The Open University

MK College, Santander, The Open University and City Council combine for big skills push

1 October 2025

Milton Keynes College Group, Santander, The Open University and Milton Keynes City Council are joining forces to provide a host of training courses to help people in the city learn new skills. Together, they’ve launched a new website at skillupmk.co.uk giving access to a host of courses, many of them free. The courses cover sustainability, […]

What kind of democrat are you?

30 September 2025

Remember those explosive Brexit-style dinner-table discussions throughout the country? Now an international team of researchers led by the UK’s Open University, has devised a simple FREE interactive test to show people whether the actions they see as being democratic might be considered politically extreme to others. The £2.72 million EU Horizon-Europe/Innovate UK funded project has […]

From ‘refrigerator mothers’ to paracetamol: why harmful autism myths are so common

29 September 2025

US president Donald Trump’s claim that pregnant women should avoid paracetamol – a statement that is both harmful and not backed by the science – fits into a long and damaging tradition of blaming parents, especially mothers, for autism, says Lindsay O’Dell, Professor of Critical Developmental Psychology, The Open University. Despite decades of research and […]

Uncovering the mysteries of the human brain in new OU / BBC programme

29 September 2025

A new two-part OU / BBC series, Secrets of the Brain, begins today (29 September) at 9pm on BBC Two and available to watch on catch up through BBC iPlayer. Join renowned theoretical physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili on an epic journey through 600 million years of evolution to uncover how the human brain, the most […]

Academic’s joy at reaching the finals in the BBC National Short Story Award

26 September 2025

Open University academic Dr Edward Hogan is riding high after learning he is one of five finalists in the BBC National Short Story Award. The Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the OU was overjoyed when he learned that his story, ‘Little Green Man’ was shortlisted. His warm, humorous, yet tender tale is about Carrie, […]

OU spaceflight lab hosts Cranfield University MSc student

26 September 2025

OU space researchers have recently finished hosting Cranfield University MSc Astronautics & Space Engineering students undertaking a 4-month full-time Individual Research Projects (IRPs). The HyperVelocity Impact (HVI) and Space and Planetary Environments (SPE) Laboratories (supervised by Dr. Zoe Emerland) have facilitated projects for two students using a variety of extreme environment testing facilities. The first […]

OU Researchers Begin New Collaboration with the MIT Kavli Institute

22 September 2025

The Open University (OU) scientists from the Centre for Electronic Imaging (CEI) have started a new research project with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Kavli Institute (MKI) for Astrophysics and Space Research to support them in the evaluation of a new detector technology developed at the OU. During the project, members of the CEI […]

Concussion, identity loss, depression: boxing’s toughest opponent isn’t in the ring – it’s mental health

18 September 2025

Ricky Hatton’s death has reignited an all-too-familiar conversation about mental health in sport, says Helen Owton, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology, The Open University. Hatton had spoken openly about his long battle with depression, as well as the drug and alcohol addiction that began after his 2007 defeat to Floyd Mayweather. Research shows […]

Centre for Protecting Women Online Concludes Inaugural Annual Conference at The Open University

17 September 2025

The Centre for Protecting Women Online (CPWO) has successfully concluded its first annual conference, held on 10–11 September 2025 at The Open University in Milton Keynes. The two-day event brought together global experts, academics, practitioners, advocates, and partners to share insights and strategies for tackling online violence against women and girls (OVAWG). The conference opened […]