Final-year medical student Megan Mcgillin was providing medical cover at the event two weeks ago when a 35-year-old runner suddenly fell to the ground after crossing the finish line.

Recognising the signs of cardiac arrest within seconds, Megan immediately raised the alarm and began life-saving chest compressions while calling for additional help.

As the wider medical team arrived, she continued working calmly under pressure, helping to apply defibrillator pads before handing over to colleagues leading the resuscitation effort.

The runner had suffered a cardiac arrest and required extensive emergency treatment before his heart could be restarted.

He was rushed to A&E and later transferred to intensive care, where he has since made a strong recovery.

In a heartwarming twist, the grateful runner has now met Megan in person to thank her for the role she played in saving his life.

For Megan, who is in the final year of her medical training, the dramatic rescue was an unforgettable reminder of why she chose a career in medicine.

The life-saving incident is not the first time she has found herself in the spotlight.

In 2023, Megan led a campaign to raise awareness of organ donation during changes to Northern Ireland's organ donation laws and was recognised with an Inspirational Young Woman of the Year award.

Speaking about what happened, Megan said: "When the runner collapsed, my training immediately kicked in and I focused on doing the basics as quickly and effectively as possible.

鈥淚t was a real team effort involving a number of healthcare professionals working together under pressure.

鈥淚'm incredibly grateful that the outcome has been so positive and that he's recovering well.

鈥淢eeting him afterwards was very emotional and a powerful reminder of why we dedicate ourselves to learning these skills and helping others."

Professor Margaret Kingston, Director of Undergraduate Medical & Dental Studies from The听 University of 野狼社区 Medical School said: "Megan responded with remarkable professionalism, composure and skill in an extremely challenging situation, and everyone involved is delighted to hear that the runner is making a good recovery.

鈥淭he dramatic rescue highlights how the skills learned by future doctors can make the difference between life and death when every second counts.鈥�

has launched a new ten-year Strategy setting out the next phase of growth and development for 野狼社区鈥檚 Knowledge Quarter.听

Covering one square mile south of 野狼社区 city centre, the Oxford Road Corridor is one of the UK鈥檚 most significant concentrations of research and innovation. It supports more than 104,000 jobs and generates 拢7.8 billion in annual economic output听

The Oxford Road Corridor Strategy 2026鈥�2036 builds on decades of collaboration between the major institutions that shape this part of 野狼社区. Over almost two decades of formal partnership, more than 拢2.8 billion of public and private investment has been aligned across the area. During that period, more than 60,000 jobs have been created and annual economic output has increased by 拢4.6 billion.听听

Alongside major physical change, the Corridor has continued to evolve as a vibrant and distinctive part of the city, with a diverse cultural offer central to its identity.听

The Strategy focuses on how the Corridor can make more of its exceptional concentration of research, talent and economic activity. It sets out how partners will support businesses and attract investment, while continuing to improve the quality and connectivity of the area.听

Future growth will build on established strengths in health and life sciences, digital and technology, advanced materials and the creative industries.听

Major development is already taking shape across the Corridor, from Sister at its northern end to the continued expansion of Citylabs and 野狼社区 Science Park in the south. The Strategy also looks ahead to the transformation of 野狼社区 Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations, alongside better connections with surrounding communities.

An independent assessment underpinning the Strategy estimates that the development pipeline could support around 15,800 additional jobs and generate 拢1.9 billion in GVA per annum, alongside an estimated 2,200 construction jobs per year.

The Strategy was launched at the Royal Northern College of Music at an event hosted by journalist and author Andy Spinoza, bringing together partners and stakeholders from across 野狼社区 and Greater 野狼社区.

Professor Duncan Ivison, Chair of the Oxford Road Corridor Board and President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of 野狼社区, said: 鈥淲e have an extraordinary concentration of research and talent within the Oxford Road Corridor, but its real strength comes from the relationships between the institutions and organisations based here.

鈥淭he partnership has been built over decades and has helped transform this part of 野狼社区. This Strategy is about what comes next. We want to strengthen the Corridor鈥檚 international position and create the conditions for businesses and ideas to grow, while ensuring more people benefit from that success.

鈥淭he opportunity over the next decade is significant, and we will achieve far more by continuing to work together than any institution could achieve alone.鈥�

Councillor Garry Bridges, Leader of 野狼社区 City Council, said: 鈥淭he Oxford Road Corridor has made an enormous contribution to 野狼社区鈥檚 growth, and the new Strategy gives us a clear direction for the next decade.

鈥淲e want 野狼社区 to continue creating highly skilled, well-paid jobs in sectors where we can compete internationally. Increasingly, people can build careers here that a generation ago might have meant leaving 野狼社区 to pursue elsewhere.

鈥淭he challenge now is to build on that success and attract further investment. Just as importantly, people and communities across the city need to be able to access the opportunities being created.鈥�

Professor Linda Merrick CBE, Principal of the Royal Northern College of Music, said: 鈥淭he Oxford Road Corridor brings together an exceptional concentration of institutions and talent within one part of the city. What makes it particularly distinctive is the opportunity to work across institutional boundaries and connect world-class education and research with 野狼社区鈥檚 wider ambitions.

鈥淭he new Strategy gives us a shared direction for the next decade, and the RNCM is proud to be part of a partnership with such a strong international outlook and commitment to the future of this place.鈥�

Esme Ward, Director of 野狼社区 Museum, said: 鈥淐ulture is fundamental to the identity of the Oxford Road Corridor. It is part of why people come here, how they experience the area and how the Corridor connects with 野狼社区鈥檚 communities and the wider world.

鈥淭he new Strategy recognises the value of that cultural ecology and the role it can play over the next decade, not only in making this a vibrant and distinctive place but in supporting creative talent and the wider economy.鈥�

Chris Oglesby OBE, Chief Executive Officer, Bruntwood, said: 鈥淭he Oxford Road Corridor is the UK exemplar of what can be achieved through long-term partnership between the private sector, universities, the NHS and the City Council, delivering wider benefits for 野狼社区.

鈥淏runtwood has had a relationship with the Corridor spanning more than 20 years and we鈥檝e seen first-hand how sustained investment and collaboration have helped transform the area. The next decade is about building on that momentum, creating the conditions for innovative businesses to start and scale here, and helping 野狼社区 continue to compete internationally.鈥�

The Strategy鈥檚 vision is to drive the growth of an internationally renowned, inclusive and sustainable place where knowledge, business and culture transform lives. It will provide the shared framework for the partnership鈥檚 activity and investment through to 2036.

Losing someone you love is devastating, but alongside the grief, bereaved families face a daunting list of practical tasks - from paying funeral bills and dealing with banks to completing paperwork, contacting organisations and navigating unfamiliar systems.

With the average funeral costing around 拢4,000, the financial pressure can add to an already difficult time. And money is only part of the burden: dealing with a death can also demand huge amounts of time, energy and emotional strength.

Now, researchers at The University of 野狼社区 are inviting people to shine a light on these often-overlooked challenges at a free event exploring what happens after someone dies.

The Hidden Costs of Dying听takes place at HOME on听Tuesday 3 November, as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science. Led by sociologists Sophie Atherton and Kate Reed, the free event will explore the hidden work of bereavement and why some people face greater challenges than others.

The researchers describe this work as 鈥渄eath administration鈥� - the many practical and administrative tasks that follow a death, often falling to family members and loved ones at a time when they are grieving.

While the cost of a funeral is relatively easy to see, the wider impact can be harder to measure. The time spent sorting out paperwork, the stress of managing financial affairs and the effort required to navigate unfamiliar processes can all take their toll.

At the 野狼社区 event, participants will take part in a creative activity designed to explore these different costs and open up conversations about experiences that are rarely discussed. There is no expectation for anyone to share personal experiences of bereavement.

A representative from the National Bereavement Service will also be available to provide information and signpost people towards further support.

The researchers hope the event will help make the realities of dealing with a death more visible, highlight inequalities in the experiences of bereaved people, and contribute to thinking about how support could be made fairer and more accessible.

听

听

This bold new project, made possible thanks with support from Getty through its New Interpretations initiative, aims to create a new model for co-creation that looks at what happens when interpretation is used not simply to explain the past but to help people imagine better futures.听

Three Imagination Fellowships will catalyse collaboration between communities, practitioners, researchers and Museum staff to co-design new interpretive interventions for the Archaeology gallery. This work will help to create displays that are shaped by diverse perspectives and founded on the Museum鈥檚 core values of inclusion, imagination and care.听

Esme Ward, Director of 野狼社区 Museum, said: 鈥淭his is an incredible opportunity to embed values-based practice throughout our archaeological interpretation, working with communities to develop new knowledge and build a future founded on inclusion, imagination and care. Making the most of our position at the heart of The University of 野狼社区, new Imagination Fellowships will enable us to move forward faster together and create new models for collaborative display focused on building belonging, hope and agency in a rapidly-changing world."听

Through this project, 野狼社区 Museum intends to create sector-leading models for interpretation and display that help to shape wider museum practice, nationally and internationally, rethinking how collections of deep history can support civic participation and social connection in more impactful ways.听

野狼社区 Museum cares for around 60,000 objects across archaeology, spanning over 50,000 years of human history and material culture and these collections are Designated by Arts Council England for their international significance.

They include everything from the largest collection of excavated Roman-era assemblages from in and around 野狼社区 to extensive strengths in prehistoric material from Europe, West Asia, South Asia and Africa, and exceptionally rare Classical Greek ceramics that challenge long-held understandings of famous mythological narratives.听

野狼社区 Museum is one of 11 museums and arts organisatons to be awarded in this pilot round of New Interpretations grants and the only one in Europe. Other grantees include Walker Art Center, Queens Museum, Leeum Museum of Art, in partnership with M+, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Fowler Museum at UCLA, First Americans Museum, Denver Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and the Association for Art Museum Interpretation.听

ENDS

The humanitarian sector is at risk of losing a significant part of its institutional memory. Humanitarian archives, records, and datasets (ARD), ranging from registration records and case files to operational data and evaluations, are being neglected, deleted, or left without adequate stewardship.

Produced by the听听(HAE) coalition, Key Aid Consulting and the Institute of Development Studies, a new report assesses the scale and nature of the threat, identifies collections most at risk, and proposes a practical framework for action.

The report draws on a global evidence base that includes a desk review, a public registry survey, a diagnostic survey of 30 collections, 27 expert interviews, and regional consultations in Amman, Dakar, Bogot谩, Bangkok, and Nairobi.听

The HAE coalition is led by the University鈥檚 Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) and the PI is Prof Bertrand Taithe.

For more on the project, visit:

For more on research at HCRI, visit:

Homework set by primary schools could be reinforcing educational inequalities by rewarding families who have more time and resources to spend helping their children, new research from the University of 野狼社区 suggests.

The study argues that homework is not simply an educational activity carried out by children at home. It also requires parents to invest their time, knowledge and resources, potentially giving some children an advantage over others. Researchers found that parents can face very different demands on their time, particularly when they are balancing homework with work, childcare and other family responsibilities.

Yet schools may treat parents' ability and willingness to spend time on homework as a measure of how well they are supporting their children's education. The researchers argue that this can create a 鈥榙eficit鈥� view of parents, in which families who have less time or fewer resources are perceived as less engaged with their children's education.

When homework becomes a parental responsibility

Homework is often presented as a way for children to practise what they have learned at school. But the researchers argue that it also creates expectations about how parents should use their time, examining the process through which homework is set by a teacher, completed by a child with parental involvement, and then returned to the teacher.

This creates an opportunity for parents to invest time in producing work that can subsequently be recognised and rewarded within the education system. The researchers use the sociological theories of Pierre Bourdieu to argue that this investment can become a form of cultural capital - the time and knowledge available to families can be converted into educational advantage.

Not all parents have the same amount of time

The study highlights the very different circumstances in which parents are expected to support homework. One parent, referred to as Emma in the paper, describes trying to help her children despite working until 8pm. She says that doing homework late at night can be extremely difficult and argues that homework should be regarded as a 鈥榖onus鈥� if parents are able to do it, rather than something automatically expected of every family.

Emma also describes the experience as potentially 鈥榮haming鈥� for parents who do not understand the homework themselves. The researchers argue that this illustrates how apparently neutral expectations about parental engagement can have very different consequences depending on families' circumstances.

A parent with flexible working hours, financial resources and confidence with schoolwork may be able to provide substantial support, while a parent working long or irregular hours may have much less time available, even if they are equally committed to their child's education.

Are parents being judged on how they spend their time?

A central argument of the paper is that schools can develop implicit ideas about the 鈥榩roper鈥� use of parents' time. The researchers describe these expectations as part of the educational field's 鈥榙oxa鈥� 鈥� beliefs that become so taken for granted that they appear natural or unquestionable.

This can mean that spending time on educational activities is treated as evidence of being a good or committed parent, while parents who cannot or do not engage in the expected ways may be judged as lacking commitment. The researchers argue that this can obscure the structural reasons why parents have different amounts of time available.

The 鈥榗olonisation鈥� of family life

The paper builds on previous research describing homework as a 鈥榗olonisation of the home by school鈥�. The researchers argue that homework does not simply extend learning beyond the classroom; it can also give schools an influence over how families are expected to spend their time together.

This is illustrated by the views of one teacher, Mrs Higgins, who describes homework as an opportunity for parents and children to spend time together. She also argues that parents have a responsibility to prioritise their children's education and suggests that schools sometimes have to compensate when parents are not sufficiently involved.

The researchers argue that this illustrates a tension between two very different understandings of homework. For teachers, it can be seen as an opportunity to support learning and strengthen parent-child relationships, while for some parents it can represent an additional demand on already limited time and a judgement about whether they are using that time 鈥榩roperly鈥�.

A hidden advantage for families with more resources

The study also highlights an apparent contradiction in how parental involvement can operate. Families with greater financial resources may be able to overcome a lack of time by outsourcing educational work, for example through private tutoring. This means that having limited time does not necessarily prevent more affluent parents from ensuring their children receive substantial educational support.

Families with fewer financial resources may instead have to choose between spending their own limited time on homework and other demands such as paid work, childcare and household responsibilities. The researchers argue that inequality is therefore not simply about how much parents care about their children's education, but also about who has the resources to turn that commitment into educational advantage.

Why simply removing homework may not be enough

The researchers argue that eliminating homework would be desirable as a school-directed parental engagement practice, but caution that this would not automatically remove inequalities. Other forms of parental engagement could emerge to take its place and continue to reward families with greater resources.

Instead, the authors argue that schools need to examine the assumptions underlying parental engagement and develop practices that recognise the different circumstances in which families live. They call for schools, teachers and researchers to better understand families' experiences and to develop approaches that legitimise non-dominant experiences, rather than treating them as evidence of parental failure.

Making the invisible visible

The research uses a detailed case involving a parent, a teacher and the first author, who was herself a parent at the school. The authors argue that this unusual perspective allowed them to examine how different people could experience the same homework practice in very different ways.

The first author describes a moment when she realised that homework was being used not only to develop children's academic skills but also as a way of encouraging a particular form of parental behaviour. The researchers describe this as a moment in which something that had previously appeared natural became visible as a social practice shaped by power and class.

They argue that recognising these hidden assumptions is an important step towards challenging educational inequalities.

What the experts say

鈥淲e need to be careful about assuming that a parent who spends more time helping with homework is necessarily more committed to their child鈥檚 education,鈥� said Dr Emilia Howker. 鈥淪ome parents simply have more time and resources available to them. When schools reward that investment, we risk turning differences in family circumstances into differences in children鈥檚 educational opportunities.鈥�

Publication details

The paper was published in: British Journal of Sociology of Education

Title: Time for homework: doxic expectations on parents鈥� use of time in the home-school relationship

DOI:

URL:

The sheds new light on why blood pressure rises so dramatically in the condition and could point towards entirely new ways of treating it.

Preeclampsia affects between 2% and 8% of pregnancies worldwide and is linked to serious complications including stroke, organ damage, premature birth and stillbirth.

At present there is no cure other than delivering the baby and placenta, often forcing doctors to bring pregnancies early to protect the mother.

But now the researchers have identified a key failure in the way small arteries regulate blood flow in women with the condition.

The team recruited patients at Saint Mary鈥檚 Hospital (SMH), part of MFT, and compared tiny arteries from pregnant women with and without preeclampsia. The researchers discovered that a vital natural relaxation mechanism was severely disrupted in those with the disease.

The vessels were taken from the omentum 鈥� a fold of fatty tissue inside the abdomen that helps protect and support the abdominal organs 鈥� and placed under pressure in a laboratory to study their functioning.

Healthy blood vessels rely on microscopic bursts of calcium, known as "calcium sparks", to tell the muscle in artery walls to relax and prevent excessive constriction.

But in women with preeclampsia these calcium sparks were dramatically reduced, with levels falling by as much as 75% at normal physiological pressures.

Investigating the samples at , small artery research labs at UoM, led by Professor Adam Greenstein, Clinical Scientist and Consultant Geriatrician at MFT, researchers also found evidence that the cells' calcium stores were depleted and less able to refill themselves, preventing the vessels from generating the signals needed to relax properly.

This loss of an important pressure-balancing mechanism could help explain why blood vessels remain abnormally constricted in preeclampsia, driving dangerous increases in blood pressure.

The team also tested HBD2, a naturally occurring immune-system molecule that helps the body fight infection."

Although the molecule 鈥� known as a peptide - did not restore the faulty calcium sparks, it was still able to relax blood vessels by activating a different part of the same pathway.

The finding raises the possibility of future treatments that bypass the damaged mechanism altogether and directly encourage blood vessels to relax.

Researchers say such approaches could eventually help control maternal blood pressure, prolong pregnancy and reduce the need for early delivery.

Study lead author from The University of 野狼社区, who is an Honorary Consultant in Obstetrics at the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre at SMH, part of MFT said: "Preeclampsia remains one of the most serious complications of pregnancy and the only definitive cure is delivery of the baby and placenta.

鈥淥ur study reveals, for the first time, a major defect in the way tiny maternal blood vessels regulate their own relaxation.

Dr Worton, who is also a researcher in the Integrative Cardiovascular Medicine Theme at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre: 野狼社区, continued: 鈥淲e found that a critical calcium signalling pathway is profoundly impaired, but also showed that blood vessels can still be relaxed through alternative mechanisms.

鈥淭hese discoveries provide promising new targets for therapies aimed at controlling blood pressure and improving outcomes for mothers and babies.

鈥淔urther studies are now needed to explore whether drugs targeting these newly identified pathways could safely be developed for use during pregnancy.鈥�

The research was made possible by collaboration between the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, the cardiovascular sciences research group and the MAViS (野狼社区 Antenatal Vascular Service) clinic, which provides specialist care for more than 300 women per year, whose pregnancies are complicated by preterm pre-eclampsia.

from The University of 野狼社区, a study author and Consultant Obstetrician at the Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre at SMH, said: 鈥淭his research demonstrates the power of collaborative research across MFT and The University of 野狼社区. This research, and access to human samples from women with a rare disease, is only made possible by the contribution of our research practitioners, research and specialist midwives working alongside our scientists within the university, to advance our understanding and improve care.鈥�

• The study was funded by the Tommy鈥檚 Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, Alzheimer鈥檚 Society, the British Heart Foundation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): 野狼社区.

• Maternal Microvascular Calcium Sparks Are Reduced in Preeclampsia is published in the journal

The two organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focused on collaboration to create new opportunities for young people and to tackle issues around biodiversity and nature.

野狼社区 Museum will draw on Science Gallery Bengaluru鈥檚 work with students, specifically through its Mentorship Initiative, to build innovative programmes for young people, focused on learning, mentorship and the development of creative pathways.

In its commitment to the Anthropocene, Science Gallery Bengaluru鈥檚 Nature Lab, as part of the pioneering Public Lab Complex, will collaborate with the 野狼社区 Museum鈥檚 world-class conservation initiatives to serve as a two-way bridge between biodiversity and nature-related research and public engagement.

Esme Ward, Director of 野狼社区 Museum, said: 鈥淏engaluru is a city driven by creativity and innovation, where there鈥檚 a tangible sense of care for the natural world and a commitment to creating opportunities for future generations.

鈥淭he people and ideas I experienced on a previous visit there have helped to shape the work we do at 野狼社区 Museum and there鈥檚 a strong sense of shared purpose between our two organisations. Science Gallery Bengaluru does an incredible job of inspiring young people and we鈥檙e excited to build on that in creating an even brighter future for communities here in 野狼社区.鈥�

Dr Jahnavi Phalkey, Director of Science Gallery Bengaluru, said: 鈥淎t Science Gallery Bengaluru, we value research-based engagement and new ways of bringing science to the public. Our Nature Lab, part of the pioneering Public Lab Complex, is one way we continue to explore our commitment to the Anthropocene.

鈥淰isiting 野狼社区 Museum and seeing how it puts community spaces into practice offers a valuable point of connection between our institutions. We are delighted to collaborate with 野狼社区 Museum and explore how our two institutions can learn from each other.鈥�

The MoU was signed during an event at Science Gallery Bengaluru, organised as part of the Greater 野狼社区 Mission to India and attended by Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of 野狼社区, and Bev Craig OBE, Mayor of Greater 野狼社区.

This partnership builds on work 野狼社区 Museum has done through its award-winning South Asia Gallery, a British Museum partnership, which is the first permanent gallery in the UK to celebrate the experiences and contribution of the South Asian diaspora. The Museum has also previously partnered with the Indian Music Experience Museum in Bangalore on the RhythmXChange project, which looked at rhythm as a shared language, working with young musicians from India and the UK.

During the mission, The University of 野狼社区 announced plans for a new centre, focusing on education, research and innovation, in Bengaluru. The proposed centre will provide a permanent platform for the University to deepen its engagement with one of the world鈥檚 most dynamic education, research and innovation ecosystems. It will help to bring together academic expertise, industry knowledge and entrepreneurial talent to address shared challenges and create opportunities for students and researchers in India.

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Hub will support postgraduate researchers (PGRs) who have received AHRC Doctoral Landscape Awards (DLAs) as part of a new approach to doctoral funding and training across the UK.听

Launched with the 2026/7 academic year, the Hub will support 46 postgraduate researchers across 10 Higher Education institutions, connecting researchers at 野狼社区 with peers and expertise from across the region.听

Alongside The University of 野狼社区, the Hub brings together 野狼社区 Metropolitan University, the University of Liverpool, Lancaster University, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, Durham University, Newcastle University, the University of Leeds and the University of York.听

The Northern Hub is one of seven regional hubs being supported by AHRC. The hubs are designed to provide cohort-based training and development, enable collaboration and networking between institutions, and connect doctoral researchers with non-academic partners.听听

The Hub's work got underway with its official launch on Thursday 15 October, bringing postgraduate researchers together at the University of 野狼社区 for a day of learning, creativity and connection. The programme combined cohort training with a PhDoodle arts and crafts workshop and an EDI Fellows Showcase.听

The Hub will complement the support already available within individual universities by giving researchers access to a wider programme of activities spanning institutions and disciplines.听

Opportunities will include specialist skills workshops, conferences, writing residencies, knowledge exchange retreats and student network events. Training will also explore key themes and AHRC priorities, including equality, diversity and inclusion, artificial intelligence and climate change, alongside career development covering academic and non-academic pathways and publishing.听

While its core programme is centred on PGRs funded through the Doctoral Landscape Awards, many opportunities will also be opened to legacy AHRC DTPs, including the North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP), Northern Bridge Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NBCDTP), and White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities (WRoCAH), as well asself-funded postgraduate researchers in the Arts and Humanities across the ten partner institutions.听

The Hub forms part of AHRC鈥檚 evolving approach to doctoral training. From 2026, AHRC will use a funding formula for its Doctoral Landscape Awards, covering 50 UK Higher Education institutions and 15 studentships at each institution, three per year over five years. 听

To find out more, please visit the or contact the team.听

That question sits at the heart of Just Recovery. Drawing on experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic and the realities faced by migrant workers in Nepal, reflects on his research and asks a simple but powerful question: what would recovery look like if it were designed around the needs, rights and experiences of the people most affected?听

The spark

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep inequalities in how societies respond to crises. Nepali migrant workers found themselves particularly vulnerable. Many lost jobs overnight, faced wage theft, risk of deportation, and were placed in unsafe quarantine facilities. While migrant workers are often celebrated back home for the money they send through remittances, the pandemic revealed how quickly they could become overlooked or excluded by governments when crisis struck.听听

For our research, this was not just another policy problem, but a human one.听

Humanities methods are uniquely placed to explore these kinds of issues. Rather than beginning with statistics or infrastructure, the project began by listening to those living through the crisis. Through interviews, collaborative workshops and ongoing partnerships with activists and community organisations, we built a detailed picture of what recovery looked like from the perspective of migrant workers themselves and civil society activists defending their rights.听

Developing the Just Recovery framework听

The research revealed that recovery is not simply about returning to normal. In fact, for those affected by disaster, it means departing from the normal. Together, our team and Accountability Lab in Nepal developed the idea of Just Recovery: an evidence-informed approach that places human rights and lived experience at the centre of disaster governance.听

The framework argues that recovery should be built around three interconnected ideas:听听

1. Care: recognising the importance of support networks and wellbeing.听
2. Collaboration: highlighting the need for governments, communities and civil society organisations to work together.听
3. Confrontation: challenging unfair systems and demanding accountability where rights have been ignored or violated.听

This is where the value of humanities research becomes clear. The project did not simply identify problems, but it helped develop a new way of thinking about recovery that could be applied in practice.听

What changed?听

One of the most significant outcomes of the research was the strengthening of civil society advocacy. Accountability Lab and its partners have used the research to identify evidence-based ways to improve citizen participation and accountability during disaster response and recovery. The findings have helped provide a stronger foundation for future campaigns and advocacy efforts led by young activists and community organisations.听

The project also helped build connections between researchers, activists, practitioners and policymakers. Through public hearings, workshops and collaborative knowledge-sharing, communities were able to raise concerns directly with decision makers and contribute to conversations about recovery. These activities created opportunities for local knowledge to influence wider discussions about disaster governance. The longitudinal work in Kavre, a peri-urban community in the outskirts of Kathmandu valley, also shows the value of a place-based research, developing deeper and more engaged relationships with local communities and officials. Perhaps most importantly, our research demonstrated that those affected by disasters are not simply recipients of aid. They are rights-bearing citizens and experts in their own experiences and can play an active role in shaping solutions.听

This work shows that impact is not only about policy change. It is about shifting conversations, strengthening advocacy and ensuring that people most affected by crises have a voice in recovery. By developing the Just Recovery framework, the project has helped shape how organisations, activists and policymakers think about building fairer and more accountable responses to disasters.听

Looking back听

The project set out to understand citizen participation and accountability during disaster recovery. It achieved that aim, but it also generated a practical framework that continues to be applied beyond the pandemic.听

What began as research into COVID-19 and migration has evolved into work on flooding, climate justice and disaster risk reduction. The Just Recovery framework is now being explored in relation to the recovery of community-based and vital infrastructures following the 2024 floods in Nepal. It is also being explored in response to the climate change facing South Asia and is informing conversations beyond Nepal through Accountability Lab's international network.听

One thing I hope we continue to take away from the research is that these experiences need more deeper reflection on ethics of engagement in difficult contexts than we can simply observe in an academic publication. This demands a deeper sense of responsibility and respect for those affected by or reeling from disasters. After all, how can recovery even begin to help if it's not shaped by those it鈥檚 affecting? Just Recovery demonstrates that lasting impact is not only about rebuilding after a crisis. It is about ensuring that the people most affected have a voice in deciding what comes next.听

This reflection is part of Ideas at Work, a series exploring the people and places shaped by humanities research at The University of 野狼社区.听

The ministers visited the Renold Innovation Hub on Friday, 23 October, where they were welcomed by Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of 野狼社区 and Professor Aline Miller, Associate Vice-President (Enterprise), and SISTER Director of Place, Liz Bamber.

They heard how the University is working with business and civic partners to turn new ideas into commercial opportunities and help companies establish themselves, innovate and grow.

During a tour of the , the ministers visited SISTER's co-working spaces and met businesses based within the innovation district, including Technologies, , and .

NeuWave Technologies is a University of 野狼社区 spin-out using artificial intelligence and ocean science to provide predictive information for offshore operations. LanthaGen Bio is a 野狼社区-based tech-bio company using engineered binders to recover rare-earth and other critical metals from waste and MolMart is a 野狼社区 genomics company offering preconception genetic screening to prospective parents, while Brain Feed Therapeutics is a research-driven brand that formulates and sells natural brain health and cognitive supplements.

The ministers then visited the nearby Pariser Building where they met the founders of . The company develops a graphene-based additive for concrete that can improve its performance while reducing the amount of cement needed, helping to cut its carbon footprint.

The technology was developed at the University鈥檚 with Nationwide Engineering, an innovation-led construction company co-founded by a 野狼社区 graduate. The partnership helped take Concretene from the lab to a commercial product in just 18 months.

Partnership for growth

Sister is a joint venture between The University of 野狼社区 and Bruntwood SciTech, bringing together research, entrepreneurial talent and business expertise to support innovation and economic growth.

Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of 野狼社区, said: 鈥淯niversities have a really important role to play in driving economic growth, not just through our research and the talent we develop, but by helping turn great ideas into new businesses, products and jobs.

鈥淪ister is a fantastic example of how we鈥檙e doing that in 野狼社区. It was great to show the Secretary of State and Small Business Minister what innovation looks like in practice and what can be achieved when universities, businesses and civic partners work together.鈥�

Liz Bamber, Director of Place at Sister, added: 鈥淲elcoming the Business Secretary and Small Business Minister to the Renold Innovation Hub highlights the sheer strength and ambition of 野狼社区鈥檚 innovation ecosystem. Sister is designed to give pioneering companies - from AI spin-outs to breakthrough bio-techs - the physical space, supportive community, and connection to world-class research they need to thrive.

鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to be creating a vibrant home where great ideas quickly translate into real-world impact and sustainable economic growth for the region.鈥�

The visit came ahead of an SME conference in 野狼社区 and in the run-up to the government's forthcoming budget, which is expected to include support for small businesses.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:听"Small businesses and innovation go hand in hand in this country, with so many great entrepreneurs creating and听embracing new technology that sets them apart from the competition.听That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e helping unlock their potential through removing 拢800 million worth of everyday paperwork and bureaucracy.

听"Sister is a听key driver of this change in 野狼社区 and it was excellent to meet businesses like听LanthaGen Bio, MolMart and听Concretene听on Friday to discuss how they are turning new ideas into jobs and growth for the city."听

Mosquito-borne diseases such as chikungunya, Zika and dengue are becoming increasingly epidemic in Eastern Africa, raising concerns about their potential to cause future outbreaks, both within the region and further afield.

Now, researchers at The University of 野狼社区 will lead an investigation into what is driving that change and how this knowledge could help countries better predict, prevent and control future epidemics.

Understanding the causes of changing disease risk

The 拢3.4m 鈥楾ACKLING MBU: Tackling the Rise of Mosquito-Borne Viral Epidemics in Eastern Africa鈥� project will see 野狼社区 assemble researchers from the UK, Tanzania, Kenya and Malawi, combining expertise ranging from mosquito ecology and virology to public health, social science, genetics, mapping and mathematical modelling.

Mosquitoes and the viruses they carry do not exist in isolation.

Enabling better intervention

The first phase of the project will gather mosquito, virus, environmental and human data from 50 sites across Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. Mosquitoes will also be collected from other African countries, including Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, working with partner institutions there, to track the spread of mosquito genes linked to a preference for feeding on people.

Alongside analysing mosquitoes and viruses, the team will work with local communities to understand people's daily routines, travel, interactions with their environment and knowledge of mosquito-borne diseases.

The team plans to produce national-scale disease-risk maps for Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi, alongside more detailed maps identifying potential 鈥渉otspots鈥� where viruses circulating in wildlife could spill over into people.

The aim is ultimately practical: giving public-health bodies better evidence to enable them to better target their surveillance and intervention efforts. The work will be carried out in partnership with the Ministries of Health in Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi, with whom the team will co-produce policy briefs on evidence-based, targeted surveillance and control of these diseases.

Interdisciplinary research into disease prevention

will lead the project, alongside 野狼社区 co-leads , , Tucker Gilman and , and three early career researchers including Cianjoka Gichuyia and Ben Broomfield.

International co-leads include Joseph Kamau at the , Dylo Pemba and Gama Bandawe at , and Gerald Misinzo at in Tanzania.

The project, starting this November, is one of 18 new research and innovation projects funded by the UK Government and UKRI to tackle biosecurity threats.

In a study published in , researchers from The University of 野狼社区 and Lancaster University have isolated and characterised uranocenium, the positively charged form of a landmark uranium compound called uranocene. The work shows that this long-sought molecule is stable, and that it behaves in a way that challenges how chemists usually think about bonding in heavy elements.

Uranocene is a 鈥榮andwich鈥� molecule: a single uranium atom held between two flat rings, each made of eight carbon atoms. It is the uranium counterpart of ferrocene, an iron sandwich molecule whose discovery contributed to the 1973 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Ferrocene readily gives up an electron to form the ferrocenium cation, a switch so clean and reliable that it is used as a reference standard in laboratories worldwide. Until now, no one had been able to isolate the equivalent uranium compound.

Solving a decades-old puzzle

When chemists first tried to remove an electron from uranocene in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the molecule appeared to fall apart, giving poorly defined products. The 野狼社区 team found that the problem lay not with uranocene itself, but with a fluorine-containing salt routinely used in those experiments to help solutions conduct electricity better, an electrolyte. The uranocenium cation strips fluorine from this salt and decomposes in the process.

By choosing a different chemical to remove the electron and a less reactive solvent, the team isolated uranocenium as crystals stable at room temperature. The breakthrough began partly by chance: the reaction was designed for a different purpose, but uranocenium was produced instead.

The team, including Cameron Deakin, Iulia Turcas, Benjamin R茅ant, Liam Griffin,, Adam Brookfield, , and from 野狼社区, and Dr Andrew Kerridge from Lancaster University, then studied the compounds in detail. They used single-crystal X-ray diffraction, which maps the positions of atoms in a crystal, alongside magnetic and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements, which probe the unpaired electrons inside a molecule, and computer modelling. Together, these confirmed that the uranium has given up one more electron than in uranocene, raising its 鈥榦xidation state鈥� from +4 to +5.

Electrochemical experiments, which measure how easily a molecule gains or loses electrons, showed that uranocene and uranocenium switch back and forth as cleanly as ferrocene and ferrocenium do. This signalled to the researchers that the molecular structure barely changes when the electron is added or removed.

Often, when a metal atom loses an electron, it pulls surrounding atoms closer because its greater positive charge attracts them more strongly. Bonds in uranium compounds are usually held together mainly by this kind of electrostatic attraction, so the team expected the uranium鈥揷arbon distances to shrink noticeably. Instead, X-ray measurements showed they shortened by only around 0.02 脜 (two trillionths of a metre), several times less than expected from the change in uranium-ion size alone.

Computational calculations explained why. When uranium loses an electron, it and the carbon atoms it binds to share electrons much more than in the unoxidised form, a type of bonding known as covalent bonding. The uranium share of the key bonding electrons rises from around 30% to over 40%, whereas normally these carbon atoms would hold onto their electrons much more tightly. This builds up electron density between the uranium and carbon atoms, and because electrons repel one another, the crowding resists any further squeezing together. The two effects balance, leaving the molecule almost unchanged in size, both in crystals and in solution.

Contributing to fundamental chemistry

The findings matter most for fundamental chemistry. Uranocene was one of the first molecules to show that uranium鈥檚 outermost electrons, in so-called f-orbitals, take part in chemical bonding, and it remains a benchmark for understanding how heavy elements bond. With uranocenium, researchers now have a matching set of uranium sandwich molecules in three oxidation states (+3, +4 and +5), allowing them to track changes in bonding while the structure stays almost the same.

The work also provides a rare example where electron sharing, rather than simple electrostatic attraction, controls the shape of a uranium molecule. Next, the team plans to explore the reactivity of uranocenium and to test whether heavier elements, such as neptunium, can form similar compounds.

The new Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) for Human Neural Development will integrate world-leading expertise with cutting-edge research to fill in major gaps in the fundamental understanding of brain growth and development.

Led by King鈥檚 College London, in partnership with University College London (UCL) and the University of 野狼社区, the key aim is to understand the critical mechanisms underpinning early brain development, from the womb to early childhood, and how their disruption can inform effective treatments.

Until recently, there were very few ways to study the development of the human brain in a meaningful way. Now, using the latest technological developments, including the ability to image the developing brain before and after birth, grow models of brain tissue in the laboratory, and harness the power of artificial intelligence, the centre will provide unprecedented insights into the development of the human cerebral cortex, the region of our brain that enables language, planning and creativity. Using these insights from the laboratory, the centre aims to develop markers of healthy brain development, which can be measured in babies and children to help develop and evaluate treatments in clinic.

Centre lead Professor Oscar Mar铆n, based at King鈥檚 College London, said: 鈥淭he human brain is a bit of a black box.

鈥淲e can measure patterns of brain activity from the outside, and we can even potentially connect them to what happens later in life, but we don't yet know how these signals actually relate to what's happening inside the child鈥檚 brain.

鈥淭his means we cannot tell which signals reflect something important about how the circuits inside the brain are developing. Until we can make that distinction, we cannot reliably predict which children are at risk or intervene early enough to make a difference.

鈥淲e have now reached a point where the technologies exist to close that gap, and we can turn that understanding into real differences for children and families.

鈥淭he one thing that makes King鈥檚 a very special place to tackle this problem is that there are very few places in the world that has this universe of discovery scientists and clinical scientists and facilities that will allow us to bring this program together.鈥�

The centre will use organoid technologies to build human models of brain tissue in the newly established Brain Organoids Laboratory at King鈥檚, which was funded through an initial donation of 拢1.5m from the Wolfson Foundation in 2024.

This pioneering technology allows researchers Professor Marin and Dr Laura Pellegrini to model how parts of the human brain develop and to tailor their genetic makeup to understand the specific genes involved in neurodevelopmental disorders.

鈥淲e have the tools to essentially generate a primordial mini functional tissue that resembles a part of the cerebral cortex. This would help us to understand what goes wrong with, for example, with the cellular architecture in certain diseases,鈥� commented Dr Pellegrini, Wellcome Trust CDA Fellow at King鈥檚, on the doors opened by organoid technologies.

Professor Tomoki Arichi, Professor of Perinatal Neuroscience at King鈥檚, and honorary consultant at the Evelina London Children鈥檚 Hospital, will form part of a clinical team collaborating closely with clinical lead Professor Shruti Garg from the University of 野狼社区 to help translate findings from the laboratory into new treatments and improvements in clinical care for children.

Professor Centre translational lead and Deputy director, based at The University of 野狼社区, said: "Working within NHS clinical networks in 野狼社区, we'll turn discoveries about brain development into tools clinicians can use making a real difference for children and families here and across the country."

Dr Ilias Tachtsidis, Centre Innovation Lead and Deputy Director, based in UCL鈥檚 Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, will lead on engineering aspects of the project. He added: "To deliver this ambitious vision of the centre, we need first-of-their-kind technologies that can safely and non-invasively image brain biology across scales鈥攆rom blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients to brain cells, down to the mitochondria that power them. This is a major engineering challenge we will tackle at UCL."

Professor Emily Jones, Professor of Developmental Translational Neuroscience at King鈥檚, will follow how newly identified markers of healthy brain development translate to developmental outcomes beyond infancy at the new Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People.

When genetic mutations and environmental factors affect brain development in infants, the consequences are felt throughout their life.

These outcomes are disproportionately felt by minorities and families from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Dr Ceri Williams, Executive Director of Challenge Led Themes at MRC, said: 鈥淲e are delighted to announce this new MRC CoRE for Human Neural Development, backed by 拢50 million of public investment.

鈥淏y untangling the mysteries of human brain development in the very early stages, this centre offers a powerful opportunity to transform lives, giving us the tools to make earlier and fairer interventions for a future where every child has the best possible chance to realise their full potential.鈥�

AI-based protein design is already transforming protein science, but RFD4-Proteina differs in how it tackles the design problem. The model can consider several interconnected aspects of structure and function simultaneously, refining a protein鈥檚 amino-acid sequence and three-dimensional structure alongside the molecules with which it interacts. It can also direct more computational effort towards promising designs, helping researchers identify candidates with specific functions more efficiently.

Researchers at The University of 野狼社区's (MIB), including , Dr Henry Jones and Dr Zefei Xu worked in collaboration with IPD to apply RFD4-Proteina to design de novo enzymes for low cost and sustainable production of global health drugs.

One of the team's most significant tests focused on the synthesis of lenacapavir, a breakthrough drug used for HIV prevention. RFD4-Proteina was used to design entirely new enzymes capable of catalysing a key amide-bond-forming reaction involved in the drug's synthesis. Of the 67 designs selected for experimental testing, four showed clear activity, with the best converting 79% of a bulky chiral amine into the desired amide product. The enzyme also displays high selectivity for the S-enantiomer of the amine as required for the Lenacapavir synthesis. This reaction is particularly challenging because the enzyme must favour the desired amide bond-forming process while suppressing a competing reaction with water which is present in a vast excess in enzyme mediated transformations.

This research represents a critical proof-of-concept demonstration that new enzymes can be designed computationally to promote challenging steps in the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients.听
听

Proteins for health, the environment and industry

Proteins are essential for life and perform a wide range of functions, for example, enzymes speed up chemical reactions involved in metabolism, while antibodies bind to pathogens to help fight infection. Proteins are also important in manufacturing chemicals and materials used in everyday products, including medicines and fuels. But designing new functional proteins such as enzymes is difficult.

Enzymes found in nature have traditionally provided the starting point for scientists seeking to engineer biocatalysts with useful functions. More recently, computational protein design has made it possible to design completely new proteins. However, this remains difficult as scientists must find a combination of amino-acid sequence, three-dimensional structure and molecular interactions capable of performing the intended task from an enormous number of possibilities.

Developed by Professor David Baker and his team at the University of Washington鈥檚 Institute for Protein Design (IPD), RFD4-Proteina was designed to address this problem. It combines two existing AI models 鈥� the IPD鈥檚 RosettaFold Diffusion line and Proteina-Complexa from NVIDIA 鈥� allowing scientists to design brand new proteins with a specified function, focusing laboratory testing on a handful of the most promising candidates.

鈥淩FD4-Proteina will open the door to new solutions in medicine, sustainability, materials and biotechnology,鈥� said David Baker, IPD director and professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Baker is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and a recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

In silico 鈥� the virtual world of protein design

RFD4-Proteina鈥檚 biomolecular reasoning is novel; it learns the 鈥渓anguage鈥� of existing proteins by training on a large dataset, and tests in silico a huge number of design possibilities to fit a desired function.

Like language models with adjustable 鈥渢hinking鈥�, RFD4-Proteina can devote more computation to difficult problems. It concurrently refines a protein鈥檚 sequence and structure alongside the structures of interacting molecules, so that a change in one seamlessly informs changes in the others.

Across computational benchmarks, RFD4-Proteina achieves design success rates five to 10 times higher than previous models while generating protein candidates five to 10 times faster. Lab bench tests validated that the model鈥檚 protein outputs act as anticipated in an experimental setting. This testing demonstrated success across biomolecular tasks of varying sizes, complexities and functions. Importantly, the model is open source under a BSD-3 licence, allowing researchers to use it in their own protein-design work and build upon it.

This model offers a way to design proteins faster and more accurately to perform specific jobs, potentially accelerating early-stage development of new medicines, antibodies, diagnostic molecules, enzymes and industrial biotechnology processes.

A student from The University of 野狼社区 is preparing to climb Africa鈥檚 highest mountain to raise money for young people with cancer, drawing on his own family鈥檚 experiences of the disease.

Next August, 30 year old Joseph Mooney from Whitefield will take on the challenge of trekking up the 5895 metre Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity supporting young people facing cancer.

For Joseph, the challenge is deeply personal - he lost his grandfather to pancreatic cancer in 2022, his mother and sister have both survived ovarian cancer, and his uncle is currently receiving treatment for lung cancer at 野狼社区 Royal Infirmary and The Christie.

Joseph is planning a series of training hikes over the next nine months, including revisiting the UK鈥檚 Three Peaks - Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon - ahead of the expedition. He climbed Ben Nevis in 2024 and first hiked Snowdon as a teenager. He also plans to hike the Rock of Gibraltar when visiting his mother, who lives there.

Earlier this year, Joseph completed a multi-day trek through Morocco鈥檚 Atlas Mountains - but he says Kilimanjaro will be the biggest and toughest challenge he has faced.

His passion for hiking is also closely connected to his own wellbeing. Joseph says spending time in nature, hiking alone and getting outdoors help him manage his mental health and provide a welcome sense of perspective.

鈥淐ancer has affected my family in so many ways, and it is a cause that is very close to my heart,鈥� he said. 鈥淗aving lost my grandad and seen my mum and sister come through cancer, with my uncle currently undergoing treatment, I know how much the disease can affect not just the person diagnosed but their whole family. I wanted to do something positive with those experiences and take on a challenge that could make a difference to other people going through something similar.

鈥淗iking is also something that means a lot to me personally. Getting out into nature and pushing myself on a trail can do wonders for my wellbeing. Kilimanjaro will be the biggest and hardest trek I鈥檝e ever done, but knowing I鈥檓 doing it to support young people with cancer will make it all worthwhile.鈥�

Teenage Cancer Trust provides specialist nursing care and support for teenagers and young adults with cancer, including through specialist hospital units and services across the UK. Joseph hopes to use his training hikes to raise awareness of the charity as well as funds, wearing a Teenage Cancer Trust T-shirt on the trails and talking to fellow hikers about its work.

He is appealing to the University of 野狼社区 community and the wider public to support his fundraising effort. Donations of any size will help him work towards his fundraising target and support the charity鈥檚 work with young people affected by cancer.

Support Joseph鈥檚 fundraising

To donate to Joseph鈥檚 Kilimanjaro challenge, visit his JustGiving page:

Joseph will be posting about his training and his climb on Instagram:

International pressure intended to encourage democratic reform can sometimes strengthen the very governments it seeks to hold to account, according to new research from The University of 野狼社区.

The study examined Zimbabwe's decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth in December 2003, finding that the move was driven less by a rejection of international institutions in principle than by the ruling party's determination to remain in power.

Why Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth

Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth in 2002 amid concerns about its presidential election and democratic standards. When the suspension continued following a Commonwealth meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, in December 2003, President Robert Mugabe's government announced its withdrawal.

But the research, by Dr Arthur Shirichena of The University of 野狼社区 and Pofela Ndzozi of Lupane State University in Zimbabwe, argues that withdrawal was a strategic political choice.

The authors examined documentary evidence, including Commonwealth and Zimbabwean government records, parliamentary material and contemporary reporting, to understand the decisions behind the country's departure.

They argue that meeting the conditions for reinstatement 鈥� including improvements to elections, media freedom, judicial independence and political violence 鈥� risked weakening ZANU-PF's control.

The government continued to pursue a return to the Commonwealth while that appeared possible on terms it could accept. Once the Abuja outcome made that prospect less realistic, leaving became a way to protect its domestic position rather than accept reforms that might undermine it.

Turning criticism into a defence of sovereignty

The study finds that the government also used international criticism to reinforce its political narrative at home.

By presenting the dispute as an attack on Zimbabwe's sovereignty and its anti-colonial liberation struggle, ZANU-PF could portray external pressure as foreign interference. The government could also cast domestic opponents who called for reform as aligned with outside interests.

This helped the ruling party mobilise political support and shift responsibility for Zimbabwe's international isolation onto its critics.

The authors argue that this strategy served the interests of the ruling coalition, even if withdrawal reduced Zimbabwe's diplomatic access and standing. The government's political survival, rather than the country's wider national interest, was the central consideration.

Lessons for international pressure today

The research highlights a challenge for governments and international organisations seeking to encourage democratic change: diplomatic isolation does not automatically lead to reform.

Where leaders see international demands as a threat to their hold on power, they may reject those demands, challenge the legitimacy of their critics or use the dispute to rally domestic support.

The authors caution that the Zimbabwe case does not provide a universal explanation for how governments respond to international pressure, but say it shows why the likely domestic political consequences of diplomatic action need to be considered alongside its intended goals.

Publication details

The research was published in
The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.

Title:
Zimbabwe鈥檚 withdrawal from the Commonwealth: a foreign policy analysis through the logics of consequences and appropriateness

DOI:


URL:

Nicola will join the University Executive and lead our finance function, bringing a wealth of experience, strategic insight and a deep understanding of the higher education sector as we continue to deliver From 野狼社区 for the world and ensure the University鈥檚 long-term financial sustainability.听

Nicola joins us from the University of Liverpool, where she is currently Chief Financial Officer with responsibility for finance, procurement, strategic planning and strategic change, as well as serving as Executive Lead for Sustainability. During her career, she has led major finance transformation programmes, strengthened institutional financial planning and performance and helped shape investment, partnership and sustainability strategies to support long-term success. 听

With more than 25 years鈥� leadership experience, including over two decades in higher education, Nicola has built a reputation for combining strong financial stewardship with collaborative leadership and informed decision making. She brings a proven ability to navigate complexity in large organisations and respond proactively to challenging external environments.

This appointment also marks a welcome return to 野狼社区. Between 2005 and 2017, Nicola held a number of senior finance roles at the University, including Deputy Director of Finance, Head of Faculty Finance for Medical and Human Sciences, Head of Management Accounts and Financial Controller. She therefore joins us not only with extensive experience in the sector, but also with an understanding of our people and our values. Earlier in her career, she worked in professional practice with Baker Tilly, EY and Grant Thornton.

Nicola is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds a BSc in Mathematics from Newcastle University and an MSc in Applied Mathematics and Fluid Mechanics from The University of 野狼社区.

Please join us in giving Nicola a very warm welcome back to 野狼社区. We look forward to working with her and wish her every success in the role.

Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor, said: 鈥淣icola brings a wealth of experience, sector insight and a strong track record of financial leadership and the opportunities and challenges facing the sector today. Having previously had a number of senior roles at 野狼社区, she also knows the University well and shares our commitment to the ambitions we鈥檝e set out in our strategy. I am delighted to welcome Nicola back to the University and look forward to working with her.鈥�

Nicola Davies said: 鈥淚 am delighted to be returning to The University of 野狼社区 as Chief Financial Officer. Having both worked and studied here, 野狼社区 is an institution I know well and care about deeply. I am looking forward to working with colleagues across the University to build on its strong foundations, support its strategic ambitions and ensure that our financial planning and investment continue to deliver real impact for our students, staff, city and wider communities.鈥�

Nicola will take up the role on Monday 8 February 2027.

The University of 野狼社区 has been selected to establish a new ELIAS Node, becoming only the second UK institution to join the European AI innovation network, alongside Cambridge.

The 野狼社区 Node is one of eight newly selected nodes announced at the ELIAS Frontier AI Innovation Summit in Stuttgart, Germany, on 8 October 2026. The expansion brings the ELIAS Alliance to 16 nodes across nine European countries, strengthening collaboration in frontier artificial intelligence research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Led by Professor Sophia Ananiadou, Professor of Computer Science and Deputy Director of the Christabel Pankhurst Institute, the 野狼社区 ELIAS Node will be hosted at the Christabel Pankhurst Institute for Health Technology Research and Innovation at The University of 野狼社区.

The ELIAS Alliance (European Leadership in Innovation with AI and Science), initiated by the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), brings together leading AI researchers, universities, innovation centres and industry partners to strengthen Europe's leadership in AI research and its translation into technological, economic and societal impact.

Advancing frontier AI research and innovation

The 野狼社区 ELIAS Node will connect the University's internationally recognised strengths in artificial intelligence with interdisciplinary research, entrepreneurship and industrial innovation.

Its research activities will focus on three complementary areas:

• Trustworthy AI for digital twins, in-silico trials and regulatory-grade evidence, bringing together multimodal learning, causal AI, simulation and computational medicine to support reliable scientific and healthcare applications.
• Open foundation models, agentic AI and trustworthy AI, advancing language technologies, domain-specialised foundation models, multilingual AI, intelligent agents and methods for evaluating the reliability and safety of AI systems.
• AI foundations for scientific discovery and complex systems, including probabilistic machine learning, optimisation, uncertainty quantification, scientific machine learning and human-centred AI.

The Node builds on 野狼社区's established research environment, including the National Centre for Text Mining (NaCTeM), ELLIS 野狼社区, the Centre for AI Fundamentals, the University's doctoral training programmes and the Christabel Pankhurst Institute. It will support new opportunities for collaborative research, doctoral education, researcher mobility, open-source AI development and knowledge exchange across Europe.

野狼社区 ELIAS Node leadership and research team

The 野狼社区 ELIAS Node is led by Professor Sophia Ananiadou, who serves as its Lead and Spokesperson within the European ELIAS Alliance. Her research spans natural language processing, large language models, trustworthy and agentic AI, and biomedical and scientific language technologies. The Node brings together leading researchers from The University of 野狼社区 and European academic partners.

ELLIS Fellows associated with the 野狼社区 Node:

• Professor Sophia Ananiadou 鈥� The University of 野狼社区; 野狼社区 ELIAS Node Lead and Spokesperson.
• Professor Magnus Rattray 鈥� The University of 野狼社区; ELLIS 野狼社区 Lead, Machine Learning and AI.
• Professor Alejandro Frangi 鈥� The University of 野狼社区; Computational Medicine and AI.
• Professor Samuel Kaski 鈥� The University of 野狼社区 and ELLIS Institute Finland; Machine Learning and AI.

野狼社区 Node Members:

• Dr Mauricio Alvarez 鈥� Machine Learning and AI Fundamentals.
• Professor Julia Handl 鈥� Optimisation, Machine Learning and Decision Sciences.
• Dr Mingfei Sun 鈥� Machine Learning, Reinforcement Learning and Open-Source AI.
• Dr Tingting Mu 鈥� Theoretical Machine Learning and AI Fundamentals.
• Dr Claudia Lindner 鈥� Translational Medical Imaging and AI for Health.
• Professor Matthew Sperrin 鈥� Biostatistics, Health Data Science and Causal Inference.

Together, the team brings complementary expertise across AI foundations, trustworthy machine learning, language technologies, biomedical AI, optimisation and scientific discovery, supporting the Node's research, innovation and training activities.

Connecting 野狼社区 to Europe's AI research community

As the second ELIAS Node in the UK, 野狼社区 will strengthen the country's contribution to European AI research and innovation. Working closely with the Cambridge ELIAS Node, 野狼社区 will help establish a stronger north鈥搒outh connection within the UK, while developing new collaborations with European partners, including the ELLIS Institute Finland, ELLIS Unit Franconia and ELLIS Unit Barcelona. These partnerships will support joint research initiatives, researcher exchanges, doctoral training, innovation activities and participation in the wider ELIAS network. The Node will also contribute to the ELIAS Alliance Innovation PhD initiative, connecting doctoral researchers with opportunities in AI research, entrepreneurship, industrial collaboration and international mobility.

Building on Greater 野狼社区's industry and innovation ecosystem

A distinctive strength of the 野狼社区 ELIAS Node is its integration with the region's growing AI, life sciences and innovation ecosystem.

The Node is supported by a network of academic, industry and innovation organisations, including:

• Unit M 鈥� Supporting science entrepreneurship, venture creation and innovation.
• University of 野狼社区 Innovation Factory 鈥� Supporting technology transfer, intellectual property and commercialisation.
• Turing Innovation Catalyst 鈥� Connecting AI research with industry, startups and regional economic growth.
• Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst (IBIC) 鈥� Supporting innovation, industrial collaboration and translation.
• Bionow 鈥� Connecting the Node with the regional life sciences and biotechnology industry.
• Cambridge鈥撘袄巧缜� Innovation Partnership 鈥� Strengthening collaboration, entrepreneurship and innovation across the two cities.

The Node will also draw on established industry relationships and wider international partnerships to create pathways from frontier AI research to real-world applications. These collaborations will help researchers and students engage with entrepreneurs, industry experts and investors, supporting the development of innovative AI technologies and new ventures.

A new chapter for 野狼社区's European AI collaboration

Professor Sophia Ananiadou, Lead of the 野狼社区 ELIAS Node, said:鈥淲e are delighted that The University of 野狼社区 has been selected to join the ELIAS Alliance as its second UK Node. This is an important recognition of 野狼社区's research excellence in artificial intelligence and the strength of our interdisciplinary research community. The 野狼社区 Node brings together outstanding expertise in AI foundations, trustworthy and agentic AI, language technologies and AI for scientific discovery. We look forward to developing new opportunities for research collaboration, doctoral training and innovation through the ELIAS Alliance.

Professor Ian Hall, Director at The University of 野狼社区, said: "I am excited at the potential for the 野狼社区 ELIAS Node and look forward to hosting it in the Christabel Pankhurst Institute. Trust and openness in AI solutions for health research are critical for public and clinical acceptability, and we look forward to leading work on these and other key foundations with partners in the European Leadership in Innovation with AI and Science"

The establishment of the 野狼社区 ELIAS Node reinforces The University of 野狼社区's commitment to internationally leading AI research, interdisciplinary collaboration and responsible innovation. Hosted by the Christabel Pankhurst Institute, the Node will provide a new platform for connecting research excellence with European collaboration, entrepreneurship and societal benefit.

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Scientists at The University of 野狼社区 have led a major UK effort to build half of the 137 giant neutrino sensors being built in the UK for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), marking an important step towards the experiment鈥檚 search for answers.

DUNE is a major international science project which, once complete, will send a beam of neutrinos 1,300 kilometres across the US, in a mission to explain why the Universe is made of matter rather than antimatter.

Neutrinos are among the most abundant particles in the Universe and may hold clues to this mystery, but they rarely interact with matter, making them extremely difficult to detect.

DUNE will study the behaviour of these particles and their antimatter counterparts, antineutrinos to explain why matter dominates over antimatter in the Universe. The study will also look for neutrinos from exploding stars, known as supernovae.

A UK-wide production effort

The giant neutrino sensors, known as Anode Plane Assemblies (APAs), will detect the tiny electrical signals produced when neutrinos interact with liquid argon inside DUNE's enormous underground detector.

Each APA is 6.3 metres tall and 2.3 metres wide - roughly the height of a two-storey building. The sensors are being manufactured at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Daresbury Laboratory.

by a team of 25 technicians and engineers led by The Univeristy of 野狼社区鈥檚, Professor Justin Evans, at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Daresbury Laboratory by a team of 25 technicians and engineers, as part of a UK project whose Principal Investigator is Professor Justin Evans of The University of 野狼社区.

Together, the thousands of wires on the APAs will provide scientists with information used to reconstruct the position and movement of particles produced in neutrino interactions.

Professor Justin Evans, University of 野狼社区, PI of the DUNE-UK APA project, said: 鈥淭his is a major step towards realising DUNE. We are building a detector with the potential to answer some of the deepest questions in particle physics: why our Universe is dominated by matter, how neutrinos fit into our understanding of fundamental physics, and what we can learn from neutrinos produced by a supernova.

鈥淒UNE will be one of the world鈥檚 leading neutrino experiments, and it is enormously exciting to see the detector that will enable this science now taking shape.鈥�

Flagship instrumentation

DUNE is one of the most ambitious particle-physics experiments ever constructed. It will send a beam of neutrinos from Fermilab in Illinois to the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, 1,300 kilometres away.

University of 野狼社区 researchers are playing leading roles across the DUNE project, from developing the computing systems needed to process up to 30 petabytes of data a year from the detector, to testing the APAs at CERN and planning their installation nearly a mile underground in South Dakota.

Extraordinary engineering

The APAs are the primary readout elements of one of DUNE's four kilotonne Far Detector modules, making them one of the UK's flagship instrumentation contributions to the experiment.

The UK is responsible for producing 137 of the 150 APAs required for the experiment.

Each carries approximately 24 kilometres of hair-thin copper-beryllium wire, held in place by thousands of precision connections across its enormous frame.

When a neutrino interacts inside the liquid argon, it produces charged particles that leave behind electrical signals in the detector.

The APA wires detect those signals, allowing scientists to reconstruct what happened and study the neutrino鈥檚 properties.

The completed APAs will ultimately be installed nearly a mile underground at Sanford Underground Research Facility, where DUNE's detector will contain tens of thousands of tonnes of liquid argon.

To date, eight completed APAs have arrived at Fermilab for final testing, ahead of their installation at the underground detector in South Dakota.

Collaboration in action

Ian Lazarus, Head of Technology at STFC's Daresbury Laboratory, said: "Reaching the halfway point on APA production is a fantastic milestone for everyone involved. These are exceptionally large and technically demanding detector components, and getting to this stage reflects the skill, care and teamwork that has gone into every part of the programme.

"From the engineers building the APAs at Daresbury Laboratory, to the university teams supplying components, carrying out testing and providing scientific expertise, this has been a genuinely UK-wide effort.

"It's exciting to see this work taking shape as part of DUNE, and to know that these detector panels will ultimately help scientists investigate some of the biggest questions about our Universe."

Looking ahead to discovery

Professor Dave Newbold, formerly executive director of National Laboratories at STFC and senior responsible officer for DUNE UK and now co-spokesperson of the DUNE collaboration said: 鈥淭he APA team have accomplished a huge milestone by reaching the halfway point in their production. The unique and complex components that are now making their way from the UK to the USA are a central component of the DUNE neutrino detector, and vital to address the ambitious scientific goals of the experiment. It鈥檚 great to know that profound questions about the universe are soon going to be answered through the efforts of workers across the UK, in industry, laboratories, and universities.鈥�

With half of the UK's 137 APAs now complete, work continues towards delivering all remaining assemblies to the experiment. The remaining APAs are due to be completed in April/May 2029 and delivered for installation in South Dakota between January and November 2029.