News & articles

The front cover of the Female entrepreneurship report with a green background and green writing against a white background

Empowering women founders: OU informs Parliament’s call

The Women and Equalities Select Committee has recently published its final report on female entrepreneurship, calling for urgent action to tackle deep-rooted gender inequalities in business funding, mentorship and enterprise support.

30th October 2025
A panel of people sitting on a stage in front of an audience of people who are sitting at tables

At UNESCO: Rethinking researcher development for a sustainable future

At UNESCO's Digital Learning Week (2 - 5 September 2025), Dr Alexandra Okada, Associate Professor in Global Education and Digital Transformation at The Open University, introduced upSkill.Map, a self-assessment framework helping researchers develop beyond disciplinary boundaries.

30th October 2025
An aerial view of a group of students wearing mortarboard hats

OU leads research on Scotland’s Fair Access landscape

A team of researchers from The Open University has been appointed to lead a new national project mapping Scotland’s Fair Access landscape, following a competitive selection process by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland and The Robertson Trust.

29th October 2025
Alexandra Okada, wearing a red jacket and white short, standing in front of the SDG Media Zone logo

The Open University's win at OEGlobal 2025

The Open University celebrates at The Open Education Awards for Excellence as Dr Alexandra Okada is shortlisted in the Leadership category (Open Researcher), and CONNECT's CARE-KNOW-DO pedagogical model wins in the Open Pedagogy category.

23rd October 2025
Angeliki Lymberopoulou, wearing a purple hat and scarf and a black coat, standing next to a river

Research image of month: A window into ‘hellish’ art and social order

This month’s research image of the month (October 2025) captures Dr Angeliki Lymberopoulou’s research, which explores how Byzantine paintings and icons reveal cultural exchange, social identity, and religious ‘policing’.

23rd October 2025
The Open Access Week 2025 logo

Open access is a start, but do we need to do more to restore justice and maintain equity?

In academia, the open access movement has often been framed as the answer to making research more inclusive and equitable. By removing paywalls, it offers the promise of greater accessibility to knowledge.

16th October 2025
A woman wearing a blue dress with her hands in her lap and a doctor wearing a white coat and white gloves

New research to explore personalised treatments for cancer

Open University researchers have joined forces with industry to develop a model to make it possible to provide personalised treatments for cancer.

15th October 2025
A mother sitting on an orange bench, with a baby in her arms, with lots people pointing fingers at her

From ‘refrigerator mothers’ to paracetamol: why harmful autism myths are so common

US president Donald Trump’s claim that pregnant women should avoid paracetamol – a statement that is both harmful and not backed by the science – fits into a long and damaging tradition of blaming parents, especially mothers, for autism.

30th September 2025
A child playing with colourful craft material

OU wins ESRC fellowship to transform how children read stories

The Open University has secured a £124,955 Economic and Social Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship to explore how young children engage with stories beyond words on the page.

30th September 2025
Women playing rugby

Blood, bruises and belief: how England’s women’s rugby team embody physical and mental endurance

As women’s sport surges on the global stage, hosts England have lit up the Women’s Rugby World Cup. But the tackles, speed and power fans see on the field are only part of the story.

25th September 2025
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