The Open University

“Sport was always a part of me – it was in my DNA”

20 October 2020

As The Open University continues to celebrate Black History Month, Darren Harris, blind Paralympian, footballer, public speaker and honorary OU graduate with a post-doctorate diploma in psychology, shares his inspirational story. A rare eye disease diagnosed after his first birthday would eventually take Darren Harris’ vision, leaving him completely blind by the time he reached […]

Campaign to recognise the UK’s #changemakers

19 October 2020

The Open University has launched a social media campaign in partnership with UK Parliament Week to highlight “changemakers” past, present or predicted in society. The OU’s student-focused POLIS Open Politics team and UK Parliament Week have partnered to launch the Changemakers project from 12 October until 30 November. The aim is to think about people […]

Coronavirus ‘excess deaths’: why England and Wales have been hardest hit in Europe – new study

14 October 2020

Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics at The Open University, speaks on the numbers behind the global pandemic and explains why England and Wales have experienced ‘high excess deaths’ in comparison to other countries. To get through the COVID-19 pandemic, we need good information. One hugely important statistic is how many people have died […]

Taxing financial winners from coronavirus to pay for the crisis – lessons from WW1

13 October 2020

Janette Rutherford, Emeritus Professor of Finance and Financial History at The Open University, reflects on similarities made between the current UK Government’s actions during the current COVID-19 pandemic and those made by the Government at the time of the first world war. The enormous impact of COVID-19 on the world has drawn comparisons with the […]

NASA mission to asteroid Bennu set to return with new space rock samples

9 October 2020

Space rocks returning from near-Earth asteroid Bennu on the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will bring never-before-seen samples back to Earth. Open University (OU) researcher Dr Ben Rozitis, a collaborator on the OSIRIS-REx mission, asserts that the mission, if successful, will return with a large collection of space rocks not currently represented in existing collections on Earth. Launched […]

OU’s partnership with Uber wins international education award

7 October 2020

The Open University (OU) has won Public/Private Partnership of the year at the 2020 PIEoneer awards in recognition of its successful partnership with Uber. The winners were announced in a virtual awards ceremony on Friday 2 October and the OU was up against some very strong competition in its category. Accepting the award, Simon Tindall, […]

Survey finds couples “avoid conversation on their relationship”

5 October 2020

Research taken up among couples, conducted in collaboration with the OU shows nearly two thirds do not talk about their relationship – with anyone. The polling (*) was carried out in collaboration with the OU’s Professor Jacqui Gabb to coincide with the launch of Paired – an app for couples to engage in relationship matters. […]

Black History Month: how the OU will be celebrating

30 September 2020

This October, the nation will be recognising Black History Month (BHM) – an annual celebration of the history, achievements and contributions of black people across the world. The Open University will be marking the occasion by sharing inspirational stories and experiences of our black students, alumni and staff. In the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing […]

Mars: mounting evidence for subglacial lakes, but could they really host life?

29 September 2020

David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at The Open University, discusses the discovery of subglacial lakes on Mars and if this could lead to finding out if there was, or is, life on the planet. Venus may harbour life some 50km above its surface, we learned a couple of weeks ago. Now a new paper, published in Nature Astronomy, […]

Open University provides more free courses to boost UK Government’s skills push

29 September 2020

The Open University is adding a dozen new free skills-based courses to The Skills Toolkit, the UK Government’s website dedicated to helping people build skills in the wake of the pandemic and aid vital recovery efforts among employees and employers. The new courses from the OU will appeal to a broad set of learners who […]

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