Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/1055210
"It's pleasing to see that our results-focussed approach and continuous improvement in our way of working, that we introduced some time ago, is having a positive effect as shown by our upward movement in this index. "Clearly the difference between us and those who are towards the top of the table, in respect of the impact measure, is narrowing too." Since 2004, IP enterprises have generated over £130 million to the University through the sale of shares in spin-outs, licensing income and through IP grants and contracts activity. Furthermore, over £450m has been invested by 3rd party venture funders in the University's spin-outs, a number of which have received national and regional enterprise awards. Manchester is synonymous with graphene following its isolation in 2010 by Nobel Prize winners Professors Geim and Novoselov. The University has one of the most extensive and strongest portfolios of IP rights relating to graphene and 2D materials with over 300 scientists engaged in 2D materials research here in Graphene City ® . IP encompasses graphene technologies in areas including: the production of 2D materials, 2D inks, desalination and nano- filtration membranes, barrier coatings, polymer composites, thermoelectric composites, sensors, touch screen interfaces, printable electronics and wearable technologies to name a few. Earlier this year the University with spin-out Nanoco Group PLC, which develops and manufactures quantum dots and nano- materials, launched Nanoco 2D Materials Ltd to develop a new generation of nano-materials. We have launched seven spin-out companies this year in sectors covering; data preparation, antimicrobial resistance, signal processing, crop analysis software, educational robots, graphene hybrid elastomer composites and graphene- based membranes. Several spin-out companies have raised significant seed investment including medical device specialist MicroBioSensor (£1.4M), dental diagnostic software company Manchester Imaging (£600K) and nanotechnology specialist working with novel nano materials, Sci-Tron (£600K). Late last year, spin-out and AIM listed SkinBioTherapeutics, a skin health specialist, raised £4.5M when it listed on the London stock market. The company recently announced it has signed an MTA with a major, global consumer goods company and has just commenced its human study being carried out on its SkinBiotix technology. Phagenesis, a medical device company that has developed a new treatment for dysphagia, announced it had reached the first milestone in its staged acquisition agreement with Nestlé Health Science (NHSc). Additionally key licence deals with industry have been conducted including a new gene therapy to treat children with a rare but devastating brain disease and a research tool which boosts the understanding of senescent cells' role in diverse age-related diseases including cancer. Reuters' latest ranking follows recent news that the University has attracted the most research income from UK industry of any institution in the country, with £24,831,000 of research income in 2016-2017 from UK industry, commerce and public corporations.