Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS, has been presented with the Sheldon Medal by the University of Oxford in recognition of the company’s exceptionally generous support for research into antimicrobial resistance. A £100 million donation from INEOS in 2021 enabled the University to establish the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial…
In the lead up to his second term, we’ve seen more centrist or working-class Democrats shift to Trump’s side - those from regions still referred to as the Rust Belt. Despite concerns over the future of the economy, and despite making issues like the price of groceries central to his…
The breakthrough addresses quantum’s ‘scalability problem’: a quantum computer powerful enough to be industry-disrupting would have to be capable of processing millions of qubits. Packing all these processors in a single device, however, would require a machine of an immense size. In this new approach, small quantum devices are linked…
Billions of people worldwide depend on wild species for food security, livelihoods, income generation, and well-being. Achieving long-term sustainability in the trade and use of wild species is a key global priority—not only for conservation but also to support the billions of people who rely on these species. CITES (the…
Dr Fabian Braesemann. Credit: University of Oxford. We are seeing the beginnings of a possibly fundamental economic transformation due to the widespread adoption of generative AI tools in many sectors. Facing the impressive capabilities of AI tools in solving demanding cognitive tasks, many have expressed worries about potential job losses…
The Council for Science and Technology is formed of 19 independent members who are made up of senior figures from the fields of science, engineering and technology. Professor Shadbolt joins seven other new members who will advise the Prime Minister and Cabinet on strategic science and technology policy issues that…
The RLRH launched in 2020 to address the lack of refugee-authored scholarship and under-representation of refugees and displaced people in higher education, particularly at graduate level. By providing access to training, mentorship and funding, the RLRH aims to redistribute power and opportunity to researchers and students from displacement backgrounds so…
The new method, published in npj Vaccines, analyses the vaccine vial label and its adhesive and therefore allows the vaccine vials to be retained in the supply chain. Furthermore, the study has shown that the technique can also differentiate genuine Covid-19 vaccine liquid from falsified vaccine surrogates, using a recently…
The Omama study, undertaken by Dr Michelle Fernandes and the F1000 research group, focused on Roma children living in poor communities in Eastern Slovakia who are subjected to the “triple threat” of poverty, stunting and early developmental delays, with many prevented from achieving their full developmental potential by age five…
Beyond Town and Gown: Working Towards a More Inclusive Oxford outlines the collegiate University's commitment to making a positive contribution and creating opportunities for all in the city and county. A new report detailing Oxford University’s ambitious plans to support positive social, economic and environmental change in the city and county has…
The agreement establishes the GSK-Oxford Cancer Immuno-Prevention Programme, aimed at exploring the potential of cancer prevention through vaccination.The programme leverages the complementary expertise of GSK and Oxford in the science of the immune system, vaccine development and cancer biology. It is hoped that the insights generated through the programme into…
Our results indicate that it is more likely that plants will behave deceptively toward their neighbours, rather than altruistically...Plants can gain a benefit from dishonest signalling because it harms their local competitors, by tricking them into investing in costly herbivore defence mechanisms.Lead author Dr Thomas Scott, (Department of Biology, University of…
Young people are already adopting new ways of interacting with AI, and without a solid framework for collaboration between stakeholders, evidence-based policy on AI will lag behind, as it did for social media. Dr. Karen Mansfield, postdoctoral researcher at OIIIn a new paper published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, the research team…
Current meta-genomic epidemiology can be expensive, time consuming, and complex. As we set up our international hubs, we hope to train a new generation of scientists equipped with knowledge of genomic surveillance that will have impact beyond the lifetime of the grant.Professor Sam Sheppard, Ineos Oxford InstituteDiarrhoeal disease is responsible…
Every day, millions suffer from preventable and treatable diseases that disproportionately affect underserved communities. At the same time, the threat of the next global outbreak looms large. The Global Health Network is transforming how these challenges are met by empowering all levels of healthcare workers with the skills, tools, and…
Obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure) and physical inactivity are known to be cardiovascular risk factors for dementia in middle age but, so far, little is known about these links between heart and brain health much earlier in life.Researchers led by a team at the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry,…
Named TriOx, this innovative test analyses multiple features of DNA in the blood to identify subtle signs of cancer, which could offer a fast, sensitive and minimally invasive alternative to current detection methods.The study, published in Nature Communications, showed that TriOx accurately detected cancer (including in its early stages) across…
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and long-term disability in young people. However, research in this area remains limited in particular due to a lack of data concerning head injuries sustained by the young population. An innovative longitudinal study designed and conducted by The Podium Institute…
Professor Binney follows in the footsteps of Arthur Eddington, Albert Einstein, Edwin Hubble, Stephen Hawking, and Jocelyn Bell Burnell in receiving the Society’s highest honour, which dates back 200 years. Since 1964, two Gold Medals have been awarded each year: one for astronomy, and one for geophysics.Professor Binney said: ‘I am…
For the first time, the method provides a robust scientific framework for evaluating identification techniques, especially when dealing with large-scale data. This could include, for instance, monitoring how accurate advertising code and invisible trackers are at identifying online users from small pieces of information such as time zone or browser…
A researcher measures a small mammal. Image credit: Ed Turner. Understanding how different aspects of tropical forests are affected by logging and conversion to oil palm plantations is important for identifying priority habitats for conservation and restoration. It can also help aid decisions on land use – for instance, whether…
Professor Alison Etheridge DBE FRS, Professor of Probability at Oxford’s Department of Statistics, has been appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to Mathematical Sciences. Much of her work focuses on infinite dimensional stochastic processes and their applications. Most recently her central interest has…
Dr Casey Breen, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and Department of Sociology, conducted the study, published in Demography. The study found that homeownership was associated with 0.36 years of additional life expectancy for Black male Americans who were born in the early twentieth…
Researchers from the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, Australian National University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, analysed cause-of-death data for 24 countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.The researchers found that life expectancy declined in 2020 for all but four of the 24 included countries, with…
FlowScore - a formula developed at Oxford University in collaboration with NHS Blood and Transplant - predicts how quickly red blood cells release their oxygen. This process is important for oxygenating the body’s tissues, including organs and muscles, particularly in people receiving large transfusions.Healthy fresh red blood cells have a…
The study, led by teams at the University of Oxford and University of Cambridge, found that adolescents access a variety of different types of support including informal (such as friends and family), semi-formal (like school-based support), and formal services (such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).While support from friends…
Suddenly we spotted a luminous white, purple-spotted flower dangling above our heads. We suspected immediately that it was new to science. It’s so exciting that beautiful species like this are still there waiting to be described.Dr Chris Thorogood, Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum and Department of BiologyThe group made the…
Led by researchers from the University of Oxford’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science and the University of Iceland, the review explores how genetic variations can explain differences in reproductive health and longevity.The study provides the most comprehensive review of male and female genetic discoveries of reproductive traits to date, and…
Charterhouse Warren is one of those rare archaeological sites that challenges the way we think about the past. It is a stark reminder that people in prehistory could match more recent atrocities and shines a light on a dark side of human behaviour. That it is unlikely to have been…
The Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UKRI, is launching its first two Centres of Research Excellence (CoRE), which will develop transformative new advanced therapeutics for currently untreatable diseases. Oxford is leading one of these Centres and co-leading the other. Together, these international collaborations will receive up to £50 million…
We can't avoid all impacts of human activity on nature, so we need to be able to compensate for the damage that we cause to nature. Our review demonstrates how challenging it is to do this via a tradeable ‘unit of nature’ and provides guidance on how to ensure biodiversity…
Dr Paula Sheppard. The UK has a fertility gap of around 0.3 children meaning that for every three children wanted only two are born. This phenomenon is largely driven by people starting families later in life. For instance, in 2016, approximately 22% of births were to mothers over age 35 compared…
Unsustainable wildlife use and trade imperils thousands of species and is a major contributor towards current unprecedented rates of global biodiversity loss. Establishing effective controls on wildlife trade is an urgent priority, however this is hindered by rapidly evolving markets, opaque supply chains, and inadequate resources for enforcement.This new collaboration,…
Our results suggest that the sequences of actions that wild chimpanzees use to perform their tool-use behaviours share many properties with those of humans, and so likely evolved before the last common ancestors of humans and chimps. Lead researcher Dr Elliot Howard-SpinkMany human behaviours are more complex than those of other…
Announced at the recent NATO Cyber Defence Conference, LASR will bring together industry, academic, and government experts to boost Britain’s cyber resilience and support growth. Leading researchers from Oxford University’s Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) Division and Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre will work alongside partner institutions, government bodies, and…
Leading global healthcare company Novo Nordisk has deepened its partnership with the University of Oxford by announcing £18.5 million of funding for a further 20 Postdoctoral Fellows in this prestigious scientific research programme, over the next nine years. This expanded collaboration also introduces an innovative ‘Springboard Fellowship’, which offers selected…
Lord Hague will be formally inaugurated as Chancellor early in the New Year and serve for a term of 10 years. He becomes the 160th recorded Chancellor in the University’s history, a role that dates back at least 800 years.Lord Hague, the Chancellor-elect, said: ‘Thank you to my fellow Oxonians for…
A large audience of staff, students and alumni enjoyed lively debate on the subject of ‘Democracy’ for the University’s inaugural Sheldonian Series event at the Sheldonian Theatre on Monday 25 November.In an unprecedented year for global democratic elections, and just a few weeks after the US presidential election, those in attendance examined…
The study, published in the journal Community, Work and Family, assesses people's attitudes towards having robots caring for oneself, providing services and companionship, when one is infirm or elderly. The study draws on data from 28 European countries, factoring in local determinants such as GDP, women’s labour force participation rates,…
New findings, published in the journal Ecology, describe a previously undocumented behaviour of Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis). For the first time, these have been reported to feed on the nectar of Ethiopian red hot poker flowers (Kniphofia foliosa) – the first large carnivore species ever to be documented feeding on…