In The Conversation: New solar cells break efficiency record
30 September 2024
Materials science Sustainability & the environment
New solar cells are breaking efficiency record – and could eventually supercharge how we get energy from the Sun writes Professor Sebastian Bonilla from the Department of Materials.
Expert Comment: Three key pillars to tackle antimicrobial resistance effectively
26 September 2024
Timothy Walsh, Director of Biology at the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research outlines three priorities that global leaders must consider at the UN High-Level Meeting on AMR held on 26 September.
Ant queens cannibalise their sick offspring - then ‘recycle’ them
24 September 2024
Instead of nurturing their sick young, ant queens eat their infected offspring at the first sign of illness then ‘recycle’ them into producing new eggs, a new study led by the University of Oxford has shown.
New analysis indicates UK hunting trophies law would cause more harm than good
18 September 2024
Biology Food security & biodiversity Research
A new study led by researchers from the Department of Biology and the Oxford Martin Programme on Wildlife Trade concludes that the proposed UK Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill could cause more harm than good for the species it is intended to protect.
Engineering Professors elected as Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows
18 September 2024
At its AGM on 17 September 2024 the Royal Academy of Engineering elected 71 leading figures in the field of engineering and technology to its Fellowship. Professor Tim Denison and Professor Paul Shearing are amongst those elected.
Mathematicians discover new class of shapes to explain complex biological forms
12 September 2024
Researchers from the Mathematical Institute and Budapest University of Technology and Economics have uncovered a new class of shapes that tile space without using sharp corners. Remarkably, these ’ideal soft shapes’ are found abundantly in nature – from sea shells to muscle cells.
SCGC-FIRST Round Two Launched to Accelerate Sustainable Innovations in the Chemicals Industry
9 September 2024
Chemistry Functional materials Funding Innovation and Enterprise Materials science
The University of Oxford and SCG Chemicals Public Company Limited (SCGC) are excited to announce round two of the SCGC-FIRST (Fund for Innovation and Research in Sustainability and Technology). This initiative aims to propel cutting-edge research and innovations from Oxford’s laboratories into practical, sustainable solutions for the global chemicals industry.
MPLS researchers awarded European Research Council Starting Grants to launch ambitious projects
5 September 2024
Biology Computer science Funding MPLS
The ERC - the premier European funding organisation for excellent frontier research - has announced the awarding of 494 major ERC Starting Grants to young scientists and scholars across Europe, including six Oxford University researchers, two of whom are from MPLS.
University of Oxford to lead two projects from new UKRI interdisciplinary scheme
4 September 2024
AI and data science Chemistry Computer science Funding MPLS Physical sciences underpinning health
The University of Oxford is to share in £32.4m funding from the first round of UKRI’s new cross research council responsive mode (CRCRM) pilot scheme. The scheme is designed to stimulate exciting new interdisciplinary research.
New method developed to detect fake vaccines in supply chains
29 August 2024
Chemistry Physical sciences underpinning health Research
The research describes a first-of-its-kind method capable of distinguishing authentic and falsified vaccines by applying machine learning to mass spectral data. The method proved effective in differentiating between a range of authentic and ‘faked’ vaccines previously found to have entered supply chains.
Four MPLS scientists honoured with Royal Society Awards
28 August 2024
The annual Royal Society Awards recognise exceptional research achievements through a series of prestigious medals and prizes. Of the 25 awards for 2023-24, announced today, five honour Oxford University researchers for their outstanding contributions to science and medicine; four of those are from MPLS Division.
Oxford Ionics: Leading the race towards quantum computers
27 August 2024
A profile of Dr Chris Ballance and spin-out company Oxford Ionics.
Urban birds found to be carriers of antimicrobial resistant bacteria
14 August 2024
Research led by scientists at the Ineos Oxford Institute has found that wild birds such as ducks and crows living close to humans, for example in cities, are likely to carry bacteria with antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This creates an urgent need for policy makers and health services to consider the different ways antibiotic resistant bacteria can spread outside hospital settings.
‘Origami-inspired’ folding electrodes could reduce surgery needed to treat brain conditions
14 August 2024
Biomedical engineering Engineering Medical science
A research team led by the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge have created new ‘origami-inspired’ brain electrodes that can fold to a fraction of their full size. This advance could significantly reduce the amount of surgery needed to treat conditions such as epilepsy, or to install brain-computer interfaces.
How can we address the nexus of climate change, migration, and infectious diseases?
12 August 2024
The complex and intricate relationship between climate change, human migration, and infectious disease transmission presents an urgent global challenge – expert comment from Dr Prathyush Sambaturu, Department of Biology.
Solar energy breakthrough could reduce need for solar farms
12 August 2024
Functional materials Physics Research
Scientists in the Department of Physics have developed a method for generating increasing amounts of solar electricity without the need for silicon-based solar panels by coating a new power-generating material onto the surfaces of everyday objects such as rucksacks, cars, and mobile phones.
Growing old with prides: Male and female lions socialise differently throughout their lives
8 August 2024
New research from the Department of Biology on wild lions has revealed that males and females experience vastly different changes to their social network throughout their lives, and that this may shape their survival.
Patents can help us understand wildlife trade trends, new study shows
6 August 2024
Biology Food security & biodiversity Research
Researchers from the Oxford Martin Programme on Wildlife Trade at the University of Oxford have demonstrated that patent data could provide a novel source of evidence that can help identify future commercial trends associated with the overharvesting of wildlife.
In The Conversation: Babies in Nigeria are being born with antibiotic resistant bacteria
5 August 2024
Antimicrobial resistance The Conversation
Samples taken from mothers and newborn babies younger than one week in Nigeria already had colistin-resistant bacteria present in their bodies. But neither the babies nor their mothers had been treated with colistin.
Half a billion-year-old spiny slug reveals the origins of molluscs
5 August 2024
A team of researchers including scientists from the Department of Earth Sciences have made an astonishing discovery of a new species of mollusc that lived 500 million years ago.