Last Thursday I travelled with the Science and Technology Select Committee up to the University of Manchester. Visits to relevant institutions and businesses are usually common practice for Select Committees, as part of taking the work of Parliament out to the country. However, this had not been possible at all during Covid, so this visit marked a welcome return towards normality.
We took oral evidence exploring the role of technology, research and innovation in the UK’s recovery from covid-19, and the support that the sector itself requires to recover from the pandemic. Witnesses included directors and CEOs from the science and technology industry, as well as different professors from the The University of Manchester and The University of Salford. You can watch the full evidence session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga8tIGa3-vI
The University of Manchester is a world leader when it comes to science, from Ernest Rutherford splitting the atom, to Alan Turing laying the foundations for artificial intelligence, to Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov isolating graphene. It was lovely to visit a place with such history and heritage.
In addition to taking evidence we also undertook visits to other science and technology institutions in the local area. The last photo is of part of the PCR testing process at Yourgene Health - housed at CityLabs, a science park beside the University.