News

Cases in which body is found decomposed have been steadily increasing since 1980, researchers say. Growing numbers of people in England and Wales are being found so long after they have died that their body has decomposed, in a shocking trend linked to austerity and social isolation. A new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine by a team of researchers including Prof Danny Dorling has been featured in The Guardian.

Blenheim Palace and the University of Oxford are partnering on a data-led approach to restoring the three-hundred-year-old building. Built to celebrate the Duke of Marlborough's 1704 victory at the Battle of Blenheim, the eponymous Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire requires a major programme of restoration work. However, rather than just replacing individual stones that have failed, the Built Heritage Team at the Palace want to find out precisely why certain stones crack or flake, and others do not. To delve deeper into how the building performs, and so that it can prioritise where restoration budget is efficiently spent, the team has partnered with experts at the University of Oxford.

The IMF in collaboration with University of Oxford researchers has launched 'PortWatch', a new online portal a platform to monitor and simulate trade disruptions due to climate extremes and other shocks.

A consortium led by the University of Oxford has won over £18 million in expanded funding for doctoral and masters-to-doctoral studentships in the social sciences. The funding, awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will support the recommissioned Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) which includes the School of Geography and the Environment.

BBC's Countryfile visited scientists from Oxford's Environmental Change Institute (ECI), at the University-owned Wytham Woods, to learn about the threat of ash dieback and the work at the site of special scientific interest - known as one of the most researched woodlands in the world.

Backed by over £15 million funding, the University of Oxford is establishing a new Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) that will combine the university's strengths in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, Big Data, and environmental sciences. Over an initial eight years, The UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for the Environment (The Intelligent Earth Centre) - whose leadership team includes Prof Louise Slater, Professor of Hydroclimatology at SoGE - will train almost 100 PhD students to develop and apply cutting-edge AI technologies to tackle urgent environmental crises.

Introducing a weekly child payment system for poor families would be "transformational", according to Wales' children's commissioner. Prof Danny Dorling provides expert analysis in a recent BBC News article, discussing how the Scottish system has had a substantial effect on child poverty.