News & articles

Always keen to be identified as the party of low taxation, the Conservatives won the 2019 general election on a promise not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance. So last year’s national insurance increase was bound to rankle, even though it could feasibly be blamed on the huge costs of COVID.

An OU academic has led a British Academy-funded report which explores how Japan can respond to climate change requirements in a way which is fair to its society.

A project which is researching gender inequalities happening on online work platforms, has just been awarded over half a million pounds.

An OU research project, which will explore how trees and green spaces can reduce the effects of extreme heat in cities, has received funding from the British Academy.

The Open University hosted Professor Karen Olsson-Francis’ inaugural lecture on 12 July 2022.

The flood of ministerial resignations from UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s government in recent days started with Rishi Sunak’s resignation as UK chancellor of the exchequer on July 5 2022, alongside health secretary Sajid Javid’s. 

Nasa has recently announced US$600,000 (£495,000) in funding for a study into the feasibility of sending swarms of miniature swimming robots (known as independent micro-swimmers) to explore oceans beneath the icy shells of our Solar System’s many “ocean worlds”. But don’t imagine metal humanoids swimming frog-like underwater. They will probably be simple, triangular wedges.

The OU’s research community gathered to celebrate its research students’ academic excellence this month (June 2022) at the annual Postgraduate Research Poster Competition.

An OU academic has received just over £300,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to better understand how graphs behave in pure mathematics.

A centre which researches ancient religions based at the OU’s Department of Classical Studies has received new funding.