Researchers find new aggressive alga threatening the health of Caribbean coral reefs
1 December 2020
Hurricanes, pollution, disease, bleaching and the effects of an increasingly warmer planet are all negatively impacting the health of coral reefs around the world. However, those in the Caribbean are facing a new threat — an aggressive, golden-brown, crust-like alga that is rapidly overgrowing shallow reefs.
Professor Martin Maiden awarded the Marjory Stephenson Prize of the Microbiology Society
26 November 2020
The prize is awarded annually to an individual who has made exceptional contributions to the discipline of microbiology, and recognises Prof Maiden's work in translating high-quality basic science into practical public health benefits, especially in bacterial vaccines, vaccination, and food safety.
Why Mauritius is culling an endangered fruit bat that exists nowhere else
26 November 2020
An article from the Conversation by Alexandra Zimmerman (Zoology), Ewan Macdonald (Said Business School) and Tigga Kingston (Texas Tech University).
Low-cost ventilator wins at E&T Innovation Awards
23 November 2020
Award COVID-19 Engineering Innovation and Enterprise
OxVent is a rapidly deployable and scalable low-cost mechanical ventilator specially designed for COVID-19, which has now been recognised as one of the best innovations of the year by the Institute of Engineering and Technology.
Top numbers of Oxford researchers make Highly Cited Researchers list
18 November 2020
Oxford University is delighted that 52 of its academics have been named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers™ 2020 list from Clarivate. This is the highest number of any institution in the UK and 2nd highest in Europe.
Oxford Net Zero launches to tackle global carbon emissions
17 November 2020
Climate change Earth sciences Physics Plant sciences Zoology
The Oxford Net Zero initiative, launched this week, draws on the university’s world-leading expertise in climate science and policy, addressing the critical issue of how to reach global ‘net zero’ – limiting greenhouse gases – in time to halt global warming.
BCS Lovelace Medal 2020 awarded to Prof Ian Horrocks & Prof Michael Wooldridge
13 November 2020
The award is presented annually to individuals who, in the opinion of BCS Academy Awards Committee, have made a significant contribution to the advancement of Information Systems.
The European Space Agency formally adopts Ariel, the exoplanet explorer
12 November 2020
More than 50 institutes from 17 countries, including the University of Oxford, have been working over the past five years to develop the science goals and design the instrumentation which will enable Ariel to survey a diverse sample of around 1000 planets outside our own solar system.
Prof Peter Nellist and Prof George Smith awarded Honorary Fellowships of the Royal Microscopical Society
12 November 2020
This is the most prestigious award possible from the RMS for researchers around the globe, and is bestowed by the Society for pre-eminence in microscopy and related branches of science.
Unravelling the secrets of spider limb regeneration to inspire new gen soft-robotics
11 November 2020
Studies at the Universities of Oxford and Aarhus have revealed how a spider’s regenerated leg movements fit in with the other legs that are of normal length; coordinating complex movements and thread manipulations.
Global food system emissions alone threaten warming beyond 1.5°C – but we can act now to stop it
6 November 2020
Climate change Physics The Conversation
In an article from 'The Conversation', John Lynch in the Department of Physics discusses the necessary changes for bringing agriculture in line with a “net-zero” world.
Rapid COVID-19 test, Oxsed RaViD Direct, now in use at Heathrow and trials at Hong Kong International Airport
4 November 2020
The spinout company, Oxsed, was last month acquired by DNAFit Life Sciences, a wholly owned entity of Hong Kong-based genetics and diagnostic health testing company Prenetics. Deploying the test to further global airports is now under discussion.
Divergent wildlife conservation perspectives in Africa
3 November 2020
In African wildlife conservation, most documented experiences are from southern and south-eastern Africa; countries with well developed ‘wildlife industries’. Their voices and perspectives are dominant, but a new paper in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution presents divergent perspectives from West, Central and the Horn of Africa.
Endangered tiger population in ground-breaking population modelling study
3 November 2020
David Macdonald, Director of WildCRU, writes about the threats to Indochinese tigers in an article on the Science Blog.
Prof Grobert appointed Chair of European Commission’s Chief Scientific Advisors
3 November 2020
Professor Nicole Grobert, Professor of Nanomaterials and Associate Head of Department (Research) in the Department of Materials, has been elected Chair of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the European Commission. Professor Sir Paul Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute, joins her as Deputy Chair.
Understanding the superpowers of perovskites
2 November 2020
Materials science Physics Research
For the first time, researchers from Oxford’s Departments of Physics and Materials have managed to image hybrid metal halide perovskites with atomic-scale resolution providing new insights into these wonder-materials.
Oxford ranked first in world for Computer Science
2 November 2020
For the third year running the University of Oxford has been ranked first in the world for Computer Science in The Times Higher Education 2021 World University Rankings
Institute of Physics awards for MPLS researchers
30 October 2020
Three MPLS academics and researchers have been awarded 2020 IOP Medals for their contributions to Physics - two in the Department of Physics and one in the Department of Chemistry.
Oxford University creates its 200th spinout company PhishAR
28 October 2020
PhishAR builds on the work of Professor Ivan Martinovic and Dr Ivo Sluganovic from the Department of Computer Science, and employs augmented reality to crack down on “phishing”.
Project for whole genome sequencing of extinct flightless birds
27 October 2020
The University of Oxford’s Department of Zoology has announced it will begin whole genome sequencing of extinct flightless birds, including the dodo and its sister taxa, the Rodrigues solitaire.