The tiny Heckford pygmy moth, named last April, is the Natural History Museum's species of the day today.

A puzzle of why some oily whale bones make great habitats for weird and wonderful deep-sea creatures has been solved by Natural History Museum scientists this month.

A unique collection of more than 45,000 weevils has arrived at the Natural History Museum and some are on display from today.

How you can help the Pakistan Floods Appeal

Woolly mammoths died out because climate change caused a massive decline in their grassland habitat. This research along with research at the Natural History Museum is part of a broader collaboration of organisations looking at what caused the extinctions of the large ice age animals or megafauna.

Two of the Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year images are revealed today

The mystery of why a group of deep sea fishes has a gap between their skull and spine has been solved by an international team of scientists, including those at the Natural History Museum.

Ancient human relatives (hominins) used stone tools to help them eat animals more than 3 million years ago. Natural History Museum's Chris Stringer comments.

A rare reddish-orange coloured North American lobster has been spotted in the UK and was brought to the Natural History Museum.

A rare angel shark (Squatina squatina) caught off Porthcawl in the Bristol Channel and transported to Plymouth Fish Market, has been brought to the Natural History Museum this week.

Organised by the Natural History Museum, the Young Darwin Prize is looking for environmental correspondents of the future.

Based on the great new book, Big Bugs Life-size by Natural History Museum scientist George Beccaloni, the Big Bugs exhibition includes some of the record-breaking specimens featured in the book.

The Natural History Museum’s Identification and Advisory Service (IAS) has not had many flying ant enquiries from the public this year. Although, the few they have had, have reported much more spectacular swarms than usual.

Now is the time to see the impressive adult stag beetles in flight. The Natural History Museum's Identification Advisory Service (IAS) has had its first enquiries of the year.

Help scientists at the Natural History Museum with one of the biggest ever urban tree surveys in the UK.

The Open University is in the top three places for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK for student satisfaction, maintaining its position at the forefront of the National Student Survey ratings since they began in 2005. Over 30,000 OU students were surveyed – the sample size more than trebling since last year's survey - with 93% saying they were satisfied overall with the quality of their course.

Will Swann, Director, Students at The Open University, said: “The OU places a huge emphasis on student support and course development, using the latest technologies and educational practices. I am delighted that this continual focus on the individual learning experience has meant that students continue to rate their OU experiences so highly, and that the OU has maintained a leading position in this table.”

A total of 152 HEIs and 113 Further Education Colleges from across the UK took part in the survey.

ENDS

Notes to editors
1. 30,351 OU students were surveyed in this year's National Student Survey. In 2009, 9118 OU students were surveyed.
2. The National Student Survey results are available on www.unistats.com from 18 August 2010
3. About The Open University
The Open University (OU) is the largest higher education institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning. Since it began in 1969, the OU has taught more than 1.5 million students and has more than 250,000 current students, including 20,000 overseas, learning in their own time using course materials, online activities and content, web-based forums and tutorials and through tutor groups and residential schools.

The OU has been highly rated for teaching quality, and has been at the top of student satisfaction rankings in the National Student Survey since it was introduced in 2005. 70% of students are in full-time or part-time employment, and three out of four FTSE 100 companies have sponsored staff to take OU courses.

The OU supports a vibrant research portfolio and in the UK's latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008), the University climbed 23 places to 43rd, securing a place in the UK's top 50 higher education institutions

Regarded as Britain'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 on OpenLearn, which has had more than 12.8 million unique visitors, and materials on iTunes U, which has recorded 22.5 million downloads. The OU has a 40 year partnership with the BBC which has moved from late-night lectures in the 1970s to prime-time programmes such as Life, Coast, James May's Big Ideas and The Money Programme.

Visit www.open.ac.uk

Ancient humans lived in Britain more than 800,000 years ago, making them the earliest northern Europeans, Natural History Museum, London, scientists report in the journal Nature today.

With the discovery of an extinct big-toothed sperm whale, this week has been a good one for fossil hunters and experts, who are meeting at the International Palaeontological Congress (IPC) at the Natural History Museum until Saturday.

A whole new generation is joining the 39% of UK students who choose to study part-time¹. Over 29,000 of Open University students are now under 25, making up 1 in 4 of all OU new undergraduates², and most work while they study with 55% of the OU's 18-24 year old students in full-time employment³.

89% of part-time students study to further their career aims4. Younger OU students tend to be studying towards a qualification rather than for interest or as a one-off, and popular course choices among the under 25s at the OU are science, ICT and social sciences5.

Christina Lloyd, Head of Teaching and Learner Support, said: “This year, record numbers of students are applying for university places with higher expectations of grades for university entry and fierce competition for graduate jobs. We're currently seeing how higher education is changing - the three-year full-time degree isn't the whole story any more, as the true picture of higher education is much more varied. The balance is already shifting as students opt for other models of study such as part-time, and they often make positive choices about managing their own finances by choosing to work while they study and plan their careers.”

One such student combining work and study is Dan Clements, 19 year old community policeman and Open University student, from Buckinghamshire: “At the moment I'm studying an Introduction to Social Science with a view to receiving a BSc in Criminology and Psychology. I'm a Police Community Support Officer with Thames Valley Police so I thought the degree would be really relevant and a big help when I decide to further my career. I'm really enjoying studying at the moment. At first I was a bit worried as I was the youngest person on the course and I didn't know if my work would be up to standard. But, I'm pleased to say that those fears have gone thanks to some really good assignment scores and positive feedback from my tutor.”

Avoiding debt is another factor for many younger students who choose part-time learning, with nearly 62,000 current OU students receiving financial help – 28% of the OU's student base. Louise Kennedy, a 22 year old from Bristol said “I didn't want to accumulate debt and I was already working when I decided I wanted to study for my degree; I couldn't afford to give up my job. I'm currently working as cabin crew and my shifts can be very anti-social. I am studying with the intention of obtaining a degree in order to change my profession. The Open University has given me many opportunities and there is always someone to turn to when you need advice through many different channels. I feel very lucky to have the amount of help I am receiving in terms of advice and funding.

“I do attempt to study in the air. I always have at least one text book in my bag and usually do the reading when I get a minute, when the others are doing the stereotypical reading of trashy magazines! Also if we have delays I am able to try and get some reading done. It depends on the route and the type of passengers as to how busy we are and how demanding they are as to whether I actually get anything done. On some occasions I've got a whole chapter done without too much bother and on others I'm interrupted after every other sentence. But as time is the issue studying at work is essential. However since I'm doing languages, on the flights I try to speak to the passengers and do the announcements in French and Spanish.”


Key facts

* 3% of students under 25 yrs have no qualifications

* 37% of students under 25 yrs have less than two A levels

* 38% of students under 25 yrs have two or more A levels or equivalent qualifications

* The Open University in Scotland has seen a 34.3% increase in 18-24 year old students6

* New young student numbers across the UK have increased by more than 2,200 in 09/08, making up 25.7% of the total intake at undergraduate level

* Younger students tend to be studying towards a qualification rather than for interest or as a one-off

• 53% of OU students identified benefit to their career as the primary motivation for studying their course.


- end -

Notes to editors
1. Authors' calculations from HESA Student Record, 2007-08.
2. OU New Young Students, 2008/9, Strategy Unit
3. 55% of the OU's 18-24 year old students in full-time employment is based on Full Times Equivalents (FTE).
4. Callender, C., Hopkin, R., and Wilkinson D. (2010 forthcoming) Futuretrack: part-time students career decision-making and career development of part-time higher education students HECSU, Manchester
5. OU Information Office under 25 course related statistics
6. The Open University in Scotland has seen a 34.3% increase in 18-24 year old students from 1181 in 2007/08 to 1586 in 2009-10 based on headcount registrations.

Mr John D'Arcy has been named as the next Director of The Open University in Ireland. He succeeds Dr Rosemary Hamilton and joins the University on 4 October.

John is currently Chief Executive of the Association of Northern Ireland Colleges, a post he has held since 2003, in which he has led the organisation and the sector through a period of unprecedented change. John led the central change project to merge 16 colleges into the present six larger regional colleges.

Martin Bean, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University said: “I am delighted at the appointment of John D'Arcy as the next Director of The Open University in Ireland. John brings a wealth of experience across secondary, further and higher education and in the private sector. He is also a very active citizen, involved with a range of public bodies in the fields of sport, culture and social enterprise. The Open University has strong relationships across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with governments and with partner institutions. John is an ideal person to build on those relationships and to take us into an exciting future, in which The Open University contributes actively to the development of the economy, culture and civil society on both sides of the border.”

John graduated with a degree in psychology from Queen's University Belfast in 1982. The first fifteen years of his career were devoted to research, as a Research Fellow at the Northern Ireland Council for Educational Research and later as Principal Officer at the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
He has published on new technology in schools, early career teachers, teacher stress, and assessment and examination systems in Northern Ireland. In 1997 he moved to the private sector for five years as a Director of BDO Stoy Hayward, an international accounting and business services company with an office in Northern Ireland.

John has extensive public service experience as a Chair and Board member. He is a member of the current Northern Ireland Higher Education Review, chaired by Sir Graeme Davies, and of Matrix, the Northern Ireland Science Industry Panel. He was the founding Chairman of Audiences NI (2004-2008), set up by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to grow and diversify audiences for the arts and cultural sector. He is a Board member of Sport Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games Council, Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta, the body responsible for promoting Irish-medium education and schools in Northern Ireland and sat on the Board of BBC Broadcasting Council for Northern Ireland from 2004-2007.

In 2005, with the support of leading Northern Ireland musicians including Snow Patrol, he founded and now chairs the Oh Yeah Music Centre. This is a social enterprise based in a former bonded warehouse in Belfast which provides a physical location where various strands of the music industry can grow and interact, covering performance, rehearsals, recording, song writing, networking, PR, marketing, management, graphic design, and media skills.