The Open University

OU student Charlotte shares her study journey

OU validation partner granted power to award degrees from Office for Students

22 September 2023

OU validation partner, New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE), has been granted new powers to award degrees going forward. Open University Validation Partnerships (OUVP) was established in 1992 to enable The Open University (OU) to validate programmes for institutions that do not have their own degree awarding powers or that want to offer OU-validated […]

Locked up – but given the gift of a new future

19 September 2023

Open University history professor Rosalind Crone features in a new film commissioned by the Ministry of Justice showing how prisoners are being given new skills by training them for roles in the catering industry. “Served” is a 40-minute film available on YouTube that charts the progress of a team of prisoners from HM Prison Lincoln […]

New research says Britons more likely to help refugees from Ukraine rather than those from Syria or Somalia

18 September 2023

An Open University academic’s report suggests Ukrainians are considered less of a threat That Somalis and Syrians are seen as ‘culturally distant’ And that the results could also be due to skin colour and religious differences Britons are much more likely to help Ukrainian refugees over others from Syria or Somalia says a research project […]

Image shows a woman working on a laptop whilst on the phone

How to design menopause leave policies that really support women in the workplace

15 September 2023

Jo Brewis, Professor of People and Organisations at The Open University writes for The Conversation about how to design menopause leave policies that really support women in the workplace. More than 15 million women are in employment in the UK right now, which means menopause is undoubtedly a workplace issue. And while there has been enormous progress […]

New study calls for more ethical space research

14 September 2023

In a new paper, released today (14 September 2023) in Nature Astronomy, Open University (OU) researchers and their collaborators highlight ethical issues surrounding research in ‘extreme’ environments used as analogue sites to understand other planets, and how this relates to the future of space exploration. OU academics Dr Alessandra Marino, Professor Karen Olsson-Francis and Professor […]

Let the force be with you… environmentally

13 September 2023

New research from The Open University aims to promote better sustainability among makers of the film industry’s props, costume and the replica market Academics have developed a calculator tool so people in the industry can make carbon-emission comparisons about which materials and methods are the most sustainable to use Case study showed a Star Wars […]

Have we really found the first samples from beyond the Solar System? The evidence is not convincing

11 September 2023

Monica Grady is a Professor in Planetary Sciences at The Open University: Avi Loeb, an astrophysicist at Harvard University in the US, has published a press release claiming that some of the 700 or so spherical metallic fragments (spherules) he recovered from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Papua New […]

New report: raw deal for caregivers in Gateshead needs reform

8 September 2023

A new report published by The Open University has highlighted how the weekly Carers Allowance of £76.75 is worth just 77p per hour to a carer looking after a loved one in Gateshead for up to 100 hours a week. It reveals a list of recommendations for decision makers to ensure unpaid carers are not […]

OU academic says being wrapped again in the fabric of the Horizon Project is great news but it won’t be all warm and cosy… yet

8 September 2023

Professor in Politics and International Studies Simon Usherwood welcomes the deal but says it’s definitely not the same one we had before British researchers might find it hard to play the same leading role they’re used to since their positions in developing new projects have been filled by others Experts here do not enjoy the […]

‘OU study gave me skills beyond a qualification, I’ve grown as a person’

7 September 2023

Rubi, 38, didn’t think she was cut out for higher education, until an exciting career change inspired a newfound passion for learning. Now working as a Diplomatic Assistant, Rubi says that her OU degree and masters have helped her to thrive. “I never liked school. I think it was the structure of having to be […]

OU News