How have educators worldwide innovated to reduce existing inequalities made worse by the pandemic? The pandemic has created chaos in many education systems across the world, deepening the problems faced by disadvantaged children and young people. There are signs, however, that the creativity and innovation displayed by teachers in connecting with their students during this time hold out hope for a better educational future.
Questions remain on the future role of trees in reducing carbon from the atmosphere. How can we predict the fate of forests? Scientists are faced with major questions about how much carbon the planet’s trees will be able to store in the future. Will they take up more out of the atmosphere as CO2 levels rise? Or could they be overwhelmed by their changing environment? Academics from the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research are investigating.
How can we assess the water pollution crisis threatening the health of India’s holiest river and the people inhabiting its catchment? Since the earliest known times, the Ganga has represented a sacred force to the people drawing their lifeblood from its waters, however many factors critically affect its water quality including agricultural, industrial and domestic pollution - factors contributing to microplastic contamination.
How can anti-doping organisations use morality to influence athletes? Sports psychologists are researching the effectiveness of moral interventions in reducing doping likeliness.
How can we strengthen anti-racism measures in universities? UK universities are often taking tokenistic measures and failing to confront their complicity in racial injustice, argues Professor Kalwant Bhopal.
How can we help patients with DNA repair deficiency syndrome? Whilst ‘rare’ there are over 7,000 different rare human diseases, of which 80% have a genetic basis. The majority have no effective treatment.
Professor Carolyn Greig discusses the challenges of population ageing in low and middle-income countries
Dr Rebekah Lucas highlights the prevalence of a deadly disease affecting sugarcane workers in Nicaragua
Professor Karen Yeung discusses how the law has been sidelined in the debates surrounding the ethics of AI
Professor Michaela Mahlberg discusses how the CLiC Dickens project had led to renewed interest into literary classics
Professor David Hudson discusses how NGOs and governments can improve public engagement with development aid
Dr Chris McConville discusses how a new drug delivery device is improving therapeutic outcomes for patients
How can we protect the health of people working in extreme temperatures? Increasing global temperatures and water shortages are two of the biggest climate change challenges facing the world, but the potentially deadly impacts of extreme heat on human health are already being felt in parts of the world.
What can history teach us about monocultures and food security in the 21st century? It is widely accepted that monoculture creates many environmental, social and economic issues and may even reduce food security, yet the world carries on producing our food in this way.
How are power imbalances threatening sustainable livelihoods for millions of people? Whilst international guidance on how to develop and maintain nature-based solutions, such as landscape restoration, recognises the need for involvement of local communities, lessons must be learnt from past approaches.
How can we modernise rail networks without disrupting passengers? Rail researchers are driving improvements in networks around the world through digital systems innovation.
How can we develop the next generation of rail vehicles to deliver on decarbonisation? Researchers are working to integrate hydrogen and battery power to the country’s rolling stock to meet the government’s ambitious decarbonisation targets.
How can we redesign polymers to create a sustainable plastic economy? Is trying to eliminate our use of plastics to nothing a dangerous fantasy that could cause significant economic and societal damage?