News

Clive Emsley, Professor of History at The Open University, has been awarded a Leverhulme Trust Emeritus Fellowship to allow him to continue his research project, Crime and the British Military in the 20th Century, for another two years after his retirement later this year.

Professor Emsley, co-director of the International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR) at The Open University, says generally most crime is committed by young men, and most military personnel tend to be young men. Since the eighteenth century, the ending of wars witnessed fears that men, trained to kill and brutalised by the experience of battle, will find it difficult to return to civilian life and will continue to act violently, and hence criminally at home. Focussing primarily on the two world wars of the twentieth century, this research will explore the scale of criminality by men in the armed forces and their behaviour at the wars' ends.

Professor Emsley explains: "The project will investigate the extent and variety of offending by soldiers, as well as the problem of soldiers returning from conflict and whether their experiences fostered subsequent criminal behaviour.

"Army provosts and those relatively few military historians that have commented on crime have tended to use the positivist assumption that offenders in uniform were simply 'professional criminals' that had been recruited or conscripted. The initial aim of the project is to explore the kinds of crimes committed by soldiers in wartime on both the home and the battle fronts, and the extent of this crime.”

The fear of the brutalised veteran returning home to commit violent offences has a long history. The acknowledgement of the problem of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly described in Britain as 'shell-shock', began during the First World War. Soldiers before civilian courts began to use the disorder as a defence before the end of the war. Nevertheless, while there has been research on the history of the concept and its gradual acceptance, there have been few attempts to explore its impact on criminal offending.

While there may have been some sympathy for men who responded violently (but not with lethal results) to wives that had been unfaithful, there was little appreciation of men that had been seriously psychologically damaged by their experiences and who, in consequence, drifted into drunkenness and violent offending.

The research will take place in London, Fareham and Brussels and the principal outcome of the project will be a book and at least one conference paper at the European Social Science History Conference in Ghent in 2010.

An assessment of the current knowledge of crime, crime prevention and deviance in Europe will be debated at CRIMPREV's final conference at The Open University from 17-19 June 2009. Please see link (right) for further details.

As The Open University turns 40, former OU student Lenny Henry explores the roots of the largest university in the UK, and a world leader in distance education, for a new BBC Four documentary.

In Happy Birthday To OU (working title) Lenny imparts some of his own experiences while studying for a BA in English Literature.

In addition the programme also profiles some remarkable people who taught and studied through the OU.

Contributors include David Attenborough, who was controller of BBC Two when the OU launched; David Puttnam, the Chancellor of the OU; Myleene Klass, who studied astrophysics at the OU; Anna Ford, an early lecturer and presenter; and Robin Wilson, the son of Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and now a maths professor at the OU with a penchant for brightly-coloured jumpers.

Reflecting on the OU's partnership with the BBC, Lenny remembers returning home and switching on the TV to see a man in a tank top explaining quantum physics.

Over the years this partnership has produced a very broad range of acclaimed programmes which reach audiences outside the traditional teaching and learning base, including Child Of Our Time, Coast, Life In Cold Blood, Timewatch and The Money Programme.

Award-winning series this year include James May's Big Ideas and The History Of Scotland.

The programme also explores how the OU has pioneered technology and harnessed it to improve distance education.

Originally using audio cassettes, video and late-night TV broadcasts, the OU has evolved to use the web, podcasts and CD-ROMs to reach students.

In 2008, the OU became the first British university to offer free downloadable course material via iTunes U and today over 50,000 OU tracks are downloaded from iTunes U each week.

Lenny Henry says: "Since beginning my BA Hons with the OU I have achieved something I never thought possible. I have studied for six years in a semi-disciplined way (ha ha) whilst also sustaining a career and finding time for my family, who are now incredibly proud of me and insist on seeing my scroll whenever possible!

"The OU has given me confidence in my abilities both creatively and academically."

George Entwistle, Controller, Knowledge Commissioning, says: "The partnership the BBC has enjoyed during the last 40 years with The Open University has been of the utmost importance.

"Our alliance continues to evolve and now features innovative multiplatform commissions in addition to fantastic linear programming.

"I hope together the OU and the BBC will continue to inform, educate and entertain the nation for many more years to come."

Andrew Law, Director, Multiplatform Broadcasting at The Open University, says: "The BBC and The Open University are two of the great social inventions of the 20th century.

"The partnership has provided learning journeys for hundreds of thousands of graduates – their interests sparked by some of the best factual broadcasts in the UK.

"Together we are celebrating 40 years of bringing inspiration to the nation."

Emma De'Ath, Multiplatform Commissioner for the Open University at the BBC, says: "Happy Birthday to the OU!

"We are extremely proud of our collaboration with the Open University which has produced a huge range of content on a wide range of BBC channels and platforms.

"The BBC/OU partnership has reached a very wide spectrum of audiences over the past four decades – and many programmes have been award-winners – so there's much to celebrate."

The 1 x 60-minute film is being made by BBC Birmingham. It was commissioned by Emma Swain and the executive producer is Bill Lyons.

Gerry Robinson's Car Crash

Money Programme is a co-production between BBC and The Open University

BIBBC Two Tuesday 9th June 2009 10 pm

In the first part of this series from the Money Programme Sir Gerry Robinson, the UK's foremost business trouble-shooter, takes a look under the bonnet of Britain's troubled car industry.

Barely a week goes by without more bad news from Britain's car makers. From closure to halting production lines, forced layoffs and begging for bailouts the last six months have brought the industry to its knees.

Sir Gerry meets the bosses of some of Britain's biggest and most efficient car factories. He finds out how they are coping in the heat of the credit crunch, looking at what they need to do to take their business out of the slump and lay their claim to a place in the UK economy post-recession.

Sir Gerry meets car salesmen at the front line dealing with the worst sales figures in UK history and joins workers on the Sunderland production line to get a view from the shop floor.

He test drives a sleek UK-made electric sports car - and offers up his own ideas for jump-starting the British car business. Sir Gerry meets inventor and businessman James Dyson to discuss what the experience of motor manufacturing tell us of the bigger industrial sector in the UK and it's place in the future economy of Britain.

Sir Gerry meets the Secretary of State for Business Lord Mandelson to find out what the government is doing to help and ask what future he has planned for this ailing industry.

Producer Tristan Marshall

Executive Producer Dominic Crossley-Holland

Dr Chris Martin, Associate Director Strategic Alliances of international pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, has become The Open University Business School's 20,000th MBA graduate.

Chris combined the pressures of a full-time senior managerial position with part-time study to earn his Master of Business in Administration. In the process Chris has become the 20,000th MBA member of the Business School's alumni community, whose 50,000 members are spread across the world in more than 100 countries.

Professor James Fleck, Dean of the Business School, said: “As well as celebrating our 20,000th MBA student this year we are also marking the Business School's 25th anniversary. Since the School's launch we've been at the leading edge of management education helping middle and senior-level managers fulfill their potential.

Chris said: “The MBA requires that you get real management experience through company projects. This fitted in with an assignment I was working on, assessing the business case for a laboratory based outside of Mumbai, India.

“Throughout the three years of study, I really challenged my way of thinking. The course gave me new ideas that I could feed into my daily work, as well as developing me as a person and as a manager.”

Chris's present role as Associate Director in Strategic Alliances is part of Pfizer's core business development and provides business support to the company's Research Units when working with external partners to create intellectual property.

“We're the link between the scientists, the business side of the company and Pfizer's partners,” says Chris. “We project manage and translate between each stakeholder, so that we can reach an understanding that enables projects to move forward. My work is very busy but varied and I'm currently working on 40 different projects which means I have to be incredibly efficient. It is also satisfying to be part of a company which creates medicines to prevent and treat the world's most serious diseases.”

In the long term, Chris would like to continue his work at Pfizer, enjoying the challenge of his work and a healthy work-life balance now that MBA study is behind him.

Chris's early career began after gaining a degree and PhD in Chemistry at Loughborough University. He got his first job as a Scientist with AstraZeneca looking at drug metabolism and in 1999 moved to Pfizer in Kent, working in various scientific roles for five years. It was at this time that Chris realised he enjoyed the project management and people side of his work more than the 'deep science', and during a restructuring within the company he seized the opportunity to take up a business role. This new job gave Chris both the desire and impetus to get a broader education qualification in business, and after initially completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration with The Open University Business School, he decided that their practice-based MBA would be a perfect fit with his lifestyle and new responsibility.

Notes to Editor:
About The Open University Business School
The Open University Business School was founded in 1983 and is now the largest organisation in the distance-learning market. It offers a broad spectrum of qualifications, with courses ranging from undergraduate certificates, foundation and honours degrees to the well-established MBA programme, which is accredited by AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB. Courses employ a blend of learning methods including study books, e-mail discussion, internet resources, DVDs, face-to-face and online tutorials and residential schools.

The Open University Business School's alumni include Bart Knols, AMBA student of the year 2007; Air Chief Marshal Sir Brian Burridge; Lieutenant Commander Phil Parvin of the Royal Navy, who was AMBA student of the year in 2002; Maggie Miller, chief information officer of the Warner Music Group.

Companies sponsor more than 45% of the students on its courses, and more than two-thirds of FTSE 100 companies sponsor members of staff. Clients include Rolls-Royce, Pfizer and the NHS.

This summer BBC One launches Bang Goes The Theory, a new series that looks at how science shapes the world around us.

From exploring the world's most advanced technological breakthroughs to learning how we can test and manipulate scientific principles in our own backyard, this series will put scientific theory to the test.

From late July 2009, four presenters – Dallas Campbell, Liz Bonnin, Jem Stansfield and Dr Yan Wong – will pool their knowledge and their curiosity to put science into action in a series co-produced with The Open University (OU). With a PhD, a collection of science degrees and an enduring passion for all things scientific, the four presenters are the perfect group to bring cutting-edge science to the nation.

Jay Hunt, Controller of BBC One, says: "Bang Goes The Theory brings popular science back to the very heart of BBC One. The four presenters have a passion and knowledge for their subject that guarantees to bring science alive in an entertaining and engaging way."

Dallas Campbell (Gadget Show) is an experienced TV presenter with a passion for popularising science. Dallas says: "Let's face it, dream jobs don't get much dreamier than this. In fact, my left arm is still slightly sore from pinching myself. For anyone who is remotely curious about life, the Universe and pretty much everything, this is the show. In fact, sometimes I wish I wasn't working on it so I could just sit and watch it!"

Dallas will be joined by Liz Bonnin (Science Friction, RI:SE), a biochemist and wild animal biologist; and Jem Stansfield (Men In White, Scrapheap Challenge) who will turn the team's imaginative ideas into workable experiments.

Rounding up the group will be Dr Yan Wong (co-author of The Ancestor's Tale), who will use his academic expertise to demonstrate the fundamentals of science in a weekly segment.

Liz Bonnin says: "Bang Goes The Theory is quite literally my dream job! I get to spend my time finding out about the science that makes our world go round, as well as meeting the people behind incredible discoveries and ground-breaking innovations.

"The icing on the cake is working with Dallas, Jem and Yan who are thankfully as nutty around the edges as I am – I love them to bits. We are truly passionate about science and I hope this show will make our viewers equally so."

Jem Stansfield says: "All of us on the show have a slightly different take on science and as much as I love the theory, that's all it is. For me, its making and playing with stuff that gives the clearest insights. On this series I'm lucky enough to have been given a free rein to take ideas from the frontiers of science and to show they can be tested with the stuff that's hanging around in your backyard."

Dr Yan Wong says: "I love trying to understand the world around me – there's so much I still don't know. We find the world exciting from the moment we are born, and as children we explore it all the time. Now I've got the chance to get everyone to do that too. What a brilliant job!"

The team will be based at a high-tech Bedfordshire HQ and will travel the world to test ideas and meet experts from fields as varied as geology, astrophysics, neuropsychology and zoology.

The OU's academic experts have helped develop the experiments and exploits for the series.

Dr Stephen Serjeant, senior lecturer in astrophysics at the OU, says: "We've been delighted and amazed to see the extremes that the presenters are willing to going to go to in order to show science in action.

"Science is so important to our economy and we're surrounded by inventions and progress, yet sometimes people still feel science is too hard for them. It isn't! We want to trigger people's curiosity about the world – that's what science is all about."

Bang Goes The Theory is set for transmission in July 2009 (10 x 30-minutes).

The series was commissioned by Jay Hunt, Controller of BBC One.

Bang Goes The Theory will be supported by a website, interactive resources and free events to inspire the audience to get hands on with science – more details will be available later this year.

Notes to Editors
Bang Goes The Theory is an Open University/BBC co-production. The Open University and BBC have been in partnership for 40 years, providing educational programming to a mass audience. In recent times this partnership has evolved from late-night programming for delivering courses to peak-time programmes with a broad appeal to encourage wider participation in learning. For more information, visit www.open2.net/banggoesthetheory.

The academic adviser to the series is Dr Stephen Serjeant, senior lecturer in astrophysics. BBC Commissioning Executive for the OU is Catherine McCarthy. The Broadcast Learning Executive for the OU is Janet Sumner.

Africa's largest teacher education project, TESSA (Teaching Education in Sub-Saharan Africa), has been awarded the Leadership Award by the e-Learning Africa Awards for Exemplary Open Educational Resource (OER) Practices at a ceremony in Dakar. Hosted by The Open University, TESSA is a programme working to improve the quality of teacher education across sub-Saharan Africa by using new technology, in particular the idea of 'open content' or Open Educational Resources.

The award recognises TESSA as a group 'that has made significant advances in the understanding of the issues of innovation surrounding OER and the OER movement, applied to development issues.' Innovation is at the heart of the TESSA project, as it is allowing teachers in remote areas that would otherwise have to travel to education centres far away to use high-quality materials from their own classroom.

The flexibility and open nature of the TESSA materials means that institutions and organisations can use the materials in a variety of ways. For some, TESSA materials form the core of a new course or award for teachers; whereas others revise existing programmes to include TESSA materials.

Empowering teachers to develop their skills in this way is proving a huge success. Freda Wolfenden from The Open University said: “We expect that up to 200,000 teachers will be using TESSA resources by the end of next year. TESSA is playing a major leadership role in exploiting new technology to support teachers, many of whom work with large classes in remote rural communities.”

TESSA works with a consortium of national institutions and international organisations in Africa and most recently has extended work into Malawi, implementing its materials and support as a core element in the new national teacher training programme. Currently TESSA has partners in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia.

About TESSA:
The TESSA consortium was established in 2005. The principal purpose of the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) research and development consortium is to improve the quality of, and extend access to, university-led primary school teacher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The scale of need in the region is very great and it is estimated that across the region a third of existing primary teachers are unqualified or under qualified.
• More than 100 African academics have participated and are participating in the TESSA process including authoring the TESSA study units.
• A full first phase of resource development has been completed and more than 800 original study units, authored by African academics, are now available for use (see www.tessafrica.net).
• The TESSA text resources have all been adapted and versioned to the nine country contexts of participating universities. Resources are available in Arabic, English, French and Kiswahili.
• TESSA has commissioned a number of research activities, most notably a project looking at the lives of female teachers in rural communities in five of the participating institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan (Pride and Light' 2009).
• TESSA funds have enabled the creation of three PhD studentships for students from participating TESSA countries.

TESSA Case Study: Mavis Nkwenkwana, a teacher in South Africa
“I am Mavis Nkwenkwana, a teacher at Isithsaba Junior Primary school in Mdantsane. Mdantsane is the largest township in East London, South Africa. I have taught here for thirty years. I teach a class of forty children. It is multi-grade and my learners range from nine to fifteen years. My classroom is arranged into groups of learners. They are grouped both by age and ability, firstly by age, but if a child is particularly bright or is struggling, I will move them to a different table where they will be able to work to their best.

“I was asked to trial some TESSA materials in October, 2007. I am studying for my National Diploma of Primary Education (NDPE) at the University of Fort Hare. My tutor asked me to trial the materials. I agreed because I thought it would be interesting to try new methods of teaching.

“I was given a module on Literacy. I read the whole module, but what interested me most were the activities and case studies about litter. We have a big problem with litter in our school, only last week our learners were in trouble for dropping litter. So I thought I would prepare a lesson on litter using the TESSA materials. I think the lesson was very successful, for example, I never realised the children worried about litter too. Some children volunteered to be bin monitors so they must care!

“The TESSA materials reflect and support the work I am doing for my NDPE, namely they make me realise that I need to learn every day if I am to be a good teacher. I cannot leave the learning up to the learners! Teaching in this way makes me feel like I have more energy in the classroom. I would definitely like to use more TESSA materials. The methods and activities they recommend give me the confidence and skills to finally be the teacher I have always wanted to be”.

EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) has re-accredited The Open University Business School with the esteemed EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) endorsement for another three years.

The successful re-accreditation means that The Open University Business School is one of only 41 business schools in the world that has the triple accreditation of EQUIS, AMBA (Association of MBAs) and AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). The news reinforces why more than two thirds of FTSE 100 companies sponsor their staff on Open University Business School courses, as well as bolstering the appeal to individual students.

Speaking about the award, James Fleck, Dean and Professor of Innovation Dynamics said: “The EQUIS re-accreditation shows that The Open University Business School continues to show exceptionally high standards. Our pioneering method of practice-based learning is perfectly suited to a multinational mobile business community. Our style of teaching is international, mobile and focused on long-lasting results which are all important aspects, as the global business school arena becomes more competitive.”

The rigorous assessment process looked at all aspects of the Business School's activity, which are divided into ten areas, allowing EFMD to directly compare and benchmark the business schools against each other. The areas of assessment included:
• Context, Governance and Strategy
• Programmes
• Students
• Faculty
• Research and Development
• Executive Education
• Contribution to the Community
• Resources and Administration
• Internationalisation
• Corporate Connections

The EQUIS process requires that both the School and students (independently) provide a self assessment report covering the above areas. This is then ratified by a formal panel visit comprising Deans from other Business Schools and representatives from industry who meet a range of stakeholders which include, School faculty, students, corporate sponsors and governing bodies such as the International Advisory board, The EQUIS Peer Review Panel met with more than 70 people during their visit to The Open University Business School.

The EQUIS accreditation process takes place every three or five years.

'Writing The Century': TX 1st June, 10:45 am, BBC Radio 4

The Open University and Radio 4 have collaborated to produce a programme that dramatises a unique perspective of 1950's society from the diaries of Sir Linton Andrews. 'Writing the Century,' a five part series that is a continuing BBC strand within Woman's Hour will be broadcast daily starting on 1st June at 10.45am. This programme will provide an insight into the Suez crisis, corporal punishment, the execution of Ruth Ellis, Sir Andrew's own knighthood and the press' attitude to the Royal family.

In this the second co-production with the OU, the programme focuses on Sir Linton Andrews, former editor of The Yorkshire Post. Unlike the previous programme which compared events from ordinary people's perspective, Andrews had access to sources behind the headlines including the Royal press officials of the time. In his diary he writes about the press intrusion on Prince Charles as a child going to school which poses stark similarities to the press intrusion on the Prince's own children fifty years on.

Furthermore during the Suez crisis he describes the Manchester Guardian's publication of an article accusing the British Government of colluding with the Israel to invade Egypt as a 'completely farcical idea'. It is now known that this was in fact true, illustrating how the public's knowledge of that event was greatly mislead by the Government's statements.

The dramatisation was overseen by Dr Barry Dackombe of The Open University, who validated the authentic historical information. “It is vital that we didn't make any assumption based on the knowledge we have of past events. We wanted to make sure that we provided a genuine insight into the mind of Sir Linton Andrews at that time of his life,” said Dr. Dackombe.

“There is a natural fascination in reading diaries and letters as they provide an intimate insight into another world. In this case a world we think we know, but as this series demonstrates everything is not exactly as we collectively remember it!” concluded Dr. Dackombe.

www.open2.net/writingthecentury , the web portal for Open University BBC collaborations, hosts some of Dr Dackombe's observations from this and previous series of 'Writing the Century'.

- end -

Notes to editors:
Writing the Century is an Open University / BBC co-production for BBC Radio 4. It will be broadcast daily as part of Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 from 1st – 5th June, there will be two transmissions per day one at 10:45 and one at 19:45.

The Open University and BBC have been in partnership for more than 30 years, providing educational programming to a mass audience. In recent times this partnership has evolved from late night programming delivering courses to peak time programmes with a broad appeal to encourage wider participation in learning.

Executive producer for the BBC is Sue Roberts and series producers for the BBC are Peter Wild and Gary Brown.
Multiplatform Commissioning Executive for the BBC is Catherine McCarthy. The Open University Academic Consultant is Dr Barry Dackombe. The Broadcast Learning Executive for The Open University is Caroline Ogilvie.

Resources:

Related courses and programmes from The Open University:
A103: Introduction to the humanities
A173: Start writing family history
A174: Start writing fiction
A176: Start writing plays
A200: Exploring history: medieval to modern 1400-1900
A215: Creative writing
A300 & AZX300: 20th Century literature: texts and debates
A301: The art of English
A362: Empire 1492-1975 – History & significance of British & other empires
A363: Advanced creative writing
AA310: Film and television
AA312: Total war and social change, Europe 1914-1955
AA316: The 19th Century novel

Courses: www.open.ac.uk

A new Open University and BBC production, Saving Britain's Past, will bring the history of heritage debate to our living rooms later this year. It is the story of how Britain, in a radical period of post war change, decided what to keep and what to lose. It's about our attitudes to the past and explores how our feelings about heritage have changed and what these changes tell us about ourselves.

In this seven part series for BBC TWO, The Times' architecture critic Tom Dyckhoff takes us on a chronological and geographical journey round Britain. In each programme he investigates a key event or battle that defined each decade's attitude to heritage. The series begins in post war Bath where the bomb damage inflicted on Britain's most beautiful city resulted in the birth of listed building status and ends in Britain's most multicultural street Brick Lane where debates over what to save and what to lose are defined by cultural, religious and commercial interests.

Along the way the story reveals the fight to save country houses and how one had to reinvent itself to survive. It shows the spirit of activism that infused the local community in Covent Garden Market which prevented the site from being bulldozed, and how a pit turned museum in Wales to become a beacon of hope for the community. The series also reveals how an ambitious media campaign appealing for funds in the Highlands of Scotland prevented land from being sold on the open market.

Dr Rodney Harrison, Lecturer in Heritage Studies at The Open University and academic consultant to the series, said: “The series chronicles the British men and women who have campaigned and protested to protect and preserve their heritage. In doing so, it shows that heritage is not set in stone, but is determined by a set of values which we wish to use to build a sense of community and identity in the present. What we define as 'heritage' is constantly changing in the light of the present, as we look to the past to imagine our future.”

The Open University would like to encourage viewers to join them in mapping the nation's contemporary heritage. They can visit Open2.net to record a place, object or practice that means something to their sense of identity and community.

A 20-page Heritage booklet will be available to download from open2.net or by phoning Tel: 0845 366 80 11.

Editor's Notes
Saving Britain's Past is an Open University fully funded production with the BBC.

BBC Multiplatform Commissioning Executive is Catherine McCarthy. The Open University Academic Consultants are Dr Rodney Harrison and Dr Susie West. The Broadcast and Learning Executive for The Open University is Caroline Ogilvie.

Resources
Heritage, whose heritage? (A180)
Understanding global heritage (AD281)
Making sense of the arts (Y160)
Introducing environment (Y161)
Start writing family history (A173)
The arts past and present (AA100)
Introducing the social sciences (DD101)
Art and its histories (A216)
World archaeology (A251)

The Open University and Digital Planet, BBC World Service's Weekly Technology programme, have joined forces to produce six special co-produced editions of the programme.

The next programme will be broadcast on Tuesday 26 May and will feature the history of the PC. It will involve a trip to the newly opened PC gallery at the Bletchley Park History of Computing Museum, and an interview with Pixelh8, a musician who has written music using the sounds of old computers housed at the museum.

Hosted by Gareth Mitchell, Digital Planet brings the clearest, sharpest guide to developments in our connected world to a worldwide audience via radio, digital and online.

Dr Tony Hirst from the Department of Communication and Systems at The Open University and academic advisor for the series said: “With the spread of digital technologies across the world, we are increasingly seeing some of the most innovative applications of new devices and technologies in African schools and South American LAN Houses.

"Our partnership with Digital Planet will allow us to see how technology is being used and re-purposed in the wider world, and maybe rethink how we use those same technologies in our own everyday lives.

"There is no escaping the fact that we are now living on a digital planet. The next few years will see the explosive growth of location aware devices and the internet of things. By reporting on stories with Digital Planet, first hand, from the corners of the world, we will better appreciate just how far-reaching the digital world has become.

"I'm particularly excited about the role that we at the OU can play in this partnership. With the open2.net team, we are exploring how we can use map based websites to provide additional content around the Digital Planet programmes, showing just how far reaching across the globe the reported stories are. We're hoping to engage Digital Planet's global audience too, and get them to contribute content back to our supporting website, and maybe into the programme itself."

"I'm also hoping that the international scope of the programme will mean that we are able to capture some stories that will be of to interest OU students across a wide variety of courses, from web technologies to technology management, geography and ecology to international development. Who knows, we may even be able to get a Digital Planet news feed directly into some of those courses?"

Digital Planet can be listened to in the UK via BBC Online, DAB Digital Radio, Virgin Media Channel 906, Sky Digital Channel 0115 and Freeview Channel 710. The programme is also available as a free podcast downloadable from the BBC.

Editor's Notes

Digital Planet is an Open University/BBC co- production for the BBC World Service. The first of a series of six co-productions will broadcast at 10.30am GMT on Tuesday January 27 2009.

Editor for the BBC is Deborah Cohen.

Multiplatform Commissioning Executive for the BBC is Catherine McCarthy. The Open University Academic Consultant is Dr Tony Hirst. The Broadcast Learning Executive for The Open University is Dr Janet Sumner.

The Open University and BBC have been in partnership for more than 30 years, providing educational programming to a mass audience. In recent times this partnership has evolved from late night programming for delivering courses to peak time programmes with a broad appeal to encourage wider participation in learning.

The BBC exists to enrich people's lives with great programmes and services on television, radio and online that inform, educate and entertain. Its vision is to be the most creative, trusted organization in the world. BBC reporters and correspondents at home and abroad can be called on for expert coverage across a huge range of subject areas. With over 70 foreign bureaux, the BBC has the largest newsgathering operation in the world. BBC World Service provides international news, analysis and information in English and 31 other languages.

Resources
Related Courses and programmes from The Open University:-
- TU120 Beyond Google, working with information online
- T183 Design and the Web
- T189 Digital Photography; creating and sharing better images
- T184 Robotics and the meaning of life; A practical guide to things that think
- T187 Vandalism in Cyberspace

Professor Monica Dowling will focus on social work and policy in her inaugural lecture at The Open University in Milton Keynes on Monday May 18.

During her lecture – which is free and open to the public – Professor Dowling, the OU's Head of Social Work, will explore themes which contribute to our understanding of social work and social policy. Looking back at her qualitative studies over the last 20 years – which involve over 500 hundred individuals in the UK, Eastern Europe and China and have contributed to local, national and international policy debates – she will ask: how do people who receive social care services evaluate them? The answer to this question will be explored in depth in the lecture, but Professor Dowling will assert that one key issue for both those on the receiving end of services and social workers themselves is the issue of respect.

“Recipients of social services wanted their views understood and listened to but they also wanted action - respect for many is also about doing something practical to help them - whether that's providing a Home from Hospital scheme or providing a halfway house for disabled children that were previously institutionalised,” says Professor Dowling. “Social workers also need respect not just from recipients of services but from the general public and policy makers. These are 'the good guys'. They believe in Social Justice and supporting and protecting those in need.”

This theme is especially current following ongoing and extensive media coverage focusing on the social work industry. To provide a first-hand demonstration of the issues facing social workers in child protection, Professor Dowling will show a piece of footage from the BBC documentary, Someone to Watch Over Me (which is used as course material for the OU's social work degree on the Critical Practice in Social Work module K315) and captures the moment a social worker is faced with the task of informing her team that one of their cases, a young baby, has died. It's a heart-wrenching video to watch, and will present the audience with the reality faced by today's social workers.

Moving to a wider international agenda, Professor Dowling will be showing an iTunesU clip on international adoption from China to the UK, posing the question: how does globalisation affect our thinking about welfare? In answer to this, she will explore how ideas and practices undreamt of 50 years ago are now contributing to current procedures and welfare policies around the world.

Notes to editors
Lecture details
Title: From Barnsley to Guangzhou: Key Themes for Social Work in Social Policy in National and International Contexts
Time/date: 4:00pm Monday, May 18, 2009 (tea and coffee will be served in the Berrill Café Bar from 3:30pm).
Venue: Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA

About Professor Monica Dowling
Monica Dowling has held academic posts at the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester and Royal Holloway, University of London before she joined the Open University in 2005. She has published extensively in the areas of; poverty, social exclusion and social work; the measurement of quality of care from user and carer perspectives and globalisation and international adoption. As Head of the Department of Social Work, she is responsible for the work of the OU's Social Work team.

The Open University Health and Social Care Faculty
The OU is the largest provider of part-time social work training. It trains 11.5 per cent of all social workers in the UK.

The University's provision in health and social care extends from 'openings' courses for people returning to learning; professional programmes such as social work and nursing; continuing professional development; and a new post-graduate programme in advancing healthcare practice. It has four main teaching programmes: nursing, social work, health and social care, and foundation degrees.

Of the 51 institutions teaching social work in the UK, The OU came top in student satisfaction across a range of criteria in The National Student Survey (www1.tqi.ac.uk) 2007 and third in 2008.

The Open University has received nearly £407,000 jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for research into religious conflict. The three-year project, Protestant-Catholic Conflict: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Realities, will be led by John Wolffe, Professor of Religious History.

The research will explore how differences between Protestant and Catholic beliefs have been translated into ideas and beliefs about security and insecurity; when and why such ideas led to conflict; and the extent of how Protestant or Catholic religion became labels of political significance. It will also investigate how similar historic conflicts ignited and spread and the circumstances conducive to breaking the cycle. The research programme will include work on attitudes in contemporary Northern Ireland in collaboration with the independent Belfast-based Institute for Conflict Research. It will culminate in a major international conference in Belfast in the summer of 2012.

Professor Wolffe explains: "Had a research programme on 'global uncertainties' been launched three hundred years ago, an explicit concern with the domestic and international security implications of conflict between Catholics and Protestants would undoubtedly have been very prominent. Even a hundred years ago there was still influential support for the view that the most significant source of confrontation within and between European states was religion.

“While such a perception was eclipsed in the subsequent actual course of twentieth century history, in the context of its revival at the turn of the twenty-first century the longer term historical perspective merits closer examination. Moreover, local and regional tensions between Catholics and Protestants continue to be a matter of contemporary concern, especially in Ireland and the United States.

“The project will explore the long term resolution of regional tensions between Catholics and Protestants to aid understanding and address other contemporary religious conflict. Most notably there will be comparison with the perceived 'clash of civilizations' between Christianity and Islam."

The research will have wide interdisciplinary applications across the Humanities and Social Sciences. Successful development and synthesis of historical work in Protestant-Catholic conflict will provide a valuable resource for those engaging on research on related contemporary issues.

Editor's Notes:
1. The project will run from 01 October 2009 to 30 September 2012

2. This grant is co-funded between ESRC at 64% and AHRC at 36%. ESRC is administering the grant on behalf of ESRC and AHRC. This ESRC/AHRC fellowship grant forms part of the "RCUK Global Uncertainties: Security for all in a Changing World" Programme.

3. This year The Open University is celebrating forty years as a major UK institution that delivers world-leading excellence in teaching, research and knowledge transfer. It has more than 200,000 students in over 40 countries and the research activities of its academic staff, based at its Walton Hall campus, benefit from partnerships with research groups from around the world.

The University's freely accessible repository of nearly 10,000 research publications, Open Research Online, is the eighth largest university repository in the UK.

A history of Scotland, an Open University and BBC co-production, is about to go Stateside to document Scotland's international moneymen, who weren't averse to 'playing the markets' for their own ends in the 18th Century.

Presenter Neil Oliver and a film crew will visit America and Jamaica to film the story of Scots, who in the wake of the defeat of the Jacobites, turned to the colonies and the Empire.

As well as highlighting stories such as the Glasgow tobacco merchants, who tied American farmers into restrictive deals, and Scottish slave ownership, they will also be focusing on the stories of individuals such as John Witherspoon, a humble Paisley minister, who became a major proponent of American independence. (He is said to be a direct ancestor of Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon.)

Says Neil; "It was an amazing period in Scottish history, but it is Scottish history in an international context. In the wake of the defeat of the Jacobites, there were Scots who were having to flee and others who viewed it as their best option.

"Not everyone made their fortune but there were many who did and they didn't always care about the cost to others. Having been 'victims' as they saw it, many of these Scots then became slave owners, often among the most merciless of the slave owners. Others became very adept money-makers who weren't exactly scrupulous about how they did it. In this shiny modern world, the old conflicts about about dynasty and religion were gone; the colonialists worshipped at the altar of a new God - money.

"But it was also the dawn of a new era; when Scotland made its mark on the world by exporting its most valuable commodities; its people and ideas, ideas that helped start a revolution."

Among the stories to be featured are the restrictive trade practices of the Glasgow tobacco merchants, who went all out to target smaller farmers with less commercial clout. They tied local Virginian farmers into direct trade deals, stopping them getting a fair price in the open market. The Tobacco Lords effectively bought low and sold high as at the other end they enjoyed the British Empire monopoly in Europe and could sell their produce at high prices. In some instances American farmers were lured into tempting credit deals, which also tied them to buyers, who could then virtually set whatever price they wanted.

Explains Neil: "Credit would be offered to farmers who would otherwise be paid once a year, at harvest time. This could be a loan, or some tempting goodies their ships had brought in from Scotland. But it was a deal with the devil. In return for your tobacco, you were shackled to them, and they could demand whatever price they saw fit. It was commerce without conscience, profit before any sense of ethics.

"This greedy money-making at any cost wasn't filtering down any advantages to the ordinary people of Scotland, who were incredibly poor at this time. It is ironic that it was the abject poverty that Benjamin Franklin saw first hand in Scotland that convinced him that some sort of American Britain Union was not the way forward, while at the same time the best intellectual efforts of the Scottish Enlightenment had provided America with a blueprint for liberty."

Among those who left Scotland for America, disgusted by the disparity between a wealthy elite and the impoverished general population, was Dr John Witherspoon. Fearing Scotland was losing its moral compass, he left in 1768 to take up an appointment as Principal of the renowned Princeton College, in New Jersey. He became the leading Churchman of his time advocating independence; so much so that the British specifically targetted his base, Princeton and the college, destroying just about everything in their path.

Further galvanised against the British by this action, Witherspoon worked tirelessly for five years to make for repairs to the college and on a special Congress set up by the revolutionary forces. His dedication to this cause was acknowledged when he was among those present to witness the signing of the American Declaration of Independence. Says Neil: "From Paisley to Princeton, the story of John Witherspoon is amazing but he is one of a number of individuals and stories about Scots who forged America - and indeed the wider British Empire - that will feature."

Neil McDonald, Executive Producer of the series, says: "We are delivering another five parts of the Scottish story, taking it up to the present day. The early days of Scotland were full of dramatic action, blood, gore and machinations, but if anything the action and machinations really hot up now. It is 300 years full of dramatic storylines, again much of which is known about in academic circles but which we hope to make fresh and exciting for a wider audience."

Dr Ian Donnachie, Reader in History at The Open University and academic advisor for the series, says: "As the series moves on in time it highlights major themes in the history of Scotland to our own times. Many important and controversial issues that are addressed and debated in the programmes help to explain how Scotland came to be the country it is today. No doubt the series will continue to provoke lively debate over major strands and personalities explored through Neil Oliver's lively presentation."

The series will resume on BBC One Scotland in early November, with transmission at a later point on network BBC Two.

An assessment of the current knowledge of crime, crime prevention and deviance in Europe will be debated at CRIMPREV's final conference at The Open University from 17-19 June 2009. The international project was launched at the end of 2006 with EU funding to investigate perceptions of crime; criminalisation; deviant behaviour; interactions between different forms of organised crime; public policies of prevention; and to establish good practice guidelines across Europe.

The International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR) at The Open University played a significant role in CRIMPREV since its inception. Clive Emsley, Director ICCCR and Professor of History, said: “It is an honour for us to be hosting this conference. The ICCCR is particularly strong in providing historical perspectives in the area of juvenile justice and policing.“

The conference will be debating the conclusions of six work packages in preparation for the final report. A short keynote by Professor Emsley will pinpoint some of the problems of understanding crime in contemporary society, notably with governments that cherry-pick research to suit ill-considered policies.

Professor Emsley believes this conference is timely to address sub-standard government spending on crime prevention. “The economic downturn poses a significant threat to the funding of crime research. Whilst the government want quick results, criminologists can't offer guarantees that their work will begin to solve the crime problem. A conference like this will however bring us a step closer to understanding the problems and offering potential solutions.”

The conference will be webcast live. Details of the programme can be found (right).

Editor's Notes
1. CRIMPREV is an international project funded by the EU through the Sixth Framework Programme - issues connected with the resolution of conflicts and restoration of peace and justice.

The CRIMPREV consortium is made up of 31 universities and research institutes spread across Europe from 10 European countries. The consortium will continue as a federation of institutions under the umbrella of the Groupe Européen de Recherche sur les Normativités (GERN) based in Paris. This federated body now constitutes an important Europe-wide crime control lobby with a presence at the EU table.

2. The International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR) is an Open University centre of research excellence. It was established in December 2003. It is a unique multi disciplinary and cross faculty initiative drawing on expertise from Social Sciences (social policy & criminology, psychology and sociology), Arts (history), and Health and Social Care (youth justice).

It incorporates the European Centre for the Study of Policing based in Arts and the Rethinking Criminology and Forensic Psychology Research Groups based in Social Sciences.

The ICCCR unites contemporary practice-based research and critical policy analysis in crime, policing and criminal justice with an awareness of historical, psychological and social contexts.

ICCCR has developed three substantive (but inter-related) areas of expertise:

* policing
* justice, rights and regulation
* prisons/penology

Coherence between these subject areas is maintained through a shared interest in comparative methodologies (historical and/or cross-cultural) and in a concern for processes of governance and regulation. Its research is aimed at academic, policy and practitioner audiences, and is disseminated via regular conferences, seminars and publications.

Researchers from The Open University and the University of Leeds have been awarded £195k from the Leverhulme Trust to develop an intuitive computer aided design (CAD) system that could revolutionise the design process. They will examine how eye tracking technology could recognise which parts of design sketches the designer is interested in, and automatically suggest developments of that element.

Dr Steve Garner, Principal Investigator and Senior Lecturer in Design at The Open University, said: “Our starting point was thinking about what type of computer systems designers will be using in 15 or 20 years' time. We believe that in the future, CAD systems will work alongside designers to stimulate and enhance their creativity by offering suggestions and highlighting alternative options right from the earliest point in the design process, when they're sketching out their ideas.”

The research builds on a prototype CAD system funded through the Designing for the 21st Century programme, a joint initiative between the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The Design Synthesis and Shape Generation project (DSSG) produced the world's first 3D shape grammar-based design system, which succeeded in overcoming a major limitation in current shape grammar-based systems – that of recognising 'sub-shapes' in early design sketches.

Alison McKay, Professor of Design Systems at the University of Leeds, explains: “Sub-shapes or emergent shapes are those created when two or more shapes intersect. For example, if two squares overlap diagonally, we see a third square created in the middle. But in conventional CAD terms, this middle square doesn't exist, because it has not been previously defined in the programming and is therefore ignored by the CAD system for design purposes. But in real life, designers use such ambiguities within their sketches to inspire further design developments using their creativity and experience and we succeeded in developing a system that could assist that process from the start.”

The new project takes the DSSG software a radical step further by adding eye tracking capability into the mix. It's a step that could ultimately see the designer and software working in complete creative harmony.

“When we're interested in something or when part of a picture catches our eye, our eyes are naturally drawn back to that part several times over. The eye tracking device could detect this interest and intuitively make suggestions to inspire the design development without the designer having to interrupt his or her train of thought to instruct the computer to work on a certain part,” Professor McKay continued.

“The designer wouldn't have to physically interact with the software – the software would already be in tune, ready to support the creative process by suggesting new ways of seeing the possibilities a shape can offer.”

Further information
Dr Steve Garner, Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology, The Open University. Tel: 01908 655784 or Email: s.w.garner@open.ac.uk.

Professor Alison McKay, University of Leeds. Tel: 0113 343 2217 or Email a.mckay@leeds.ac.uk

Editor's Notes
1. The cross-disciplinary Design Group at The Open University is ranked 3rd in the UK for the quality of its research out of a field of 72, with 80% of its research graded as world leading or internationally excellent (2008 Research Assessment Exercise). It aligns closely with the OU's Centre for Research in Computing, which is in the UK top 20 for its field, with 70% of its research world leading or internationally excellent in fields related to software design and the utility of ambient, ubiquitous and pervasive technologies.

This year The Open University is celebrating forty years as a major UK institution that delivers world-leading excellence in teaching, research and knowledge transfer. It has more than 200,000 students in over 40 countries and the research activities of its academic staff, based at its Walton Hall campus, benefit from partnerships with research groups from around the world.

The University's freely accessible repository of nearly 10,000 research publications, Open Research Online, is the eighth largest university repository in the UK.

2. The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Leeds is ranked 7th* in the UK for the quality of its research (2008 Research Assessment Exercise) with 75% of the Faculty's research activity rated as internationally excellent or world leading.

With 700 academic and research staff and 3,000 students the Faculty is a major player in the field with a track record of experience across the full spectrum of the engineering and computing disciplines. The Faculty of Engineering is home to five schools: civil engineering; computing; electronic and electrical engineering; mechanical engineering; process, environmental and materials engineering.

Two thirds of students are undergraduates with the remaining third split evenly between taught masters and research degrees. The Faculty attracts staff and students from all around the world; one third of students are from outside the UK and representing over 90 different nationalities.

Dr Jacqui Gabb, a Lecturer at The Open University (OU), has been named joint winner of a prestigious prize from the British Sociological Association (BSA) for her book Researching Intimacy in Families. The Philip Abrams Memorial prize is given for the best first and sole-authored book within the discipline of Sociology.

Dr Gabb's book emerged from the ESRC-funded research project 'Behind Closed Doors. Researching Intimacy and Sexuality in Families' which explored families' emotion-exchanges – their experiences, understanding and expressions of intimacy and affection; and the verbal and non-verbal affective communication between parents, parents and children and siblings. The book uses original data from the research project to invigorate methodology teaching and family research.

Dr Gabb said: “Methodology and theory are often looked at separately. This book is innovative in drawing them together and investigating the use of mixed methodology in family research projects. Having successfully completed the research project and seeing the richness of material that a qualitative mixed methods approach can produce, I am a huge advocate of this way of researching families and personal lives. My hope is that the book will help researchers think more critically about their methods and approach and assist them in exploring the use of mixed methodologies.”

President of the BSA and Pro-Vice Chancellor Learning Innovation at Glasgow Caledonian University, Professor Sue Scott, said of the book: “The sociology of the family...will be enriched by the insights offered in this book. As a commentary on method in relation to undertaking research in this field many salient issues are brought to the fore. The use of a spatial mapping approach is particularly useful, and the sections on visual sociology, the use of 'draw-and-talk', and video are insightful and communicated with great clarity.”

Notes to Editors
The Philip Abrams Memorial prize was established in honour of the memory of Professor Philip Abrams whose work contributed substantially to sociology and social policy research in Britain. In recognition of his commitment to sociology as a discipline, the British Sociological Association established this prize to stimulate new ideas and fresh research in sociology by encouraging new British authors.

On April 23, The Open University will be celebrating its 40th anniversary, marking a significant milestone for the UK's first university dedicated to open and distance learning.

The Open University is now the UK's largest university, teaching almost 200,000 students each year, and since its establishment in 1969 it has helped over 2 million students further career development or fulfil life long ambitions of learning.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Brenda Gourley, says: “The Open University has turned an educational system devised in another age into a tool of the knowledge society, and used open and distance education to make the world a better place: abandoning entry criteria and using technology has enabled us to provide education to millions of people who might otherwise be condemned to poverty and hardship. This is an extraordinary record of which the UK should be proud. It has also been achieved while becoming a first-rate university in any terms, standing proudly among its more traditional peers and partners.

“The Open University has not only put social justice at the very heart of what it seeks to do – it is the very stuff of its mission. It has played a real part in shaping the future society in Britain and elsewhere. It has in the process helped many people to realise their dreams.”

Today The Open University continues to lead the way in learning technology. In 2008 The Open University became the first university to offer free downloadable course material via iTunesU and today over 50,000 OU tracks are downloaded from iTunesU each week.

23 April 1969 saw the birth of The Open University but its intellectual roots go back much further. In 1926 the educationalist and historian JC Stobart wrote a memo on a 'wireless university', while working for the BBC. By the early sixties many different proposals were being debated such as a 'teleuniversity', which would combine broadcast lectures with correspondence texts and visits to conventional universities – a genuinely 'multi-media' concept.

In1963 Harold Wilson stated in a speech in Glasgow: “Today I want to outline new proposals on which we are working, a dynamic programme providing facilities for home study to university and higher standards.” When Labour won the election in 1964, Harold Wilson appointed Jennie Lee and asked her to take on the 'University of the Air' project, moving her to the Department of Education and Science.

This project met with severe hostility and scepticism, but thousands rushed to register. Forty years on, The Open University is consistently in the top three of the National Students Survey of Student Satisfaction, had 18 of 25 subjects classed as excellent in the last UK Quality Assurance Agency subject review, and in the recent UK universities Research Assessment Exercise rose 23 places in the UK research league table, with 14% of its research described as 'world leading' and more than 50% described as 'internationally excellent'. No scepticism now and no hostility either!

Editor's Notes
The Vice-Chancellor is available for interview.

The Open University continuing to lead the education revolution
• In 2008, the OU was the first UK University to join iTunesU, the area of Apple's iTunes store that offers downloadable educational content.
• Also in 2008, the OU launched its own online video community site called 'ouView in YouTube'
• A wide range of free online courses is also available from OpenLearn, the OU's award-winning open educational resource website.

The Open University promoting opportunity and social justice
• In 2007/8, 42,000 OU students received financial support towards their course fees; 15.5% of the OU's students were from disadvantaged communities.
• The Openings programme provides short, introductory courses designed for people with no prior educational experience who need to build confidence and skills. In 2007/08 almost 16,500 students registered on Openings courses.

The Open University's Global reach
• In India, Turkey and China, universities based on The Open University's model each have more than one million students. Most countries now have their own open learning provision.
• More than 21,000 Open University students study outside the UK.
• The launch of the Russian-language BA in Business Studies is set to attract thousands more to join the 15,290 people already studying for OU awards across Russia's eight time zones.
• 24,000 students are registered on Arab Open University programmes leading to an Open University validated degree.
• The Open University is bringing increased educational opportunity to some of the poorest countries in Africa and Asia. More than 500,000 primary school teachers in nine African countries are benefiting from OU audio and texts materials made freely available to them through the TESSA (Teacher Education in Sub-Sahara Africa) project.

The Open University's value to the UK economy
• Graduates of The Open University are amongst the most employable in the UK, according to data provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. More than 80% are in employment six months after graduating
• More than 75% of the FTSE top 100 companies have sponsored their staff to take Open University courses.

People's behaviours, habits and emotional states when making financial decisions will be under investigation as part of a new pan-European research project, xDelia, involving The Open University Business School.

The EUR 3.2 million project, led by the International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering in Barcelona, will fund advanced research in the area of financial decision-making over the next three years.

Mark Fenton-O'Creevy, Professor of Organisational Behaviour, said: “Gaming and sensor technologies will be used to explore the role of emotions in financial decision-making. Our research will involve a range of people, from traders and private investors to members of the public.”

Game based technologies are widely acknowledged as a method of learning as they can place people in virtual situations, and xDelia will use this to analyse behavioural patterns. Wearable sensor equipment detecting pulse rates and perspiration will provide further clues to a person's emotional state prior to and at the point of a financial decision. Sensor and gaming technologies will be used to improve understanding of financial decision making processes, as well as in the design of technology supported learning approaches to improve financial decision-making.

“Educational approaches to financial decision-making have to date focused mainly on improving financial knowledge. However, people often already know what the correct decision in a situation should be, but they are still ruled by their emotions or habit. This project will incorporate emotional state in the decision making process, and will help businesses and financial institutions to guide their customers through financial decision making. It will also benefit traders and investors to tackle the challenges they face when making financial decisions,” Professor Fenton-O'Creevy concluded.

The research consortium also includes Saxo Bank; The University of Bristol; Erasmus University in Rotterdam; Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden; and The Research Centre for Information Technology at University of Karlsruhe in Germany.

Editor's Notes
xDelia stands for eXcellence in Decision-making through Enhanced Learning in Immersive Applications.

Two special family events run by The Open University in partnership with English Heritage, celebrating the Darwin bi-centenary year, will be giving people the chance to tread in the footsteps of Charles Darwin by doing hands-on science experiments at Down House, his Kent family home.

Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 April – Evolution Megalab Banded Snail hunt
Did you know that thanks to a common little snail, you can see evolution in action? The Evolution MegaLab banded snail hunt will be coming to Down House in April, giving people the chance to contribute to a huge public science research project. The MegaLab project, run by The Open University, is investigating how snails have evolved over the past 40 years, comparing data supplied by members of the public with a database of historical records.

Scientists believe that climate change and predators may have caused the banded snail population to shift habitat and even change their appearance – and now they need the public to survey snails and help them collect data. For more information, go to www.evolutionmegalab.org.

The snail hunts will take place from 12noon – 2pm and from 3pm – 5pm on both days.

Dr Carlton Wood, Science Staff Tutor for The Open University, said: “These events are a wonderful opportunity for members of the public to do their own evolutionary experiments and surveys in Darwin's own garden, the very place where this extraordinary scientist carried out his research and developed his ideas.”

Sunday 26 April – Carnivorous plants: little pots of horror
Darwin was fascinated by carnivorous plants and this 'Little Pots of Horror' event will be showing the different ways in which carnivorous plant species have evolved. As well as being able to see “flesh eating” plants, including the Venus Fly Trap and the beautiful Sundews, in the flesh you'll also find out more about how they are able to attract, trap and digest their food in this informative illustrated talk.

Dr Wood continued: “The Little Pots of horror event will be a fascinating insight into the mysterious world where plants consume animals…an area that Darwin was the first to investigate.” The 'Little Pots of Horror' talk will run for an hour at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

There will be information at both events about related Open University courses, for anyone who wishes to pursue further learning. The OU has launched a short course on Darwin especially for the bi-centenary year, called Darwin and Evolution (S170).

Both events are included in the admission price to Down House; but due to limited availability places must be booked in advance on 0870 333 1181. When calling please state the event, date and time that you wish to book.

Do you run out of money at the end of the month? When you take out a financial product do you read the small print? What will your retirement years be like? If you received £3,000 and wanted to invest it, what would you do?

If ISAs, APRs and tax credits are alien to you then a new scheme, Moneywise, from The Open University, will help. The campaign is encouraging local residents in Bristol, Cornwall, Oxfordshire and parts of Scotland to take more care over their personal finances by helping them learn practical financial skills.

Managing your money is all important in today's economic climate and the Moneywise campaign links to the OU short course You and Your Money. This is a flexible, part-time course so you can study at home with feedback from a tutor – there are no entry qualifications needed and you could even qualify for a grant or be able to do the course completely free, depending on your circumstances. The six month course covers a range of topics important in household finances including budgeting, debt, saving, housing, pensions and insurance.

Martin Higginson is overseeing the campaign and said, “If money is a mine-field to you then this could be a good step towards managing your finances better. With the economic downturn hitting many of us in the pocket this course is a great way to understand how to make the most of your cash. You have nothing to lose, but by applying what you learn, you literally have pounds to gain.”

Basic arithmetic skills are required for the course and all materials are provided –the next course runs in May. Student Keith took the course and said: “99% of the population would be better off financially after studying this course – it's that good! It's the first course I've ever personally benefitted from on a day to day basis.”

Find out more at www.openuniversity.co.uk/moneywise or phone 0845 300 6090 and quote moneywise.