Our research impact

Woman at a climate protest

Uniting research disciplines, the University of Southampton aims to solve pressing global challenges. Our work ranges from enhancing cancer treatments to revolutionising renewable energy and defeating COVID-19. Uncover our multidisciplinary approach to a better future.

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Research highlights

Young woman talking on her mobile phone

Transforming the diagnosis and treatment of depression

Health and wellbeing
Research by Southampton Professor Tony Kendrick is continuing to transform the management of depression and long-term antidepressant use in the UK.

Research highlights

Adult sat with a child at a school desk with a drawing
13 January 2025

Closing the attainment gap

Future societies and communities
Teams at the University of Southampton are collaborating with student ambassadors, local businesses, and local schools to close attainment gaps, provide opportunities for disadvantaged pupils, and make education equitable.

Research highlights

Head and shoulders of a robot with large eyes looking at the camera
7 Jan 2025

Can robots and migration help address the challenges of ageing?

AI, big data and analytics
Future societies and communities
Research by Southampton demographers has explored strategies to best address the skills shortages caused by ageing and whether migration and the use of robotics can help alleviate some of the resulting pressures.

Research highlights

Woman giving a child a polio vaccination
2 Jan 2025

Targeting childhood vaccines globally

Future societies and communities
Health and wellbeing
WorldPop, a research group led by Professor Andy Tatem, is revolutionising global health efforts by enabling governments to vaccinate children who were previously unreachable.

Research highlights

Aerial shot of 30 St Mary Axe
18 Dec 2024

The Debt Dilemma: How Rising Debt Levels May Widen Inequality in the UK

Future societies and communities
Debt and inequality are two issues that increasingly dominate discussions across Western Europe.

Research highlights

A woman and an elderly man sat in a park looking at a book together
13 Dec 2024

Measuring unmet need for social care among older persons

Future societies and communities
Health and wellbeing
Research by Southampton’s Centre for Research on Ageing and the ESRC Centre for Population Change – Connecting Generations project can directly inform social policies to reduce and try to eliminate the unmet need for social care among older persons.

Research highlights

A patient wearing a forearm support receives therapy on his hand
13 Dec 2024

An electronic smart glove improves life for stroke survivors

Health and wellbeing
Culture and creativity
A University of Southampton team has invented an electronic glove that enables movement in the paralysed hands of stroke survivors – supporting their rehabilitation.  

Research highlights

13 Dec 2024

Uncovering secrets of our universe

Space
A team of astronomers, led by researchers from the University of Southampton, has discovered the largest cosmic explosion ever observed.

Research highlights

String-theoretic techniques (in the foreground) can be employed to understand the strong nuclear force and related data from neutron stars and collider experiments (in the background).
29 Nov 2024

Shining a light on neutron stars with string theory

AI, big data and analytics
Engineering
Space
Southampton research is pushing forward the frontiers of our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature by revealing insights into the interiors of neutron stars.

Research highlights

A researcher in a lab putting at a limpet shell in a test tube. The researcher is wearing a white coat, purple gloves and eye protection glasses.
29 Nov 2024

Adapting to warmer waters

Environment, sustainability and clean growth
Southampton PhD student Karolina Zarzyczny is improving our understanding of the mass movement of marine life in our oceans due to global heating.

Research highlights

Girl with mask sitting inside bus
26 Nov 2024

New method boosts COVID-19 contact-tracing in Thailand: A model for global outbreak control

Health and wellbeing
Future societies and communities
A team of researchers, led by Dankmar Böhning and supported by Rattana Lerdsuwansri and Patarawan Sangnawakij from Thammasat University, has developed a powerful new method to measure the effectiveness of contact-tracing efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand.

Research highlights

Doctor using stethoscope on a child's back
26 Nov 2024

Improving the diagnosis and treatment of a rare genetic disease

Health and wellbeing
World-leading Southampton research into Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) is enabling earlier diagnosis and access to treatment of young children with the disease.

Research highlights

Droplets of water falling on water along with their concentric wave patterns
18 Nov 2024

Applicable Resurgent Asymptotics: towards a universal theory. An Isaac Newton Institute Programme

Future societies and communities
AI, big data and analytics
Engineering
An innovative Southampton initiative, that brought together mathematicians and theoretical physicists from around the world, is helping shed light on complex challenges in mathematics and physics.

Research highlights

Family at home with father working on laptop, mother feeding baby, and young child playing nearby.
14 Nov 2024

Helping families have more trust in administrative data linkage

AI, big data and analytics
Future societies and communities
Discover how Southampton’s research is empowering families to trust the digital data shared about their lives.