University of Oxford

What is driving the new ‘interdisciplinary turn’? As Director of TORCH, an interdisciplinary research centre based in Oxford’s Humanities Division, my frequent conversations with global counterparts oscillate between gloom over global crises and excitement over our new interdisciplinary initiatives. These two subjects are closely related.Several factors have driven interdisciplinarity’s current revivification, including an emphasis on holistic approaches to problem-solving which break down rigid disciplinary siloes; a desire to create a global…

TBI is a critical public health issue, with severe and long-term neurological consequences. In forensic investigations, determining whether an impact could have caused a reported injury is crucial for legal proceedings, yet there is currently no standardised, quantifiable approach to do this. The new study demonstrates how machine learning tools informed by mechanistic simulations could provide evidence-based injury predictions. This would help police and forensic teams accurately predict TBI outcomes…

Democracy is under threat worldwide. In 2023, global freedom declined for the 18th consecutive year across all regions and levels of democratic performance. In historically democratic strongholds such as Europe and the United States, growing political polarisation and the rise of populist authoritarian movements pose significant challenges. In response, the University of Oxford’s new Centre for Democratic Resilience is bringing together world-class expertise, research, and education to tackle these pressing issues of…

Three years ago, on 24 February 2022, Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. While Ukraine was largely ignored in international discourses and policy debates prior to late 2021, it was a sovereign state at the time of Russia’s invasion, as it has been since 1991 and remains today. Like all fifteen of the former republics of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became independent with the Union’s collapse in the early 1990s. For Ukraine,…

Tuberculosis (TB) is the oldest and most deadly disease in human history, causing over 1.2 million deaths every year. TB is an infectious airborne disease that mainly affects the lungs. It is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb).The main treatment option for TB is long courses of multiple antibiotics. However antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – a process in which bacteria have developed the ability to resist the action of medicines…

The researchers used data from nearly half a million UK Biobank participants to assess the influence of 164 environmental factors and genetic risk scores for 22 major diseases on ageing, age-related diseases, and premature death. The study is published in Nature Medicine.Key findings:environmental factors explained 17% of the variation in risk of death, compared to less than 2% explained by genetic predisposition (as we understand it at present);of the 25…

Lord Hague of Richmond has been officially admitted as Oxford’s 160th Chancellor in a ceremony that took place at the Sheldonian Theatre today after winning the election for the Chancellor of the University of Oxford role in November 2024.Õrātor Publice, ita exordīrī velim ut grātiās tibi ex animō agam, ut quī tali benignitāte sīs locūtus, adeōque familiāriter salūtātiōnibus, adeō cūrātē officiīs decōrīs operam dederīs,  quae laudem quandam peperērunt huīc Ūniversitātī. Vice-Cancellāriae quoque…

In his speech, Lord Hague said: ‘I thank all of you, the Convocation, for electing me as your chancellor and for your enthusiastic welcome in recent weeks. Every visit I have made so far and every conversation, has intensified my excitement about the years to come. I happily dedicate myself today to working with you and for you.’What happens here is more fundamental to British prosperity than it has ever…

A new study published in Nature outlines for the first time how advances in AI can accelerate breakthroughs in infectious disease research and outbreak response.The study,  which is published following last week’s AI Action Summit and amidst increasing global debate on AI investment and regulation, puts particular emphasis on safety, accountability and ethics in the deployment and use of AI in infectious disease research.Calling for a collaborative and transparent environment…

Meeting our climate targets requires rapidly reducing fossil fuel use. But we're far off track, and the science is clear: to reach net zero by 2050, we will also need to permanently store vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) underground. This is especially crucial for some industries, such as cement manufacturing, where there is currently no scalable way to eliminate emissions entirely without carbon capture and storage (CCS) - a…

Following previous summits at Bletchley Park (2023) and Seoul (2024), global leaders re-convened at the Paris AI Summit this month to find a shared direction for the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). The Declaration agreed at Paris, signed by fifty-seven states and bodies such as the UN, the OECD, and the European Commission, represented a welcome shift away from the 'AI safety' rhetoric, focused on existential threats, that had marked previous…

The Town v Gown Fixture will be a day of football to bring the whole community together on Tuesday 4 March at The MGroup Stadium. The Town v Gown football fixture will return this March, and for the first time in the event’s 130-year history will incorporate a women’s match.Town v Gown sporting events in the city have a rich history, but the football fixture has been missing in recent…

This Valentine’s Day, millions of pounds worth of chocolate will be exchanged as gifts, but climate change and biodiversity loss imperil future global supplies of this treat. A new research study led by the University of Oxford and published today (14 February) demonstrates that sustainable agricultural practices that both protect pollinator populations and mitigate climate risks could help secure - and even improve - global cocoa yields. Cocoa (Theobroma cacao…

‘Are we alone in the universe?’ and ‘What does it mean to be human?’ were among the questions explored when another large audience of staff, students and alumni gathered at the Sheldonian Theatre to enjoy the University’s second Sheldonian Series event on Tuesday 11 February.Launched in Michaelmas and convened by the Vice-Chancellor, the Sheldonian Series continued on the topic of ‘Life’, with three guest speakers delivering presentations examining the theme from…

The global debate on whether and how social media content should be regulated has flared up again in recent months. Citing freedom of expression, the platform operators X and Meta have relaxed regulations intended to restrict discriminatory statements. Meanwhile, Australia has banned social media access for children under 16.There is a widespread perception that negativity is inherent in social media.Spyros Kosmidis, Associate Professor of Politics at the Department of Politics…

Row4Ukraine is a charity awareness-driving mission designed to highlight the human cost of the war in Ukraine and raise funds for the rehabilitation of Ukrainian service personnel. The team comprised injured servicemen from the UK and Ukraine, working together to row 3,000 miles from Gran Canaria to Barbados in less than six weeks. As the British and Ukrainian crew members did not share a common language, effective communication was a…

Researchers from academic institutions in Africa, South America, the United States, and Europe congregated to celebrate the launch and demonstrate their commitment to global epilepsy research and care.Based at Wolfson College within the University of Oxford, and generously supported by the BAND Foundation, the Centre for Global Epilepsy will address the global burden of epilepsy, particularly in resource-limited settings. The centre collaborates with key research institutions and epilepsy clinics worldwide,…

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 research (IOI). The institute is a world-leading centre of research, training and education aimed at combatting the growing issue of…

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 re-election campaign, Trump did not address these topics in his inaugural address. Certainly, there were no representatives of those groups…

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 together, enabling computations to be distributed across the network. In theory, there is no limit to the number of processors…

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 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is the foundation of international action to support…

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 as AI could start to replace human labour. To find out whether the freelance job market has changed as a result…

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 cut across the responsibilities of individual government departments.In an era where data and AI will be essential tools in augmenting…

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 that they can challenge and change humanitarian policy for the benefit of future generations.After providing crucial early funding for the…

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 published method developed using non-Covid vaccines.The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10.5% of medicines worldwide in low and middle-income…

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 years. The study compared neurodevelopmental outcomes at age two years between Roma children receiving a community-based early child development (ECD)…

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 been released.   Through our research, hospitals, museums and parks, commitment to lifelong learning and schools’ outreach programmes, contribution to the regional…

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 how cancer develops could inform new approaches to vaccination for cancer prevention, offering fresh hope in the fight against the…

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 Oxford)Land plants can be connected to a complex, underground fungal network known popularly as ‘the wood wide web.’ Networks emerge…

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 calls for a critical re-evaluation of how researchers study the impact of internet-based technologies on youth mental health, and outlines…

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 for killing around 444,000 children every year, mainly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Worryingly, antibiotics are becoming increasingly ineffective…

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 connections to conduct research that directly benefits their patients and communities. This is disrupting outdated hierarchies and driving equity in…

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, in collaboration with University College London and funded by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre and Wellcome, looked at…

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 six cancer types and reliably distinguished those people who had cancer from those that did not.Cancers are more likely to…

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 is harnessing advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to uncover why some children recover worse than others after they have…

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 delighted to be honoured by the RAS by the award of this year's Gold Medal. It was my great good…

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 settings (a technique called ‘browser fingerprinting’). Lead author Dr Luc Rocher, Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, part of…

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 a logged forest should be protected, restored, or allowed to be converted into a plantation. But up to now, most…

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 been a collection of mathematical problems arising in population genetics.Professor Etheridge said: ‘This really is a huge honour and it's…

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 century, and 0.42 years for their White counterparts. Dr Casey Breen said ‘My study finds homeownership has a meaningful positive…