliable birth and death records are limited. 

Where are the biggest differences seen?

In some countries included in the study, the difference in life expectancy between people with higher and lower levels of education was equivalent to more than ten years.

The gap was particularly striking among women aged 20 to 49, where those with secondary education or higher experienced much lower mortality rates.

Why does education affect life expectancy?

The findings highlight the wide-ranging impact of education on people’s lives.

“Access to education means better health knowledge, better jobs, and better access to healthcare - but it also changes how people make decisions about their lives,” said Professor Arkadiusz Wiśniowski. “It’s a powerful social equaliser.” 

Why has this been hard to measure before?

Until now, much of the global evidence linking education and life expectancy has come from high-income countries with strong data systems.

In many parts of the world, incomplete or inconsistent records have made it difficult to understand how education shapes health outcomes.

Why does this matter?

By filling these data gaps, the study provides one of the most comprehensive pictures to date of how education influences survival across diverse global populations.

The model could now be applied more widely to help governments and international organisations better understand population health and plan future services.

What are the implications?

The researchers say the findings strengthen the case for treating education as a key public health intervention, not just a social or economic priority.

“We hope this work helps policymakers see education not only as a path to better jobs, but as a key public health intervention,” said Professor Wiśniowski. “Investing in education is investing in life itself.” 

Publication details

This research was funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and is published in Demographic Research.

DOI:

Researchers from Manchester are among the international team awarded the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their contributions to the Muon g‑2 experiment, a 60‑year scientific endeavour spanning CERN, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Fermilab. The prize follows Manchester’s prominent role in the 2025 Breakthrough Prize, awarded to the ATLAS and LHCb collaborations at CERN for precision tests of the Standard Model and discoveries including new particles and matter–antimatter asymmetries.

Valued at $3 million, the Breakthrough Prize is often dubbed the “Oscars of Science” and is considered the world’s premier science award. Unlike the Nobel Prize, which recognises up to three individuals or a single organisation, the Breakthrough Prize honours the approximately 350 collaborators across the world who produced the most precise measurement ever achieved at a particle accelerator: the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon.

Understanding the muon’s magnetic moment

Muons, one of the smallest known particles, interact with a sea of virtual particles that constantly flicker in and out of existence. Acting like tiny magnets, their magnetic moment shifts slightly due to these quantum effects. Comparing the measured value with theoretical predictions reveals the composition of this quantum “foam” and tests whether unknown particles or forces exist beyond the Standard Model.

Decades of increasingly precise measurements now indicate that the Standard Model remains our best description of fundamental physics.

Manchester leadership across UK institutions

The UK played a central role in the collaboration, providing one of the experiment’s two major detector systems and in developing simulations and software to analyse the data alongside contributions to the theoretical calculations.

Professor Mark Lancaster, from ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľ, led the UK involvement across Manchester, Lancaster, Liverpool and UCL, and served as co‑spokesperson of the global Fermilab Muon g-2 collaboration between 2018 and 2020.

A global scientific milestone

The Muon g‑2 experiments began at CERN in the 1970s, moved to Brookhaven in the 1990s and concluded at Fermilab with the final publication in 2025. The goal was to measure the muon’s magnetic moment with ever‑increasing precision, probing the quantum vacuum where virtual particles appear and vanish. Even the smallest deviation from theoretical predictions could point to new physics beyond the Standard Model.

The achievement represents the combined effort of scientists and engineers across multiple disciplines, reflecting the scale and diversity of expertise required to reach record‑breaking precision.

With Manchester researchers again at the forefront of a globally celebrated breakthrough, the University continues to demonstrate its leadership in shaping the future of particle physics and advancing our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature.

Professor Mark Lancaster FRS said “Our attention at Manchester now turns to a next generation of experiments that are striving to find evidence of new particles and interactions using novel quantum technologies” 

-Colonel Philip Neame MBE 2 PARA and Rear Admiral Jeremy Larken DSO. From this, attendees learnt of the land battles such as Goose Green and the adherence of Rear Admiral Larken to Nelsonian traditions of using sandbags to protect the ships’ bridges, saving many lives on his ship, HMS Fearless.

The first keynote on day one discussed the theme of diplomacy in the 1982 conflict with a paper from the two authors who co-wrote Signals of War, one of the very first works to examine the 1982 conflict from both Argentine and British sides. Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at Kings’ College London and author of the Official History of the Falklands Campaign and Professor Virginia Gamba, United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 2017 to 2025 and previously serving as UN Assistant Secretary-General. Professor Gamba, despite flight cancellations, had made a world-wind journey, spanning two days from southern Argentina, a significant commitment to the Falklands/Malvinas Conflict Conference at Manchester, to deliver her keynote. Amongst other themes were the press in both Argentina and Britain, archival researching into the conflict, veterans’ testimonies and legal perspectives.  

The event fostered a collaborative and interdisciplinary environment, encouraging dialogue between academics, veterans, and students from both sides of the 1982 conflict. Many attendees commented how the conference at ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľ was the first conference they had been to where the next generation – Manchester’s students – had not only given papers at the conference, but also contributed to the running of the conference across the two days.

This was a real achievement for Manchester’s students, presenting at the conference, chairing panels, helping with catering set up, meeting delegates and greeting them at the registration desk and managing panels set up. A real University of Manchester first!

Therefore, special thanks must go to:

CATERING TEAM – Elias Cadji-Newby and Faye Navesey.

CHAIRING TEAM – Duru Erdogan, Tom Finlayson, Jorja Flitcroft, Will Friday, Tehani Owais, Hanna Saunders and Amelia Vivash.

MEET AND GREET TEAM – Rehan Choudhry and Grace Pegram.

PANELS TEAM – Freddie Bayless, Henry Delap-Smith and Suki Leese.

Organisers described the conference as a significant success, building on previous events and helping to strengthen a growing network of Falklands/Malvinas researchers. There are hopes that the connections formed will lead to future collaborations, projects, and publications as the 45th anniversary of the conflict approaches.

The conference was kindly supported by the British Commission for Military History, the Society for Latin American Studies, and ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľâ€™s Student Enhancement Fund.

Thank you also to all attendees, keynotes and presenters. Roll on the next Falklands/Malvinas Conflict Conference event at ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľ! 

In the new study, Manchester engineers, including Dr , compared a conventional packed‑bed reactor with an intensified membrane‑assisted system. By feeding oxygen gradually through a porous ceramic membrane, the team achieved better control of the reaction and suppressed unwanted combustion pathways. 

Under optimised conditions, the membrane reactor delivered up to 58.7% acrylic‑acid selectivity – a 10‑percent improvement over standard reactor technology. It also helped regulate temperature, reducing hot‑spots and improving reaction stability. 

A more sustainable route for a globally important chemical

Glycerol is produced in large quantities by the biodiesel sector as a major by-product, with global production growing rapidly over the last two decades. Its oversupply has depressed market prices and created a need for new valorisation routes. Converting this low‑value by‑product into acrylic acid offers a way to lower emissions, reduce reliance on fossil resources and increase the circularity of chemical manufacturing.

The researchers used two catalysts, one to add oxygen in the right way, and one to remove water molecules (orthorhombic Mo–V–O (Ortho‑MoVO) oxidation catalysts and HZSM‑5(200) dehydration catalysts) respectively, to enable high glycerol conversion (94–99%) across all tested conditions, while the membrane reactor design strategically minimised over‑oxidation to CO/CO₂ (COₓ).

The team applied a statistical Design of Experiments (DoE) approach to map the coupled effects of temperature, GHSV, oxygen-to-glycerol ratio and feed‑to‑membrane ratio. This enabled the identification of precise operating windows that maximise acrylic acid yield while maintaining high conversion and limiting COₓ formation.

A 44‑hour stability study highlighted that catalyst deactivation is primarily driven by coke deposition on HZSM‑5(200), suggesting future work should focus on developing more coke‑resistant materials or regeneration strategies. Ortho‑MoVO, by contrast, retained its structure and showed minimal deactivation.

Pathway to industrial implementation

The results demonstrate strong potential for integrating membrane‑assisted reactors into future commercial glycerol‑to‑acrylic‑acid processes. Beyond enhanced selectivity, the reactor design:

• reduces oxygen consumption,
• improves temperature control,
• may reduce downstream purification costs due to higher product yields, and
• provides a more sustainable alternative to propylene‑based production.

The researchers note that next‑generation membranes specifically engineered for selective oxygen transport could unlock even greater performance improvements, along with opportunities to optimise operating pressure and reactor compactness.

The awards support entrepreneurs with solutions to the world’s most pressing issues. Ideas with Impact is open to applications from innovators across all disciplines â€“ from engineering to health, and policy to creative. 

Through generous donor support there is a total of ÂŁ300,000 in prize funding available, and individual awards of ÂŁ100,000, ÂŁ75,000 and ÂŁ50,000 will be given to winners, who will also receive support from experienced mentors to build their networks and accelerate impact. 

This year’s competition follows the success of 2025’s winning ventures that spanned health and life sciences, medical diagnostics, industrial biotechnology, and agri‑tech, reflecting the breadth of Manchester’s research strengths and its focus on real‑world impact. From novel treatments for endometriosis and rapid, field‑based heart attack diagnostics, to sustainable metal extraction technologies and early warning systems for crop disease, the winners demonstrated how academic insight can be translated into solutions addressing major societal, environmental and economic challenges.  

The team behind LanthaGen Bio, who received ÂŁ75,000 in 2025, highlighted their progress.

Application timeline 

The awards are run in partnership with the University of Manchester Innovation Factory, the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre and Unit M. The window for applications is open now until 22 May 2026. Any students, colleagues or alumni (within three years) from across the University are welcome to apply if they are working on solutions to global challenges, and must be at an early stage in their entrepreneurial journey. 

To find out more and apply, visit the Ideas with Impact Awards . 

• 22^nd April â€“ applications open
• 22^nd May – applications close
• 2^nd July – final pitching competition and Ideas with Impact Awards event 

Philanthropic support  

Innovation is at the heart of the University’s Challenge Accepted campaign, fuelling our ambition to become Europe’s most inclusive and impactful innovation network, and helping deliver progress that changes lives.  

Are you interested in supporting brilliant future founders and ensuring entrepreneurship for all? We’d love to explore opportunities with you.  

Contact Olympia Kennard to begin a conversation: Olympia.Kennard@manchester.ac.uk.  

Our innovation ecosystem  

• Read more about Unit M here:
• Read more about the Innovation Factory here: 
• Read more about the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre here:   

The visit offered the chance to hear directly from the scholars about their experiences at university, how the bursary is supporting them day to day, and the aspirations they are developing for life beyond their studies.

Conversations reflected a wide range of academic interests and career ambitions, with many scholars pointing to the importance of financial security in allowing them to fully engage with their education and the wider opportunities available at university, including involvement in student societies.

The Sadler Bursary provides funding for up to 36 undergraduates for each year of their course.

This programme supports care‑experienced students, providing £10,000 per year for the full duration of their degree. Care‑experienced young people continue to be significantly under‑represented in higher education, with around 15 per cent progressing to university compared with 47 per cent of their non‑care‑experienced peers. The bursary aims to help address this imbalance by reducing financial pressure and supporting students throughout their time at university.

The second programme, called the Sadler Access Bursary, supports additional 30 students who have graduated through the Manchester Access Programme (MAP), the University’s flagship widening‑participation initiative for high‑achieving students from Greater Manchester.

The Sadler Bursaries reflect the University’s wider commitment to student inclusion and success, a core priority of the Challenge Accepted fundraising and volunteering campaign. Challenge Accepted brings together the University’s global community in a shared philanthropic effort to remove barriers to education and help talented students from all backgrounds to access a world-leading education and thrive once they arrive in Manchester. By reducing financial pressures and providing financial stability, bursaries such as these play a pivotal role in enabling students to focus on their studies, engage fully in university life and plan confidently for the future.

Simon is a graduate of ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľ Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), where he studied Management, and was the first in his family to attend university. He has previously described the Sadler Bursary as a way to help young people who have had “particularly complicated starts to their lives” to pursue opportunities in higher education and realise their potential.

Applications for the next cohort of Sadler Bursary Scholars are currently open, with a deadline in April 2026.

The event brought together over 60 language teachers, professors, linguists, students and language researchers from across the UK, Europe, Asia and North America. 

The conference considered topics such as phonetics (the production of sounds), phonology (how sounds are arranged to create meaning in speech)  and prosody (the patterns of intonation and stress in a language) within spoken English; methods for teaching English pronunciation to speakers of different languages and language families; and tools for addressing the types of pronunciation errors commonly made by learners of English as a foreign language. 

Topical issues of discussion included the use of AI to support the teaching of English pronunciation, and the ways in which women, transgender and gender non-conforming people can face prejudice and discrimination due to their speech tone and patterns.  

The event was planned with regard for the aim of greater linguistic equality. Themes running through the two days included accent bias, linguistic imperialism and whether global English speakers should be encouraged to cultivate a native accent.  

Alex Baratta, Reader in Language and Education, said: “We were excited to host this important event in Manchester. EPIP brought together experts from across our discipline, allowing us to learn together and to showcase how we are focusing on applied linguistics within the Manchester Institute of Education.” 

Dr Wayne Rimmer, Academic English Tutor in the University Centre for Academic English, added: "Feedback from participants has been very positive, commending both the event and the university as a host."

Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US keeps coming back to haunt him. It has now emerged that Mandelson was granted security clearance by the Foreign Office, despite concerns raised during the . Top Foreign Office civil servant Olly Robbins was sacked over these revelations.

Mandelson was controversial long before Starmer appointed him in 2024. A New Labour figure known as the “prince of darkness” due to his reputation as an adept but often ruthless and underhand political operator, Mandelson had already been embroiled in a number of scandals involving allegations of corruption. He was also known to have had a close relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as close business links in China.

Starmer fired him in September 2025 after emails were released showing Mandelson offering supportive messages to Epstein, who faced charges of soliciting a minor at the time. Further emails released by US officials suggested that Mandelson might have passed privileged and market-sensitive information to Epstein during the fallout of the financial crisis. In February 2026, the former ambassador was on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has denied criminal wrongdoing and has not been charged.

Therefore, it is perhaps unsurprising that Mandelson did not pass the vetting process carried out by the Cabinet Office’s UK Security Vetting team. Almost all civil servants are required to go through some form of vetting. But as a top diplomat, Mandelson was subject to the most intensive form of scrutiny. From what is known about the process, red flags were probably raised about Mandelson’s links with Chinese and Russian business interests, though the exact details have not been made public.

Starmer and his allies have argued that Robbins did not tell the prime minister about concerns raised in the vetting process as he should have. , Robbins said that Number 10 took a “dismissive” approach to the vetting process. He also said that he was under “constant pressure” to approve Mandelson’s clearance due to this being a political priority for Starmer. Mandelson’s appointment was announced publicly before the vetting took place.

The opposition is piling on the pressure for Starmer to resign. But behind speculation about the prime minister’s future stands a deeper set of constitutional questions about accountability and standards in public life.

From Starmer’s perspective, the scandal has revealed a pressing need to improve the independent scrutiny of appointments. He has ordered a review into vetting procedures, and argued that failings lie with civil servants in the FCDO and with the robustness of vetting processes – not with him.

On one level, this defence is an effort to deflect blame. Yet the response also fits with Starmer’s approach to politics as a .

In arguing for a more robust independent process around vetting in their attempts to avoid blame, Starmer and his allies invoke a of Whitehall culture. This view treats independent, depoliticised scrutiny and checks and balances as key missing links in British politics. Building these would be vital for ensuring transparency and accountability around appointments and politics more broadly.

Since coming to office, Starmer has consistently argued for a rewiring of the British state to modernise the government. Like academics, thinktanks, journalists and former Whitehall insiders before him, Starmer’s view suggests that Whitehall and the centre of the British state operate in an antiquated way. When it comes to accountability and standards, the government arguably lacks proper independent scrutiny and constitutional checks and balances to hold decision-makers to account.

Instead, Whitehall is too reliant on a , which suggests politicians typically act with the best of intentions and therefore do not need to be subject to independent scrutiny.

Who is responsible?

Critics, echoing Robbins’ testimony, have argued that Starmer and his allies pressed Mandelson’s ambassadorship as a political priority, announcing it before vetting procedures had been completed in order to push through the appointment.

Many have pointed out that Mandelson’s reputation as a potentially suspect character was well known before the release of the Epstein files. Within this narrative, blame for the appointment of Mandelson lies squarely with Starmer.

In a sense, this approach offers a different view of British politics. In terms of appointments – both to top civil service positions and to more political posts – the UK’s approach has been argued to resemble . Here, the ruler decides their key advisers on the basis of their own preferences and objectives.

This too implies a lack of proper checks and balances around appointments. But one of the proposed advantages of such a system is that it places accountability and responsibility for decisions clearly in the hands of elected politicians. Britain has a longstanding tradition of individual ministerial accountability.

Starmer, however, is now seemingly weakening this tradition by deflecting blame onto the civil service and its processes. It is this notion of direct political accountability that Starmer’s opponents are invoking when they call for his resignation.

Overall, these two images of British politics are contradictory and indicative of the emergence of an . On the one hand, the state has failed to move towards modern and robust independent scrutiny of ministerial decision-making around appointments. On the other hand, politics has shifted away from a culture of clear, individual ministerial accountability.

This leaves Britain in a “worst of both worlds” scenario when it comes to accountability and standards in public life. It has neither robust independent scrutiny, nor clear lines of political accountability. More than anything, the Mandelson vetting scandal reveals the need to fix this broken system.

, Research Associate, Department of Politics, and , Research Associate,
This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

• Growing global demand for beef is a major driver of deforestation in the Amazon
• Up to 80% of cleared forest land is converted into cattle pasture
• Higher land values after deforestation create strong financial incentives to clear forests
• Gaps in supply chain oversight allow deforestation to continue
• New framework identifies where interventions could have the greatest impact

What did the study find?

The research focuses on the Brazilian Amazon, where cattle farming is a leading cause of deforestation. It shows that decisions made by farmers are shaped by a powerful mix of global market demand, land prices and government policies. 

In many cases, clearing forest actually increases land value, creating a cycle where deforestation leads to profit – and to more deforestation. At the same time, environmental rules and sustainability initiatives often fail to fully reach the people making land-use decisions on the ground. 

Why does this matter to people?

Although the Amazon may feel far away, the study highlights how everyday consumption is connected to environmental change. Beef sold around the world in supermarkets and restaurants can be linked back to land-use decisions in the rainforest. 

The consequences are global. The Amazon plays a vital role in storing carbon and regulating the climate. As forests are cleared, this contributes to climate change, biodiversity loss and more extreme weather patterns worldwide.

What makes this study different?

Most research looks either at economic systems or environmental systems, but rarely both together. This study introduces a new approach that connects global supply chains with local ecosystems, showing how they influence each other in real time. It reveals that environmental damage is not just an unintended side effect – it is built into how global production systems operate. 

Where are the biggest challenges?

A key issue is that governance systems are fragmented. Governments, companies, and environmental organisations often work separately, with limited coordination.

For example, large meat companies may enforce sustainability rules for direct suppliers, but indirect suppliers — where much deforestation occurs — can slip through the cracks. 

At the same time, smaller farmers often lack access to credit or technical support, making it harder for them to adopt more sustainable practices. 

What are the solutions?

The study highlights several key opportunities to reduce deforestation:

• Strengthening enforcement of environmental laws
• Improving traceability across supply chains
• Supporting farmers with finance and training
• Rewarding conservation through incentives like payments for ecosystem services

Importantly, the research shows that no single solution will work on its own — progress depends on better coordination across global and local systems. 

Why this research matters now

As global demand for beef continues to grow, pressure on the Amazon is expected to increase. The researchers say their findings provide a clearer roadmap for policymakers, businesses and organisations trying to balance economic growth with environmental protection, and offers a new way to tackle one of the world’s most urgent environmental challenges. 

The study was conducted by an international team of researchers from ť¨˝ˇÖą˛Ľ and Brazil’s Fundação Getulio Vargas SĂŁo Paulo School of Business Administration, and is published in Competition & Change.

DOI:  

Academics at the Manchester Institute of Education realised that, whilst many parents were rising to the challenge of providing quality education, home educators sometimes struggle to provide the kind of hands-on learning and sharing that would be experienced in school. This realisation led to the creation of Curiosity Catalyst. 

Sara Jackson, Lecturer in Education at the University of Manchester, explains: “Talking to parents who home‑educate their children, we found that science is often one of the hardest subjects, largely because homes don’t have access to the specialist equipment and practical experiences schools can offer. 

“We realised that we could use our expertise as educators and our contacts in local institutions to work with parents who are home-educating to give them and their children better access to science learning.” 

Curiosity Catalyst is co-produced between lecturers and parents, allowing home educators to help shape the activities provided. Key partners include Manchester Museum, The Whitworth Art Gallery and the Museum of Science and Industry, all of which have provided venues for workshops, activities and sharing days.  

Sara explains: “We’re blessed in Manchester to have access to such amazing museums and galleries and we’re so grateful that the teams at these institutions have been so enthusiastic about working with us. Most recently Manchester Museum hosted a takeover day, where home educators visited the museum on a day when it was closed to the public and collectively explored whether birds are dinosaurs.”

Speaking at the Museum takeover day, Katie, a home-educator from Wigan, said: 

Amanda Banks Gatenby, Lecturer in Digital Technologies, Communications & Education said: â€œCuriosity Catalyst is built on trust and on two-way sharing between parents who are home-educating and us as educators. Yes, we have expertise in education, but we can also learn so much from what others are doing. It’s great to see some of the innovative ways in which these parents approach education and it’s provided us with ideas to take back into our own teaching as we train the teachers of tomorrow.” 

Since 2023 over 200 families have engaged with Curiosity Catalyst and the project team are now developing a new app to support learning in everyday places. 

Curiosity Catalyst was set up with support from the School of Environment, Education and Development’s Social Responsibility fund. The project has been shortlisted for the University of Manchester’s .  

Find out more about Curiosity Catalyst email cc@manchester.ac.uk. 

A Lego-style Iranian military commander : “Our inbox is flooded with Americans saying they don’t watch the news. They listen to our songs instead since your media is full of sh*t.”

This is the opening line of an AI-generated video which is part of Iran’s meme campaign – built around Lego-style animation and rap soundtracks, which have online. The line captures the strange reality of contemporary politics: news is often most effectively disseminated not through journalism but humour, memes and entertainment.

Since late February, pro-Iranian media groups – most notably, the – have flooded social media with AI-generated video content mocking Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and US foreign policy. It has been dubbed – but the sophistication is striking.

These videos but do not look or feel like state propaganda – despite the spokesperson for Explosive Media admitting to the BBC that the . They capture the internet zeitgeist: fast, funny, visually familiar and designed for virality.

Trojan horses

The success of these memes lies in their audience strategy. They do not target people actively seeking news. Instead, they mimic the language of everyday internet culture to reach those who are not following events in the Middle East at all.

Humour is the mechanism they use to get reach. These videos function as Trojan horses, drawing viewers in with recognisable imagery, references and music – while communicating a narrative about American overreach, dysfunction and corruption.

As , a US-based expert in disinformation, notes, this kind of content reaches “politically uninvested people who otherwise wouldn’t have engaged with war-related content”.

The key insight here is not geopolitics but audiences. Conventional political communication, including press conferences, policy statements and traditional news coverage, reaches people who are already paying attention. These AI meme videos are designed to reach everyone else: the millions of people whose understanding of international conflict extends no further than what happens to appear in their social media feed.

Humour is the primary mechanism these videos have harnessed to conquer the social media algorithms. The joke is not the message – it is the delivery system. By packaging geopolitical arguments inside “diss tracks”, pop culture references and shareable clips, these videos communicate political ideas before audiences have even registered they are consuming political content.

What makes audiences receptive to ‘slopaganda’?

But this raises a deeper question. Why are people so receptive to receiving political information in this form? The answer is that they have been primed for it.

For two decades, a generation of Americans – and increasingly British and European viewers – have learned to process political news through satire. Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show became, for many younger viewers, a than the nightly news.

The likes of Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel also built enormous audiences by making politics funny, accessible and emotionally engaging in ways that conventional journalism often failed to do. The implicit message, repeated nightly, was that humour was not merely a gloss on political commentary. It was a .

This was largely a progressive phenomenon. The targets were politicians and large institutions, both government and private sector – and the satirists positioned themselves as holding power to account. But this created an expectation that , and that comedy is a legitimate vehicle for political understanding.

Iran is copying populist strategy

Since 2008, many populists have recognised the in their election campaigns – none more so than Trump. His campaign appearances on comedy podcasts, his and stunts, and his endless memes are not distractions from his political strategy – they are his political strategy.

Trump reached, and mobilised, millions of who had long since stopped engaging with political news in any traditional form.

Iran has been paying attention. The American scholar of propaganda has that Iran is now “using popular culture against the No.1 pop culture country, the United States”.

The Lego aesthetic, the rap beats, the 1980s pop covers, the selection of jokes are not random choices. They demonstrate a precise calibration of what can effectively reach online audiences in the western attention economy.

The result is content that is not immediately visible as foreign propaganda, and instead looks like entertainment. For audiences already accustomed to learning about politics through comedy, the distinction barely registers.

There is a profound irony here. The cultural conditions that produced shows like The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight – the erosion of trust in mainstream political communication and the demand for authenticity and humour over formal rhetoric – have produced a media environment in which a foreign state can distribute propaganda to millions of Americans, and have it feel indistinguishable from domestic entertainment.

This is not to say that late-night satire and Iranian AI content is equivalent. But they are operating in the same media ecosystem – one in which humour has become a primary method of political communication.

The most unsettling thing about what is happening right now is what this means for our information environment.

If propaganda is indistinguishable from satire, and satire accumulates millions of views while news does not, the line between political entertainment and political persuasion has seemingly collapsed. And the people most affected are those who think they are not following the war at all.

, Early Career Researcher, Religions and Theology Department
This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

In a ceremony celebrating the invention’s impact on data storage, computing and communications, Vice-Chancellor, Duncan Ivison, accepted the award on behalf of the University, the commemorative bronze plaque will be mounted on the outside of the Coupland 1 Building, Bridgeford Street.

The Milestone award recognises exceptional technological innovation and excellence in electrical and electronic engineering; awarded to innovations which have benefited humanity via products, services, seminal papers or patents. A bronze plaque commemorating the achievement is then placed at an appropriate site with an accompanying dedication ceremony.

Manchester remains one of the few institutions with three awards. In 2022 Manchester was awarded two IEEE Milestone awards; the first was awarded for the famed Manchester ‘Baby’ (1948-1951) the world’s first stored computer; the second for Atlas Computer & Virtual Memory (1957-1962), introducing the concept of virtual memory, a cornerstone of modern computing.

What is Manchester Code?

Manchester Code has been a feature of computing and communications since its invention in 1948. It was first used in the University’s Manchester Mark I computer, a prototype for the Ferranti Mark I, the first commercially available computer.

Invented for the storage of data in magnetic drums, it became a standard for use in magnetic tapes and floppy disks. It also found wide use in early ethernet networks, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and domestic remote controllers found in millions of homes across the world.

Nearly eight decades after its invention, humanity’s most distant human‑made objects, Voyagers 1 and 2, travelling through interstellar space, still communicate through the robustness of Manchester Code.

Elegantly designed, the code is ‘self-clocking’ which means the data can be extracted from the signal without a separate clock line. This design ensures highly reliable transmission, even across the vast distance to interstellar space, 25 billion kilometres (Voyager 1) and 21 billion kilometres (Voyager 2).

The principles of Manchester Code remain embedded in technologies we use every day; its elegant simplicity and reliability have helped accelerate the development of modern digital systems. To this day, it remains a key fixture in modern day life, from communicating to the furthest human-made objects or simply opening a garage door.

Thomas Coughlin, past president of the IEEE said: “The Manchester Code enabled the development of early digital storage technologies and reliable communication systems that are still in use. Humanity's furthest space probe, Voyager 1, still communicates with earth using the Manchester Code.”