12 August 2015
Following success in last year’s Research Excellence Framework, the OU has unveiled its new research plan, Research Shaping the Future. Under the plan four Strategic Research Areas (SRAs), which demonstrate world-leading excellence, impact, scale and alignment with the OU’s mission, will benefit from at least £7.5m of funding over the next five years.
As Vice-Chancellor Peter Horrocks explains, ‘By prioritising our research investment in these areas, we can not only strive to transform lives and promote social justice around the world, but our students will benefit from the knowledge and expertise developed by our academics.’
The new SRAs, which support the OU’s tradition of research that crosses academic boundaries, will address some of the world’s major challenges such as global inequality, poverty and migration. The areas are:
Maureen Mackintosh, IKD Director, commented: ‘It's an exciting time for IKD. The new SRA in Inclusive Innovation and International Development will allow us to build on our cross-faculty research that is already helping to improve infrastructure, health systems, food and agriculture, and inclusive education around the world.’
Find out more about OU research and the new SRAs.
To find out more about our work, or to discuss a potential project, please contact:
International Development Research Office
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)1908 858502
E: international-development-research@open.ac.uk