The Open University

Austerity isn’t working for everyone – especially women

7 March 2017

Women have borne the brunt of government austerity policies since 2010. Cuts to spending on services and social security have a disproportionate gender impact because women rely more on these services, benefits and tax credits than men do. It is therefore ironic that the UK is set to announce another budget that will do little […]

OU academic hunts for Martians with BBC Radio 4

6 March 2017

As part of a special week of Mars programmes on BBC Radio 4, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, Monica Grady, presents a 30 minute special programme about the search for life on the Red Planet on Monday 6 March 2017, 21:00. In Hunting the Martians, Professor Grady explores the balance of evidence for Mars […]

Home Office rule change adds to febrile atmosphere for EU nationals in Britain

3 March 2017

The House of Lords may have backed an amendment to protect the rights of EU nationals after Brexit, but the level of fear among nationals of other EU countries about their future has hit new highs. On March 1, the Lords voted by 358 to 256 in favour of an amendment to the Brexit bill, […]

England Rugby’s ‘ruckgate’: when playing by the rules is seen as unfair

2 March 2017

The Six Nations match between England and Italy at Twickenham on February 26 created quite a stir. Not so much for the quality of the rugby, but for a tactic adopted by the Italian team which appeared to catch England completely off guard for the best part of the first half. The tactic involved a […]

OU programme explores the science of sound

1 March 2017

In a two-part BBC series, broadcaster and physicist, Dr Helen Czerski, reveals what the physics of sound can tell us about the world and how it works. Produced in partnership with the OU, and broadcast on BBC Four from Thursday 2 March 2017, 21:00, Sound Waves: The Symphony of Physics explores the extremes of the […]

OU research informs prominent IT gender report in India

28 February 2017

Open University researchers have co-produced the latest edition of a high-profile report on the state of the IT industry in India and female participation in particular. The OU’s researchers produced the spring edition of the 2017 Women in IT Scorecard-India with the support of India’s leading IT trade association, NASSCOM. This aims to improve understanding of the make-up […]

OU/BBC production allows viewers to Meet the Lords

27 February 2017

A peek into the biggest parliamentary body outside China, the Chamber of Lords, is in store in a new two-part documentary co-produced by The Open University and the BBC. Meet The Lords on BBC2 from Monday 27th February will help to explain what the 800 plus peers do on a day to day basis. Production company […]

Why we must reduce the prison population rather than build new prisons

26 February 2017

The justice secretary Liz Truss has published a new bill to reform the prison and court system in England and Wales. The Prisons and Courts Bill proposes new laws emphasising audits and league tables of prisons and a legal responsibility for both prison staff and the secretary of state for justice to ensure that prisons […]

A Clockwork Orange: ultraviolence, Russian spies and fake news

25 February 2017

The writer Anthony Burgess is most famous for his novel, A Clockwork Orange. This month marks the centenary of the writer’s birth and his dystopian vision still casts a long shadow over popular culture. But what is perhaps more intriguing is how the book was once drawn into a world of Russian espionage, fake news […]

Backing from UK Government for part-time study welcomed by OU

24 February 2017

The Open University has welcomed moves by the UK Government to ensure that the importance of part-time study and distance learning are fully recognised in the biggest shake-up for decades in higher education in England. Peter Horrocks, Vice-chancellor of The Open University, welcomed proposals that would require the new regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), to include explicitly options for part-time and distance learning when […]

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