THE GUARDIAN: University mergers: academics fight to be heard in marriage of minds

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The merger between Manchester University and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 2004 is the most often cited example of a successful marriage, pushing the new university up global rankings and wooing Nobel laureates such as Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, the fathers of the wonder material graphene, on to the payroll. Manchester’s vice-chancellor, Dame Nancy Rothwell, says it helped that the institutions were neighbours with longstanding collaborations. “Most importantly, there was a vision for a new university, not just a desire to make efficiencies or savings,” she says.