OU News

News from The Open University

Author Danielle Steel

How to write a novel – four fiction writers on Danielle Steel’s insane working day

Sarah Corbett, Lancaster University; David Bishop, Edinburgh Napier University; Edward Hogan, The Open University, and Liam Murray Bell, University of Stirling writing for The Conversation. She might be the world’s most famous romance writer, nay the highest selling living author bar none, but there’s little room for flowers and chocolates in Danielle Steel’s writing regime. […]

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Moon

The moon is still geologically active, study suggests

We tend to think of the moon as the archetypal “dead” world. Not only is there no life, almost all its volcanic activity died out billions of years ago. Even the youngest lunar lava is old enough to have become scarred by numerous impact craters that have been collected over the aeons as cosmic debris […]

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Appendix removal: does it really increase your risk of getting Parkinson’s disease?

Appendix removal: does it really increase your risk of getting Parkinson’s disease?

Kevin McConway, The Open University writing for The Conversation. Recent scary press reports suggest that having your appendix out could triple your risk of getting Parkinson’s disease. Given that there is currently no cure for this neurodegenerative condition, people who have had their appendix out might be quite worried. But worrying, at this point, would […]

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Dying Matters Awareness Week – test your knowledge

Dying Matters Awareness Week – test your knowledge

Dying Matters Awareness Week highlights the importance of talking about dying, death and bereavement. The Open University has an abundance of information on the subject, curated by experts from across Health & Social Care. Get interactive Life or Death Decisions  Would you be able to help your friends and family get the care they want […]

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Innovative, modern and impactful: The OU Library wins information literacy award

Innovative, modern and impactful: The OU Library wins information literacy award

The Open University Library’s Live Engagement Team has won the information literacy award at the LILAC annual conference. The team teaches information literacy (IL) skills through online training sessions, podcasts, Facebook live and other methods. The award recognized their excellence in developing OU students’ skills in an innovative way. Going above and beyond The judging […]

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Open University and colleges extend Functional Skills partnership

Open University and colleges extend Functional Skills partnership

Free Level 2 Functional Skills in Maths and English are now being offered by The Open University in partnership with local Further Education Colleges. 12,000 people have already accessed the OU’s Level 1 Functional Skills free course materials in Maths and English since they were launched in February 2019. Functional Skills are part of the […]

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Waldseemuller map of the world

Globalisation was rife in the 16th century – clues from Renaissance paintings

Leah Clark, The Open University,writing for The Conversation. For many, the Renaissance was the revival or “rebirth” of Western classical antiquity, associated with great artists painting the Sistine Chapel and the invention of the printing press in Europe. These local, European phenomena seem rather parochial compared to today’s world, where a hashtag on Instagram connects […]

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woman trying to write

OU students’ guide to beating writer’s block

Writing can be fulfilling and frustrating in equal measure. When you’re in full flow and the ideas keep coming, it feels great and you never want to stop. But many of us have experienced the opposite of this: drought. When the words dry up and all you have is a blank page (or screen) with […]

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Nick Mason Pink Floyd

How technology changed music: Nick Mason presents BBC World Service series

A new landmark nine-part OU/BBC series on the BBC World Service, A History of Music in Technology continues on Saturday mornings, through to June 22nd. Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason presents the series, charting the history of music and technology and exploring the world of legendary artists, producers, engineers and inventors. The series shines a light […]

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Open University Walton Hall Campus

The Open University appoints new Vice-Chancellor

The Open University has appointed Professor Tim Blackman as its next Vice-Chancellor who will take up his new role on the 1 October. Professor Blackman is currently Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University and has served in this role since July 2015. Prior to Middlesex University, he was Acting Vice–Chancellor at The Open University and previously Pro […]

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