The Open University

Victorian science-fiction writer’s indelible link with NASA and New Year’s Eve

3 August 2023

From New Year’s Eve to NASA rockets the ‘countdown’ is common language today but it was an overlooked late 19th Century science fiction writer who first introduced it. Academic Adam Baldwin from The Open University (OU) says the ‘countdown’ is normally credited to film maker Fritz Lang in his 1926 film The Girl in the […]

First images taken by the Euclid space telescope are released

1 August 2023

The European Space Agency released the first images taken by the Euclid space telescope’s VIS instrument, which was built by an international team including scientists from The Open University (OU). The black and white engineering images depict stars, star clusters and galaxies, captured by the array of 36 visible light detectors in the VIS camera. […]

OU to lead a new era in planetary protection

25 July 2023

The Open University (OU) is to lead a UK consortium to develop a ground-breaking planetary protection approach that will enable the next generation of space missions. The primary aims of planetary protection are to ensure that: scientific investigations of possible extra-terrestrial life forms, precursors, and remnants are not put at risk during planetary space missions; […]

No simple fix to climate variation extremes – just better management

25 July 2023

As southern Europe and parts of the USA and Asia sizzle in unbearable record-breaking heat, Dr Kevin Collins, senior lecturer in the environment and systems, from The Open University gives a stark warning – there’s no simple fix to the variation in climate change, only improved management. While the UK isn’t frying it’s just a […]

Kenyan minister visits OU on fact-finding mission to potentially adopt elements of distance learning education

20 July 2023

The OU recently played host to Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Higher Education on a visit to Walton Hall to see how the country could develop supported distance learning. The Kenyan government has prioritised digital learning to improve equity, quality and access to Higher Education and since President William Ruto was elected in August 2022, he […]

7 more FE colleges to offer advanced technical skills with the OU in ‘cold spots’

17 July 2023

Seven Further Education colleges in England are set to get a boost to their higher technical skills provision with the aim to support more people to secure jobs and grow the economy in their area. The colleges will be supported for the next two years by The Open University as they look to expand the […]

Stunning new OU/BBC series relives our Earth’s fascinating history

14 July 2023

Join us on a journey through some of our home planet’s most epic moments in a new OU/BBC series, Earth, presented by legendary naturalist and nature photographer, Chris Packham. The series will begin this evening (17 July 2023) on BBC Two at 9.00pm, kicking off five incredible episodes tracking the origins of Earth to the […]

OU Analyse Team wins top prize for educational dataset

14 July 2023

The OU Analyse team, which works to identify students at the university who may need extra support, has been awarded the prestigious Educational Dataset Prize by the Educational Data Mining Society for their remarkable work with the ‘OULAD’ dataset. OU Analyse is a system powered by machine learning methods for early identification of students at […]

Helping savers could be the key to bursting the inflationary bubble

11 July 2023

For four decades Jonquil Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Economics and Personal Finance at The Open University, has scrutinised the performance of our economy under successive governments. Now she sets out with crystal-clear clarity, that if the banks help savers we all might benefit. We’re in a monetary quagmire. Mortgage holders are already struggling with higher […]

OU space researcher selected to shape the future of Venus space-mission research

11 July 2023

James Holmes, an atmospheric scientist at The Open University (OU), has been selected as one of six European scientists to represent the science interests of the European Space Agency (ESA) in an international coordination of Venus science to be performed by three missions in the 2030s. The Venus Science Coordination group ‘VeSCoor’ is a newly […]

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