The Open University

OU scientists among international team to find new planet

14 November 2018

Scientists from The Open University are among an international team which has discovered a new planet orbiting the closest single star to the Sun. The discovery features in a paper due to be published on Thursday 15th November in Nature, co-authored by three OU astronomers: Professor Carole Haswell, Post-Doctoral Researcher Dr John Barnes and former […]

New BBC series delves into unseen world of the British Foreign Office

14 November 2018

The Open University has partnered with the BBC to co-produce a three-part documentary, which explores the strange, secretive and fascinating world of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Inside the Foreign Office begins on Thursday 15 November at 9pm on BBC Two. Filmed over 12 months, the fly-on-the-wall series follows diplomats, ministers and senior […]

Catalonia: a year on, political prisoners go unnoticed by the rest of the world

13 November 2018

After an unofficial referendum in October 2017, the pro-independence political parties in the Catalan parliament unilaterally declared independence from Spain. In response, the Spanish government invoked Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution which effectively suspended the region’s autonomy. More than a year on from these events, ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont remains in exile in […]

Grenfell Tower film wins national award

13 November 2018

A film about the Grenfell Tower tragedy, created by Dr David Scott, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, has won an award at the British Documentary Film Festival. Winning in the ‘Life Changing Award’ category, the film – called ‘Grenfell Tower and Social Murder‘ includes powerful testimonies from survivors and families of the bereaved. Dr Scott said: […]

Hyperspectral images taken by Teledyne e2v CCD55-20 sensor.

OU renews partnership for space detector technologies

29 October 2018

A new five-year partnership has been agreed between The Open University (OU)’s Centre for Electronic Imaging (CEI) and innovative technology company Teledyne e2v. Together the collaboration will advance imaging detector technology for space science and earth observations. Specifically the partnership will continue to develop “space hardened” CCD and CMOS detector technologies from x-ray, ultraviolet, to […]

OU welcomes recommendations to provide more flexible study

26 October 2018

A generation of ‘lost learners’ are missing out on the chance to develop the skills at university that employers and the UK economy need, because of the cost and time it takes to study part-time. This is one of the main findings of a project set up by Universities UK (UUK) and the Confederation of […]

Julia Gillard honoured by The Open University in Wales

22 October 2018

The former Prime Minister of Australia was honoured alongside Welsh graduates at The Open University in Wales degree ceremony in Cardiff. At the Wales Millennium Centre, former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard was presented with an honorary degree from The Open University in Wales for her contribution to public service. Born in Barry, Julia Gillard, […]

Some like it hot – OU scientist explains the mission to Mercury

19 October 2018

The BepiColombo spacecraft blasted off into space, bound for Mercury in the early hours of Saturday 20th October from French Guyana and travel 9 billion km to reach Mercury in 2025. The hope is that its findings will help uncover the mysteries of the least explored planet in the inner Solar System and the closest […]

Game of Thrones: imagined world combines romantic and grotesque visions of Middle Ages

17 October 2018

Take the dragons and the zombies away from the television adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire novels and you are left with the seemingly authentic portrayal of a pseudo-medieval world. Indeed, Martin was inspired by historical events such as the Wars of the Roses, the Crusades and the Hundred […]

“The single greatest gift that study gave me was hope” – how the OU changes prisoners’ lives

17 October 2018

“The single greatest gift that OU study gave me was hope” says John, an ex-offender who spent six years in prison. CJ went from serving nine-and-a-half years in prison for drug trafficking to gaining a first class Law degree, confidence, and employment. And Stephen, jailed for importing drugs, says that starting with the OU was […]

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