The development of sterile immunity is a prerequisite for any natural infection or vaccination. However, for many infections, including malaria, sterile immunity is difficult to develop. The reasons for the lack of sterile immunity to malaria are largely unknown. To seek answers, our focus is on understanding both the innate and adaptive immune responses to Plasmodium parasites. We recently identified an unexpected role for the innate antiviral signaling molecule tank-binding kinase-1 (TBK1) as a critical B cell intrinsic factor for GC formation during malaria infection and vaccination (Lee et al., J Exp. Medicine, 2022). In my talk, I will review our recent findings and summarize our observations on how understanding host immunity can eliminate malaria parasites. AND I am interested in how nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) derived from pathogens and hosts are recognised by the immune system and their physiological significance in immune-related diseases, including infectious diseases, cancer, allergies and other intractable diseases, from the molecular to the clinical level. We also develop vaccines, adjuvants and alternative immunotherapies using nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA and their by-products. This time I will talk about our recent progress in the adaptive control of innate immunity by a unique vaccine/adjuvant, the development of a system for single nanoparticle mapping and sorting of pathogens, host extracellular vesicles and LNP mRNA. Lab HP; https://vaccine-science.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/
Scientists from the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, and the Centre for Medicines Discovery have arranged a fun day of science-focussed activities in University Parks. All welcome to come along with your children, parents and grandparents! Taking place in the first week of the school holidays, there will be free activities for all ages, including testing your senses, learning about your heart and brain, and much more. Join us in University Parks – look out for the gazebos. If you have any questions, please email public.engagement@dpag.ox.ac.uk
Join us for a digital scholarship coffee gathering – tea and coffee will be provided. Come along and tell us about your research and what you'd like to see from DiSc in the next term!
Professor Yang is the Chair of Surgery in the National Cancer Centre in Seoul, which is one of the highest volume gastric cancer centres in the world. They perform on average 1000 gastric cancer surgeries annually in the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital. He is a leading academic gastric cancer surgeon, proficient in laparoscopic and robotic UGI surgery. Professor Yang is involved in several large scale RCT’s for gastric cancer treatment. He was Korean PI of REGATTA study (Phase III study for the role of gastrectomy in stage IV gastric cancer with a single incurable factor; a collaboratory study between JCOG and KGCA). He is an investigator in the CLASSIC and KLASS trials as well as the Korean PI of a phase II study for the role of neoadjuvant imatinib treatment in large gastric GIST (a collaborator study between Japan and Korea). He is the founding chairman of KLASS (Korean Laparoscopic Gastrointestinal Surgery Study Group) and contributed in MIS in gastric cancer especially Function preserving gastrectomy (pylorus preserving gastrectomy). His translational research interests are gastric carcinogenesis, DDS, familial gastric cancer, biomarkers and developing PDX model for gastric cancer. He is Secretary General of International Gastric Cancer Association, Honorary fellow of American Surgical Association, Honorary member of European Surgical Association, Honorary International Fellow of Japanese Society of Endoscopic Surgery and a member of Korea Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST). He served as editor or editorial member of ‘Gastric Cancer’ (the official journal of IGCA), Asian Journal of Endoscopic Surgery, Annals of Surgery etc. Professor Yang gave over 380 invited lectures to international meetings and overseas institutes with occasional live demonstrations of gastrectomy (open, laparoscopic or robotic).
Iosifina Foskolou, PhD, is a group leader at Sanquin Institute (Amsterdam), specialising in T cell metabolism and cancer immunotherapy. Her lab focuses on improving T cell immunotherapies against solid tumours by better understanding the environments immune cells face in both the tumour microenvironment and lymphoid tissues. Iosifina holds a DPhil in Oncology from the University of Oxford, where she studied the effects of low oxygen (hypoxia) in solid tumours. She has extensive postdoctoral experience at both Cambridge University and the Karolinska Institute, where she investigated how metabolism can improve cancer immunotherapy. Iosifina has a robust academic background, and her work has been widely published in peer-reviewed journals, with key papers on T cell function, metabolism, and anti-tumour immunity. Throughout her career, she has secured numerous grants, including a Marie Sklodowska Curie post-doctoral Fellowship.
This talk will explore the relation between land use changes and the spread of zoonotic diseases, taking the example of the Kyasanur Forest Disease (monkey fever) in the Sindhudurg region of the Western Ghats in India. Drawing from focus group discussions and key informant interviews, the talk will also touch upon how socio-economic conditions make some communities more vulnerable to the disease than others. The talk will also highlight the local government's response to disease management involving environmental actors.
The villages of Lubrak and Kagbeni look radically different now. Rivers have left behind a trail of debris, altering the landscape and the memories it held for its people. Homes under rubble, ancient trees uprooted, fields that once fed generations now lay buried. How does one account for the symbolic and affective losses of culture and place? A sense of belonging, personal and collective notions of identity, and ways of knowing and making sense of the world? This talk will provide on the ground narrative accounts of invisible losses relating to floods in a Transhimalayan region of Nepal using audio-visual mediums. The talk would provide insights into how such losses vary across the settlements of Lubrak and Kagbeni, emphasizing on their sociocultural and economic identities.
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of RefWorks. RefWorks is a subscription software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies that University of Oxford members can use for free during their time at the university and as alumni. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of RefWorks; setting up a RefWorks account; organising your references in RefWorks; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Following on from our session on 5 July, *Introduction to research funding* this month research grant facilitators *Noelle Obers* (MSD) and *Agnieszka Swiejkowska* (SSD) will deliver *How to Write an Application*. There will be time for Q&As. Each PoPoH session covers: * a brief overview of career and training support available to postdocs and other research staff across the University * a 30-minute lecture by an expert on the session’s theme * a new project management tip each month * a Career Chat where a Careers Adviser for Research Staff will address careers concerns and questions * ideas for simple things you can do now for your career and work/life balance Please join the event "here":https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NGIwZTVjMjgtYTI5ZC00MTgxLWFkM2YtZGVmODQyN2M5NDM0%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22cc95de1b-97f5-4f93-b4ba-fe68b852cf91%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%221d2cf1ee-340b-4a81-b80d-39e44585f59b%22%7d
Join this free one-hour practical, interactive workshop from the UK EQUATOR Centre. In our Lightning Workshops series, our methodology, writing, and communication experts cover all of the essential aspects of writing and publishing your academic research. These sessions are designed for early-career biomedical and clinical researchers. An article abstract needs to be an accurate well-structured summary and entice your readers to read further. As many readers only have access to the abstract, and it is often used by journal editors and scientific committees to decide whether to send the article for peer review, you need to get it spot on. We also talk about selecting key words to complement the language in your abstract and maximise the chance of readers finding your abstract. Patricia Logullo is a scientific editor with a background in scientific journalism and evidence-based health. She has extensive experience helping biomedical researchers to communicate their findings and journals to publish health research articles. She conducts research into best practices, tools, and guidelines for scientific communication, in her role as website and research officer at the UK EQUATOR Centre in the Centre for Statistics in Medicine. This free workshop series is open to all staff and students of the University of Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, but we do ask you to book a spot. To hear about other EQUATOR courses in Oxford, please join our mailing list by sending a blank email to equator-oxford-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk.
Coastal flooding poses significant risks to millions of residents worldwide, particularly those in low-lying regions less than 10m above sea level. As sea levels rise and storm intensity increases due to climate change, traditional grey engineering solutions like seawalls and dykes are proving costly and ecologically disruptive. Nature-based coastal solutions (NBCS) offer a viable alternative, utilising coastal vegetation such as salt marshes, dune grasses, and mangroves to mitigate flood risks. These natural defences facilitate sediment deposition, increase surface roughness, and dissipate wave energy, reducing storm surge impacts. However, little is still known about the effectiveness of NBCSs in flood reduction under future climate uncertainties. This study, therefore, aims to explore the effectiveness of vegetation in mitigating coastal flood risks through a numerical modelling lens (LISFLOOD-FP). By investigating the influence of various vegetation ages (young, medium and old) on coastal flood risk mitigation under varying sea-level conditions and climate uncertainties through scenario-based planning, the study seeks to provide empirical data and insights that can inform more robust policy and decision-making for coastal flood risk management. The research also aims to identify the challenges and uncertainties associated with NBSCs.
Are you looking to learn about the ways in which to transmit scientific ideas and make your research accessible to a non-specialist audience through a variety of mediums? This session will serve as an introduction to science communication and how it can be successfully incorporated into our roles. By the end of this session you will be able to: define science communication and provide a list of examples; explain why science communication is important for both our CPD and the public; list ways in which we can all get involved in science communication. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
In this online workshop you will be shown the functionality of RefWorks. RefWorks is a subscription software programme used to manage references and create bibliographies that University of Oxford members can use for free during their time at the university and as alumni. The workshop will cover: understanding the main features and benefits of RefWorks; setting up a RefWorks account; organising your references in RefWorks; inserting citations into documents; and creating a bibliography/reference list. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
Are you planning to present a poster at an upcoming conference, meeting or symposium? This introductory session will provide you with some top tips on how to create a poster presentation which will help you to communicate your research project and data effectively. There will be guidance on formatting, layout, content, use of text, references and images, as well as advice on printing and presenting your poster. This session will also provide help with locating resources such as templates, free-to-use images and poster guidelines. By the end of this session you will be able to: evaluate the effectiveness of templates, formatting, text and images; and plan, prepare and present your poster. Intended audience: students, staff and researchers from MSD and OUH.
In this talk, I focus on linking extraordinary international events to pronounced changes in the equity markets for some of the world's largest publicly traded suppliers on opposite sides of the global energy mix - oil and environmentally clean energy companies. I will introduce an intuitively appealing non-linear approach to empirically timestamp unexpected and prominent increases and decreases in a time series that arise from a stable environment. I will then explain how this non-linear filter can be applied to a wide range of global indicators relevant to the international energy market. Then, I will use such extraordinary conditions to characterise the performance of oil and environmentally clean energy equities, and their relationships. I will show that jumps in the global stock market, international crude oil market shocks, and the US dollar real effective exchange rate, define the financial landscape during which considerable gains, losses, and instability across both types of energy markets materialise. In contrast, I will also show that major elevated uncertainties related to geo-political risk and climate policy reflect relative stability in the equities of environmentally clean energy and oil companies, implying that both energy assets are potentially lucrative hedging strategies for investors to exploit in such times of remarkable political and policy related turmoil.
India aims to be aatma nirbhar, or self-reliant in their economy. This includes producing fertilizers domestically to potentially reduce the import burden of its high natural gas and fertilizer subsidy expenditure. It also aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2070. Low overall emissions for urea fertilizers depends on the production process of green hydrogen that then feeds into ammonia production to convert to urea. Today, low emissions can only be achieved through renewables-based hydrogen production but that comes with huge infrastructure costs. As a developing country with historically low emissions, India does not have the same responsibilities as developed countries to decarbonize at a rapid scale. Although India's grid is 70% coal-based, grid connection can reduce investment costs and gradually decarbonize domestic fertilizer supply with the grid. Hence, this study explores the question, "What are the opportunities from grid-connected ammonia production to decarbonize urea fertilizers in India?"
The oldest surviving Christian hymns designed exclusively for Holy Week are a set known as the Idiomele. They were composed by monks in Palestine during the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian. In the modern Orthodox Church, these twelve hymns are sung during the Royal Hours service of Good Friday morning. The final and most famous of these hymns is sung during two additional services (Holy Thursday evening and the Apokatalypsis service on Friday afternoon). Apart from their antiquity, the most noteworthy feature of these hymns is they were the first to blame “the Jews” for the death of Christ. My goals with this paper are four-fold. First, I will demonstrate that the presentation of the Jews in the Idiomele constituted a dramatic change from earlier hymns that reflected on the crucifixion of Christ. Second, I will argue that this change represents more than a mere rhetorical or apologetical shift, but constitutes a profound theological shift. Third, I will demonstrate that this change was precipitated by an explosion of Jewish/Christian violence at the time of composition and that these hymns likely reflect a form of anti-Jewish revenge literature. Finally, I will suggest that the Idiomele have been unwittingly preserved down to the present day by a series of individuals and institutions that presumably knew nothing of the origins of their composition and who have been either incapable or unwilling to address their theological incoherence.
Hosted by the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, this international conference facilitates invaluable interactions among academic researchers, pharmaceutical pioneers, and clinical trailblazers, fostering scientific exchange and collaboration in translational research. With an exceptional line-up of speakers, including pioneers and leaders in immunology, our current program promises an unforgettable experience at the forefront of immunological progress. Visit our conference website https://cvent.me/lMLaBa to explore the program, learn about speakers, and secure your registration early, as places are limited.
In our August event, Damon Salesa will discuss his book 'An Indigenous Ocean: Pacific Essays'. Damon Salesa is the Vice-Chancellor of the Auckland University of Technology. He is an interdisciplinary scholar who works on Oceania, especially history, politics and culture. Damon is a prizewinning author who specializes in the interdisciplinary study of the Pacific, and has published on race, politics, history and society. Alongside a disciplinary background in history, and a career in the interdisciplinary formations such as Pacific Studies, his work draws insight from indigenous Pacific, particularly Samoan, culture and practice. He is also actively engaged with critical work in education, innovation and pedagogy, and is a publicly engaged scholar around questions of inequality, politics and education. Part of the Lifelong Fellowship portfolio, The Scholars’ Library is a monthly book talk series, where Rhodes alumni can come together to present, discover and debate their literary works. If you’re interested in getting involved, please reach out to Nayana Niji at alumni@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk You can read more about this event and the speaker here: https://bit.ly/PacificEssays
Trust and Trends in Medical Publishing: Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo JAMA’s Editor in Chief will discuss issues of trust and trends in medical publishing, including the review process, and role of artificial intelligence, and preprints. Publishing in the JAMA Network & Q&A: Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Greg Curfman, and other JAMA editors Find out about the JAMA author experience, the editorial review process, what the JAMA journals look for in different article types, and how to maximise the impact of published work. Pose your questions to the JAMA editors during this session and over lunch.
In this presentation Benjamin will introduce his recently published book. This book examines an emergent pattern of international student mobility: that of international students from across the African continent who are enrolled on degree programmes at Chinese universities. China is among the most popular destination countries for African students, yet there has been little research to-date into this emergent mobility pattern. Drawing on data from a series of interviews, the book focuses on the specific modalities of integration into the global economy of both the sending region and the host country, and examines how these shape the decision-making, experiences, and future aspirations of mobile students. It also highlights how incipient flows of international student migrants, such as those between various African countries and China, are calling into question a number of the axioms around the study of international study mobility that were developed with reference to more established migration patterns, which tend to flow from other regions to the West. In this presentation, Benjamin will also highlight some of the implications of this student flow for China’s interests in Africa and beyond, related to for example the promotion of Chinese influence in Africa, and the challenging of global discourses around political issues such as human rights in a way that is beneficial to the Chinese state.
The European Bioconductor Conference will be held in-person in Oxford, UK on 4-6 September 2024. Bioconductor is a non-profit organization that supports one of the most widely used data analysis tools in genomics. Software packages are contributed by more than 1,200 community developers worldwide, totaling over 42 million downloads by more than 1 million distinct IP addresses last year. We expect around 120 participants from the European and global bioinformatics community, with participants coming from the academic and commercial sector. We are welcoming bioinformatics method developers, practitioners incorporating R/Bioconductor into robust workflows, and researchers using the tools for biological and biomedical discovery. Schedule is available at the following link: https://eurobioc2024.bioconductor.org/schedule/
The Social Outcomes Conference is the annual convening of the world's leading researchers, policymakers and practitioners working to improve social outcomes. The conference will feature discussions on the latest thinking and findings from academic research alongside insights from the emerging practice across different geographies, disciplines and policy areas. Take a look at this years conference programme. We will host the conference in hybrid mode. We will stream all the conference sessions online (Zoom), as well as offering in-person places for those who wish to attend at the Blavatnik School of Government in Oxford. If you want to join us online (free to join), simply register through the same link as buying in-person tickets and we will send you the join-in instructions a few days before the conference. If you wish to attend in person, you will need to purchase a ticket. For more information on how to book, please visit the Government Outcomes Lab website. In a world grappling with unprecedented challenges and near-constant crisis, collaboration is not a luxury but a necessity. At this year’s Social Outcomes Conference we ask how we can foster collaboration and partnership working in a world of increasing uncertainty. In the face of these adversities, accountability, transparency, and trust become more vital than ever, forming the bedrock of cross-sector partnerships aimed at social change. We ask: how can innovative contracting practices contribute to long-term, trust-based relationships? How can we use data not just to measure impact, but to actively drive improvement and hold partners accountable? How can we ensure that marginalised communities are meaningfully involved, not just consulted, in shaping and implementing solutions? We will bring together the world’s leading researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to share cutting-edge insights and practical strategies for building partnerships that not only deliver social good, but do so with integrity and efficacy. Our conference theme is: “Accountability, transparency, & trust in cross-sector partnerships” We are delighted to announce that Professor Tina Nabatchi will deliver the Social Outcomes Conference 2024 keynote speech on Thursday 5 September. As Joseph A Strasser Endowed Professor in Public Administration and a professor of public administration and international affairs, Professor Tina Nabatchi is based at America's top-ranked school for public affairs, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She will draw on her decades of research, including her award-winning work on citizen participation, collaborative governance, conflict resolution and challenges in public administration to explore this year's conference theme of accountability, transparency & trust in cross-sector partnerships. In addition to her academic contributions, Nabatchi has also had significant experience using her work in collaboration with various US Government departments.With expertise spanning the academic realm and significant applied work in politics and policy, Nabatchi's experience brings together the best of both research and practice, ensuring that this will be a Keynote Speech not to be missed!
Prof Greg Marcus (Associate Editor of JAMA and Endowed Professor in Atrial Fibrillation Research at UCSF)
The second in a duo of courses (attendees should attend the Fundamentals course prior to Logistics) that will cover the logistics of researching, publishing, and locating open scholarship resources and tools at the University of Oxford. Subjects include: what is the Oxford University Research Archive; depositing work into ORA via Symplectic Elements; depositing data into ORA-data; applying for one of Oxford’s APC block grants; registering or connecting your ORCID; how to be included in the rights retention pilot; and locating and checking funder policies. Ideally the 'Fundamentals of Open Access' course will have been attended. If you’re not in a position to attend this course you can find similar information in our e-learning package to work through prior to attending Logistics. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Conference sections: 1) Russia war on Ukraine: Current and post-war economic recovery 2) Rebuilding after European Wars Subsection 1: Western economies Subsection 2: Mixed economies in the post-war era 3) European Societies in Recovery What lessons, if any, can we learn from European experience of post-war revivals? What challenges are the Ukrainian authorities likely to face? These will undoubtedly be multifarious. For one thing, there will be resource constraints, with shortages of both finance and raw materials, as well as a pressing need for export earnings to pay off wartime debts and rebuild the economy. There will be a need to facilitate, organise and use foreign debt relief and aid in an orderly way, as the Marshall Plan to some extent allowed after the Second World War. How will societies be aided in the recovery phase and then in the longer term, in terms of the public sphere – schools, hospitals, health centres, metro and rail – and also in terms of public trust and mental health? These burdens all pressed very heavily across the whole of Europe in the inter-war and post-Second World War phases, and there must be suggestions and lines of inquiry to follow based on how other societies have suffered and recovered, both general and specific. Ukraine currently shows high resilience not only on the battlefield, but also on the economic front, and in terms of European integration: the economy continues functioning, although in smaller size. At the same time, some areas are intensively developing, such as engineering, digital and modern military technologies. In this regard, it is important to focus efforts on integrated approaches to sustain the economy during the war and prevent major deviations from its efficient functioning in the future. Some sectors (such as energy) are under aggressive attack and their planning must be both smart and flexible. Such work should not be just about the restoration of destroyed and damaged objects, but also energy efficiency and renewable sources in even the smallest activity. Other industries are strategically important – in particular, those that have high export potential which could bring much needed currency return to the country, as well as those that are important for the defence complex and for forming the base for European economic integration. Regional and territorial features in the post-occupation context also require special attention, as they were part of the hidden push for the first occupation in 2014. Thus, this conference aims and will make an effort to relate the historical post-war experience and its lessons directly to the situation in Ukraine now and after the war, both in its geopolitical and economic context.
Speaker: Dr Jessica Hedge, Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) Coordinator Join the event "here":https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NGIwZTVjMjgtYTI5ZC00MTgxLWFkM2YtZGVmODQyN2M5NDM0%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22cc95de1b-97f5-4f93-b4ba-fe68b852cf91%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%221d2cf1ee-340b-4a81-b80d-39e44585f59b%22%7d Jess is responsible for broadening and deepening membership of OPEN, ensuring members receive regular updates about the latest opportunities for engagement, professional development and funding, and facilitating internal funding calls and awards. She also supports researchers and policymakers to develop their ideas for engagement and identify how OPEN may be able to support these. Jess was previously a researcher within the Medical Sciences and Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Divisions where her research focused on the evolution of antimicrobial resistance. About OPEN OPEN is a growing network of more than 1,000 researchers, doctoral students and professional services staff at the University of Oxford who share a vision of public policy powered by the world’s best available research evidence and expertise. Our mission is to equip ourselves and each other to share knowledge and expertise with the policymaking community so that, together, we can contribute to better policies that protect what is valuable and change the world for the better. To this end, OPEN connects researchers across the University with opportunities to engage with the policymaking community locally, nationally and internationally. Find out more about policy engagement at Oxford "here":https://www.ox.ac.uk/research/using-research-engage/policy-engagement. You can also follow the OPEN on "Twitter":https://x.com/oxpolicyengaged
Prof. Musa M. Mhlanga is the chair of Cell Biology and heads the Laboratory for Epigenomics & Single Cell Biophysics at the Radboud Institute for Molecular Lifesciences. He did his undergraduate studies in France & the US and obtained his PhD in New York at NYU School of Medicine and The Rockefeller University. There, he worked on the development of molecular beacons for in vitro diagnostics and for the imaging of RNA in living cells with Fred R. Kramer & Sanjay Tyagi. Next, he did a Post Doctoral fellowship at the Institut Pasteur in Paris as a US National Science Foundation fellow. He worked on gene expression and nuclear organization with a focus on imaging of RNA and transcription. His laboratory works on the epigenome with an emphasis on the role of noncoding RNA in genomic architecture and gene regulation, using the immune system as a model. This includes fundamental mechanisms of gene regulation and extends to large scale clinical studies. His lab also works on single cell epigenomics and spatial transcriptomics, using multiple omics and microscopy approaches in translational models.
This five day residential course, led by Course Director, Professor Paul Johnson, is aimed primarily at senior trainees in Paediatric Surgery and held in the beautiful setting of St Edmund Hall in the city of Oxford. The course provides a comprehensive overview of Neonatal Surgery (apart from Urology) with particular emphasis on evidence-based practice and practical approaches to difficult clinical scenarios. Lectures are provided by leading experts within the UK and there is plenty of opportunity for interactive discussion. Course fees include all tuition, course materials, four nights accommodation and subsistence, formal course dinner and some social activities.
This annual course provides a thorough grounding in the principles and practice of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) for evaluating healthcare interventions. You will learn from an interdisciplinary faculty of clinicians, statisticians, and trial managers, all with a wealth of RCT experience. The course uses a problem-based learning approach, including lectures and small-group practical sessions, and grounds all learning in practical experience and examples from the literature. COURSE OBJECTIVES *Clarify the fundamental principles and practice of RCTs *Present the optimal methodology to use in RCTs *Examine the critical issues involved in planning, conducting and completing a successful trial *Provide a basic understanding of the statistics used to plan and analyse RCTs *Teach critical appraisal skills and practice appraising RCT papers WHO SHOULD ATTEND If you are planning or actively involved in trials, or are interested in furthering your knowledge of trial methodology, this course is for you. It is ideal for those early in their career or those looking for a refresher course, as it provides an overview of all elements of an RCT. We welcome applications from clinical and non-clinical researchers and other professionals allied to medicine. DETAILS Date and times: Monday 9 September to Friday 13 September 2024. A typical day runs from 9am to 5:30pm, with a course dinner on the evening of Thursday 12 September and an early finish at 2pm on Friday 13 September after lunch. Venue: The course will be held at Merton College, University of Oxford, a historic college located in Oxford city centre. Course fees: £1550 - Fees must be paid in full before your place on the course is confirmed. Fees include daily lunch and refreshments, a course dinner (Thursday evening), and a comprehensive delegate’s pack including all course materials. Accommodation: Bed and breakfast accommodation is available at Merton College for £120.00 per night (not included in course fees).
This article analyzes two Colombian national research policies known as Quality of National Publications Policies. Drawing on a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the aim here is to analyze the characteristics of the academic capitalism regime in Colombia by focusing on how these national research policies promote, justify, normalize, and/or resist the academic capitalist regime and its neoliberal roots. Promotion is related to the actions established by the policies in order to introduce the academic capitalist regime. Justification is related to the rationale behind the policies and presents the reasons why the analyzed policies introduce the academic capitalist regime. Normalization considers the accepted worldview that include assumptions about the right, normal or desirable. In other words, it shows how the policies naturalize certain ideas derived from the academic capitalist regime and its neoliberal roots. Finally, resistance considers the rationale, actions, and assumptions related to knowledge and education as public goods and/or against to the academic capitalist regime. The findings show that the academic capitalist regime is reflected and accepted in these Colombian national research policies and extend the theory of academic capitalism by adding the commercial for-profit model of academic publishing as a new layer and essential component of the academic capitalist regime that generates prestige behavior among professors.
1hr lecture followed by drinks and networking
The 1.5°C goal is not just a number. It is a line in the sand, drawn by the international community to signal the point beyond which it determines the risks to be unacceptable. With the global temperature already having increased by 1.45°C, the World Meteorological Organization has warned that it is likely to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels temporarily within the next five years. Even at 1.2°C of warming, we are already experiencing severe climate impacts: melting ice caps, rising sea levels, extreme weather events, droughts, floods, and fires. These changes are affecting billions of people, particularly those in the most vulnerable and marginalised communities. As the planet continues to warm, these risks will intensify, potentially leading to cascading and irreversible impacts. The members of the Climate Overshoot Commission came together to reassess a range of approaches to minimise the heightened risk of overshoot, including mitigation, adaptation, carbon dioxide removal (CDR), and solar radiation modification (SRM). Join the panel as they discuss the Commission's CARE Agenda and how the Commission offers an integrated approach 1) to reduce the risks of breaching global warming goals in the first place, and 2) to reduce the risks brought about by an overshoot should it take place. That is why it considers all the potential tools in the toolbox, including those that were unfamiliar when the Paris Agreement was negotiated. Panel: Kim Campbell, Commissioner, Climate Overshoot Commission & former Prime Minister of Canada Pascal Lamy, Chair, Climate Overshoot Commission & former Director General, World Trade Organization Professor Michael Obersteiner, Director, Environmental Change Institute Professor Sir Charles Godfray, Director, Oxford Martin School (Chair) This is a joint event with the Environmental Change Institute. Please note this is in-person only and will not be live streamed or filmed.
Researchers interested in improving equitable access to healthcare and support staff from all divisions are invited to a half day event to meet, identify areas of shared interest and help inform the direction of future internal funding calls in this area. Speakers include multidisciplinary experts, and researchers based in Oxford’s Overseas Units. There will also be a workshop session and opportunity to inform the next round of Improving Equitable Access to Healthcare funding. Refreshments and lunch will be provided. If you are an overseas attendee full participation, including the workshop, will be facilitated online. The event will not be recorded.
Join Us at the HDRUK Oxford Community Meeting! We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming regional event for the HDRUK Oxford community! Date: Thursday 12 September 2024 Time: 10:00 - 16:00 Venue: Richard Doll Lecture Theatre (Richard Doll Building, Old Road Campus, OX3 7DG) and virtually* Organisers: Professor Eva Morris, Professor Cornelia Van Duijn, Professor Sarah Lewington, Associate Professor Marion Mafham Event highlights - Keynote Speaker: Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh Engaging sessions on dementia, data and methods, trials, and observational cohort studies This event is a excellent opportunity to connect with fellow health data researchers, share insights, and foster collaboration. If you are interested in submitting a poster to present at the meeting or have any other queries, please get in touch at hdroxford@bdi.ox.ac.uk To register - https://forms.office.com/e/s6QRb7LUQQ?origin=lprLink *Please note that online attendees will be sent a link to join the meeting closer to the date.
Navigating Artificial Intelligence in Postgraduate Education We have invited Dr Xavier Laurent from the AI and Machine Learning Competency Centre to talk about the role of the Centre and the use of AI in Teaching and Learning. We will have additional speakers discussing how they are navigating AI use in their PGT programmes, students to share their experiences, plus opportunities for discussion. We will also be discussing the results on an ongoing project in MSD ‘Assessing writing and AI skills in postgraduate taught courses’ to examine student and staff use, knowledge and self-efficacy in using Generative AI tools to develop academic writing skills. If you would like to attend this meeting please register by completing this short form https://forms.office.com/e/z0nfqfacnr to help us plan catering. We will then send you an invitation and details of the venue.
Simon Milling is a Professor of Immunology and Deputy Head of the Centre for Immunobiology at the School of Infection & Immunity at the University of Glasgow. He received his PhD from Imperial College London, where he studied antigen presentation to human T cell clones under Professor Robert Lechler and Dr Sara Brett. He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Philadelphia and Oxford before joining the University of Glasgow as a lecturer in 2007. He became a professor at the university in 2017 and became the Deputy Head of Immunology in 2020. His research focuses on the biology of antigen-presenting cells in the intestine and skin, and on how these cells respond to infectious or inflammatory stimuli. He has a translational focus on inflammatory bowel disease, spondyloarthropathies, and autoimmune alopecia The aim of this work is to understand the vital roles that antigen-presenting cells play, both in the induction and polarisation of adaptive immune responses against pathogens and in the pathology of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases
Conference theme: Industry meets Academia – New collaborations and Partnerships Key focus areas: Experimental Medicine for drug development, Non-drug-based interventions and technology, Data & Omics and Clinical trials This in-person conference is organised by the Oxford Health BRC and sponsored by the UK Mental Health Mission. The event aims to bring together industry, academic & clinical researchers, the regulator and government research funding organisations to discuss the current challenges facing therapeutic development. The overall objective is to forge collaborations that can increase capacity and capability through partnerships to deliver paradigm changes in translational mental health research. The event includes keynotes, lightning talks, roundtable discussion and industry led workshop sessions by Angelini Pharma, Big Health, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb and Reckitt Benckiser.
For our next talk, in the Digital Phenotyping seminar series, we will hear from Dr Anya Skatova, Director, Digital Footprints Lab, University of Bristol on 18 September, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, at the Big Data Institute (BDI). Title: What can your shopping basket say about your health? Date: Wednesday 18 September 2024 Time: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Venue: BDI/OxPop, Seminar Room 0; followed by refreshments in the atrium Abstract: Novel sources of population data, especially administrative and medical records, as well as the digital footprints generated through interactions with online services, present a considerable opportunity for advancing health research and policymaking. An illustrative example is shopping history records that can illuminate aspects of population health by scrutinizing extensive sets of everyday choices made in the real world. In this talk I will cover my work with ALSPAC on integrating shopping history records into databanks of longitudinal population studies, as well as potential that these linked datasets bring for population health. Bio: Dr Anya Skatova is Director of Digital Footprints Lab at the University of Bristol and Turing Fellow. She is a behavioural scientist, and she studies how novel digital footprint data can be used to understand human behaviour and real-life outcomes, such as health. You can find more information about Digital Footprints Lab and group's research here: https://digifootprints.co.uk/ Hybrid Option: Please note that these meetings are closed meetings and only open to members of the University of Oxford. Please respect our speakers and do not share the link with anyone outside of the University. The purpose of these seminars is to foster more communication among employees throughout the University, so we strongly advise in-person attendance whenever feasible. Microsoft Teams meeting Join the meeting now Meeting ID: 324 421 113 558 Passcode: zGEzyg If you wish to know more or receive information related to trainings and events at BDI, please subscribe by emailing bdi-announce-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk. You'll then receive an email from SYMPA and once you reply you'll be on the list!
Monica Youn is the author of four poetry collections, most recently FROM FROM (Graywolf Press 2023), which was awarded the Anisfield-Wolf Award and was a New York Times Notable Book and Best Poetry Book of 2023. Her books have twice been shortlisted for the National Book Award, as well as being finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN Voelcker Prize, and the Kingsley Tufts Award. She has also been awarded the Levinson Prize from the Poetry Foundation, the William Carlos Williams Award of the Poetry Society of America, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Witter Bytter Fellowship from the Library of Congress, and a Stegner Fellowship. A former constitutional lawyer, she is a member of the curatorial collective the Racial Imaginary Institute and is a professor of English at UC Irvine. Part of the Lifelong Fellowship portfolio, The Scholars’ Library is a monthly book talk series, where Rhodes alumni can come together to present, discover and debate their literary works. If you’re interested in getting involved, please reach out to Georgie Thurston at alumni@rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk You can read more about this event and the speaker here: https://bit.ly/FromFrom
We are delighted to advise that registration is now open for the Oxford IBD MasterClass 2024. The conference will be held on 23rd & 24th September 2024 at the Examination Schools in Oxford. The theme of the meeting will be the progress towards Personalising Care in clinical practice. As always, the meeting will be delivered by a distinguished faculty of expert speakers. We are delighted that Professor Vipul Jairath (Western University, Ontario) has accepted our invitation to present the Truelove Lecture. Other international members of the faculty include Professors Jean-Frederic- Colombel (New York), Séverine Vermeire & Edouard Louis (Belgium) as well as our colleagues from the United Kingdom; Sarah Teichmann (Sanger Centre), Chris Lamb (Newcastle), James Lee (The Francis Crick Institute, London), Nicola Fearnhead (Cambridge), Ailsa Hart (St Marks Hospital, London), James Lindsay (London) & Nick Powell (Imperial College, London). It is really a very exciting programme for scientists, physicians and other health care professionals. In addition to the main Oxford MasterClass we are delighted to announce that we will be running a forum for specialist IBD Nurses: 'The Clinical / Research Interface’. This programme includes ‘current models for clinical research with presentations from three UK centres’ (St George’s University Hospitals, London, University Hospital Southampton, Oxford University Hospitals). The programme will be running in the morning on Monday 23rd September. Nurses attending this forum are welcome to join the main Oxford MasterClass Meeting from 09:50 am on Monday plus Tuesday morning. We look forward to welcoming you to Oxford! Professor Jack Satsangi and the OMC Scientific Committee (Paul Klenerman, Simon Leedham, Holm Uhlig, Alissa Walsh, Oliver Brain, Lydia White & Denise O’Donnell)
Imagine a text that does not quote or refer to anybody’s speech or thoughts… A few examples come to mind: technical texts such as scientific papers, legal documents, instruction manuals and textbooks may not contain any. But if we try to imagine a narrative - oral or written - or an argumentative discourse (press article, political discussion, etc.) without any speech or thought presentation, it is difficult to think of an example. Indeed the way we perceive a story, the reasons we do (or do not) empathise with the narrator or the characters, the bases on which we do (or do not) find a story realistic or entertaining are largely dependent on the way speech and thoughts are presented in the narrative, be it a novel, the story of our last holiday misadventures or even a good joke. And the same is true for our ability to present our arguments in a discussion or for our willingness to give credit to a journalist’s reporting. Sophie Marnette will offer an overview of her research, jumping from her study of reported discourse in medieval French literary texts as well as in contemporary oral narratives, press and literature to her one-time adventure as a linguistic forensic expert in a UK trial pitting an ‘alleged’ international spy against a well-known French magazine. Professor Marnette received her licence in Romance Philology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles in 1991, her PhD in French (Linguistic track) from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996, and has been Professor of Medieval French Studies and the Dervorguilla Fellow and Tutor in French at Balliol since 2004.
This new and revised edition of Christian–Jewish Relations 1000–1300 expands its survey of medieval Christian–Jewish relations in England, Spain, France and Germany with new material on canon law, biblical exegesis and Christian–Jewish polemics, along with an updated Further Reading section. Prof Anna Sapir Abulafia’s balanced yet humane account analyses the theological, socio-economic and political services Jews were required to render to medieval Christendom. The nature of Jewish service varied greatly as Christian rulers struggled to reconcile the desire to profit from the presence of Jewish men and women in their lands with conflicting theological notions about Judaism. Jews meanwhile had to deal with the many competing authorities and interests in the localities in which they lived; their continued presence hinged on a fine balance between theology and pragmatism. The book examines the impact of the Crusades on Christian–Jewish relations and analyses how anti-Jewish libels were used to define relations. Making adept use of both Latin and Hebrew sources, Abulafia draws on liturgical and exegetical material, and narrative, polemical and legal sources, to give a vivid and accurate sense of how Christians interacted with Jews and Jews with Christians.
Memory B-cells and antibody are key providers of long-lived immunity against infectious disease. How chronic viral infection disrupts memory B-cells and antibody, and whether such changes are reversible through therapeutic intervention, remains unknown. Epigenetic programs establish the identity and function of B-cell subsets. We therefore set out to determine how antibody responses and memory B-cells are epigenetically altered by inflammatory signals during chronic viral infection, using single-cell resolution of the transcriptome and chromatin landscape. Using this system, our study revealed that type-I interferon (IFN-I) dynamics are a key determinant in shaping chronic memory B-cell development in vivo. We further identified the histone modifier BMI-1 as a key target to correct dysregulated antibody responses during chronic viral infection and autoimmunity. Collectively, our research identifies key mechanisms to instruct antibody and memory B-cell identity during viral infection, thus laying the foundation for improving therapeutic interventions in chronic infectious disease.
Why do ever more of us find it so hard to find a good balance between life and work? The dramatic rise of work-related suffering is clearly not the problem of just a handful of people who are bad at time management. When over 50% of us declare that we are always or often exhausted or stressed, something else is going on. Significant numbers report feeling overwhelmed (43%), irritable (34%), lonely (33%), depressed (32%), and even angry (27%) (Deloitte Wellbeing at Work Survey, 2023). Workforce well-being has also dramatically declined in academia in the last years. Most personal development experts view this problem through the lens of individual psychology: They encourage us to strengthen our resilience, cultivate Stoicism, subscribe to various productivity enhancement regimes or time-management hacks, tame our perfectionism, and disempower our inner critics. All of this can and does help, but only to a certain degree. Given that over half of us struggle with the task of working (and living) well, this is not just a personal but also a systemic problem. In this seminar, I explore some of the deeper cultural reasons for why we are all so burnt out. I also offer some practical, actionable advice on what we can do about our exhaustion and how we can re-learn how to thrive. Key take-aways: - Understanding not just individual-psychological but also some of the wider cultural and historical reasons for why so many of us are burnt-out. - An enhanced awareness of which stressors are and which ones are not under our control. - Some practical tips for how we can better manage our exhaustion and relearn how to thrive.
The Oxford Replication Games is a one-day event bringing people together to collaborate on replicating papers in high ranking political science and economics journals. Replication is a crucial aspect of scientific research, ensuring that results are reliable and reproducible. By participating in the event, you will contribute to the integrity of research while having the opportunity to meet fellow researchers and develop your coding skills. The event is sponsored by the Institute for Replication: Institute for Replication (i4replication.org). Participants can register on their own, in which case they will be assigned to a small team of 2-5 people with similar research interests, or they can register as a pre-arranged team. A study from a leading journal will then be assigned to each team. Teams may either conduct a robustness replication by duplicating the prior study using the same data but different procedures than were originally used, or they may recode the study using the raw or intermediate data. All participants will be granted co-authorship to a meta-paper combining a large number of replications.
*Join cellist Natalie Clein, author Kate Kennedy, and composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad for the premiere of ‘Cello: A Journey Through Silence to Sound’.* The performance is to celebrate the publication of Kate Kennedy’s new book _Cello: A Journey Through Silence to Sound_ (published by Bloomsbury on 15 August). Directed by Tom Morris (War Horse) and performed by Natalie Clein and Kate Kennedy, Bach cello suite no. 2 will be blended with spoken word and visuals, to frame a world premiere of a cello suite by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, inspired by the book. *_This is a paid, ticketed event that is open to all._*
This hybrid workshop will address unresolved questions about the identity of Parthian art and its complex relationship with the classical tradition. Ranging from the origins of the Arsacid dynasty in the 3rd century BC to the emergence of a new visual culture under Sasanian rule in the 3rd century AD, this workshop will bring together a panel of international experts to consider how Parthian art connected with the art traditions of Hellenistic Asia and the Roman Empire. We will consider different media, including sculpture, coins, and luxury art, and use recent discoveries and fresh research to cast new light on old problems, including the issue of whether Parthian art even existed as a coherent phenomenon.
This hybrid workshop will address unresolved questions about the identity of Parthian art and its complex relationship with the classical tradition. Ranging from the origins of the Arsacid dynasty in the 3rd century BC to the emergence of a new visual culture under Sasanian rule in the 3rd century AD, this workshop will bring together a panel of international experts to consider how Parthian art connected with the art traditions of Hellenistic Asia and the Roman Empire. We will consider different media, including sculpture, coins, and luxury art, and use recent discoveries and fresh research to cast new light on old problems, including the issue of whether Parthian art even existed as a coherent phenomenon.
Kieran Suchet from the IT Learning Centre will present on how to analyse your own digital skills (for postdocs and other research staff who are not students). The session will include a short Q&A. To join the event, please click "here":https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NGIwZTVjMjgtYTI5ZC00MTgxLWFkM2YtZGVmODQyN2M5NDM0%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22cc95de1b-97f5-4f93-b4ba-fe68b852cf91%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%221d2cf1ee-340b-4a81-b80d-39e44585f59b%22%7d Each PoPoH session covers: * a brief overview of career and training support available to postdocs and other research staff across the University * a 30-minute lecture by an expert on the session’s theme * a Career Chat where a Careers Adviser for Research Staff will address careers concerns and questions * ideas for simple things you can do now for your career and work/life balance
For our next talk, in the Digital Phenotyping seminar series, we will hear from Dr Matthew Brown, Technology Lead, Wellcome Trust, on Wednesday 9 October, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm, at the Big Data Institute (BDI). Title: A funders perspective on leveraging digital tools for science and health research Date: Wednesday, 9 October 2024 Time: 2:00 pm -3:00 pm Venue: BDI/OxPop, Seminar Room 0; followed by refreshments in the atrium Abstract: As a global funder, Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. Trustworthy digital tools and technologies offer a compelling opportunity to address many of the challenges we see, from modelling of climate-sensitive infectious disease to helping treat mental health problems. This talk will provide a funders perspective on this broad ecosystem. How does a funder consider supporting trustworthy digital tools and technologies to further its aims? What are specific examples where we see digital tools being developed to address challenges, and what needs to be done to realise their potential? Finally, what are the broader challenges we see that are shared across different fields of science and how can we help the community tackle them? Bio: Matthew is Head of Digital Technology for Discovery Research and Mental Health at the Wellcome Trust. He focuses specifically on shaping Wellcome’s portfolio of innovative, trustworthy digital tools and technologies that can advance research into mental health and the broader life sciences. Before Wellcome, he worked in neuroscience research for over 10 years as a PhD student (Oxford), postdoctoral researcher (Geneva) and Marie Curie Fellow (Imperial College) furthering our understanding of the basal ganglia and the dopamine system in the contexts of Parkinson’s disease, addiction and schizophrenia. Following a move to Wellcome, he has also helped to manage and shape the Wellcome’s neuroscience and mental health portfolio. Hybrid Option: Please note that these meetings are closed meetings and only open to members of the University of Oxford. Please respect our speakers and do not share the link with anyone outside of the University. The purpose of these seminars is to foster more communication among employees throughout the University, so we strongly advise in-person attendance whenever feasible. Microsoft Teams meeting Join the meeting now Meeting ID: 318 755 656 817 Passcode: 8Huhov ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you wish to know more or receive information related to trainings and events at BDI, please subscribe by emailing bdi-announce-subscribe@maillist.ox.ac.uk. You'll then receive an email from SYMPA and once you reply you'll be on the list!
Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine's diverse portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas—Oncology, Immunology, Neuroscience, Cardiovascular, Pulmonary Hypertension and Retina. They are continuously working to develop treatments, aspiring to find cures, pioneering the path from lab to life, and championing patients every step of the way.
There is an urgent need to monitor the mental health of large populations, especially during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, to timely identify the most at-risk subgroups and to design targeted prevention campaigns. We therefore developed and validated surveillance indicators related to suicidality: the monthly number of hospitalisations caused by suicide attempts and the prevalence among them of five known risks factors. They were automatically computed analysing the electronic health records of fifteen university hospitals of the Paris area, France, using natural language processing algorithms based on artificial intelligence. We evaluated the relevance of these indicators conducting a retrospective cohort study. Considering 2,911,920 records contained in a common data warehouse, we tested for changes after the pandemic outbreak in the slope of the monthly number of suicide attempts by conducting an interrupted time-series analysis. Our study demonstrates that textual clinical data collected in multiple hospitals can be jointly analysed to compute timely indicators describing mental health conditions of populations. Our findings also highlight the need to better take into account the violence imposed on women, especially at early ages and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Do you ever find yourself wondering how we came to exist? Or how humans came to call planet Earth our home? Join Tim Coulson – Professor of Zoology at the University of Oxford as he talks to Charles Godfray - Director of the Oxford Martin School – they will take you back to the beginning of everything: the Big Bang. From there, they will lead you through a 13.8-billion-year epic – a tale that culminates in the most astonishing thing we have yet encountered: the staggering complexity of the human mind. Covering physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, the emergence of life, evolution, consciousness and the rise of humankind, yet structured to be understood by anyone with a child’s curiosity, this talk will take the biggest story of all and tell it simply, grippingly and, above all, entertainingly. It is the history of you, me and everything – of how we all came to be. In short, it is the greatest story ever told. The talk will be followed by a drinks reception and book signing. Register to attend in-person: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/events/universal-history-of-us Register to watch online: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/universal-history-of-us
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With the rapid development of AI and biotechnologies come vast powers to reshape ourselves and the natural world. Whether it is about human-animal chimeras, CRISPR-CAS9, mass automation, or brain-computer interfaces, there exists an urgent need for broad societal discussions to help chart a responsible path forward. As technological advances grant us new powers, so do they blur some boundaries between humans, animals, and machines, prodding us to ask the question: what does it mean to be human? The Biotechnologies, Artificial Intelligence, and Human Identity Conference brings together scholars from across disciplines to assess the right uses of AI and biotechnologies. In the medical and healthcare context, these technologies have the potential to help persons with a wide range of physical disabilities. It is likely that medicine and healthcare will be among the first fields of application of such technologies. But some suggest their use can be extended well beyond therapeutic interventions. Through these technologies, the boundaries between therapies and enhancement become blurred and the power to alter fundamental aspects of human nature and human relationships is increased. For instance, we could potentially control the emotions or physical actions of another person via an implant in our brain and in their own. Or control the pleasure centres in our own brains. It may not also be clear who has primary agency when it comes to a particular act or decision. We might be able to heighten our own alertness and awareness and increase other capacities. And so on. With the potential for what some might consider the misuse of these technologies, how do they challenge traditional views on human nature? And conversely, how proposed, shared aspects of our humanity ought to shape personal, societal, and governmental positions on the right uses of biotechnologies and AI? By considering what it means to be human, we believe we can foster more substantial and productive debates and encourage broader societal involvement in these debates. These are matters for the whole human family, as they relate to our very nature as human beings, as well as our place within the natural order. Detailed program to follow. Convenors: Andrew Moeller, Faculty of History; Alberto Giubilini, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. Contact: alberto.giubilini@philosophy.ox.ac.uk Supported by Medical Humanities – TORCH; Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics; Boundaries of Humanites Project at Stanford University
Are you baffled by open, confused by embargoes? Does the mention of the colour gold or green catapult you into a realm of perplexed irritation? Come to this session, where we’ll break down open access and all its many jargon terms, confusing publishing structures and hint at the advantages you can reap by publishing open. We’ll cover: what is open access? key terms – Gold, Green, Article Processing Charges; where to get more information and help; where to look for open access material; and useful tools to assist you in publishing open access. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
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_How the World Made the West: A 4,000-year History_ (2024) debunks the myth of the modern West as a self-made miracle with local roots, an idea that erases a much bigger story of the emergence of modern European culture through contact and exchange, journeys and relationships, trade, sex and war. This entangled world, I argued, was largely lost to the nineteenth-century notion of ‘civilizations’, the idea of distinct cultures associated with particular places that emerge, flourish, and then decline largely alone. This lecture traces the gradual emergence of what I call ‘civilizational thinking’ in the West in the maps of the world people make there. *Josephine Quinn* is Professor of Ancient History at Oxford University. She trained at Oxford (BA) and UC Berkeley (MA, PhD), and has taught in the US, Italy, and the UK. She has held fellowships at the Getty Villa and the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. Her books include _In Search of the Phoenicians_ (2018) and _How the World Made the West_ (2024), and she is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books. In January 2025 she will take up the Chair in Ancient History at Cambridge University.
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OSCI Symposium is an international event, unifying scientists and clinicians working in stem cells research in various fields of translational medicine. Event theme: "Stem Cells: From Mechanism to Therapy"
How can we help students to better understand complex global challenges and imagine alternative responses to them? Based on 20+ years of teaching in International Development and Anthropology in North America, New Zealand and the UK and a three-year research project at Sussex University where Anke is currently based, she has developed a critical-creative pedagogy that combines whole-person learning with creative design and arts methods, praxis and critical hope. In her talk, Anke will outline the contours of this pedagogy and share examples from her own pedagogical practice.
SeedWISE is a ground-breaking enterprise program meticulously crafted to cater to the unique needs of women* DPhil students in STEM fields. We believe that your aspirations deserve the utmost nurturing and support, and that's exactly what we're here to provide. Our 6-week program is designed with your busy research schedule in mind, offering a dynamic blend of online and in-person learning opportunities. This flexibility ensures that you can seamlessly integrate SeedWISE into your academic life. *We also welcome non-binary people who are comfortable in a space that will discuss women focused experiences.
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There are a multitude of reasons to be optimistic about the future; the third annual Rhodes Forum on Technology & Society will bring together visionaries from the realms of science, technology, arts, and social innovation to discuss ground-breaking developments that paint a hopeful picture of tomorrow. Through a series of keynotes, panel talks, and interactive sessions, the Forum will delve into the profound impacts of technology on society, and empower participants to explore, debate, and forge pathways toward a future where technology enhances societal well-being and global sustainability. Join us at Rhodes House, Oxford or online on 2 November to hear how: - cutting-edge technology can transform infrastructure and public spaces to create environments that are not only more efficient but also more inclusive and participatory. - rising life expectancy in wealthier nations impacts social systems such as healthcare and pensions, requiring significant shifts in workforce strategies and elder care solutions. - the rise of commercial activity in space can help equitably and sustainably manage and conserve Earth’s resources. - AI can be a tool to empower people to build more productive and meaningful lives, rather than a threat to livelihoods. Find out more about our fantastic speakers - https://events.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/rts24/pages/speakers
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This free one-day conference will explore a number of aspects of Digital Theology. Spearkers are: Beth Singler, Jonas Kurlberg, Calida Chu, Victoria Turner, Steve Holmes, Tim Hutchings, Chirs Goswami and Nathan McGuire
Create content for your teaching or research with greater confidence by attending our session on Creative Commons (CC) licences. Learn how they work, how they interact with copyright and how to use them to best effect. The session will make special reference to images but is applicable to all media, including written works. The workshop is classroom-based. In this playful, interactive face-to-face session we will cover: what Creative Commons Licences are; where to find Creative Commons material; how to apply Creative Commons to your own work; and how to reuse Creative Commons materials. We’ll finish the session with a Creative Commons card game. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
No biological system involves a single cell functioning in isolation. Almost all consist of highly connected networks of interacting individuals, which respond and adapt differently to signals and conditions within their local microenvironment. For example, human tissues and their cancers contain mosaics of genetic clones, and the transcriptomic and metabolic profiles from genetically identical cells are also highly heterogeneous. As the full extent of multi-cellular heterogeneity is revealed by recent experimental advances, computational and mathematical modelling can begin to provide a quantitative framework for understanding its biological implications. In this talk, I will describe some functional aspects of multi-cellular heterogeneity and explore the consequences for human health and disease.
In this online interactive workshop, you will learn how to create an effective search query and have the opportunity to try out a range of tools that you can use to search for scholarly materials to support your research. You will: learn how to find books and other scholarly items in Oxford libraries using SOLO; search for journal articles using subject databases and scholarly search engines; and be signposted towards learning materials you can use if you are interested in searching for conference proceedings, theses and dissertations. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
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This workshop will introduce participants to the key catalogues and finding aids for post-1800 archives and manuscripts at the Bodleian Libraries. In particular the session will focus on Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts, the online catalogue for post-1800 archives and manuscripts. The session will also briefly introduce some of the major UK online gateways for discovering archives. The topics covered include: how to use the Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts online catalogue; other printed archive catalogues in the Bodleian Libraries; major subject areas covered in Bodleian archives and modern manuscripts; and National archive gateways. The workshop will include a question and answer session with Bodleian archivists. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
This year’s Thomas Harriot lecture will be given by *Dr Annaleigh Margey*, Head of Humanities at Dundalk Institute of Technology. It will be followed by an informal drinks reception, also in the Champneys Room, at 18:00. Dr Margey’s lecture will be on “Thomas Harriot, Cartography, and Ireland”. It will explore Harriot’s time, especially his cartography output, in Munster. In doing so, it will seek to situate Harriot’s contributions in the wider context of surveying and mapping in sixteenth-century Ireland, focusing in particular on mapping for military subjugation, the reconnaissance of lands, and the establishment of plantation. All welcome! For further details, contact Professor Robert Fox at "$":mailto:robert.fox@history.ox.ac.uk or Mrs Rebecca Bricklebank at "$":mailto:rebecca.bricklebank@oriel.ox.ac.uk
We consider a system of interacting particles as a model for a foraging ant colony, where each ant is represented as an active Brownian particle. The interactions among ants are mediated through chemotaxis, aligning their orientations with the upward gradient of a pheromone field. Unlike conventional models, our study introduces a parameter that enables the reproduction of two distinctive behaviours: the conventional Keller-Segel aggregation and the formation of travelling clusters without relying on external constraints such as food sources or nests. We consider the associated mean-field limit of this system and establish the analytical and numerical foundations for understanding these particle behaviours.
Are you baffled by open, confused by embargoes? Does the mention of the colour gold or green catapult you into a realm of perplexed irritation? Come to this session, where we’ll break down open access and all its many jargon terms, confusing publishing structures and hint at the advantages you can reap by publishing open. We’ll cover: what is open access? key terms – Gold, Green, Article Processing Charges; where to get more information and help; where to look for open access material; and useful tools to assist you in publishing open access. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Professor Helen Byrne: Understanding form and function in vascular tumours Professor Irina Udalova & Barbora Schonfeldova: Mechano-osmotic sensing drives the replenishment and function of meniscus-associated macrophages
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The second in a duo of courses (attendees should attend the Fundamentals course prior to Logistics) that will cover the logistics of researching, publishing, and locating open scholarship resources and tools at the University of Oxford. Subjects include: what is the Oxford University Research Archive; depositing work into ORA via Symplectic Elements; depositing data into ORA-data; applying for one of Oxford’s APC block grants; registering or connecting your ORCID; how to be included in the rights retention pilot; and locating and checking funder policies. Ideally the 'Fundamentals of Open Access' course will have been attended. If you’re not in a position to attend this course you can find similar information in our e-learning package to work through prior to attending Logistics. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
The innovative upcycling of discarded biomass and littered non-recyclable plastic waste has garnered significant interest for its potential to address sustainability challenges. This seminar will cover the extraction and purification methods of polysaccharides from food processing waste. It will also explore the functionalisation of these polysaccharides and their nanomaterials through chemical modification or blending with other materials, highlighting their potential applications in fields such as dentistry, catalysis, and wastewater treatment. Special emphasis will be placed on chitinous biomass recovered from mushroom cultivations, seafood restaurants, and insect farms. Additionally, the seminar will delve into the novel approach of carbonising non-recyclable plastic waste, such as cigarette filters, to produce hard carbons for alkali-ion batteries. Finally, the sustainability and economic aspects of using discarded biomass and littered non-recyclable plastics as feedstocks for functional materials will be discussed. The goal of the seminar is to provide insights and future trends into how natural and synthetic waste can be transformed into valuable resources through the development of functional materials, thereby contributing to a more sustainable and circular economy.
During this forum speakers from Bodleian Open Scholarship Support and across Oxford will discuss current changes in the field of open scholarship. Including subjects like data, open access, open monographs, copyright and more. It is advised that attendees of the forum have previously attended the Fundamentals and Logistics courses to improve understanding. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
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*SAVE THE DATE!* Are you interested in LGBTQ+ history? Do you want to be part of an informal collective research effort? Join a group of volunteers at the LGBTQ+ History Hackathon to help locate historical resources for an LGBTQ+ history online research guide. *Everybody is welcome!* After a brief training session on advanced Google searches, you will work individually or in small groups to identify research resources (databases, archives, websites, etc.) on a particular aspect of LGBTQ+ history. You will create brief descriptions for each resource which will then be added to the LibGuide in the course of 2024/5. We expect to spend up to 2 hours on the Hackathon with a tea/coffee break in between - and will celebrate our joint achievement at a drinks’ reception! You will be able to join in person in the History Faculty, George St, or remotely via Teams. *Watch out for further news when registration opens in Michaelmas Term.* This LGBTQ+ Hackathon follows the success of the Disability History Hackathon: https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/disability-history-resources/home *What will you get out of it?* * Discover research materials for LGBTQ+ history * Learn advanced Google search from a professional librarian * Network with other researchers * Join a community-led project to create an online guide for LGBTQ+ history *What do you need?* * An interest in, knowledge of and enthusiasm in LGBTQ+ resources, esp. for historical study. * If dialling in from remote: computer with Teams or Zoom, camera and microphone * If onsite: a laptop; ideally Eduroam wifi account (wifi access can be provided) This event is organised in liaison with the History Faculty who will be hosting it. Thanks go to especially Matt Cook and Sloan Mahone. Information can be found here: https://libguides.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/history/lgbtq-hackathon-2024
Psychiatry is in need of tools to improve personalised treatment given the high rates of adverse drug reactions and generally low remission rates. Here, I discuss how pharmaco-genetics approaches have elucidated that some treatment outcomes in severe psychiatric disorders are associated with polygenic risk profiles. I also give examples of real-world epidemiological approches that have potential to curtail risks of psychotropic mediation use and improve response rates. Finally, I summarise some of the insights Mendelian Randomisation studies conducted at my lab have provided. Overall, the aim of the talk is to critically appraise the hypothesis that more personalised prescribing is possible in psychiatry. I look forward to critical thoughts, suggestions, lively discussions, and possible future collaborations. Zoom link to be shared.
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Advances in spatial profiling technologies are providing insights into how molecular programs are influenced by local signalling and environmental cues. However, cell fate specification and tissue patterning involve the interplay of biochemical and mechanical feedback. Here, we propose a new computational framework that enables the joint statistical analysis of transcriptional and mechanical signals in the context of spatial transcriptomics. To illustrate the application and utility of the approach, we use spatial transcriptomics data from the developing mouse embryo to infer the forces acting on individual cells, and use these results to identify mechanical, morphometric, and gene expression signatures that are predictive of tissue compartment boundaries. In addition, we use geoadditive structural equation modelling to identify gene modules that predict the mechanical behaviour of cells in an unbiased manner. This computational framework is easily generalized to other spatial profiling contexts, providing a generic scheme for exploring the interplay of biomolecular and mechanical cues in tissues.
Are you baffled by open, confused by embargoes? Does the mention of the colour gold or green catapult you into a realm of perplexed irritation? Come to this session, where we’ll break down open access and all its many jargon terms, confusing publishing structures and hint at the advantages you can reap by publishing open. We’ll cover: what is open access? key terms – Gold, Green, Article Processing Charges; where to get more information and help; where to look for open access material; and useful tools to assist you in publishing open access. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Are you baffled by open, confused by embargoes? Does the mention of the colour gold or green catapult you into a realm of perplexed irritation? Come to this session, where we’ll break down open access and all its many jargon terms, confusing publishing structures and hint at the advantages you can reap by publishing open. We’ll cover: what is open access? key terms – Gold, Green, Article Processing Charges; where to get more information and help; where to look for open access material; and useful tools to assist you in publishing open access. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
In this online interactive workshop, you will learn how to create an effective search query and have the opportunity to try out a range of tools that you can use to search for scholarly materials to support your research. You will: learn how to find books and other scholarly items in Oxford libraries using SOLO; search for journal articles using subject databases and scholarly search engines; and be signposted towards learning materials you can use if you are interested in searching for conference proceedings, theses and dissertations. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Create content for your teaching or research with greater confidence by attending our session on Creative Commons (CC) licences. Learn how they work, how they interact with copyright and how to use them to best effect. The session will make special reference to images but is applicable to all media, including written works. The workshop is classroom-based. In this playful, interactive face-to-face session we will cover: what Creative Commons Licences are; where to find Creative Commons material; how to apply Creative Commons to your own work; and how to reuse Creative Commons materials. We’ll finish the session with a Creative Commons card game. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
This talk explores how two false assumptions about values embedded in machine learning design might, if corrected, help technologists make progress on aligning machine outputs with human values. Can an AI be built that avoids these two mistakes? I sketch a possible design that is a hybrid of both machine learning and symbolic systems.
During this forum speakers from Bodleian Open Scholarship Support and across Oxford will discuss current changes in the field of open scholarship. Including subjects like data, open access, open monographs, copyright and more. It is advised that attendees of the forum have previously attended the Fundamentals and Logistics courses to improve understanding. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
2025 marks the 500th anniversary of the baptism of a group of believers in Zurich, soon dubbed ‘Anabaptists’ and persecuted for their convictions about discipleship, church and mission. Many British Baptists (and others) have been challenged and inspired by the Anabaptist vision during the past 40 years. This conference asks why and considers what this tradition might offer in various contexts in the 21st century. The conference is sponsored by the Centre for Baptist Studies, the Baptist Historical Society and the Centre for Anabaptist Studies.
In this online interactive workshop, you will learn how to create an effective search query and have the opportunity to try out a range of tools that you can use to search for scholarly materials to support your research. You will: learn how to find books and other scholarly items in Oxford libraries using SOLO; search for journal articles using subject databases and scholarly search engines; and be signposted towards learning materials you can use if you are interested in searching for conference proceedings, theses and dissertations. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
Create content for your teaching or research with greater confidence by attending our session on Creative Commons (CC) licences. Learn how they work, how they interact with copyright and how to use them to best effect. The session will make special reference to images but is applicable to all media, including written works. The workshop is classroom-based. In this playful, interactive face-to-face session we will cover: what Creative Commons Licences are; where to find Creative Commons material; how to apply Creative Commons to your own work; and how to reuse Creative Commons materials. We’ll finish the session with a Creative Commons card game. Intended audience: Oxford students, researchers and other staff.
