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OxCal is the most popular software package world-wide for calibrating and analysing dates within the carbon dating process, enabling the accurate dating of objects from the past. The brainchild of Prof. Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Director of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU), OxCal is based on chronologies refined by the use of Bayesian statistical methods, and provides users with access to high-quality calibration of chronological data, now the basis for global chronologies. It is available online and free to download, and has played a highly significant role in establishing the ORAU as one of the pre-eminent international radiocarbon dating facilities. Funded by the NERC, and used widely within professional archaeology as well as other disciplines, OxCal has also played a key role in research projects (within Oxford and beyond) brought to the attention of the general public by the media.
York research on the responses of species to habitat fragmentation has led to a paradigm shift in the approach to conservation that has permeated non-governmental organisations (NGOs), governmental agencies and intergovernmental bodies; the traditional concept of protecting and managing populations of species in isolated reserves has largely been replaced by landscape-scale conservation strategies, which increase the long-term survival of species. This new approach is now accepted government policy and has altered practical land designation and management for conservation over millions of hectares in the UK, as well as affecting the strategies adopted by most global conservation organisations and countries in the world.
Research conducted by the Centre for the Study of Poverty and Social Justice (CSPSJ) led to a new way of assessing child poverty in developing countries. This novel method (termed the Bristol Approach) resulted in the United Nations General Assembly's adoption, for the first time, of an international definition of child poverty (2006). It also underpinned UNICEFs Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparities (2008-10), which was run in over 50 countries. In the last ten years, the CSPSJ's work has put child poverty at the centre of international social and public policy debates. Its researchers have advised governments and international agencies on devising anti-poverty strategies and programmes that specifically meet the needs of children, and have significantly influenced the way child poverty is studied around the world. The Centre has developed academic and professional training courses for organisations like UNICEF on the issues of children's rights and child-poverty. Our work has also spurred NGOs such as Save the Children to develop their own child-development indices, and so has had a direct and profound impact on the lives of poor children around the planet.
Reading research has led to changes in policies and activities of national and international organisations that support the development of smallholder agriculture, particularly those who focus on provision of climate and weather information. Over the 2008-2013 period, the research has resulted in improved understanding of farmers' perceptions and information needs together with the design and implementation of methods for providing climate information services that better reflect smallholders' requirements. The research has to date had impact on the policies and activities of organisations responsible for design and delivery of climate information and services in at least 10 countries in Africa and South Asia and benefited thousands of farmers.
Communicable diseases are a major health burden in the developing world. Early detection and accurate identification of infectious agents is key to their management. However, the complex procedures and logistics of current diagnostic tests often make them unsuitable for use in developing countries. Two technology platforms have been developed that have led to a new generation of simple and inexpensive rapid tests that can be applied in resource-limited settings. A spinout company was set up to allow translation of these platforms into new products. Three tests (Chlamydia, Hepatitis B and HIV) were launched since 2008, with test kits marketed, allowing patients to receive treatment for infections which would have previously gone unnoticed and untreated. The spinout company has raised >$30 million, of which >$20million is since 2008.
The University of Southampton has carried out a programme of research into transnational networks of migrants, especially musicians from African countries, and multicultural neighbourhoods across Europe. This has resulted in a series of popular multi-national arts events in Africa and Europe, involving artists numbering in the hundreds and audiences in the hundreds of thousands. These events have generated new independent cultural projects, leading to economic benefit for organisers and participants and to greater public awareness of migrant and mixed community issues.
Professor Stuart Harrop's advice has informed and underpinned the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (UNFAO) policy approach to `Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems' (GIAHS).
GIAHS are defined as `remarkable land use systems and landscapes which are rich in globally significant biological diversity evolving from the co-adaption of community with its environment and its needs and aspirations for sustainable development' see http://www.fao.org/giahs/giahs/en/. The UNFAO GIAHS project promotes and protects traditional agricultural systems to support food security/resilience strategies and preserve cultural and agro- and bio-diversity. Currently, there are GIAHS sites in Algeria, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Italy, Kenya, Japan, Madagascar, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Tanzania, Tunisia, USA, Vanuatu (further details at http://www.fao.org/giahs/giahs-sites/en/).
UNFAO requested Harrop to provide advice on the international law and policy that might support GIAHS. That advice continues to underpin the approach to the UNFAO's most recent work and meetings concerning GIAHS. In particular, Harrop's work has informed the UNFAO's decision not to engage in drafting an additional international legal framework. Instead, the organisation is using the existing legal arrangements to protect these land-use systems and landscapes.
Food Security is one of the major global challenges confronting mankind. The Birmingham Plant Genetic Resource Group's (PGR) research and its contribution to policy implementation are helping to secure food supplies, mitigate the impact of climate change and maintain consumer choice, thereby impacting governments, commercial breeders, farmers and the public alike. PGR research on the development and implementation of agrobiodiversity conservation strategies, specifically on crop wild relatives' (CWR) and landraces' (LR) in situ and ex situ conservation, has helped national and international agencies meet their convention and treaty obligations, and underpinned food security. Their work has provided the necessary scientific foundation for global, European and UK impact: assisting the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation establish a global network for CWR in situ conservation, the European Commission create an inventory of traditional crop varieties and the UK government inclusion of CWR and LR diversity in environmental stewardship schemes, actions taken on the basis of the group's advice.
The international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, due for completion in the next decade, will be the world's largest astronomical instrument. It will be built by international industry at a cost of over €2B. The larger part will be sited in Africa (9 countries) with a complementary part in Australia. The impact to mid-2013 is on: i) international science policy and priorities (€26M); ii) multi-faceted human capacity building in Africa (401 bursaries); iii) business and employment involved in the construction of two large-scale SKA "precursor" instruments in South Africa and Australia (over €150M with 800 jobs in South Africa); iv) the local north-west economy (over €5M) where a new limited company to coordinate the SKA's design and construction has been established at Jodrell Bank.
Events organised as part of the TNMUNDI research project in 2008 and 2009 set out to increase understanding of the processes and practices of migration among a range of audiences, including cultural practitioners, public policy representatives, school children and the general public. The research team focused on migrant musicians and their transnational networks through concerts and workshops held in Rabat and Southampton, demonstrating how transnational musicians create their professional networks and how, in turn, they use these to make positive contributions to the social and cultural well-being of nation-states inside and outside Europe. At both events, the researchers discussed the cultural and artistic impacts of transnational migration with representatives from educational and cultural institutions, NGOs, the media, the music industry and the artists themselves. As a result of the project, new professional and cultural networks have been formed and the researchers provided input to the development of European cultural policy.