News & articles

Man standing at a lecturn in front of blue, red and white flags

Ukraine war: Putin announces annexation of four regions, but his hold on them may be flimsy

Vladimir Putin has formally signed a treaty annexing four Ukrainian regions into the Russian Federation. The Russian president announced, at a ceremony in Moscow’s Red Square, that the incorporation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, in the south and east of Ukraine, into Russia is the “choice of millions of people” who share a “common history” with the Russian Federation.

3rd October 2022

Star Wars-based research to make UK film more sustainable

There can be no adult in the western world who hasn’t heard of Star Wars nor seen the out-of-this-world props and costumes from Stormtrooper uniforms to other equally ubiquitous items.

30th September 2022

Man in a suit, wearing glasses and holding a document, coming out of a door

Mini budget 2022: experts react to the new UK government’s spending and tax-cut plans

UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has just launched the biggest package of tax cuts in half a century. This will involve around £45bn of reductions for people and businesses by 2027 – 50% more than anticipated before the mini-budget announcement.

26th September 2022

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OU celebrates Research Excellence Awards 2022

More than 250 Open University staff, students, funders and partners came together in London last night (22 September 2022) to celebrate OU research.

21st September 2022

Head shot of a man wearing a blue shirt and jacket, with trees in the background

Challenging assumptions about widening participation in Higher Education

The Open University hosted Professor John Butcher’s inaugural lecture on 13 September 2022.

12th September 2022

Two scientists wearing protective white clothing and glasses, working with scientific equipment in metal trays. Image credit: Phase 2 Kochi/JAXA

Space mission returns samples that are “more precious than gold dust”

New research findings have provided important new clues as to how the inner Solar System, including Earth, acquired its water and organic-rich components - the essential building blocks for all life.

16th August 2022

Black and white rats eating food out of a white bowl

OU Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation addresses the 3Rs for animal research

The OU’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, Professor Kevin Shakesheff, is playing a national role in accelerating the replacement of animals in research with the launch of the 2022-2024 Strategy for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).

11th August 2022

Teenage girl, smoking a cigarette, sitting in front of a graffiti-covered wall

Research into how growing up in disadvantaged areas affects children

An OU academic has received funding to take part in research which looks at how children are affected by growing up in what are considered, disadvantaged areas.

5th August 2022

Earth in the foreground and the sun in the background, with space debris floating around

Scientists calculate the risk of someone being killed by space junk

The chance of someone being killed by space junk falling from the sky may seem ridiculously tiny. After all, nobody has yet died from such an accident, though there have been instances of injury and damage to property. But given that we are launching an increasing number of satellites, rockets and probes into space, do we need to start taking the risk more seriously?

26th July 2022