That's us, that is:
Manchester will today acquire the first new British university of the 21st century, with a new vice-chancellor who has already gone shopping for Nobel prize winners in a bid to boost his institution's world ranking.The piece ends by sketching the origins of higher education in Manchester. There's also a Guardian Education supplement on the merger, the contents of which can be accessed here. (A little bit of normblog pedantry: I do think an article for Education Guardian should begin in a more literate way than this: 'Previously an electrical inspector at the Victoria University, the merger has meant promotion for Simon Hallett...') I hope, in view of so exciting a development, Boris Johnson will think better of the manner of this mischievous apology.The new University of Manchester, with more than 36,000 students, will become Britain's biggest when the Queen hands over its royal charter to Anna Ford, one [of] its co-chancellors.
It has been formed from a merger between the Victoria University of Manchester and the nearby University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (Umist).