University of Oxford

The findings come as real-world data shows around half of people discontinue GLP-1 receptor agonist treatment within 12 months, and just months after NICE published quality standards recommending post-treatment support for at least one year.Across 37 studies including 9,341 adults, weight increased by an average of 0.4 kg (0.9 pounds) per month after weight management drugs were stopped. Researchers estimate that, at this rate, people would return to their starting…

Professor Janina Dill Four days after the United States bombed targets in Venezuela to capture President Nicolas Maduro, it is barely contested that the operation was a violation of international law.“Operation Absolute Resolve” – which by military standards was undoubtedly successful – violates one of the most fundamental rules of international law, the prohibition on the use of force in international relations, enshrined in Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter.US…

About the Oxford winners:Professor Suzanne Aigrain (Department of Physics) – Awarded the George Darwin LectureshipI am delighted and honoured to receive this award, which recognises both my research and my commitment to communicating it to a variety of audiences, something I very much enjoy. In the next decade, we hope to find habitable planets in the Solar neighbourhood, paving the way to searching for signs of life in their atmospheres,…

Following his admission as Chancellor of the University of Oxford in February 2025, Rt Hon The Lord Hague of Richmond, CVO, will confer honorary degrees on distinguished individuals at a Special Honorary Degree Ceremony on Tuesday 24 February 2026.The ceremony will take place at 11.30am in the Sheldonian Theatre, where honorary degrees will be awarded to Lady Elish Angiolini, John Kerry, Dinah Rose, Professor Irene Tracey, Professor Sir John Curtice, Christina…

Published today in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, the researchers analysed more than 27 million commercial flights in 2023, covering 26,000 city pairs and nearly 3.5 billion passengers. This revealed enormous variability in emissions efficiency, with some routes producing nearly 900 grams of CO₂ per kilometre for each paying passenger - almost 30 times higher than the most efficient, at around 30 grams of CO₂ per kilometre.Our results clearly show…

Over the weekend, the US carried out a surprise military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro, who is regarded as having ruled illegitimately after disputed elections.This came after months of a major US military build-up in the region, including ships such as USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest warship, numerous aircraft, and 15,000 troops.Maduro, whose illegitimacy was accompanied by years of repression and human rights…

Physicists at the University of Oxford have contributed to a new study which has found that iron-rich asteroids can tolerate far more energy than previously thought without breaking apart - a breakthrough with direct implications for planetary defence strategies. The findings have been published in Nature Communications. The Campo del Cielo iron meteorite used in the study. Credit: Eric Halwax. Recent missions such as NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART),…

Dr Carissa Véliz Everywhere I look there is talk about AI and digital technology. It’s not only that I work in this field. Chatter about AI follows me at dinner parties, the conversations of strangers in restaurants and public transport, it’s on the radio, podcasts of every kind, and on every morning show on TV.Tech enthusiasts talk about AI like nothing more important has ever happened in history, like it…

The King’s New Year Honours 2026 have been announced, marking the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the UK, including members of the University of Oxford. Professor Irene Tracey, CBE FRS FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, said, ‘My warmest congratulations to all Oxford colleagues recognised in the New Year Honours. Their achievements embody the finest traditions of our University: rigorous scholarship, world-leading research, and a deep commitment to excellence and public service.’  The Rt Hon Lord Hague of Richmond has been appointed…

Using linked patient records from 4,366,981 people registered at 244 English GP practices between April 2007 and June 2019, the researchers estimate that exposure to average daily temperatures outside a mild reference range (18°C to 21°C) accounts for around 3.0% of recorded health-care costs in their dataset.Historically, the winter season has been and remains associated with additional health risks, which occur routinely each year, however heatwaves are emerging as a…

The DEN-HOST trial - a multi-site, placebo-controlled, randomised adaptive trial - is being delivered through a collaboration between the Pandemic Sciences Institute, the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and REsponse (PREPARE) under the Communicable Diseases Agency in Singapore, and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU). It will initially involve trial sites in ten countries across Asia and Latin America, where dengue is endemic and represents a major public…

The University of Oxford has launched the world’s first Phase II clinical trial of a Nipah virus vaccine candidate.The trial, conducted in Bangladesh in partnership with the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), and funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), will assess the safety and immune response of the ChAdOx1 NipahB vaccine in a region where the virus causes recurrent outbreaks.The trial started earlier this…

Through a strategic collaboration with Microsoft, the AI assistant has been integrated into Microsoft Teams and will be piloted at Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust, marking one of the earliest deployments of 'agentic AI' within a clinically realistic tumour board setting.Multidisciplinary Tumour Board meetings (MDTs) are the gold standard for cancer treatment planning in the UK, convening radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, and oncologists to review diagnostic results and formulate…

Dr Tonya Lander. As the holidays approach, many of us will be buying chocolate as gifts for loved ones, but chocolate can no longer be relied on as an ‘affordable luxury.’ For the last 25 years, the price of cocoa was fairly stable, at around 2-3,000 GBP/metric ton. During the first half of 2024 and the start of 2025, however, the price quadrupled to over 8000 GBP/metric ton. Even though…

Dr Dan Challender. Photo credit: David Fisher. Overexploitation (harvesting at a rate that exceeds the ability of populations to recover) is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Globally, tens of thousands of animal, plant and fungi species are used and traded at different scales for purposes including food, fashion, medicine, pets, and building materials, among many others. Some of this use and trade is legal and sustainable and some not.…

The paper, 'The Levers of Political Persuasion with Conversational AI', published in Science, examines how large language models (LLMs) influence political attitudes through conversation.  Authored by a team from OII, AISI, the LSE, Stanford University and MIT, the research draws on nearly 77,000 UK participants and 91,000 AI dialogues, to provide the most comprehensive evidence to date on the mechanisms of AI persuasion and their implications for democracy and AI governance. Our results demonstrate the remarkable persuasive power of…

Neutrinos are one of the most mysterious particles in the universe, often called “ghost particles” because they rarely interact with anything else. Trillions stream through our bodies every second, yet leave no trace. They are produced during nuclear reactions, including those that take place in the core of our Sun. Their tendency to not interact often makes detecting neutrinos notoriously difficult.Capturing this interaction is an extraordinary achievement. Despite the rarity…

The University of Oxford and UBS are proud to announce the launch of the Oxford-UBS Centre for Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Centre will aim to deepen the understanding of the power of AI through cutting-edge research and promote its practical application.   The Centre aims to be a ground-breaking interdisciplinary partnership involving UBS, the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School and the University’s Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences division (MPLS).…

Dr Alistair Farley. Credit: The IOI. On 10 December 1945, Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey, and Ernst Chain were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ‘for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases.’ The discovery of penicillin and its subsequent industrial production during World War Two is rightly hailed as one of the biggest medical breakthroughs of the 20th century. Penicillin played a…

Marking 75 years of the ECHR and 25 years since the Human Rights Act gave it effect in UK law, the research, ‘Examining 10 Reasons to Stay in the European Convention on Human Rights: Informing the Public Debate in the UK’, addresses a debate often dominated by claims about immigration control and widespread misunderstandings of what the ECHR does. Our analysis shows that the ECHR underpins everyday protections from digital privacy…

The study, ‘Effects of future climate extreme heat events and land use changes on land vertebrates’, published today in Global Change Biology, assessed nearly 30,000 species of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles. It examined how future extreme heat events and projected land-use changes will affect species across their preferred habitats and thermal limits.Our research highlights the importance of considering the potential effects of multiple threats together to get a better estimation…

Consolidator Grants award around €2 million for projects typically lasting 5 years. Awardees must have 7-12 years of highly promising postdoctoral experience plus an excellent research proposal. With funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, these grants will support cutting-edge research at universities and research centres in 25 EU Member States and associated countries. The ERC received 3,121 applications for this call, of which 11.2% were successful. Oxford received more grants…

Many animals try to win a mate by displaying spectacular ornamentation – such as the famous tail of male peacocks. However, these impressive traits can have negative consequences, even hindering movement or making individuals easier for predators to find. New research has revealed a previously undocumented example of this: the feather ornamentation on the heads of male Chrysolophus pheasants restricts their field of view.We know surprisingly little about how birds…

Professor Edward Harcourt Recently, the BBC carried the tragic report of two teenagers, both of whom had seemingly taken their own lives thanks to their interactions with chatbots. How can further such tragedies be avoided?Specialist therapy chatbots may help, trained on expert advice rather than on whatever’s out there on the web. But arguably we need more: to educate users of this technology  – especially young users – about what it is…

The UK is far from being food self-sufficient, importing between 40-50% of the food it consumes each year. For decades, globalised and highly industrialised supply chains have largely insulated consumers from shocks. But as the effects of climate change and environmental damage begin to hit, the cracks in this system are widening. Professor Paul Behrens speaking at the National Emergency Briefing. Credit: National Emergency Briefing. For generations, a stable climate…

Cosmic filaments are the largest known structures in the Universe: vast, thread-like formations of galaxies and dark matter that form a cosmic scaffolding. They also act as ‘highways’ along which matter and momentum flow into galaxies. Nearby filaments containing many galaxies spinning in the same direction- and where the whole structure appears to be rotating – are ideal systems to explore how galaxies gained the spin and gas they have…

The trial, conducted by the Oxford Vaccine Group, and funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), will assess the safety and immune response of the ChAdOx1 Lassa vaccine. 31 people aged 18-55 will participate in the trial in total.Lassa fever is caused by the Lassa virus, which is primarily spread by rodents and can result in serious illness including deafness, severe bleeding and even death. First discovered in…

In 2022, contaminated medicinal syrups caused the deaths of more than 300 children across Indonesia, The Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon. Only two months ago, at least a further 24 deaths were reported in India. In response, Oxford’s DEG-EG team is developing novel tests to identify these lethal contaminants in both medicinal syrups and their raw materials.The team has successfully repurposed commercially available rapid tests, each costing less than £1:Alcohol test…

Professor Stephen Smartt. The award recognises the achievements of the ENGRAVE (Electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources at the Very Large Telescope) collaboration in tracing the origins of the Universe’s heaviest elements, forged in the aftermath of supernova explosions. In doing so, it has helped uncover the very building blocks of our existence. The award celebrates ENGRAVE as a model of scientific excellence and collaboration, particularly for its joint European…

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany visited the University of Oxford on Friday 5 December as part of his three-day State Visit to the United Kingdom, hosted by Their Majesties The King and Queen. The President was accompanied in Oxford by the First Lady, Ms Elke Büdenbender. Oxford formed the final stop on the President’s visit, and provided an opportunity to celebrate long-standing academic partnerships between the University and Germany,…

The UK is facing a national emergency not only because the climate is changing, but because the living systems that regulate that climate, protect our homes, and feed our people are breaking down. This is exposing our country to escalating risks: floods, fires, heatwaves, food insecurity, and economic instability. Professor Nathalie Seddon speaking at the National Emergency Briefing. Credit: National Emergency Briefing. The facts are sobering: the UK is one…

Professor Yuval Shany, Institute for Ethics in AI Human rights such as equality and privacy are under considerable pressure due to practices such as profiling and mass surveillance associated with certain AI systems; plus new AI systems also invite consideration of extending human rights protections to capture new human needs and interests implicated by their use.Not only can these systems generate new benefits in areas such as health, education and work,…

Published in Nature Scientific Reports the research determined insight from 3,752 health professionals and researchers across 151 countries and is one of the largest Global studies of its kind, with 86.9% of participants based in low- and middle-income countries. Participants reported that climate change, poverty, and drug resistance are combining to create an escalating health crisis that could become a ‘creeping catastrophe’ if left unaddressed.Data gathered in countries across Africa,…

Published in Nature Scientific Reports the research determined insight from 3,752 health professionals and researchers across 151 countries and is one of the largest Global studies of its kind, with 86.9% of participants based in low- and middle-income countries. Participants reported that climate change, poverty, and drug resistance are combining to create an escalating health crisis that could become a ‘creeping catastrophe’ if left unaddressed.Data gathered in countries across Africa,…

Once seen as a source of alarm, drones (or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAVs) are now proving to be surprisingly elephant-friendly and a valuable research tool. Previously, the use of drones in elephant conservation has mostly relied on their power to disturb: with their buzzing propellers, which can sound like a swarm of bees, elephants reliably run from drones, making them a useful tool to drive elephants from croplands.This research demonstrates…

An alliance between the University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes University and Oxfordshire County Council, the Local Policy Lab promotes partnerships between academia, community, and government in order to inform policy and improve quality of life for Oxfordshire residents.Professor James Robson, Dr Joanna Crocker and Associate Professor Jonathan Reid will each be responsible for leading and delivering an ambitious three-year research plan in one of three focus areas: delivering a skilled…

The Budget raises income tax without changing the rate bands. “The way that most people will feel it in income tax is via what is called fiscal drag – frozen thresholds mean that people drift into higher tax brackets as their wages increase,” says Prof McMahon. “Often called a stealth tax, the Chancellor was at least open that this was a tax increase.” There are a lot of measures related to growth, but we will have to wait…

The University of Oxford has been awarded a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further Education, recognising the globally impactful work of the OpenSAFELY platform.Based within the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science, OpenSAFELY was created during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It pioneered a new method of accessing whole-population NHS GP data - which OpenSAFELY made accessible for…

Thomas Hale, Professor in Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, said that conclusion of COP30 in Belém saw limited progress in efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions but, in a year of failed negotiations, did just enough to hold the process together and to leave room for more progress in the future: In a year of worsening climate impacts and geopolitical conflict, COP30 was both absolutely necessary and completely insufficient. The fact…

Thomas Hale, Professor in Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, said that conclusion of COP30 in Belém saw limited progress in efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions but, in a year of failed negotiations, did just enough to hold the process together and to leave room for more progress in the future: In a year of worsening climate impacts and geopolitical conflict, COP30 was both absolutely necessary and completely insufficient. The fact…