Previous Events

Thursday, June 12, 2025 - 18:30 to 19:30

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

The inaugural lecture of Professor Joan Simons, Head of School for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care in the OU’s Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, will focus on how her experience as a burns nurse instigated a career long interest on improving the management of children&rsq...

Thursday, April 3, 2025 - 18:00 to 19:15

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

The inaugural lecture of Carol Azumah Dennis, Professor of Education, Policy and Practice in The Open University's Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, will look at decolonising education, offering a manifesto which envisions an alternative vision of what the sector might be. A...

Friday, March 28, 2025 - 13:00 to 13:45

Online

Our final talk on Open Research Week is from the team at COnnecting REpositories (CORE), a not-for-profit service delivered by The Open University. CORE’s mission is to index all research worldwide and deliver unrestricted access for all. In doing so, we enrich scholarly data using state-of-...

Thursday, March 27, 2025 - 10:00 to 10:45

Online

On day four of Open Research Week, our second talk of the day is about publishing books Open Access Book Publishing with Scottish Universities Press. The book I am publishing with Scottish Universities Press will be free to all, epitomising the transformative potential of open access publishing an...

Thursday, March 27, 2025 - 09:30 to 10:00

Online

Day four of our Open Research Week is about open access publishing. The first talk of the day is about publishing in journals. Since its inception in 2012, the Open Arts Journal has published material from a wide range of stakeholders in the Arts and Humanities, including scholars, arts and herita...

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 - 13:00 to 14:00

Online

On day three of Open Research Week, the final talk of our citizen science showcase is about using the nQuire platform. Open research is significant as it can showcase how evidence is produced helping the public to make informed decisions about what is true/fake information. Professor Christothea H...

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 - 11:00 to 11:45

Online

On day three of Open Research Week, our second talk of our citizen science showcase is about biodiversity. Open research is at at the heart of iSpot and how it has been developed and implemented. iSpot provides a platform that is open and accessible to all; this acknowledges the important role and...

Wednesday, March 26, 2025 - 10:00 to 10:45

Online

Day three of Open Research Week showcases our citizen science projects. The first talk of the day is from the Arts and Humanities discipline. I believe that building an open association can help support work across different disciplines, avoid reinventing the wheel, and facilitate workflows and to...

Tuesday, March 25, 2025 - 11:00 to 11:45

Online

Join us for day two of Open Research Week, which is about AI and collaboration in producing open education resources. In the long run, there is no progress in research without open research.Dr Paul Piwek Dr Paul Piwek About this session The talk describes a couple of contributions, over the...

Monday, March 24, 2025 - 14:00 to 14:45

Online

Join us for the launch of our free course on Open Research. The principles of open research allow researchers from diverse fields and underrepresented groups to collaborate and extend each other’s work, and contribute to collective knowledge. Dr Camilla Elphick Dr Camilla Elphick Presen...

Monday, March 24, 2025 - 10:00 to 10:45

Online

Join us for this keynote talk to start our Open Research Week. I believe the public has a right to access and use research knowledge, and that journalists and science communicators play a key role in empowering them to do so. However, open science initiatives often overlook the role of journalists...

Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 12:00 to 13:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Anna De Liddo, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction and Director of Research at the Knowledge Media Institute of The Open University, will point out that the biggest problems of our time call for collective action. But how do we make sense of complex problems and collect...

Thursday, October 24, 2024 - 18:00 to 19:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Cinzia Priola, Professor of Work and Organisation Studies in the OU’s Faculty of Business & Law, will explore her research on inclusion, diversity and inequalities in the workplace and social lives. Starting from her work on gender and sexuality, the talk will of...

Thursday, October 17, 2024 - 17:00 to 18:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

The Open University (OU) is a longstanding hub for interdisciplinary, critical, and forward-looking research on international development. Celebrating its work and engaging with current debates, the University is launching the OU Global Development Annual Lecture series. In the first in the series,...

Thursday, September 26, 2024 - 13:00 to 14:00

Berril Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Naomi Moller, Professor in Psychology and Psychotherapy in the School of Psychology and Counselling in the OU’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, will talk about her research into relationships. She will ask how do (good) relationships contribute to our wellbeing?...

Thursday, June 20, 2024 - 18:00 to 19:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Clara Mancini, Professor of Animal-Computer Interaction in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, will talk about her research journey in the field of Animal-Computer Interaction, shared with colleagues from across the world, to develop ...

Thursday, May 9, 2024 - 14:00 to 15:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Olga Jurasz, Professor of Law in the OU’s Faculty of Business and Law, will explore the uneasy relationship between violence, law and women’s lives using three examples: conflict-related sexual violence, online violence against women and the impact that withdraw...

Thursday, March 21, 2024 - 17:30 to 18:30

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Rose Capdevila, Professor of Psychology at the OU, will discuss research around the gendering of power in three contexts: activism, the history of psychology and social media. Informed by intersectional feminist theory, the lecture will explore the relational constitution ...

Tuesday, February 13, 2024 - 13:00 to 14:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

The way we engage with the natural world informs our scientific understandings and our worldviews. This is the premise of Advaith Siddharthan, Professor of Computer Science and Society’s inaugural lecture, in which he will discuss the impacts of modern culture's disassociation with nature...

Wednesday, December 6, 2023 - 12:00 to 13:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, Open University, MK6 7AA

Despite family carers’ increased visibility and recognition nationally and internationally, many receive little support from services and experience inequality because of their caring role. Mary Larkin, Professor of Care, Carers and Caring will explore what ‘visibility’ means for ...

Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 10:00 to 17:00

Online

About the Conference The Disabled Researcher Online Conference is a free event. Its aim is to showcase best practice across the university sector, including initiatives within universities, research career development organisations and others, with the aim of supporting action and tangible outcomes...

Thursday, July 13, 2023 - 19:00 to 20:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, Open University, MK6 7AA

These days, our personal data is in the public domain, which has led to concerns about its use and has led to the emergence of standards for Data Scientists. In her inaugural lecture, Rachel Hilliam, Professor of Statistics in the OU’s Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathemati...

Wednesday, June 14, 2023 - 15:00 to Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - 17:00

Face to face and online

We would like to invite you to join the GCSJ Research Festival ‘Engaging Research on Global Challenges and Social Justice’ between 14 and 21 June 2023. The festival will include both in person and online elements and will bring together a variety of speakers and formats to showcase exc...

Tuesday, June 13, 2023 - 13:00 to 14:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, Open University, MK6 7AA

Computerised systems and process designs should effectively reflect peoples’ needs, according to Professor Anne Adams, Professor of Engaged Practice and Research at the OU’s Institute of Educational Technology, who will deliver her inaugural lecture on the subject. Professor Adams will ...

Tuesday, May 16, 2023 - 17:30 to 18:30

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, Open University, MK6 7AA

Music, politics and the importance of understanding the text is a joint inaugural lecture delivered by Elaine Moohan, Professor of Musicology and Byron Dueck, Professor of Music in The Open University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, who will present their research into religious music f...

Thursday, April 20, 2023 - 13:00 to 14:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In his inaugural lecture, Theo Zamenopoulos, Professor of Citizen-led design, Engineering & Innovation, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, will discuss the work and capabilities of design creatives and their contribution to addressing societal challenges. Watch a trail...

Friday, March 24, 2023 - 19:00 to 20:30

Accidental Theatre, 12 - 13 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, BT2 7DB

We live in a time of multiple challenges – environmental, economic, political, social and health-related, amongst others. A time of global change. How can ordinary people make a difference, politically and socially, to these challenges and others? How can we utilise the UK Parliament and the ...

Thursday, March 23, 2023 - 19:00 to 20:00

MS Team

Approximately 400 army barracks built between 1690 and 1921 remain on the island of Ireland. A few are still in military use, but the story of this built heritage is largely forgotten. This event introduces the work of the ‘Our Shared Built Military Heritage’ research project, a HEA Nor...

Wednesday, February 22, 2023 - 12:30 to 14:00

Online via Microsoft Teams

This session presents findings from a UKRI-funded research project into the experiences of migrant health care workers during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. We chart the pressures on this workforce, including their higher risks of death and whether collective responses to COVID-19 addressed the spe...

Monday, January 30, 2023 - 17:00 to 18:30

Online

Authors: Prof. Nicola Yeates and Prof. Ross Fergusson Chair: Dr Jane Pillinger Discussants: Prof. Heidi Gottfried and Prof. Robin Simmons Join us for this inaugural launch, where authors Prof. Nicola Yeates and Prof. Ross Fergusson from the Department of Social Policy and Criminology at The Open ...

Tuesday, December 6, 2022 - 17:00 to 18:00

Berrill Lecture, Theatre, Walton Hall, Open University, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Professor Stephanie Pywell will explore some effects of the empowerment of individuals and organisations to make delegated legislation, including the regulations about wearing face coverings in 2020. She will also reflect on the empowering effect of education – especi...

Sunday, October 30, 2022 - 09:00 to 17:00

Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, OX1 3PW

Join Open University academics Dr Rasha Kassem and Dr Ian Kennedy at the Festival of Social Science at The University of Oxford for free drop-in, hands-on fun activities exploring building trust between the public and the police, open to curious minds of all ages. Whether you are a child or adult, ...

Tuesday, September 13, 2022 - 19:00 to 20:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In his inaugural lecture, Professor John Butcher will explore his research and practice in relation to widening participation in higher education and how his focus on the voices of ‘unheard learners’ has challenged simplistic sector assumptions that ‘students’ are merely a ho...

Tuesday, July 12, 2022 - 19:00 to 20:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Professor Karen Olsson-Francis will explore her work relating to the survivability of microorganisms and how her interdisciplinary approach has led her to rethink the boundaries of astrobiology. Register for the event Watch the webinar online Please take the opportun...

Tuesday, June 14, 2022 - 19:00 to 20:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Professor Stephanie Taylor will discuss the associations of creativity, its contradictions and how we can understand the experience of being creative. Register for the event Watch the webinar online Please take the opportunity to have your questions answered by our s...

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 - 19:00 to 20:00

Berril Lecture Theatre,Walton Hall, Open University, MK6 7AA

In his inaugural lecture, Professor Leslie Budd will explore the recent increase in public interest in space exploration and the future of using urban and regional economics for assessing its impact.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022 - 13:00 to 14:00

MS Teams

The Sanctuary at The Open University team are pleased to announce our upcoming Seminar Series: Displacement, Education, Integration.

Tuesday, November 30, 2021 - 18:00 to 19:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

In her inaugural lecture, Professor Sarah Crafter will explore what it means for children and young people to be ‘brokers of care’ in the context of migration. What does it mean for young people to provide care for others, such as family members, peers and the local community? What does ...

Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - 18:00 to 19:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, Open University, MK6 7AA

Stephen Lewis, Professor of Atmospheric Physics, delivers his inaugural lecture on the atmospheres, weather and climate of other planets in the Solar System.

Friday, July 9, 2021 - 10:30 to 19:00

Online

You are invited to join the 5th Black and Minority Ethnic Early Career Researchers Conference, ‘Moving on up’, hosted online by The Open University and the University of West London.

Thursday, May 27, 2021 - 11:15 to 13:30

Online

You are invited to join the OU COVID-19 Research: Online Learning and Education seminar, an online showcase of OU-funded projects presented by researchers from across the University who have led research to improve and support aspects of online learning and education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021 - 13:30 to 15:00

Microsoft Teams - please register via Eventbrite

We are delighted to announce that Professor Funmi Olonisakin, Dr Moses Tofa and Dr David Mwambari from the African Leadership Centre, Kings’ College, London will be joining us for April’s International Development and Innovation Seminar. The session will speak to how African states indi...

Thursday, March 25, 2021 - 14:00 to 16:00

Online seminar (Microsoft Teams)

We are delighted to invite you to “(Re)thinking racisms: The recursive and the new”, the third in a series of events hosted by the OU’s newly-created Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Researchers Group to discuss research and scholarship around race, ethnicity, coloniality and decolo...

Thursday, March 19, 2020 - 09:00 to Friday, March 20, 2020 - 17:00

Institute of English Studies, Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London

Open University English researchers will headline a 2-day conference, ‘The Reader in the Book: Books, Reading and Libraries in Fiction’, at the Institute of English Studies, Senate House London, on 19-20 March 2020.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020 - 09:00 to Thursday, March 19, 2020 - 17:00

Loyola University, New Orleans

The AHRC-funded Heritage in War Project, led by Helen Frowe and Derek Matravers, explores the moral value of cultural heritage and how we ought to incorporate this value into our accounts of the ethics of war, and how to deal with damage to heritage in the aftermath of conflict.

Friday, March 13, 2020 - 09:00 to 17:00

University College London

Children on the move: Unsettling narratives of care, childhood, and the migration ‘crisis’: A joint symposium between The Open University and UCL.

Thursday, November 14, 2019 - 18:00 to 20:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK7 6AA

Discover what Professor David Rothery has found about the history of the planet Mercury and what Professor Carole Haswell has to say about exoplanets and how they serve to put planet Earth in context. As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary, it will host a joint inaugural lecture eve...

Tuesday, October 15, 2019 - 19:00 to 20:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK7 6AA

As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary, Paul Lawrence, Asa Briggs Professor of History, will deliver his inaugural lecture on how a historical approach to criminal justice contributes to contemporary understandings of crime and justice.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019 - 16:00 to 17:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary, Gordon Liu, Professor of Marketing Strategy, will deliver his inaugural lecture on how effective corporate social responsibility strategies enhance a firm’s reputation with its key stakeholders.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019 - 19:00 to 20:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK7 6AA

As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary, Mark Brandon, Professor in Polar Oceanography, will deliver his inaugural lecture on the polar oceans and global climate and look ahead to what could happen during the next 50 years.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 - 19:00 to 21:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK7 6AA

As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary, Peter Twining, Professor of Education (Futures), will deliver his inaugural lecture on what the future holds for schools. He will ask if there is mismatch between how children learn and formal learning and invite a panel to give their views on ...

Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - 19:00 to 20:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK7 6AA

As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary and prepares to host the Opening up Development 2019 conference it is apt for Theo Papaioannou, Professor of Politics, Innovation and Development, to deliver his inaugural lecture to explore the idea of justice in innovation.

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 - 19:00 to 20:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK7 6AA

As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary, Jo Phoenix, Professor of Criminology, will deliver her inaugural lecture on youth crime and justice.

Thursday, May 16, 2019 - 14:30 to Friday, May 17, 2019 - 14:00

1 Hawley Crescent, London, NW1 8NP

Day 1: Can urban mobilities be sustained?  Timings Item 13:30 Registration 14:00 - 14:15  Welcome - Alessandro Sancino 14:15 - 15:00 Electric and Autonomous Vehicles: challenges for the Automotive Sector -  David Bailey (University of Birmingham) 15:00 - 15:45 Sustainabl...

Tuesday, March 12, 2019 - 18:00 to 19:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK7 6AA

As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary and its mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas, Richard Holliman, Professor of Engaged Research, will deliver his inaugural lecture on how we should engage with the sciences.

Tuesday, March 5, 2019 - 15:30 to 16:30

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary and its track record for research which turns ideas into solutions that benefit people, business and society, Jo Brewis, Professor of People and Organisations in The Faculty of Business and Law will examine the effects of menopause and call for ...

Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - 18:00 to 19:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

As The Open University celebrates its 50th anniversary and its mission of openness, Martin Weller, Professor of Educational Technology at the OU, will examine what the term ‘open’ means and consider what an ‘Open University’ would look like if we were to invent it now.

Monday, January 28, 2019 - 15:00 to 16:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, The Open University, MK6 7AA

Professor Devendra Kodwani, Executive Dean of The Open University's Faculty of Business and Law, will introduce the OU's 50th anniversary inaugural lecture series with a lecture on lifelong learning and the role of universities.

Tuesday, July 17, 2018 - 19:00 to 20:45

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

The dilemma of how to protect culture and heritage in war zones, while making human life a priority, will be addressed by Derek Matravers, OU Professor of Philosophy, in his inaugural lecture on Tuesday 17 July.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018 - 19:00 to 20:45

Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

The need for organisations to embrace the creativity within before planning new innovations, will be addressed by Richard Holti, in his inaugural lecture on Tuesday 26 June 2018.

Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - 11:00 to 16:30

The Open University, 1 - 11 Hawley Crescent, Camden Town, London, NW1 8NP

The Centre for Knowledge in Organisations and Professions invites you to join us in conversations, develop future research collaborations, and plan practical actions that address the future of professional work.

Friday, May 25, 2018 - 19:00 to 20:30

5th Floor, Tate Exchange, Tate Modern, Blavatnik Building, Bankside, London, SE1 9TG

You are invited to the launch of Communities of Solidarity: The Story of Pikpa Refugee Camp. This unique book was co-created by a collective of photographers, activists and academics who came together as volunteers via Lesvos Solidarity at Pikpa Refugee Camp.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018 - 19:00 to 20:45

Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

When Professor June Barrow-Green delivers her OU inaugural lecture on Tuesday 22 May, she will call it: “He denies the very existence of a woman mathematician”.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018 - 10:30 to Thursday, April 19, 2018 - 18:00

The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

An interdisciplinary Symposium on Belonging hosted by the Citizenship and Governance Strategic Research Area will take place at the Open University Law School on 18th-19th April 2018, where a series of papers related to the subject of Belonging will be presented by invited speakers from a range of U...

Tuesday, March 27, 2018 - 19:00 to 21:15

Berrill Lecture Theatre, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

The need to address the threat posed by cyber security attacks, will be highlighted in an OU lecture on Tuesday 27 March 2018

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 - 18:00 to 19:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Walton Hall, Open University, MK6 7AA

At a time when Brexit negotiations reveal the potential confusion of assuming a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach across Europe, an OU academic describes the perils of this approach worldwide.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018 - 18:00 to 19:00

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

The power of learning analytics to predict the best learning approach for students, will be outlined by Bart Rienties in his inaugural lecture on Tuesday 30 January 2018.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017 - 14:00 to 16:00

Library IL Suite, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

A Seminar in the Engaged Scholarship series of the Citizenship & Governance strategic research area

Tuesday, November 28, 2017 - 18:00 to 19:45

Berrill Lecture Theatre, Open University, Walton Hall Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

The risks and benefits of novel health technologies that automatically gather data about individuals and their lifestyles, will be addressed by OU Professor Blaine Price in his inaugural lecture on 28 November 2017.

Thursday, November 16, 2017 - 17:00 to 19:00

Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

Millions of children could fail at school due to an obsession with individual assessment, literacy skills and the right kind of behaviour, according to an OU academic.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017 - 14:00 to 16:00

ArtsOne Lecture Theatre, Queen Mary University of London

Engaged Scholarship on Citizenship & Governance Seminar Series