Oxford University

Supporting climate innovation in the 2025 Climate Change Challenge

Published

3 months ago

March 23, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Submissions are open for the Oxford Saïd Global Climate Change Challenge 2025, a competition in which students and teachers from around the world are invited to join forces in combatting the climate crisis.

The Climate Change Challenge, in partnership with Saïd Business School and the University of Oxford, aims to inspire high school students and teachers to apply their innovation, creativity, and problem-solving skills to generate unique solutions to tackle climate change—whether at a local, national, or global level.

Following the success of the 2024 competition—which received over 1,000 entries from more than 58 countries—we are proud to be continuing our support for the Climate Change Challenge and its encouragement of climate education, innovation, and action.

As we mark Earth Day 2025, we are committed to educating students on climate change, as well as reducing our impact on the climate and nature from our own operations. Last year we announced our aim to reach net zero by 2050, and have detailed our progress against our other sustainability goals in our most recent Responsible Publishing Report.

The Climate Change Challenge welcomes student and teacher submissions, asking them to respond to one of five key climate change challenges:

Air pollution: caused by industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and other pollutants, and can lead to respiratory problems and severe health issues

Extreme weather events: how communities can prepare for and respond to the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes, droughts, and heatwaves

Food security: climate change threatens agriculture and food production, making it harder to feed a growing population

Water scarcity: adverse effects on water availability can lead to droughts in some regions and flooding in others

Biodiversity: as ecosystems face unprecedented threats due to climate change, biodiversity conservation is essential to sustaining life on Earth.

Finalists from the student competition will have the opportunity to present their projects at Saïd Business School in Oxford, and the finalists of the teacher competition will present at COP30 in Brazil in November 2025. Overall winners will attend a tailored climate change programme at Saïd Business School in spring 2026.

Submissions are now open and will close at 23:59 GMT on 30 June 2025. You can find out more information and enter the Climate Change Challenge here.

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Oxford University

Publishing our 500th open access book

Published

2 days ago

June 19, 2026

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Editors also point to how open access can shape the longer arc of scholarship. Steven C. van den Heuvel, Professor of Systematic Theology at Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, shared an early sign of impact for The Oxford Compendium of Hope.

“Quantitatively, we can see that, despite it has been out only for a few months, it was already downloaded close to 8,000 times.”

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Oxford University

New research shows teenagers are divided over AI use for schoolwork

Published

2 weeks ago

June 9, 2026

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According to findings in our new research exploring pupils’ perspectives on the role of AI in classrooms, teenagers are unclear over appropriate use of AI in their schoolwork.

We conducted research with almost 4,000 13-18-year-olds across the UK, revealing the different approaches that young people take to using AI in their schoolwork, and what roles they see AI playing education—both for them and their teachers.

The report follows on from research we published in 2025, which was one of the first pieces of UK research to hear directly from young people regarding their views on AI in education.

Some of our key findings:

Appropriate use of AI is a grey area

While only four in 10 (44%) think it is cheating to use AI to complete all of their homework, almost one in five also think it is cheating to simply ask any AI tool to give them homework tips.

Students are calling for more support from schools

Just 15% of students stated they have been given enough guidance.

77% would like to see their teachers use AI to support their class in lessons

Key areas include using AI to make complex work easier to understand and lesson planning.

Pupils emphasize their teacher’s unique value

73% pointed to a skill their teacher has which AI can never replace, such as personability, empathy, and human understanding.

Using AI in written tasks

In our qualitative studies, students were asked to complete a simple written exercise and offered the choice of using a generative AI tool if they wished. Of those who had access to AI, almost three quarters (72%) decided not to use it. Of those who didn’t have access, less than a quarter (23%) said they would have liked to have used an AI tool if they had been able to do so.

Young people do not use AI as a default for homework

The qualitative studies mirror survey findings, which highlight that young people do not use AI as a default for their homework, with only one in four (24%) regularly seeking out AI tools. Furthermore, one in three (34%) only use AI tools to help with their homework if suggested by their teachers compared to just 13% who are influenced by their friends.

Students are more excited than worried over impact of AI on their education

Four in 10 students (39%) are more excited than worried about the impact of AI on their education, compared to 16% who said they were more concerned and less than one in three (30%) who felt neither way.

What helps students learn more effectively when using AI?

When asked what helps them learn more effectively when using AI, the majority expressed preferences for AI tools that suggested tasks they can do to help them understand the subject better (44%) or asked them questions to help them reach the answer on their own (41%), compared to just one in five wanting an AI tool to give them the answer straight away.

Dr Alexandra Tomescu

Head of Product AI

“Whilst the research highlights that the appropriate use of AI is still a grey area for students, it’s reassuring to see young people’s sophisticated attitude towards AI. Both the research and qualitative studies show AI is not necessarily a default for all students, and despite being excited about its impact on their education they still inherently value the role of their teachers and look to their school for guidance. It’s vital therefore that we support teachers with the resources and tools they need to responsibly guide their pupils and harness AI’s potential in the classroom.”

Read the full report on Navigating AI in Education here, and find out more about our updated AI resources and guidance here.

The post New research shows teenagers are divided over AI use for schoolwork appeared first on Oxford University Press.

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Oxford University

Oxford Law Pro wins Gold for two SSP EPIC Awards

Published

3 weeks ago

June 2, 2026

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We have been recognised with two awards at the 2026 Society of Scholarly Publishing (SSP) EPIC Awards Celebration, held on 28 May in California.

Oxford Law Pro, our knowledge resource for legal professionals and researchers, has won Gold in two categories: Hosting Platform Features and Branding.

The Excellence in Publishing, Information Technology, & Communications (EPIC) Awards celebrate the remarkable achievements of individuals and teams who are advancing scholarly publishing through creativity, collaboration, and innovation. The Hosting Platform Features category highlights technical innovations that improve how scholarly content is hosted, accessed, and experienced, while the Branding category recognizes outstanding efforts to build and maintain a strong brand identity in scholarly publishing.

Mirkka Jokelainen, Product Portfolio Manager, said:

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see Oxford Law Pro recognised across both platform innovation and branding. These awards reflect the collaboration and commitment of colleagues across OUP and our work with Silverchair and Baxter & Bailey. Our shared focus was to deliver real value to legal researchers and professionals.From the AI Research Assistant through to the product’s identity and positioning, the goal was to create something that is both highly functional and clearly signals what is unique about what OUP can offer. The SSP EPIC Gold Awards celebrate this work.”

About the platform

Launched last year, Oxford Law Pro brings together more than 9,000 journal articles and over 600 award-winning, peer-reviewed books from our portfolio of authoritative and timely legal analysis, all on our Oxford Academic platform.

Oxford Law Pro is powered by a conversational AI research assistant, developed with Silverchair, making legal research more efficient without compromising on accuracy. Unlike generic AI search tools, Oxford Law Pro employs retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) frameworks specifically tuned for legal content, ensuring responses are grounded exclusively in OUP’s authoritative materials.

The platform equips legal professionals with tools that match the realities of modern practice, and by reducing time spent on initial source identification, the AI assistant allows them to allocate more time to substantive analysis, strategic thinking, and client service.

For many years, we have served the academic market with legal research materials, developing a reputation for publishing the highest quality research from globally respected authors. Oxford Law Pro delivers this content in a way that’s designed for legal professionals’ needs. Backed by our research and workshops, a process supported by legal technology expert Jenifer Swallow, we developed product branding and messaging to both reflect our established reputation and resonate with practitioners who may not have encountered OUP before.

We worked with design agency Baxter & Bailey to develop a strong, modern visual identity, messaging, and a suite of imagery to bring Oxford Law Pro alive. Congratulations to all involved for this industry recognition.

Find out more about Oxford Law Pro.

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