🚀 University of Sussex spin-out Universal Quantum has won a record-breaking $100m investment!

This will accelerate the development of powerful quantum computers and enable what started as an academic vision to keep growing across three continents. https://www.sussex.ac.uk/news/research?id=71456

🌱 Can plants be conscious?

Sussex neuroscientist Professor Anil Seth joined BBC Radio 4’s Naturebang to discuss the mystery of consciousness and whether it could extend to plants.

🎧 Listen on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002vxdd

🤖 Could AI develop into a new “silicon species”, and what could that mean for humans?

Sussex Professor Thomas Nowotny spoke to BBC Radio Scotland about the idea of increasingly advanced AI competing with humans.

🎧 Listen from 17:30: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0031hc6

🌳 Lewes recently became the first town in England to recognise the rights of all trees.

The landmark Tree Charter was guided by a toolkit developed by Sussex's Dr Joanna Smallwood and students from the Environmental Justice Law Clinic.

📺 Joanna spoke to ITV Meridian: https://ow.ly/ABLU50ZTtFV

🦍 What can gesturing gorillas and babbling babies tell us about the origins of human language?

Professor Gillian Forrester joins Jim Al-Khalili on BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific to explore what great apes and human development can teach us.

🎧 Listen on BBC Sound: https://ow.ly/pz8Q50ZT7NM

🚀 What role will Sussex play in a new NASA mission?

🌳 Could giving trees rights change how we protect them?

📜 How did lost medieval manuscript pages resurface in Brighton?

🧪 Why is a Nobel Prize-winning discovery still shaping science today?

📩 Subscribe to find out: https://ow.ly/11El50UOFZB

Congratulations to Sussex Professor Emily Robinson, winner of The Conversation Prize for Writers 2026 for her work on Ravenser Odd, a medieval island lost beneath the sea.

Her research explores why its story continues to fascinate and be retold centuries later.

Read: https://ow.ly/cxJg50ZQU6Y

What happens when the kids fly the nest?

Sussex researcher Dr Katie Walsh has co-authored a new piece for The Conversation exploring why the “empty nest” can bring freedom for some parents, but loneliness and loss for others.

Read more: https://ow.ly/yTPb50ZOCHm

Could AI-powered glasses help people living with dementia navigate the world around them?

Professor Julia Simner joined BBC Radio 4’s Best Medicine to discuss an AI companion for smart glasses designed to support people living with dementia.

Listen here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0030xhf

Hypermobility can affect far more than just flexibility.

Dr Jessica Eccles from Brighton and Sussex Medical School spoke to BBC NEWS about Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder and the challenges people can face getting a diagnosis and accessing appropriate care.

Read more: https://ow.ly/SK2V50ZOiOM

⚛️ What could inspire the next generation of scientists?

🧪 How could data science help promising medicines progress more efficiently?

Find out in the next edition of Research at Sussex, your regular dose of brilliant ideas and breakthroughs.

📩 Subscribe today: https://ow.ly/Tr0E50Z24qB

Could AI ever become conscious?

Professor Anil Seth features in a major briefing in The Economist exploring consciousness in large language models (LLMs), including his view that biological traits may be necessary for consciousness.

🔗 Read the briefing in The Economist: https://ow.ly/Yb5y50ZIiWW

How can school governors and trustees put wellbeing at the heart of leadership?
A new free resource from the University of Sussex and Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex gives governing boards practical tools to turn wellbeing ambitions into measurable action: https://ow.ly/GpWJ50ZKwuQ

Why can it sometimes feel easier to open up to a stranger?

Sussex psychologist Dr Gillian Sandstrom spoke to BBC Radio 4 about the value of talking to strangers and how psychological distance can make difficult conversations easier.

Listen: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0030c74

The Guardian reports on the Office for Students’ recently published “Lessons learned from the University of Sussex judicial review”, acknowledging a series of mistakes in its original decision-making process and the implications for higher education regulation.
Read more: https://ow.ly/oJct50ZJHsc

Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Sussex Professor Sasha Roseneil comments on the Office for Students’ recently published “Lessons learned from the University of Sussex judicial review” report in Times Higher Education.

Read here: https://ow.ly/pKsU50ZJHrz

Watching anything silly this weekend? 🎬🚆

Professor Piotr Cieplak (Creative Practice and Visual Cultures at Sussex Uni) explores why 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽! 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁! 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻! is “the best kind of silly” in a new article for The Conversation UK.

Read the article: https://ow.ly/ocRF50ZIchh

Congratulations to Kathryn Greenwood, Professor of Clinical Psychology, who has been named one of the 20 NIHR20 (National Institute for Health and Care Research) Research Delivery Leaders.

Read more here: https://ow.ly/Y8tw50ZIaNC

🔹 What can a decades-old monsoon puzzle tell us about risks to fishing communities?

🔹 Why is August such a difficult month for honeybees?

Find out in the next Research at Sussex, your regular dose of brilliant ideas and breakthroughs from Sussex Uni.

📩 Subscribe today: https://ow.ly/Tr0E50Z24qB

How can communities help shape a fairer food future?

Sussex research is putting local voices at the heart of food policy in Brighton & Hove.

🔗 Read the feature: https://ow.ly/zjlm50ZFEUF

📣 Live in Brighton & Hove? Share your views on recent local food policy changes: https://ow.ly/EARe50ZFEUG