Keele’s Year in the News – 2025
Keele news and expertise has been as in-demand as ever throughout 2025, with the university’s news, research, and academic analysis reaching more than 500 million people worldwide throughout the year at home and abroad.
Here is a look back at just some of the coverage secured by Strategic Communications & Brand over the last 12 months, working with our academic colleagues, as part of our work to build Keele’s profile and reputation.
January
The university started the year by realising its long-term ambition to have a presence in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre, with the opening of Keele in Town; a mixed-use facility for the community to collaborate with the University and benefit from new learning and support opportunities. The opening was hugely significant for the area, with news coverage secured on BBC News, Daily Focus, and the Stoke Sentinel.
Individuals at Keele also made headlines in January; from Dr Lisa Blower launching her project to find 100 books from 100 years of Stoke-on-Trent's history to mark the city’s centenary, which was also featured on BBC News and BBC Radio Stoke, to inspiring student stories from our Winter Graduation ceremonies, featuring in outlets like the Daily Express, and on BBC Radio Stoke.
February
Research by Keele scientists Dr Jamie Pringle and Dr Kris Wisniewski made headlines this month, with coverage of their investigations into secret Second World War Bunkers being featured on BBC News, the Daily Mail, and the Daily Express.
Elsewhere, expertise from Keele researchers was in high demand both at home and around the world, including comments from Dr Gemma Loomes being featured on CNN discussing the results of elections in Germany, and Dr Helen Wells sharing her insights with The Economist for a feature about road safety and speeding.
Our campus itself was also in the spotlight in February, when IFLScience published a feature about our Crime Scene Simulation House used for teaching forensic scientists.
March
Our new partnership with Telford College to make nursing education more accessible in Shropshire made headlines regionally in March, with BBC Radio Shropshire speaking to students and colleagues from Keele and the college about plans to launch a new Nursing Associate apprenticeship.
Research led by Dr Nick Wright looking at the link between supernovas and historical extinction events was also covered in media around the world, including the “i”, the Metro, Newsweek, CNN, the Daily Express, and IFLScience.
Michelin also announced that they were relocating their head office to Keele's Science and Innovation Park in March, which was also high on news agendas with coverage on BBC News, Daily Focus, the Stoke Sentinel, business news website Insider Media.
March was also the month that Keele’s Professor Elaine Hay became an MBE, as featured on BBC News, while the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Mark Ormerod was made an OBE, with the Whitchurch Herald featuring a story about his achievements.
April
As cherry blossom season returned to campus in April, we were delighted to welcome Japan’s Ambassador to the UK, Hiroshi Suzuki, who presented the university with a special award for its cherry blossom trees, with coverage secured by SCB on BBC Midlands Today, ITV Central news, and BBC News online. The cherry trees were also featured in The Times and The Metro, who named Keele as one of the best places in the UK to see cherry blossoms in the Spring.
Keele research was also prominent in the news in April, particularly Dr Richard Stephens’ research into the psychological effects of swearing on health and pain tolerance. As well as being featured in TIME magazine, a new paper on the subject by Dr Stephens and colleagues in Amsterdam was featured in The Times, the Daily Mail, and the Daily Star.
May
Our academics’ expertise in a variety of fields was in high demand across the UK media in May, including in psychology, environmental science, and astrophysics to name just a few.
Professor Clifford Stott spoke about the anniversary of the Heysel stadium disaster to The Independent, who published a long feature about the anniversary and the current state of football crowd policing, with Professor Stott’s research on the subject featuring prominently.
Another psychologist whose expertise made the news in May was Dr Daljnder Chalmers, who shared her expertise on sleep psychology and the link between sleep and wellbeing for a feature on BBC Science Focus.
Other highlights in May included Dr Adam Moolna’s expertise being featured in a piece for The Economist's series Economist Impact about ocean sustainability, and BBC Sky at Night magazine publishing a story about Dr Nick Wright's research into supernovae and historic extinction events from earlier in the year.
June
In June we announced an exciting new project at Keele, with experts caring for seeds from a tree that survived the Hiroshima bombing as part of the Green Legacy Hiroshima project. The story gained national and regional media coverage, with features secured by SCB on BBC News and the Stoke Sentinel, as well as an interview for Dr Sarah Taylor on BBC Radio 5 Live discussing the project.
Dr Ian Stimpson also shared his expertise in geophysics with The Metro in June, commenting on the likelihood of a “mega-earthquake” in Japan after one was predicted in a Japanese manga comic.
Finally it wasn’t just Keele experts making the news in June, but also the university itself when we were announced as one of the founding members of the Research Plus consortium, in a story covered by outlets including Times Higher Education.
July
Graduation was the most prominent story at Keele in July, with inspiring students, honorary graduates, and pioneering classes all featuring in the news throughout the week. From Toby Jones receiving an honorary degree from Keele which featured on BBC News, to coverage in the Daily Mirror and the Sunday People for a man who received his sixth Keele degree this summer, and stories in the Vet Times about Harper and Keele Veterinary School’s pioneer cohort graduating, there was a huge amount to celebrate this year with a total of 26 pieces of coverage in regional and national broadcast, print, and digital media for our graduation stories.
Other news highlights in July included an article in the Financial Times which cited Dr Richard Stephens’ research into the power of swearing, an interview for Dr Philip Catney on BBC 5 Live discussing the public’s difficulty in seeing politicians as human beings, and an interview for Professor John Buckly on Euronews, commenting on the trend of “Japanese walking” and its benefits for our health.
We also celebrated our performance in the National Student Survey 2025 in July, which saw 15 different subjects at Keele ranking among the Top 10 in the UK, with coverage on the Stoke Sentinel, Stoke Nub News, and a mention in The Times for being one of the five universities who saw the biggest increase in student satisfaction.
August
Our experts commented on a wide range of stories this month, from language and healthcare to geology and astrophysics.
Alison Long from Keele’s Language Centre was featured across the BBC’s regional radio network in August after speaking to BBC Radio Stoke about new words being added to the Cambridge Dictionary, which led to clips featuring on BBC radio stations all over the country including Shropshire, Manchester, Cumbria and Lincolnshire.
As the UK baked in a summer heatwave, Dr Sue Molesworth also shared her expertise with the national press, commenting in The I Paper on why people with dementia are at greater risk during such heatwaves.
Dr Ian Stimpson once again spoke to The Metro, sharing his expertise in geophysics for a story about a hidden crack in the Earth underneath North America which could lead to an earthquake.
September
The start of a new academic year brought a range of new stories at Keele, which made headlines at home and abroad. Our new Vice-Chancellor Professor Kevin Shakesheff took up his new post in September, with news of his appointment – and an interview he gave in his first week – being featured in outlets like BBC News, Stoke Nub News, and Daily Focus.
September also saw the Greek government officially approving our new university branch campus Keele University, Greece, which was covered extensively in the press including CNN Greece, Huffpost Greece, Euronews and the Cyprus Mail, as well as here in Staffordshire on BBC Radio Stoke. Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Ormerod OBE also spoke to Times Higher Education about the announcement, and its significance for the UK higher education sector.
Other news highlights in September included an article about Keele research in The Daily Express looking at health risks for retired elite athletes, and interviews in the Metro, Newsweek, and The I Paper for Honorary Fellow Mike Tappin, sharing his expertise in US Politics.
October
A major Amazon Web Services outage in October provided a great opportunity for Keele expertise to be front and centre in the media when the impacts of the outage made global headlines, and an expert comment from Dr Amro Al-Said Ahmad on the issue facilitated by SCB was featured in news outlets around the world reaching millions of people. His expertise in cloud computing and his comments on the outage were reported in outlets including The Guardian, The Times, the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and the Associated Press (US).
Elsewhere, Professor Samir Dani spoke to BBC Midlands Today about a major cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover earlier in the year, and the significant impact it was continuing to have on supply chains and other businesses in the region, while Dr Jacco van Loon also spoke to CNN about some new research into a “rogue planet” 620 light-years from Earth.
Other highlights in October included an interview for Dr Darren Rhodes on regional radio discussing the psychological impact of the clocks going back, and an interview for Professor Paul Sissons in The Big Issue discussing the number of young people in the UK who are not in work, training, or education.
November
Experts from the worlds of business and politics lent their expertise to news coverage of the Budget in November, with Dr Gemma Loomes, Dr Phil Catney, Professor Paul Sissons and Dr Nick O’Donovan all sharing their insights to help people not only make sense of the Budget but the political context around it, with outlets like Daily Focus and BBC Radio Stoke benefitting from their expertise.
Elsewhere, we also celebrated research by Keele alumnus Dr Matthew Clarke, whose research since graduating from Keele has improved the prognosis for children with a rare type of brain tumour. His work was featured both regionally and nationally, with features secured by SCB on BBC News, LBC, and The I Paper.
Emeritus Professor Peter Styles’ research looking at continental break up in Africa was also covered nationally and internationally in November, featuring in outlets like The Daily Mail, Forbes, and The Indian Express.
Professor Clifford Stott’s research expertise in crowd psychology and policing was also in demand this month, featuring in a feature on The Guardian about bystander apathy, as well as a story in The Independent about heavy-handed policing against Newcastle football fans in the Champions League.
December
Rounding out the year, there was more strong national and regional coverage for Keele expertise, events, and research in the media.
In national news, Dr Richard Stephens from the School of Psychology shared his expertise for a BBC InDepth feature by Evan Davis, commenting on the psychology of why people are so prone to speeding while driving, which featured on the main BBC homepage and had thousands of comments.
Dr Stephens’ new paper on the link between swearing and strength was also widely covered in the news, with articles secured by SCB in The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, BBC Science Focus, The Sun, the Daily Star, The Australian, and Newsweek.
There was also coverage on the regional BBC News page online for a special surgery showcase event held at Keele, to celebrate the pioneering technologies in our School of Medicine being used to train surgeons and treat patients with head and neck cancers.
Finally, we also celebrated our iconic Chapel’s 60th anniversary, with coverage of the milestone nationally in Church Times, and locally in the Stoke Sentinel.
