Research news

The winner of the OU’s People’s Choice Award is a research project led by Dr Margaret Ebubedike from the Faculty of WELS, co-investigated by Dr Saraswati Dawadi from the Institute of Education Technology, looking at improving the lives of human trafficking survivors in Nepal and Nigeria.

Dr Philippa Waterhouse has won the award for Postgraduate Research (PGR) Supervisor at The Open University’s third annual Research Excellence Awards held last week in London. Philippa has been recognised for the outstanding support and leadership she has provided.

Now in its third year, the Research Excellence Awards celebrates and recognises the achievement of research at The Open University. Among the winners was Dr Erica Seruset Borgstrom, winner of the Early Career Researcher award for her research into death and dying. 

Now in its third year, researchers at the Faculty of WELS walked away as winners and runner ups at The Open University’s annual Research Excellence Awards. The awards celebrate and recognise the outstanding achievement of the university’s research environment and WELS were no exception.

In an OU Research Excellence Awards first, one winner will be decided externally. The People’s Choice Award asks the public to choose the person or project they feel has made the most significant difference when addressing societal challenges. WELS Senior Lecturer Dr Jitka Vseteckova runs one of four nominated projects, and tells us how it feels.

A year on from funding being cut to the ACCESS programme, Professor Lesley Hoggart celebrates the achievements and outcomes of the project, and outlines the plans for the future.

Research by WELS academics has resulted in 14 nominations at this year’s Open University Research Excellence Awards, including a project heralded as ‘groundbreaking’ by Dame Elizabeth Fradd DBE.

Kristina Hultgren, WELS Professor of Sociolinguistics and Applied Linguistics, has been awarded £100,000 towards her study of the role English-medium education plays in gender inequality within low and middle-income nations.

The Open University (OU)’s commitment to research and societal impact is recognised today (Thursday 12 May), with 82% of its research impact assessed to be ‘world-leading’ (4*) or ‘internationally excellent’ (3*) by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.

The Reading for Pleasure coalition is celebrating five years of incredible growth and successful social justice-driven projects and initiatives. It is estimated that the OU RfP research has influenced the reading lives of over 180,000 children.