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Our research impact

Woman at a climate protest

Research at the University of Southampton is addressing some of the most challenging issues facing society. From improving cancer treatments to optimising renewable energy and fighting COVID-19. Discover how our research is changing the world for the better.

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A Black man writes on a notepad as he stands outside, a blue sky and a bridge behind

Uncovering the importance of mentoring in supporting young writers

Culture and creativity
The Romantic myth of the lone poet has dominated our understanding of creative practice. Yet a collaborative project led by the University’s Will May has shown how mentors shape the work of contemporary poets
Istanbul skyline, including the famous Galata Tower, with birds soaring above
22 February 2023

Giving young people the skills to challenge myths about history

Culture and creativity
Future societies and communities
Professor Jonathan Conlin teamed up with teachers to give students the skills to challenge popular historical myths about the 1923 Lausanne Treaty
An international student packs their bag, including their passport, to come to the UK
15 Feb 2023

Developing a new way to inform international student migration policy

Future societies and communities
Government statisticians needed help to find out if migration statistics were accurate. They turned to University researchers to carry out research on how many international students settle in the UK
An aerial shot of a UK town, with some signs economic fortunes are not strong such as underused spaces
8 Feb 2023

Getting policymakers to focus on England's left-behind towns

Future societies and communities
University experts have made the fortunes of coastal and former industrial towns easier to see. Thanks to research by professors Will Jennings and Gerry Stoker, data on towns is now routinely collected
A person is holding an ECG or Electrocardiogram result on a piece of paper. We see their hand holding it up.
2 Feb 2023

Discovering how to save cardiac patients' lives with deep learning

AI, big data and analytics
Health and wellbeing
University mathematics expert Alain Zemkoho had worked on optimising decisions in areas such as transport. PhD supervision led to him and his team developing a way cardiologists can use hours, not seconds, of data provided by heart activity tests.
A maths teacher writes on a white board and looks intently at the equations. We imagine he is in front of a classroom of pupils.
30 Jan 2023

Maximising teachers' ability to improve pupils' maths skills

Future societies and communities
Digital
Southampton education expert Professor Christian Bokhove is leading on a project to make high-quality mathematics textbooks available for teachers across the UK. The aim is to improve pupils’ maths scores to draw even with those achieved in other countries
An exterior view of HMS Victory docked at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
21 Nov 2022

Conserving maritime history

Culture and creativity
Engineering
Marine and maritime
Engineers at Southampton are working with the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) to help find the best materials to ensure Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, is weatherproof and watertight for the next half century.
A patient and Southampton student nurse smiling at each other in a hospital room, as the nurse takes the patient's blood pressure.
21 Nov 2022

Keeping patients safe in hospital

Health and wellbeing
Future societies and communities
Professor Peter Griffiths, Professor Jane Ball, Dr Jeremy Jones and their team have shaped the public debate around safe nurse staffing levels in hospitals, and informed clinical guidelines and legislation in the UK.
A close-up stock image of various ancient coins.
21 Nov 2022

Understanding our relationship with money

Culture and creativity
Future societies and communities
A research project led by Southampton is revealing how finance has been imagined and represented by art and other forms of visual culture over the last three centuries.
Professor Hugh Lewis sitting on the front bench of a lecture theatre as he consults his laptop. A graphic of satellites orbiting Earth is projected on the screen behind him.
21 Nov 2022

Sustainability at astronomical levels

Engineering
Environment, sustainability and clean growth
Space
A space research collaboration between the University and Astroscale UK Ltd has made considerable progress towards a safe and sustainable orbital environment.
A view of Earth from orbit, centred on the European continent.
14 Nov 2022

Life's survival depended on luck

Space
A recent study gives a new perspective on why our planet has managed to stay habitable for billions of years – concluding it is almost certainly due, at least in part, to luck.
Dr Devon Lewis standing by a football pitch as a player kicks the ball. Devon is holding an iPad that shows live data streamed from a wearable sensor.
14 Nov 2022

Muscle analytics for elite sports

Digital
Future societies and communities
Health and wellbeing
PhD Researcher Dr Devon Lewis is developing a new type of wearable muscle sensor to accelerate injury recovery and performance training in elite sports.
Professor Nullin Divecha working at a lab bench, surrounded by various containers and equipment.
14 Nov 2022

Supercharging your immune system

Health and wellbeing
Research led by Professor Nullin Divecha and his laboratory team has identified a way to boost the power of the human immune system to find and destroy cancer cells within the body.
A row of 5 memory crystals on stands, softly lit against a black background. They have been imprinted with copies of the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov.
14 Nov 2022

Fitting an entire library into the palm of your hand

AI, big data and analytics
Digital
Future societies and communities
Scientists at the Optoelectronics Research Centre have developed a digital data storage solution that can contain the complete history of human knowledge – and is able to survive for billions of years.
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