University of Oxford Archives

Size matters:The link between social groups and human evolution

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Robin Dunbar discusses his eponymous 'Dunbar's Number', primates to people, and why size matters with social groups and evolution.

Humans are social creatures; we live in family groups, socialise with friends, and work with colleagues. Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar’s ‘social brain hypothesis’ suggests that brain size is directly related to social group size in mammals. The bigger the group, the bigger the brain. In this interview with Research Outreach, we find out how Dunbar developed his theory as well […]

Symbiotic Realism: A Transdisciplinary International Relations theory

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Professor Nayef Al-Rodhan’s transdisciplinary ‘Symbiotic Realism’ framework describes the seven new forces transforming the international system.

Informed by neuroscientific findings about human predispositions and insights from the life sciences, Symbiotic Realism is predicated on the notion that the contemporary landscape of International Relations is shaped by seven novel and interdependent forces: disruptive technological advancements; the changing role, independence, threats, and capacities of non-state actors; the emergence of novel strategic domains; the rise of collective civilisational frontier […]

Advancing imaging biomarker development and translation through the National Cancer Imaging Translational Accelerator (NCITA)

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The NCITA consortium aims to provide researchers with the infrastructure to conduct high-quality clinical research in the pursuit of standardised imaging biomarkers, and translating this into clinical settings for the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer

It is estimated that someone is diagnosed with cancer every two minutes in the UK. Clinical imaging offers a minimally invasive way of diagnosing and managing a variety of cancers. The National Cancer Imaging Translational Accelerator (NCITA) consortium now provides researchers with the infrastructure to conduct high-quality, multi-centre clinical research in the quest to develop standardised imaging biomarkers and accelerate […]

New superalloy design for 3D-printing set to transform manufacturing

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Engineers at Alloyed, Professor Roger Reed, Dr Roger Reed and colleagues at the University of Oxford, have developed new robust superalloys that can be used in additive manufacturing – otherwise known as 3D printing. Their 3D printed superalloy objects can be as strong as those made using standard techniques, a breakthrough that could transform the efficiency of some of our […]

Democratic statecraft in the ‘unsettled’ global south

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The global economy has stalled in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and the future is uncertain, particularly for developing countries. The move from a state of unsettled globalisation to global crisis is the latest in a series of critical junctures for the international political economy. In a concept paper for the International Political Science Association (IPSA), Lourdes Sola from […]

Accents of the Caribbean: How vowel pronunciations pivot, shift and merge

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The team researches vowel mergers and shifts in the spoken English amongst the different communities of the island of Bequia.

Prof James Walker of the Department of Languages and Linguistics at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, is a sociolinguistic expert who has conducted extensive research on the English language in various parts of the world, including North America and the Caribbean. Together with Prof Miriam Meyerhoff at the University of Oxford, UK, their research focuses on different vowel pronunciations […]

FLASH radiotherapy: What, how and why?

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Ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy is a new way of treating tumours caused by cancer. Higher doses of radiotherapy are associated with trauma to the healthy tissue surrounding the tumour, whereas FLASH radiotherapy demonstrates a sparing effect of the healthy tissues without compromising the anti-tumour action. Dr Kristoffer Petersson at the Oxford Institute for Radiation Oncology, University of Oxford, along […]

Producing the first functioning synthetic DNA using click chemistry

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Click chemistry revolutionised our ability to create custom proteins, so could it do the same for DNA? Professor Tom Brown at the University of Oxford and Professor Afaf El-Sagheer at the University of Oxford and Suez University are performing truly groundbreaking research into the application of ‘click chemistry’ bioconjugation techniques to DNA. Their technique allows the creation of DNA and […]

Action research creates a shared future for elephants and humans

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An elephant population migrating within the Sahel region.

In 2009 a crisis faced the elephant and human populations of central Mali, when a vital fresh water source dried up. Reduced rainfall and increased human activity, including vast herds of domestic cattle, contributed to this critical problem. Dr Susan Canney of the University of Oxford and Director of the Mali Elephant Project, decided a new and prompt approach was […]

Hate speech regulation on social media: An intractable contemporary challenge

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Catherine O’Regan and Stefan Theil of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford investigate initiatives to regulate hate speech online. They highlight the difficulties of finding a widely agreed definition of hate speech and assess the legislative initiatives in four major jurisdictions to inform those engaged in the policy debate concerning […]