Tesco to fund green research

A 77-member research team investigating green issues is to be created by Manchester University using a £25 million donation from supermarket giant Tesco, writes Tony Tysome. Following confirmation of Tesco's donation to back a Sustainable Consumption Institute last week, the university said that five new chairs, readers or senior lecturers will be appointed, along with an endowed chair, an executive director and 20 postdoctoral research assistants.

The research team will run projects in eight themed areas that will range from motivating consumers to choose greener lifestyles to fundamental scientific research into climate change.

The money donated by Tesco will also help fund 30 PhD studentships.

It is expected that the new staff will work alongside up to 20 existing academics at Manchester and in collaboration with experts elsewhere in the UK and across the world.

Simon Gaskell, Manchester's vice-president for research, said that the process of negotiating with Tesco on how the money should be used had been a refreshing experience.

"Sustainable consumption is a difficult area. Neither Tesco nor we could have been expected to come up with precisely the right research questions alone. Negotiating around that has made the process far more interesting," he said.