Research

In some ways, getting computers to understand language about particular technical domains (like, say, maths or logic) – is less challenging, because those domains do have a logical structure, which you can use to guide the understanding of the text.

I’m a strong advocate for teaching children second languages at the earliest possible ages, but we have to be careful how we implement it. In England, unfortunately, there tends to be very limited amounts of time devoted to foreign language instruction in schools.

Because the Oxford English Dictionary was based on examples of real usage it wasn't just a history of the language but a history of 'English' thoughts, history and lived experience over the course of the time that the language had been in existence and written down... a wonderful cultural as well as linguistic record.

'Our ability to acquire, understand and communicate language is unique compared to all other species... the fact a toddler can put words together into real sentences – it's extraordinary.'

'Morality (or ethics) is to do with how well people’s lives go, it’s not to do with some abstract relation between people – it’s not impersonal in that sense.'

'The single biggest surprise is the incredible importance of education to all the children, all the families, even to the children who are not always able to go to school. Education is the single thing that everybody cares about the most and everybody aspires to.'

Emma Cohen, Arran Davis and Jacob Taylor, from the University’s Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, carried out two experiments to look at how group exercise and social cohesion influence one another.

Working with the Chilean government and NGOs, Tonya Lander's team worked out how the genes of the endangered Gomortega keule (queule) tree can move. Their findings have changed how economically important pine plantations are planned and treated, in such a way that we don't lose this rare species.

The research shows pupils from most ethnic minority groups are now on average achieving GCSE results that are as good as or better than their white British peers.

Prof Eleanor Stride and her team are fighting cancer, one bubble at a time, the new technology she is researching means that drugs can find the exact point of the tumour to fight the disease.

According to the study, published in Pediatric Obesity, emotional support from grandparents may have a preventative effect against child obesity, even with the presence of other risk factors.

Immunocore is harnessing the body’s own immune cells to fight cancer. The biotechnology underpinning Immunocore is based on the science of founder Dr Bent Jakobsen, who led his own research team at Oxford’s Institute of Molecular Medicine until 2000.

Oxford University demographer John Haskey has charted the history of marriage since early Victorian times by analysing datasets looking at the manner of solemnisation and denomination in England and Wales.

Study author Professor Martin Seeleib-Kaiser, from the Oxford Institute of Social Policy, says one solution could be to set up an EU fund for helping local authorities most affected by immigration.

On the map, the size of each country is based on the absolute number of its internet users, while keeping the countries’ and continents’ shapes close to their true shape.

The researchers examined the proportion of children who experienced 'wasting', a widely used measure of malnutrition that shows a child has a lower than expected weight given their height (based on World Health Organization standards).

The Research Councils UK is showcasing an Oxford University project which uses mobile phone technology to transmit data on handpump use in rural Kenya. 

The Future-proofing Flats report identifies that one particular category of flats, older houses that have been converted into private flats, as the least energy efficient with the highest levels of damp.

The research, commissioned by the UK Government’s Department for Education, suggests that while children’s centres continue to be popular, almost half of the staff are dealing with families 'on social workers' books' who have complex needs and are increasingly the focus of their work.

Dr Oliver Owen’s five-year fieldwork study within the Nigerian Police Force is providing unique research evidence for reforms aimed at improving police performance, effectiveness and accountability.