Research news

Dr Simon Penn is the winner of the Outstanding Post Graduate Researcher Award at The Open University Research Excellence Awards for work that is changing the way the OU communicates feedback to students.

Dr Jennifer Agbaire has been awarded joint winner of the Outstanding Early Careers Research award at the 2024 Open University Research Excellence Awards for her exceptional research both in the UK and internationally.

The winning researchers of this year's Open University's Research Excellence Awards have been announced and will collect their prizes at an awards event in Milton Keynes.

Researchers from the OU's Faculty of WELS are investigating how self-managed abortions relate to social connectedness and issues of reproductive control and autonomy. A new paper examines the experiences of self-managed abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to support available from professionals, family and friends. 

The Open University (OU) has embarked on a groundbreaking study examining the impact of the Medical Examiners Service on families coping with loss.

Research at the OU finds that online dancing for unpaid adult carers proves beneficial to their mental and physical health.

The search for innovative solutions to cater for the UK’s population is on the rise as our healthcare systems experience ever increasing pressure. Researchers at the OU have called for further exploration in assisting older people in their daily lives, specifically via the use of remote monitoring technologies and smart homes.

Dr Erica Borgstrom has been promoted to Professor of Medical Anthropology, within the OU’s Faculty of WELS. Erica’s specialist area in research and teaching is death and dying, with an emphasis on end-of-life care. She is the lead for the interdisciplinary Open Thanatology research group, which educates on death and dying.

From the emerging field of Raciolinguistics, new research from the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics will investigate the relationship between language, race and cultural appropriation through the use of Jamaican Patois.

Not enough is being done across the UK to support parents, children and young people experiencing family imprisonment according to new research by The Open University’s Children’s Research Centre and Worcestershire charity YSS.