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Science at The Open University

Welcome to The Faculty of Science at The Open University

Home to the Departments of: Environment, Earth and Ecosystems, Life, Health and Chemical Sciences and Physical Sciences

Information about the Faculty, our teaching, our cutting edge research, our staff and our outreach activities may be found by browsing through the tabs above.


Environment, Earth and Ecosystems

Environment, Earth and Ecosystems

Life, Health and Chemical Sciences

Life, Health and Chemical Sciences

Physical Sciences

Physical Sciences Homepage

CEPSAR

Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research

S175

Featured Courses

The Frozen Planet

Exploring the wonder of the polar world, this short course is about the science of the frozen planet that covers over one-third of the Earth at any one time. Using specially-shot film clips from the spectacular Frozen Planet BBC series, the course investigates the ecosystems and animals that prosper in the polar regions, the global climate, the influence of humans on the environment and the motivations of early explorers. You will also learn about the current management of the polar regions and their fate in the near future. For a full description please click here.

View all short courses in science 


An unusual degree ceremony

Case Studies

An unusual degree ceremony

In the last three days I have attended three Open University degree ceremonies. Two of these took place in the grandeur of Ely Cathedral and were, as always, joyful occasions in which we were able to share in our students’ successes.








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News

  • Professor Colin Pillinger

    Professor Colin Pillinger Lecture at The Royal Society

     

    Recently Professor Colin Pillinger CBE FRS was awarded the Michael Faraday Prize by The Royal Society for his excellent work in science communication. As part of the prize Colin gave the Michael Faraday Lecture "Stones from the sky: A heaven-sent opportunity to talk about science" at the Society's London headquarters on 12 January 2012.

    23 January 2012

     

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  • M16 Herschel image

    New views of star-birth in the Pillars of Creation

    The European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory has made observations at far infrared wavelengths toward one of the most iconic images in astronomy: the “Pillars of Creation”. The region around the Pillars in the stunning Hubble Space Telescope image of these three towering pillars of gas and dust, originally taken in 1995, has now been re-observed with Herschel. This region in fact is only a small part of the Eagle Nebula, a star formation region which lies 6500 light years away. The new Herschel observations highlight the processes occurring within the pillars, and the locations of stars that are forming throughout the surrounding area.

    17 January 2012 

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  • supernova

    OU Science telescope captures breakthrough image of supernova's status

    The PIRATE facility operated by The Open University on the Spanish island of Mallorca was responsible for a one-off image of a supernova, leading to crucial information on the nature of these exploding stars. The image was taken by CEPSAR PhD student Stefan Holmes who happened to be “in the right place at the right time” and was able to gain sophisticated detail of these captivating stars.

    12 January 2012 

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