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Welcome to WELS research

Research in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies is concerned with enabling people and communities to thrive within an increasingly complex, insecure and unequal world. We recognise that having a voice and experiencing agency is vital for personal wellbeing and democratic renewal and we work both in the UK and in broader global development contexts to ensure that excluded, vulnerable and complexly disadvantaged people are enabled to shape the research that impacts their lives.

Find out more about our REF results.

 

Research areas

All of our research interests are united by a strong commitment to interdisciplinarity - drawing strength from the breadth of our academics' experience and specialisms. We are also strongly driven by the OU's social justice ethos and our research aims to enable communities and individuals to thrive in an increasingly demanding and unequal world.

 
 

Impact

How our research is making a real difference to people's lives.

 

Research highlights

Read more about some of our award-winning and pioneering research projects.

 

Research degrees

Join our vibrant community of PHD and Professional Doctorate students.

 
PRAXIS Center for Scholarship and Innovation  

Scholarship

Our scholarship and innovation centre PRAXIS brings together all our academic expertise to undertake sustained and intentional inquiry into learning, teaching and assessment practices in higher education.

Knowledge exchange  

Partner with us

Whether you are looking to train and develop your staff, or need access to an academic consultant to develop new solutions, we offer a wide variety of ways for organisations to harness our expertise.

Research news

Senior woman sitting in chair laughing with a care professional in a care setting.

New research and toolkit to provide transformative approach to care launched by OU academics

A new toolkit to provide practitioners with the information they need to implement ‘relational care’ in practice with older people in a range of care settings has been launched by Dr Manik Gopinath and Professor Mary Larkin at an event hosted at the House of Lords on 17th May, attended by 120 delegates. 

25th May 2023
Collage of four bakes created by WELS postgraduate researchers for the OU's Bake Your Research competition over the years (2018-2021).

Where are they now? PhD bakers catch-up

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.

29th March 2023
Portrait of Dr Jennifer Agbaire and Dr Sharif Haider

Two CSGD projects proposals are accepted on the Open Societal Challenges programme

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. 

28th March 2023
Person with a mask on looking at his phone.

New research finds link between social media usage and high levels of loneliness during pandemic

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.

8th March 2023