Author: Andrew Merrington

A new online master’s degree, designed to accommodate the commitments and complexities of modern life, will welcome its first students in January. The MA Creative Writing (Online) degree at the University of Exeter has been tailored specifically to put students in control of their own timetable and to break down barriers to learning for those unable to access a campus-based programme. The two-year part-time degree can be studied flexibly, at the learner’s own pace, from wherever they are,…

New research has found that Fiddler crabs are playing an unheralded role when it comes to hoovering up microplastics found in the world’s mangrove forests and salt marshes. Scientists studying a thriving population of Fiddler crabs in a polluted mangrove forest in Colombia have found that they can ingest and break down large quantities of small plastic particles in the sediment. The ability to mobilise large amounts of sediment for feeding and sheltering, and the creature’s specialised digestive…

From January – July 2026, artist, writer and educator Linda Stupart will be working with the University of Exeter’s Gender and Sexuality Collective as an Arts and Culture Creative Fellow. They will be collaborating on an exciting new creative project to reimagine ways in how gender and sexuality could be taught and researched across the institution. The newly created Sexuality and Gender Studies Collective aim to strengthen cross-disciplinary collaboration, promote visibility of expertise, and develop innovative education and…

Experts in Artificial Intelligence are to collaborate on a transatlantic research project looking at the relationship between Wikipedia and generative AI. Curating the Commons – AI, Wikipedia, and the Reconstruction of Notability will explore how the globally renowned repository of information both shapes, and is shaped by, the rise of AI and large language models (LLMs). Bringing together scholars from the University of Exeter and the University of North Carolina, the project will consider how this dynamic represents…

The University of Exeter has joined a global movement aimed at transforming the way research is evaluated, making it fairer and more inclusive. The University has signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, a commitment by hundreds of organisations worldwide to recognise the diversity of contributions that go into research. As part of this, Exeter has also joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). Historically, research assessment methods have sometimes relied upon publication-based metrics, such as citation…

A prestigious new academic position has been founded at the University of Exeter thanks to a significant act of philanthropy. A donation by Canadian philanthropist Sajjad Ebrahim has enabled the University to establish the Imam Sajjad Chair in Shi‘i Studies in perpetuity. The role, based in the University’s renowned Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, will lead research in the field of Twelver Shi‘i Islam. Following a competitive recruitment process, Dr Kumail Rajani has been appointed as the…