The University of Reading is one of the UK’s leading research universities – a global institution that enjoys a world-class reputation for research, teaching and enterprise. The University was established in 1892, received its Royal Charter in 1926, and is now a leading force in British and international higher education. With five campuses across three continents, the University is now home to 1,700 academic and research staff and 19,000 students from more than 150 countries.
The University conducts research across a wide variety of areas and is particularly celebrated as a world leader in areas such as agriculture, biological sciences, built environment, European histories and cultures, meteorology and climate change, and social sciences – including via Henley Business School.
The University is committed to pursuing research excellence between and across academic areas, with more than 50 interdisciplinary research institutes and centres, many of which are recognised as international centres of excellence.
“Snowmageddon” was predicted – three feet of snow, blizzards whipped up by high winds, a freeze of the whole transport system. What New York got was “snowperbole”. Yes, it snowed, but not as badly as predicted…
Arctic sea ice melts each summer, reaching its minimum extent sometime in September, before refreezing through the winter. Over the past 35 years, the September sea ice extent has reduced by about 35…
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is a common refrain. But usually it is not followed by the words “because your neighbours may kill you”. However, this is precisely the scenario faced by some female…
In rehearsal for the 1976 premiere production of Footfalls at the Royal Court in London, Billie Whitelaw recounted Samuel Beckett’s direction: When we rehearsed eyeball to eyeball, he opened up in me whatever…
Two weeks of international climate negotiations in Lima, Peru, are over, with an agreement pulled out of the bag at the eleventh hour. While Lima has been seen by many as a mere curtain-raiser to talks…
Historical prestige is not the only reason why British universities do well at attracting international students – but it helps. Victorian antecedents hint at continuity and esteem. Strong teaching, good…
As higher education has gradually become more commercialised, universities are getting used to employing professional marketers to help develop and manage their reputations and brands. But while the sector…
The Nobel Peace Prize is a major achievement in itself. For it to be awarded – jointly with the Indian anti-child slavery activist Kailash Satyarthi – to a teenager still at secondary school is extraordinary…
I’ve heard it many a time, and you probably have too. It’s supposedly the trump card to any argument on addressing climate change globally: “Yeah, but what’s the point? Isn’t China building a new coal…
The upper layers of the world’s oceans have been warming much faster than oceanographers realised over the past few decades, according to a new study. Sparse sampling of the Southern Hemisphere’s oceans…
What the conflict would mean for British art was much debated in World War I – the question was already being asked in journals and newspaper reviews in the latter part of 1914. At the beginning debate…
After a financial crisis which highlighted and unearthed corrupt management, bad business practices and selfish acts of greed, maybe it’s time to evaluate the impact of a more spiritual form of leadership…
The latter days of Michael Gove’s time at the Department for Education were dominated by the Trojan Horse extremism plot in Birmingham. But in his four years as secretary of state, there were recurring…
There seem to have been a dozen or so explanations for why the Earth’s surface has warmed at a slower rate over the past 15 years compared to earlier decades. This is perhaps not so surprising given the…
Affiris, a biotech company based in Austria, and the Michael J Fox Foundation, have announced the latest results of a vaccine they have been developing to treat Parkinson’s disease. Following the first…
Pen maker Bic has been asking people around to world to submit their handwriting so it can produce what it is calling the Universal Typeface. Although the experiment is not claiming to have any scientific…
With each monsoon season India waits with bated breath for forecasts from the India Meteorological Department and other international forecasting agencies. This year’s forecast suggested a weakened monsoon…
For all the huge, hulking buildings of concrete and steel that house coal, gas or nuclear power stations, or towering 100-metre-tall wind turbines, generating electricity is in fact a very precise and…