The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. Teaching has taken place at Oxford since 1096. Oxford has the largest volume of world-leading research in the country, rating top in the REF power rankings published by Research Fortnight. Oxford’s research involves more than 70 departments, almost 1,800 academic staff, more than 5,000 research and research support staff, and more than 5,600 graduate research students. The University has 38 independent colleges to which undergraduate and graduate students belong. Oxford has the highest research income from external sponsors of any UK university: £478.3m in 2013/14. The University has pioneered the successful commercial exploitation of academic research and invention, creating more than 100 companies, and files more patents each year than any other UK university.
If Earth were like a human body, large animals might be its arteries, moving nutrients from where they’re abundant to where they’re needed. Currently the planet has large regions where life is limited…
Not so sexy, but very useful.
Simon Ydhag, Uppsala University
Researchers in Uppsala, Sweden accidentally left a reaction running over the weekend and ended up resolving a century-old chemistry problem. Their work has led to the development of a new material, dubbed…
Several vaccines for malaria have been developed over the past few decades, but none offer complete protection. Now, for the first time, US researchers have developed a vaccine that protects 100% of those…
Germany and the UK have ambitious clean energy policies. Both have set themselves national emission reduction targets beyond the European Union’s goal of 20% below emissions levels of 1990. Germany has…
The bill fails to tackle discrimination in end of life care that would have helped Tony Nicklinson.
PA/Emma Hallett
Lord Falconer’s assisted dying bill would allow registered doctors to take steps to help mentally competent adult patients to end their own lives, but only in certain circumstances. One of these circumstances…
Morsi still commands considerable support.
Jonathan Rashad
As the world holds its breath, hundreds of thousands - maybe millions - of protestors will take to the streets of Egypt’s big cities today in what has been widely billed in the international media as a…
Hazy recollection: I’m sure I buried some cheese here.
Paul.J.Hurtado
If you’ve ever been frustrated by erratic memories, spare a thought for the mice involved in a study published in the journal Science. Researchers have been able to consistently create a “false memory…
The next Ella Fitzgerald? Every wolf has a distinctive soulful style.
C Young Photography
The ominous howl of the wolf has long been a source of fear and fascination for mankind. But new research shows they are not so different from people – for every wolf has its own distinct voice. By recording…
The School Food Plan for England released last week is supposed to be the blueprint that improves lunches in schools across the country. The important role of head teachers, a funding commitment from the…
Students at the University of York are challenging what they see as the closed worlds of nanotechnology and healthcare by crowdsourcing funds to produce a new type of treatment for cancer using magnetic…
The Home Office recently published a sensible and thorough look at the local impact of migration. Did you read about it? You certainly won’t have in the Mail or the Telegraph, who apparently read an entirely…
Some Egyptians protest, some just hope for a better life.
TiTaN Jad
When I took a walk past Cairo University this morning, the tanks were still there, while the Islamist camp were continuing their sit-in, though with strongly reduced numbers. At around 5.30pm the night…
Cyber-snooping is a threat to knowledge as well as privacy.
EPA/Guardian/Glenn Greenwald
While Edward Snowden sits in a Russian airport, the repercussions of the NSA scandal are being felt far and wide. But while headlines warn us about personal data and privacy, an even more sinister threat…
Ready, steady, go - but not not everyone likes traffic systems.
Last Wednesday was a good day for those of us who have been campaigning for years for more understandable food labelling. The UK Government announced their final recommendation for front-of-pack nutrition…
The jury is still out on whether drinking moderately while pregnant is harmful.
PA/Kate Collins
On March 25th 1968 a relatively unknown French medical journal l’Ouest Medical published a remarkable paper based on observations of 127 children with mothers who drank heavily. Paul Lemoine, a paediatrician…
The finer points of Abenomics are not lost on this guy.
ippei-janine
Japanese PM Shinzō Abe has a problem, and he might end up killing an awful lot of frogs to solve it. Shares are up in Japan, but everything else has flatlined: kick-starting the stubbornly moribund economy…
People who survived cancer as children may be out of the woods but not without a few scratches.
Flickr/David Bunting
Jo Adetunji, The Conversation and Emily Lindsay Brown, The Conversation
Children who survive cancer treatment are much more likely to suffer health problems when they are adults, according to a new study. Researchers who looked at more than 1,700 survivors of childhood cancer…
It doesn’t matter how much multiculturalism contributes to the economy if your values say it’s bad for Britain.
PA/Stephen Dempsey
How far do facts and evidence get us in public debates and policy formulation on immigration? And how far should they take us? Data on migration and its social and economic impact are of course vital for…
Despite myths to the contrary, humanities graduates can enjoy their passions and look forward to job opportunities too.
Student image from www.shutterstock.com
As a vice chancellor, I conducted many graduation ceremonies and welcomed scores of proud graduates to the fellowship of educated men and women. One regular feature of these ceremonies was a queue of students…
The humble fruit fly: teaching us more about melanoma skin cancer.
Flickr/John Tann
Melanomas may be less common than other skin cancers but their ability to become malignant and spread to other parts of the body makes them some of the deadliest if not caught early. More than 10,000 people…
Head of Policy Engagement, Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford and Fellow in Environmental Change, Reuben College, University of Oxford, University of Oxford