North West Partnership for Security and Trust

The NWPST is a partnership (launched in October 2021) between GCHQ, the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters, and four universities based in the north-west of England: Lancaster University, the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Salford. The unique partnership is a vehicle for collaboration between disciplines, institutions, and sectors, focused on the most difficult technology and security problems.

The NWPST fosters collaboration across research, innovation, skills development, and public engagement, to produce new knowledge to benefit national prosperity and societal understanding of issues relevant to national security. Greater Manchester, and the broader North West corridor, is one of the most diverse areas of the UK, and home to some of the country’s most diverse Universities. The NWPST will benefit from engaging our varied communities to bring together talented people from different backgrounds to help solve the most difficult national security challenges.
The purposes and guiding principles of the NWPST were developed jointly through discussions between GCHQ Manchester and the four Universities.
The vision of the NWPST is:

1. To facilitate high-quality and impactful research in and across a wide range of disciplines relevant to UK national security challenges.
2. To build relationships with stakeholders across the North West and throughout the region, including government, industry, and civil society, to identify opportunities to develop new products and services, and enhance the productivity and security of existing provision.
3. To develop and deliver accessible and inclusive skills and apprenticeship provision, to support access to opportunities within the digital and data security sectors for citizens in the North West.
4. To engage with communities, stakeholders and the wider public to inform, explain and educate on issues of trust and security.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact NWPST@manchester.ac.uk

Please note that all participatory events and subsequent research is open to researchers from the universities of Lancaster, Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford only.

Activities and Events