The Open University

OU Lecturer wins National Teaching Fellowship for outstanding impact on student outcomes and teaching

3 August 2023

After a highly competitive process, Derek Jones, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Design at The Open University has received a National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) from AdvanceHE. The award recognises his contribution to the development and improvement of design education at national and international levels. The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) celebrates and recognises individuals who have […]

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 […]

New OU / BBC programme explores how we can make our cars and heating greener

21 July 2023

Tuesday 25th July sees the first of two brand new programmes from The Open University (OU) and BBC titled What They Really Mean For You, beginning on BBC One at 20:00, presented by BBC’s Climate Editor, Justin Rowlatt. The first episode, Electric Cars: What They Really Mean For You, investigates people’s frustrations with electric cars […]

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 […]

Physicist who found spherical meteor fragments claims they may come from an alien spaceship – here’s what to make of it

7 July 2023

Monica Grady is a professor of planetary and space sciences at The Open University. Here she reveals what she thinks of the view we may have fragments from an alien spaceship. Avi Loeb, a physicist from Harvard University in the US, has recovered 50 tiny spherical iron fragments from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean […]

Open University Business School alum Zoë Andre-Lawson honoured as an Influential Leader by prestigious education body

9 February 2023

AACSB has named Open University Business School (OUBS) alum Zoë Andre-Lawson in its list of the top 25 influential leaders for 2023. The prestigious accolade recognises notable alumni from AACSB-accredited business schools whose inspiring work serves as a model for the next generation of business leaders, and the recipients of this year’s honours features individuals […]

OU research student Lois in the lab at Milton Keynes

Meet the OU researcher using sunlight to create clean water

2 February 2023

When Lois Damptey left her home in Ghana to study for a PhD with The Open University, she had one clear goal: for her research to help save lives. Now in the final year of her doctorate, Lois, 30, is exploring how solar energy can be used to create a low-cost water filtration system. The […]

How to better understand space, time, infinity… and beyond

21 December 2022

A new free OpenLearn course is to take people on a journey of discovery to explore a range of scientific fields and gain a deeper understanding of topics such as space, time and infinity. It’s based on the book “What We Cannot Know” by celebrated mathematics Professor Marcus du Sautoy, who has helped design the […]

Virtual reality setting showing three scans of the human body

OU secures £5.8m to build extended reality studio

8 December 2022

The Open University (OU) has secured funding of £5.8m from the Office for Students to develop extended reality studios to expand its teaching and learning with augmented and virtual reality. Open XR Studios will feature state-of-the-art equipment to capture, reproduce and render 4D imagery. It will deliver immersive and reality-embedded learning to students in their […]

Chokepoint Capitalism: why we’ll all lose unless we stop Amazon, Spotify and other platforms squeezing cash from creators

18 November 2022

Cory Doctorow, Visiting Professor of Computer Science, The Open University and Rebecca Giblin, ARC Future Fellow; Associate Professor; Director, Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia, write for The Conversation about Amazon’s chokehold on creatives. In 2020, the independent authors and small publishers whose audiobooks reach their readers via Audible’s ACX platform smelled a rat. Audiobooks […]

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