The Manchester city-region has the largest undergraduate population in Europe. With 100,000 under graduates and post graduate attending 4 major Universities. The University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, The University of Salford and The University of Bolton.

The University of Manchester is particularly strong in biomedical research and has an impressive track record of biotechnological innovation.

The Faculty of Life Sciences is one of the largest and most successful unified research and teaching organisations of its kind in Europe with over 1000 people involved in research, 1500 undergraduate students and annual research funding of over £27 million. Core strengths include neuroscience, microbiology, stem cell research and systems biology.

The Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, which contains the schools of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy and Psychological sciences, generates over £65M in research funding a year, which is almost half that of the total research income for the University.

At the heart of the growing North West biotechnology cluster, The University of Manchester Intellectual Property Limited's (UMIP) Biomedica Team is responsible for identifying, protecting and commercialising the University's biomedical intellectual property. The team comprises eight professionals who manage biotechnology business development projects on behalf of the University, and act as an interface with biotechnology companies and investors to license biotechnology, create and fund spin-out companies and secure mutually beneficial industrial collaborations.