Research

Oxford University is world-famous for research excellence. Our core commitment is to maintain originality, significance and rigour in research within a framework of the highest standards of infrastructure, training, and integrity.

Search below for a range of research stories by department or topic. These stories include impact case studies, videos, news and the research in conversation series. For more information please see individual department websites.

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Vaccinated groups at highest risk of Covid-19 hospitalisation and death identified using new QCovid tool

New algorithm predicts those most at risk of serious Covid-19 outcomes from 14 or more days after second vaccination dose, when substantial immunity is expected to have developedAuthors hope this new risk tool will allow those who perceive risk to be high to make more informed decis
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Dr Helen Moore wins the British Academy's Rose Mary Crawshay Prize

The accolade is one of a selection of prizes and medals awarded today by the British Academy, the national body for the humanities and social sciences, for notable contributions to fields including Linguistics, Cultural History and Biblical Studies and is shared with Gillian Russell, Professor of

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Covid-19, not vaccination, presents biggest blood clot risks

Study compares risks of thrombocytopenia and thromboembolic events following ChAdOx1 nCov-19 (Oxford-AstraZeneca), BNT162b2 mRNA (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccination, and SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) infectionStudy shows increased risk of thrombocytopenia and venous thromboembolism wi
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Oxford vaccine reaches one billion doses released

AstraZeneca, with their extensive world-wide development and manufacturing capabilities, have been able to have the vaccine approved and licenced for use in over 170 countries, with over 20 manufacturing sites across the world, including the Serum Institute of India, working together to release t

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Phase I trial begins of new vaccine against the Plague

The trial, funded by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation https://www.ukri.org/, uses a vaccine based on the ChAdOx1 adenovirus viral vector platform al

Daily testing for students exposed to COVID-19 may be equally as effective as isolation of contacts for controlling school transmission

Daily contact COVID-19 testing for students effective at controlling transmission in schools

The independent study, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care and supported by the Department for Education and Office for National Statistics, ran between April and June 2021.

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Difficulty hearing speech could be a risk factor for dementia

Hearing impairment affects around 1.5 billion individuals worldwide (World Health Organization), and there is growing evidence that this could increase the risk of dementia.

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Red and processed meat linked to increased risk of heart disease, Oxford study shows

Globally coronary heart diseases (caused by narrowed arteries that supply the heart with blood) claim nearly nine million lives each year1, the largest of any disease, and present a huge burden to health systems.

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T-cell ‘training grounds’ behind robust immune system response seen in adenovirus vaccines

Writing in the journal Nature Immunology, they detail an investigation into one of the key features of adenovirus vaccines – their ability to generate strong and sustained populations of the ‘killer’ T-cell element of the i

Photo | Man taking a rapid antigen test (lateral flow) for covid-19

Lateral flow tests are 95% effective at detecting Covid-19 when used at the onset of symptoms

A new study by researchers at the University of Oxford, Queen Mary University of London, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, and the Medical University of Graz, has found that lateral flow tests detect Covid-19 with similar accuracy to laboratory-based PCR tests, providing they are used at th

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High blood sugar levels ‘reprogramme’ stem cells

High levels of glucose in the blood ‘reprogrammes’ stem cells, leading to a lasting increase in the risk of developing dangerous atherosclerosis, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation published today in Circulation.

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Studying ancient civilisations develops 21st-century skills

Impact case study

Dr Arlene Holmes-Henderson is engaging with policy makers to share her research findings, which include that studying Classics can help students develop vital skills for education, life, and work in the 21st Century.
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SEREN: Improving blood-related diagnostics in sub-Saharan Africa

Impact case study

A new social enterprise is offering low-cost, easily accessible testing to diagnose blood and other diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Influencing global policy on typhoid vaccination

Impact case study

A new vaccine, developed and evaluated in conjunction with Oxford scientists, has proved effective against typhoid, and is influencing global policy on vaccination.
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Uncovering Europe’s Stories

Impact case study

The Oxford University research project Europe’s Stories, led by Professor Timothy Garton Ash, aims to explore what Europeans really think about Europe, what people’s real experiences of Europe are, and what they want the EU to do by 2030.
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Identifying risk and building resilience in complex infrastructure systems

Impact case study

Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute has developed new modelling tools to help decision makers identify risks from climate-related infrastructure failure and build long-term resilience.
Professor Robert MacLaren

Tackling blindness through gene therapy

Impact case study

Cutting-edge gene therapies for eye diseases can help improve quality of life, extend the working lives of patients, and reduce treatment costs.
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Towards more equitable health research

Impact case study

A global network, coordinated by Oxford University, is helping to ensure health research benefits low-income countries.
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Towards the circularity of plastics

Impact case study

Researchers at the Department of Chemistry are developing technologies to make recycling plastics easy, clean and affordable – promoting a truly ‘circular economy’ for the material.
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Building the ‘infrastructure’ for innovation and translation

Impact case study

The Medical Sciences Division’s Business Partnerships Office is celebrating ten years of developing productive relationships and supporting effective collaborations with industry.

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