![A performance at the Manchester Voices Glass House event as part of the Manchester International Festival in 2019](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/page_header_half/public/2020-11/33720338_impact-stories-media-banner.jpg?h=bb941b98&itok=QWJcyi9-)
Research impact stories
In our impact stories, you can see how our research has real-world benefits for society, culture, the environment and the economy.
![A swimmer holds a toe rig system while submerged in a swimming pool](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2020-12/Finding-the-best-way-to-swim-header_1.jpg?h=e449ccd5&itok=bAaWwNsR)
Finding the limits to swimming performance
Manchester Met’s research into swimming biomechanics is enhancing competition success for Great Britain swimmers and helping to transform the World Para Swimming classification system.![A snowboarder holds out their hands while falling on a ski slope](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-03/Safety-equipment-for-sport_3.jpg?h=bb941b98&itok=LjDV7keU)
Safety equipment for sport
Working alongside sporting bodies and identifying safety concerns in sports, researchers at Manchester Met are improving protective equipment through the exploration of materials, design enhancements and testing procedures.![South African middle distance runner Caster Semenya (centre) challenged the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF, now called World Athletics) regulations on testosterone. Image credit: az1172, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-05/5cc97b1497c0b%20-%20Image%20credit%20-%20az1172%2C%20licensed%20under%20CC%20BY-SA%202.0.jpg?h=79c4a466&itok=REyoDIaI)
Genetics and ethics collide at the pinnacle of sport
Manchester Met’s research into the genetics of elite performance has proved pivotal in framing and understanding the legal and ethical issues surrounding intersex athletes.![Older person jogging outside on a sunny day](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-07/Senior-person-jogging.jpg?h=bb941b98&itok=snpFztsy)
The science of healthy ageing
With a body of work built over 20 years, experts in the science of bone and muscle are shaping the policies, treatments and approaches to help people stay healthy in old age.![Athletes setting off to run on a race track.](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2023-03/Sports%20research%20impact.jpg?h=140710cd&itok=n4a1Tk2R)
Secrets of the sporting elite
A technique that’s helped some of the world’s best athletes reach the pinnacle of elite sport is now changing the lives of individuals living with stroke and Parkinson's disease, and children with developmental coordination disorder.![Radio antenna dishes of the Very Large Array radio telescope near Socorro, New Mexico](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2020-11/Radar%20dish_0.jpg?h=43ac1e2e&itok=nIiXmOR-)
Protecting computer systems from attack
Manchester Met’s cyber security research is helping to defend the world's networked computer systems, programmes and devices from infiltration and attack.Tackling the decline of the UK's high streets
Academics from Manchester Met are helping to regenerate and revitalise the UK's shopping centres.![engineers installing smart meter](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-02/iStock-smart%20meter.jpg?h=119335f7&itok=sOfqy1x8)
Aquacheck: A Knowledge Transfer Partnership
Developing smart solutions to infrastructure problems in the water industry.![An African grey parrot and a green parrot on a branch in a rainforest](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2020-11/African%20grey%20parrot.jpg?h=790be497&itok=vNwrAR8j)
Protecting threatened tropical birds
A research team at Manchester Met is finding fresh approaches to conservation - with a focus on the human actions driving ecological change and exploiting new technology.![Large waves breaking against a sea wall in Devon, UK](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-05/Time%2C-tide-and-computer-codes.jpg?h=bb941b98&itok=qp0UNsCS)
Time, tide and computer codes
Mathematical codes are helping to solve major engineering challenges by modelling the impact of waves on coastlines, structures and renewable energy sources.![Researchers taking measurements from a peat bog in the Peak District](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-10/Carbon%20flux%20assay%20on%20peat%20wetlands.jpg?h=94b28deb&itok=SxfNDUTE)
Protecting and increasing carbon stores
Peat bogs are key to the fight against the climate crisis due to their carbon-storing qualities. Manchester Met’s researchers are helping to protect and restore these increasingly vital habitats.![](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/news/4149/Aeroplane-shutterstock.jpg?h=82f92a78&itok=gPHeuZ_6)
Understanding aircraft emissions and their effect on the climate
How do we ‘do our bit’ for the environment and still enjoy our holidays?![Men Who Sleep in Cars (2017)](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2020-11/Men-Who-Sleep-In-Cars-1-antonio.jpg?h=289976fd&itok=IDnPog0i)
Engaging new audiences through poetry
A research project by Manchester Met poets to bring poetry to new audiences through broadcast, performance and commemoration.![Three panels showing Sea, Ground and Sky as part of Thread Bearing Witness at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-04/Thread-Bearing-Witness_4.jpg?h=bb941b98&itok=EKb-36AJ)
Listening to the refugee experience
The major art series Thread Bearing Witness grew from a desire to meet and engage with our turbulent times through stitched textiles, using artistic practice as a tool to learn from, listen to and respect global stories of migration and displacement.![Visitors being led through one of Manchester's gothic buildings](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-04/Gothic%20Mcr%2010.jpg?h=82f92a78&itok=oJ0YgWCT)
Haunt Manchester
Once infamous for its dark, satanic mills, Manchester is now revelling in its Gothic heritage - and its spooky and macabre past may just prove to be the key to a brighter future.Giving life to young carers
Research into children and young people who are caring for family members has given young carers a voice and a platform on which to speak about their experiences.![A close up image of a school girl's shoes](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2022-06/odd-project-long-read-header-image.jpg?h=e3678c29&itok=HtbPksZA)
Birth to three: The Odd Project
Transforming the education of – and care for – young children, working with nurseries, schools, families, local authorities, health professionals, and arts organisations.![Smiling boy sat in a wheelchair using a tablet-based assisted communication device](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2020-11/poster%20boy.jpg?h=bf00185d&itok=Yn7fNPXo)
Giving a voice to alternative communicators
For the many people without clear natural speech, alternative communication tools can be vital and life-changing. Our research is changing the ways those tools are recommended and their users supported.![A care worker helps a man with a frame to walk down a corridor](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-01/iStock-1282867645.jpg?h=75206369&itok=HirBz9bK)
Finding good work in a crisis
There's a crisis in adult social care affecting almost all developed economies. Research at Manchester Met is casting light on the problem and pointing to some potential solutions.![flyers and posters for rave club events](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2021-03/lapsed%20clubber%201.jpg?h=fff89ad5&itok=XssDcQFh)
The Lapsed Clubber Project
Mapping Manchester’s musical heritage. Music culture and nightlife has helped to shape the identity of the city, but what impact has it had on the lives of the people who are part of it?![Four teenagers chatting happily in a youth club meeting room](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2022-06/1048187866.jpg?h=119335f7&itok=XYUuJanA)
Giving a voice to justice-involved children
Revolutionising youth justice practice by treating children involved in the criminal justice system as the experts in their own lives.![Toddler threading elastic into a plastic tube on a wooden table](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2022-06/listening-2-long-read-header.jpg?h=31663818&itok=zdhs-suU)
Thinking in action: the Listening-2 project
Using slow-motion video to understand how children relate to the world through their bodies and their senses.![A handheld trans pride flag being waved by a hand that's just out of shot.](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2022-10/iStock-1311594352.jpg?h=842e80cd&itok=GJyfey5N)
Exploring and protecting hopeful futures for transgender people
Professor Whittle’s distressing experiences after coming out as a transgender man in the 1970s helped shape decades of influential equalities law research and activism - leading to more inclusive workplaces and an increasingly accepting society.![Close up of a patient and healthcare worker holding hands](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2022-11/iStock-1313568181.jpg?h=125a58ae&itok=-_FIDiv1)
Giving compassionate end-of-life care to people who use alcohol and other drugs
A new model of care is improving social and health care for people who use substances, their families and friends, and the practitioners who support them.![A drug user rolling a joint](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2023-01/60a619a1474ae.jpg?h=ccd08df9&itok=QMzgyWQt)
Reducing harm posed by new psychoactive substances
How researchers have underpinned Manchester’s cross sector responses to new psychoactive substances such as Spice through a pioneering detection system.![The inside of a night club packed with people with their arms in the air.](https://www.mmu.ac.uk/sites/default/files/styles/16_9_two_column/public/2023-03/Staying%20ahead%20of%20new%20drug%20trends.jpg?h=df1f1a57&itok=HOr55Dp9)