WELS news

Dr Deborah Steele is impressive. Not only is she a tutor (we call them Associate Lecturers at the OU) in nursing and healthcare, but she is also the first in her family to get a degree, which like many of our students, she did whilst working two part-time jobs and raising four children alone. Here’s how... 

Each year, OU PhD students have the chance to make a cake that represents their studies for the annual Graduate School ‘Bake Your Research’ competition. We caught up with previous contestants from the Faculty to see where they are now.

Two exciting new project proposals by members of the Centre for the Study of Global Development have been accepted by the Open Societal Challenges (OSC) programme, an OU initiative bringing together the university’s academic community to develop inclusive research that will drive positive societal change. 

Paulette Johnson, WELS Academic Lead for Access, Participation and Success, is a qualified Social Worker. In this article for World Social Work Day, she shares how the OU's social work curriculum is tackling equality, diversity and inclusion. 

According to new research led by Dr Hannah Marston and Professor Sarah Earle, people who used social media messaging apps and platforms during the pandemic reported feeling lonelier than those who did not.

From 1999 to 2021, Bärbel Brash taught German to hundreds of OU students. Recently taking on a new position at the OU in Scotland, she tells us about her time as an Associate Lecturer within the WELS School of Languages and Applied Linguistics (LAL), as well as her involvement in a course that challenges perceptions around learning languages later in life.

WELS Health, Wellbeing and Social Care students Jade Wareham and Karen Donnelly have been nominated at this year’s Student Nursing Times Awards – across three different categories.

Professor Mary Larkin has initiated the international rollout of the 'Learning for carers at The Open University' programme, co-produced with Carers Centre Tower Hamlets (CCTH) and an OU research team comprising herself, Dr Chris Kubiak, and Dr Nichola Kentzer.

Watch new videos of our winners of The Open University’s first ever People’s Choice Award as they share their thoughts about winning, reflect on their current project and discuss how the OU has helped shape the way in which they conduct research.

In this article, Kerry Black, 30, explains how a nursing apprenticeship has allowed her to pursue a career in the NHS without having to leave her home on the Isle of Wight.