How age-friendly cities are paving the way for the future: the case of Akita City

The convergence of population ageing with urbanisation is one of the major global mega-trends that will shape societies and communities in the 21st century.

Alpha variant spread via ‘super-seeding’ event within UK

The rapid spread of the Alpha variant of COVID-19 resulted from biological changes in the virus and was enhanced by large numbers of infected people ‘exporting’ the variant to multiple parts of the UK, in what the researchers call a ‘super-seeding’ event.

Oxford Martin Programme on African Governance to explore relationship between Africa and Asian International Financial Centres

Africa’s financial connections to Asian financial centres such as Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong will be the focus of a new research project within the Oxford Martin Programme on African Governance.

Data as markets – it is time to talk (re)distribution

While the digital economy thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic, it raised deep concerns about the increasing concentration in its key markets, the gaps in privacy regulations and its broader distributional repercussions. This piece by Pantelis Koutroumpis discusses the digital resilience and challenges that come with this.

Funding applications open to manage future shocks

The Oxford Martin School has opened its latest round of research funding, inviting expressions of interest for research into how future shocks can be managed.

Post-Brexit trade agreements could lead to unhealthier diets

Post-Brexit free trade deals could lead to unhealthier eating in the UK and more diet-related deaths. But harms could be offset with targeted farming subsidies, now possible because of Brexit, and by making concerns for healthy eating central to trade policy, according to an Oxford study published today in the journal Nature Food.

Professor Sir Charles Godfray elected to the American Philosophical Society

Professor Sir Charles Godfray, Oxford Martin School Director and Professor of Population Biology in the Department of Zoology, is one of seven international scholars to be elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2021.

Cities could be MORE important post-pandemic, not less

Paradoxically, more in-person work environments and the concentration of jobs in cities could be a medium- to long-term impact of the pandemic’s shift to remote working, suggests Citi GPS Technology at Work v6.0: The Coming of the Post-Production Society.

Oxford Martin School academics recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours

Three Oxford Martin School academics have been included in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours List, in recognition of their research and contributions to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Charlotte Williams awarded Tilden prize for advances in chemistry

Professor Charlotte Williams OBE has been awarded the Tilden prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry, celebrating the most exciting chemical science taking place today. Professor Williams was awarded the prize to honour her contributions to sustainable polymer chemistry.

New programme launched to reshape our approach to tackling biodiversity loss

The accelerating loss of biodiversity is rapidly becoming acknowledged as one of the major threats facing humanity in the next decade, just as its significance to our health, wealth and well-being is becoming better understood.

How can governments end the COVID-19 pandemic?

We are now into the second year of life with COVID-19. Although we have overcome the first enormous challenge of swiftly developing and approving several effective vaccines, we are far from ending the pandemic.