News & articles

A new publication from the Commonwealth of Learning, authored by Professor Sara de Freitas and Professor Denise Whitelock at The Open University's Institute of Educational Technology, offers timely guidance on the responsible use of conversational agents in tertiary education

In their inaugural lectures on 23 June 2026, Professors Victoria Nicholas and Francesco Crea explored how the right support helps Open University students thrive, and how changes in how cells read DNA can drive cancer — and how this knowledge is opening the door to more precise treatments.

A new Open University research project, Music as Cultural Refuge, has been awarded £186,751 by the Arts & Humanities Research Council to explore how young people in Northern Ireland used music to navigate the emotional and social pressures of the Troubles.

The Open University has been awarded £254,000 from the UK Space Agency to advance the UK’s scientific leadership on the European Space Agency’s Rosalind Franklin Rover Mission, launching in 2028.

A new Open University research project will use cutting edge space telescope data and advanced cosmological simulations to uncover how galaxies like our own Milky Way were built.

US economic growth is picking up again after a slowdown towards the end of 2025. According to price data released on May 28, US GDP grew by 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026

In their inaugural lectures on 3 June 2026, Professors Rebecca L. Jones and Erica Borgstrom delivered two inaugural lectures exploring how we understand sexuality and ageing, death and grief.

In a major step toward public engagement, The Open University's Weston OpenLiving Lab's digital resources have been made accessible via the award winning, OpenSTEM Labs platform, allowing users to view wildlife footage, explore live camera feeds, and access environmental data such as soil temperature and weather conditions.

A new, free toolkit, developed by Open University researchers, in partnership with the Campaign for Learning, is launching during Learning at Work Week.

Despite growing government action to support working families, many mothers continue to face significant barriers when returning to work and progressing their careers after starting a family.