University of Manchester
Public University • UK
Showing 9 courses from University of Manchester
Water Supply and Sanitation Policy in Developing Countries Part 1: Understanding Complex Problems
University of Manchester (via Coursera)
Our course explores what can be done to solve the complex problem that half a billion people worldwide do not have improved water supplies and two billion do not have improved sanitation. We look forward to you joining us. We want to help you develop the skills you need to address this major global challenge of the 21st century. Our course has informative video lectures and guest interviews with leading water policy scholars and practitioners. We will provide you with discussion forum topic prompts, which will invite you to engage with other learners from around the globe. Our MOOC will also ask you to attempt weekly quizzes and a challenging assignment that tackles a real water and sanitation problem in a difficult setting. Please watch this trailer: https://youtu.be/Q-HmaCZNd0k
Our Earth: Its Climate, History, and Processes
University of Manchester (via Coursera)
Develop a greater appreciation for how the air, water, land, and life formed and have interacted over the last 4.5 billion years.
Introduction to Molecular Spectroscopy
University of Manchester (via Coursera)
The course introduces the three key spectroscopic methods used by chemists and biochemists to analyse the molecular and electronic structure of atoms and molecules. These are UV/Visible , Infra-red (IR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. The content is presented using short focussed and interactive screencast presentations accompanied by formative quizzes to probe understanding of the key concepts presented. Numerous exercises are provided to facilitate mastery of each topic. A unique virtual spectroscopic laboratory is made available to enable students to measure and analyse spectra online. Assessment is via summative quizzes completed during the course period.
Water Supply and Sanitation Policy in Developing Countries Part 2: Developing Effective Interventions
University of Manchester (via Coursera)
Water Supply and Sanitation Policy in Developing Countries Part 2 is our second MOOC in a two-part sequence, and looks at ‘Developing Effective Interventions’. Here we invite you to develop analytical skills and deep understanding about a complex, controversial policy problem – one with no simple, easy answers. About half a billion people on our planet still lack access to improved water supplies and about two billion do not have improved sanitation services, leading to an unknown but very large number of avoidable deaths each year from water-related diseases. Millions of dollars are spent on avoidable health care expenditures, and people – mostly women – spend many billions of hours carrying water from sources outside the home. Reducing these costs is a major global challenge for us all in the 21st century. Join us to explore the challenging and complex political, economic, social, and technical dimensions of the policy interventions that donors, national governments and water utilities use to address this challenge. This second MOOC consists of the following seven sessions: • Session 1: Introduction and how our ‘ancient instincts’ affect water policy interventions. • Session 2: Planning better policy interventions: Roles, features and examples of planning protocols. • Session 3: Water pricing, tariff design and subsidies. • Session 4: Providing information to households and communities to improve water and sanitation conditions. • Session 5: Changing the institutions that deliver water and sanitation services: Privatization in developing countries. • Session 6: Changing institutions: Lessons from the UK water privatization story. • Session 7: Changing institutions: Improving regulation of the water and sanitation sector. Your instructors for this course have worked in and studied this sector for many years. Professor Dale Whittington has worked on water and sanitation policy and planning issues for over 40 years in more than two dozen low and middle-income count...
Protecting the World: Introducing Corrosion Science and Engineering
University of Manchester (via Coursera)
If you have ever encountered rusty car bodies, leaking pipes, tarnished silverware or the green patina of a copper roof then you have experienced corrosion in action. This course, from the Corrosion@Manchester team in collaboration with AkzoNobel, will teach you why metals corrode, what the environmental consequences are, how much corrosion costs and how corrosion can be controlled. It is designed for students, householders, teachers, professionals and anyone in-between. The aim of the course is to introduce the complex world of corrosion and corrosion control. While a full appreciation of corrosion science involves elements of materials science, electrochemistry and physics while corrosion engineering requires a practical knowledge of corrosion failures and engineering design this course does not need an extensive background knowledge. The course mirrors elements of the Corrosion Control Engineering teaching programme at The University of Manchester for final-year undergraduates and masters-level postgraduates and is used as a supplementary learning resource by our students.
Global Health and Humanitarianism
University of Manchester (via Coursera)
Welcome to the Global Health and Humanitarianism MOOC. We are delighted to have you with us, and hope that the next six weeks will provide an interesting and thoughtful experience for you. We hope the course will give you an overview of global health and humanitarianism in theory and in practice. These fields overlap, and are connected, in many significant ways. However, we have used three key themes to explore our subjects: each key theme will be discussed over two week blocks by specialist course lecturers, and supported by unique video perspectives by three keynote speakers who are leading specialists in the field. - Weeks 1 & 2: An Introduction to Global Health Dr Amy Hughes MBE; - Weeks 3 & 4: Humanitarian Responses and Dilemmas Dr Tim Jacoby; - Weeks 5 & 6: The Right to Humanitarian Assistance and the Responsibility to Protect Dr Kirsten Howarth. To get the best out of the course we encourage you to try and set aside a few hours each week. This will give you time to work through videos, written materials and linked resources, and to get involved with discussion with other learners. We have provided a variety of different readings, resources and suggested activity based on the course content. Some will be essential to your understanding of the MOOC themes, and to assessment (if you have chosen to take part in assessment activity). Others will be for those of you who want to discover more about a particular subject or perspective, or to make your own study of global health or humanitarianism in action. Check through the weekly resources and content to find out which best suit your needs. During the course we will look at a range of different opinions and debates, linked to key themes and addressing ethics and moral issues. We hope you will be inspired and encouraged to explore and share your own perspectives, and those of others, throughout the course. Different viewpoints are essential to understanding global health and humanitarian practice. We hope...
Industrial Biotechnology
University of Manchester (via Coursera)
Fossil fuels have been the primary energy source for society since the Industrial Revolution. They provide the raw material for the manufacture of many everyday products that we take for granted, including pharmaceuticals, food and drink, materials, plastics and personal care. As the 21st century progresses we need solutions for the manufacture of chemicals that are smarter, more predictable and more sustainable. Industrial biotechnology is changing how we manufacture chemicals and materials, as well as providing us with a source of renewable energy. It is at the core of sustainable manufacturing processes and an attractive alternative to traditional manufacturing technologies to commercially advance and transform priority industrial sectors yielding more and more viable solutions for our environment in the form of new chemicals, new materials and bioenergy. This course will cover the key enabling technologies that underpin biotechnology research including enzyme discovery and engineering, systems and synthetic biology and biochemical and process engineering. Much of this material will be delivered through lectures to ensure that you have a solid foundation in these key areas. We will also consider the wider issues involved in sustainable manufacturing including responsible research innovation and bioethics. In the second part of the course we will look at how these technologies translate into real world applications which benefit society and impact our everyday lives. This will include input from our industry stakeholders and collaborators working in the pharmaceutical, chemicals and biofuels industries. By the end of this course you will be able to: 1. Understand enzymatic function and catalysis. 2. Explain the technologies and methodologies underpinning systems and synthetic biology. 3. Explain the diversity of synthetic biology application and discuss the different ethical and regulatory/governance challenges involved in this research. 4. Unde...
Introduction to Physical Chemistry
University of Manchester (via Coursera)
Chemical reactions underpin the production of pretty much everything in our modern world. But, what is the driving force behind reactions? Why do some reactions occur over geological time scales whilst others are so fast that we need femtosecond-pulsed lasers to study them? Ultimately, what is going on at the atomic level? Discover the answers to such fundamental questions and more on this course in introductory physical chemistry. The course covers the key concepts of three of the principal topics in first-year undergraduate physical chemistry: thermodynamics, kinetics and quantum mechanics. These three topics cover whether or not reactions occur, how fast they go and what is actually going on at the sub-atomic scale.
Managing Responsibly: Practicing Sustainability, Responsibility and Ethics
University of Manchester (via Coursera)
Managers are increasingly confronted with issues of sustainability, responsibility and ethics. Managing responsibly is an integrative approach to sustainability, responsibility and ethics, which allows you as a manager to deal competently with such challenges. This course will facilitate your learning process to engage in changing practices to make them more sustainable, responsible, and ethically informed. We will first introduce the context of the trend towards responsible management practices (week 1). We then explore the basics of each set of issues, sustainability (week 2), responsibility (week 3), and ethics (week 4). In week 5 you will work on your own responsible management issue/task and explore responsible management practices in an area of professional interest (e.g. strategy, entrepreneurship, innovation, organization, operations, supply chain, human resources, marketing and communication, international management, accounting and finance). In week 6 we will try to understand and experience what managing responsibly means in practice, including opportunities and challenges, and with a focus on transformative change. During these last two weeks you will work in a problem-oriented way, based on a challenging topic you have come across in your own management practice. In the course we will form multicultural teams to learn about problems you bring forward. The course also facilitates the formation of peer networks that allow you to continue this learning experience after finishing the MOOC. The MOOC is an initiative in collaboration with the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative. Overall Learning Outcomes 1) To provide an introduction to the three constituting fields of managing responsibly: sustainability, responsibility and ethics. 2) To help apply the knowledge and insights gained from these three fields to real life problems in your own setting. 3) To identify, understand and facilitate individual action that c...