The Open University
"We are very proud to have been awarded Employer Champion status from The Science Council. This award recognises that The Open University values its technical staff and the support they provide to our research and teaching and that it is committed to investing in their professional development and promotes professional registration." Professor Helen Sharp Associate Dean (Research & Scholarship)
The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning. Since it began in 1969, the OU has taught more than 1.8 million students and has almost 170,000 current students, including more than 15,000 overseas.
Over 70% of students are in full-time or part-time employment, and four out of five FTSE 100 companies have sponsored staff to take OU courses.
In the latest assessment exercise for university research (Research Excellence Framework, 2014), nearly three quarters (72%) of The Open University’s research was assessed as 4 or 3 star – the highest ratings available – and awarded to research that is world-leading or internationally excellent. The Open University is unique among UK universities having both an access mission and demonstrating research excellence.
The OU has a 42 year partnership with the BBC and has moved from late-night lectures in the 1970s to co-producing around 35 prime-time series a year such as The Hunt, Exodus: Our Journey to Europe, Full Steam Ahead and The Big C and Me on TV, and Inside Science, The Bottom Line and Thinking Allowed on Radio4. Our OU viewing and listening events attracted 250m people in the UK last year which prompted more than 780k visits to the OU’s free learning website, OpenLearn: www.open.edu/openlearn/
Regarded as the UK’s major e-learning institution, the OU is a world leader in developing technology to increase access to education on a global scale. Its vast ‘open content portfolio’ includes free study units, as well as games, videos and academic articles and has reached audiences of up to 9.8 million across a variety of online formats including OpenLearn, YouTube and iTunes U.
For further information please visit: www.open.ac.uk
The Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at The Open University is an Employer Champion and as such respects its Technical Team and values their vital contribution to the research and teaching programme. In association with the Science Council, STEM is committed to progressing the career development of its staff by supporting them in their continuing professional development and ensuring that their competency is recognised by promoting professional registration. Professional registration of our staff demonstrates to our clients and funders that we have a motivated, contemporary and continually improving team.