Durham University is a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research based in historic Durham City in the UK.
We are a collegiate university committed to inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham and in the world.
We conduct research that improves lives globally and we are ranked as a world top 100 university with an international reputation in research and education (QS World University Rankings 2024).
We are a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive UK universities and we are consistently ranked as a top 10 university in national league tables (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, Guardian University Guide and The Complete University Guide).
The UK is investing less on research and development across both the public and private sectors and remains behind Europe on the proportion of its GDP spent on research, prompting leading academics to…
Feminists: we’re always complaining about something aren’t we? Sign my online petition, withdraw this, that and the other, retweet this, boycott that, and don’t even bring a Nestle product into the office…
How much can we really deduce about academies and free schools from the Organisation for Economic Development’s (OECD) international education rankings? When the OECD’s deputy director for education Andreas…
Anyone who has experienced feelings of loneliness knows how terrible it is. In his poem To Edith, Bertrand Russell calls loneliness “the solitary pain” and evokes the “ecstasy and peace” his wife gave…
There has been much written in the media over the last year about the legacy of Thatcherism and the ways in which it reshaped the British political landscape. However, in new empirical research published…
When it comes to extreme porn, there’s more the law could do to help.
CMCarterSS
Hidden amongst the more high-profile reforms in the newly published Criminal Justice and Courts Bill 2014 is a proposal to extend the law on extreme pornography. This law, first enacted in 2008, criminalises…
That’s a “fail” in the immigration minister’s knowledge test then, Mark.
PA Wire
Mark Harper MP was a junior minister making a name for himself. He oversaw the publication of the government’s controversial “Life in the United Kingdom” citizenship test – likened to “a bad pub quiz…
The war at home: Anti-Assad protestors in London.
Lewis Whyld/PA
The arrests of people travelling to or returning from the Syrian conflict have been widely reported over recent weeks in the British media. Sir Peter Fahy, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police…
The ruins of the 11th century Great Umayyad Mosque, Aleppo.
Halabi Lens
The destruction and looting of cultural heritage has been intertwined with conflict for thousands of years. To steal an enemies’ treasures, defile their sacred places and burn their cities has been part…
Mark your territory now. It’s about to kick off online.
the justified sinner
More than 1,000 new generic top-level domain names – the part of an internet address that comes after the “dot” – are being rolled out by the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It’s…
More maths anyone?
David Jones/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Teaching assistants can help children improve literacy and numeracy skills if they work in small groups with specific pupils known to have low attainment levels, new reports indicate. The findings appear…
All eyes are on GCHQ as it justifies its spying activities.
Campaign Against Arms Trade
A debate is brewing after a report submitted to MPs suggested that GCHQ has been breaking the law by conducting mass surveillance on UK citizens. In the red corner sits public law barrister Jemima Stratford…
How many R&D teams does it take to fix a lightbulb?
ed_needs_a_bicycle
There is a tired old mantra that periodically echoes along the corridors of Whitehall. It goes something like: “The UK is great at science but poor at turning it into innovation”. Yet since the Conservative…
Making words make sense.
Ben Birchall/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Some children arrive at school already able to read. They have enjoyed books with their parents and understand the exciting route that reading takes them into the wonderful world of stories. They may well…
Quality education is still not for all.
Chris Radburn/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Akshat Rathi, The Conversation and Gemma Ware, The Conversation
Immigrant students and those from poor backgrounds living in developed countries are being failed by the school system and face a high risk of marginalisation, according to a UNESCO report. Data from the…
Arab Spring: Tunisians push for democracy.
marcovdz
Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly (NCA) has approved a new constitution which marks a milestone in the country’s democratic transition. With 200 votes in favour out of a possible 216, and with only…
Getting into hot water - one of Iceland’s geothermal power plants.
Gretar Ívarsson
Can enormous heat deep in the earth be harnessed to provide energy for us on the surface? A promising report from a geothermal borehole project that accidentally struck magma – the same fiery, molten rock…
John Nimmo has been given eight weeks in prison for online abuse.
Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Two people have been jailed for making threats and sending abusive messages on Twitter to Caroline Criado-Perez, the feminist campaigner who sought to have a woman put on a British bank note. Isabella…
After China, which way will Hong Kong turn?
Vincent Yu
Hong Kong’s Endangered Species Advisory Committee meets today to decide whether to follow China’s lead and destroy its own (33-tonne) stockpile of contraband ivory. This is welcome news, but the destruction…
All aboard the big bucks bus … not you, sir…
Phil Wilkinson/The Scotsman/PA Wire
In a new report, Working For The Few, Oxfam warns that the fight against poverty cannot be won until wealth inequality has been tackled. The wealth of the richest 1% in the world amounts to $110 trillion…