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A new animation has highlighted how The University of Manchester's research on microplastic pollution in rivers has helped to drive investigations into the behaviour of water companies, and the roles of regulators in tacking illegal activity.

People with an individual personal pension could retire with as little as half the value of a comparable group pension fund facilitated by an employer Last updated on Wednesday 22 September 2021 The absence of a third party protecting the interests of individual personal pensions means they perform worse than group personal pensions (GPP), according to new research from the University of Bath's School of Management.

With much of our time spent on online platforms, which are increasingly influential in people's daily lives, how they are regulated is becoming a vitally important issue. Now high-profile research conducted as part of the Arts & Humanities Research Council Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) and published today has analysed how eight government and parliamentary reports and inquiries over an 18-month period have highlighted and set the agenda for platform regulation.

Polling carried out in January 2021 by Portland Communications on behalf of the University of Birmingham has found that nearly four fifths (79%) of police officers in the UK believe that character and virtues is a central part of police training, in order to carry out their duties. The survey which was commissioned by the Jubilee Centre for Character and virtues also concluded that 76% of those interviewed agreed that the Covid-19 pandemic has made policing more complicated and challenging.

UofG-led new housing study says design quality of new homes across the UK remains "stubbornly low" The design quality of new homes and neighbourhoods across the UK remains stubbornly low, according to an in-depth study on the issue published today by a team led by the University of Glasgow. The report - Delivering design value: The housing design quality conundrum - which looked at all four UK nations, says new homes and neighbourhoods fail to meet the aspirations of the national planning policy statements in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Referendums on the future of the island of Ireland should only be held with a clear plan for what follows, according to an interim report from the Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland, set up by the UCL Constitution Unit. The report examines the legal rules for referendums north and south of the border, and assesses different ways of designing them based on criteria of procedural legitimacy, stability, simplicity, informed choice and inclusivity.

Referendums on the future of the island of Ireland should only be held with a clear plan for what follows, according to an interim report from the Working Group on Unification Referendums on the Island of Ireland, set up by the UCL Constitution Unit. The report examines the legal rules for referendums north and south of the border, and assesses different ways of designing them based on criteria of procedural legitimacy, stability, simplicity, informed choice and inclusivity.

Behavioural science should undergo rigorous testing and review before it informs public policy such as government responses to COVID-19, according to a paper in Nature Human Behaviour :  Use caution when applying behavioural science to policy . Professor  Andrew K. Przybyls ki, director of research at  Oxford's Internet Institute , is joint lead author of the paper, which recommends NASA's Technology Readiness levels be used to ensure new ideas are adequately tested before being adopted by governments and politicians.

Our ground breaking research has never been so critical during the Covid-19 pandemic. Amongst other things, we're helping to detect the virus, support people suffering from the effects of lockdown and understand how we could be better prepared if there was another pandemic. Here are five things our researchers have done to help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

National governments have a much greater responsibility for shipping emissions than previously estimated, finds new UCL-led research. Published today, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)'s fourth Green House Gas (GHG) study found that, on average, GHG emissions of global shipping are increasing and are expected to continue to increase under current policy, with emissions hitting an all-time high in 2017.

Two thirds of pavements in London are not wide enough for people to observe the government's advice to stay two metres apart, according to new UCL analysis. Looking at data for every street in Greater London, the researchers found that only 36% had pavements that were at least three metres wide - judged to be the minimum required for people to be able to keep their distance.

Public support for increased police powers relies heavily on trust and legitimacy, according to a new study by UCL and the London School of Economics (LSE). In the new paper, published in the British Journal of Criminology , the authors assessed the factors that matter most to the public when deciding if they support the police's use of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology.

The Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow - a major new COVID-19 testing facility based in Scotland - is now operational. The Lighthouse Lab, which officially started testing samples for COVID-19 this week, is part of what will be the biggest network of diagnostic testing facilities in British history, alongside other Lighthouse Lab sites in Milton Keynes and Alderley Park, which were opened in recent days.

Three Oxford-based COVID-19 projects are among the first to benefit from a share of £20 million in government investment. The three projects include work on an effective vaccine, enabling pre-clinical and clinical vaccine trials, as well as supporting researchers to develop manufacturing processes to produce a vaccine at a million-dose scale. Another project will examine how existing treatments could be repurposed to treat coronavirus.

People were less likely to catch either influenza or a common cold-causing rhinovirus if they were already infected with the other virus, a new study by scientists from the Medical Research Council-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research has found. Understanding how these distinct viruses inhibit each other could help public health planning to improve forecasting models that predict respiratory disease outbreaks and strategies for controlling disease spread, say the scientists.

An updated PolicyBristol briefing has revealed that people's health and safety have been greatly undervalued in the UK for the past 20 years. In the updated policy document , University of Bristol research shows that while opinion polls are not infallible, they are more accurate than the method used by the UK government to value human life.

Differences in cultural values have led some countries to tackle the spectre of cyber-attacks with increased internet regulation, whilst others have taken a 'hands-off' approach to online security - a new study shows. Internet users gravitate towards one of two 'poles' of social values. Risk-taking users are found in 'competitive' national cultures prompting heavy regulation, whilst web users in 'co-operative' nations exhibit less risky behaviour requiring lighter regulation.

Government leaders must set a good example to the business community if they want to eliminate corporate corruption, a new study reveals. Financial incentives and criminal punishment will not root out corrupt business practices, but a government culture of honesty, integrity and strong leadership could help to cure corruption.

Research investigating the effects of being alone on well-being is one of two Cardiff University projects to benefit from €3.38m funding from the European Research Council (ERC). Dr Netta Weinstein, from the School of Psychology, will receive €1.48m to investigate how people respond to solitude, at a time when more people are living alone.

The Scottish criminal justice process leaves those who have reported a rape or serious sexual assault feeling marginalised and with little control regardless of their case's outcome, a new study has found. Researchers from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research at the University of Glasgow interviewed victim-survivors who have navigated their way through the system to try and understand their 'justice journey'.