The Open University

OU and partners secure funding boost for pioneering space projects

18 March 2022

Three projects involving the OU’s space scientists will receive a quarter of the UK Space Agency’s (UKSA) latest investment in the British space industry. The UKSA announced the £500k funding during British Science Week (11-20 March). The OU projects are among 13 it is backing to “help pioneer new approaches to energy, communications and resources.” The […]

Ukraine explainer: Why RT has lost its UK licence

18 March 2022

As British media regulator Ofcom revokes the license of RT, the Russian international broadcaster, to broadcast in the UK, The Open University’s Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody, Lecturer in Politics and International Studies and a Russian media expert explains the decision. She outlines how the move comes after high-level political concerns over the network’s reporting of Russia’s […]

‘I just kept going, I didn’t want to quit’

16 March 2022

When it comes to helping her community, EAL Coordinator Mihaela Popa, 37, has been described as a ‘force of nature’. Despite battling COVID multiple times, even while pregnant, Mihaela won’t let anything get in the way of her dream teaching career. She shares how studying with The Open University is helping to make that dream […]

Head of OU lab wins prestigious international award for excellence

15 March 2022

The Head of the OU’s Laboratory Facilities, Julia Barkans, has won an international award in ‘Excellence in Lab Leadership’. Lab Manager’s Leadership Excellence Awards serve to recognise individuals who demonstrate exceptional leadership and management skills within their scientific organisations. The Leadership Excellence Awards programme was launched by Lab Manager in 2022. The competition invited industry […]

The rise and rise of independent wedding celebrants

14 March 2022

Research conducted by Dr Stephanie Pywell, a Senior Lecturer in Law at The Open University, found that more and more couples are seeking the expertise of independent wedding celebrants for unique ceremonies. Most engaged couples in England and Wales have to choose between a religious wedding and a secular ceremony conducted in the presence of […]

English Language and video game creator Faye studying

‘My first OU module inspired a video game’

14 March 2022

When Faye isn’t studying for her English Language degree with The Open University, she’s creating video games that celebrate her love of words. Faye shares how her first OU module material gave her the creative spark and confidence to take the plunge into the world of gaming. “I’m definitely a gamer girl,” said Faye, who […]

The OU academic breaking down barriers for visually impaired people in the creative industry

11 March 2022

Inclusivity driven OU academic, Dr Lisa Bowers, has discussed her collaboration MakeActive, an exploration into using touch in creative industries to aid blind or visually impaired people. As part of British Science Week, Dr Bowers and Dr Alastair Barrow, CEO and co-founder of Generic Robotics Ltd. will be presenting their project in an online discussion […]

The original climate crisis – how the little ice age devastated early modern Europe

9 March 2022

By Ariel Hessayon, Reader in Early Modern History, Goldsmiths, University of London and Dan Taylor, Lecturer in Social and Political Thought, The Open University Just as the UK was recovering from storms Eunice and Franklin, scientists of UN’s the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a landmark report warning of a future with spiralling […]

OU student launches website to improve understanding and detection of online misogyny towards Black women

8 March 2022

An Open University (OU) PhD student has launched the first-ever research platform to capture the particular intersection of misogyny and racial oppression experienced by Black women online. Joseph Kwarteng, a second-year PhD student in the OU’s Knowledge Media Institute (KMI), has launched Misogynoir Online, a website that invites Black women to share their stories of […]

Worldwide access for gender transformative education programme materials

8 March 2022

Launching on International Women’s Day, educational materials produced by The Open University (OU) for out-of-school Zimbabwean adolescent girls are being made freely available to educators worldwide. The learning programme, developed by a team from the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport at the OU, is helping over 12,000 girls and young women get back […]

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