 I'm here at the campus in Milton Keynes to learn more about the groundbreaking research that happens here. Professor Mahesh Anand and his team are conducting pioneering research into extracting water from lunar rock, technology that could have huge implications for dealing with droughts on Earth. So something that is quite fascinating about space exploration is that it actually forces you to challenge your comfort zone. You have to go out of your comfort zone to actually come up with new and innovative solutions. In this case we are trying to develop a technology that could one day be extracting water from the actual lunar samples. Some of the technologies that actually we are currently working on for lunar applications. The hope is that one day we will find a direct application here on Earth to improve the quality of life for fellow human beings. Professor Mahesh's work is cosmic and inspiring. His team are working with NASA and some of the top scientists around the world. What really excites me about their research is the way in which it might help solve some of the greatest sustainability challenges we have here on Earth. With advances in modern medicine, our life expectancy is increasing. Dr Yitzke Satechkova's research into the ageing process has led her to develop five pillars of good health and longevity. She shares her research through talks in the community to encourage and empower people to take responsibility for their own ageing process. I research ageing and I lead ageing well public talks here at the Open University. The talks are structured around five pillars for ageing well, nutrition, hydration, physical activity, social and cognitive stimulation. So it's not one thing that will make us age well. It will be a combination of things that are the right things for us. Dr Saraswati Dwadi is conducting vital research into improving the lives of human trafficking survivors. We are trying to empower the gold victims of human trafficking because in Nepal it is estimated that 54 golds are trafficked to India every single day. We are trying our best to listen to the voices of the gold victims of human trafficking. And then we are trying to provide the right kind of training to them in a way we are preparing them for future so that they can contribute to supporting other girls who have become the victim of human trafficking. Dr Saraswati's research is part of the Open University's social justice mission. It's having a real impact on these women's lives today and also creating sustainable change for the future. Simon Cross and a team of academics working with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai are researching how teacher training can be improved at scale. In particular we've been interested in using digital badges and seeing them as a potential tool to help support teachers. And our research has focused on the ways in which digital badges could be used in that kind of practice setting. And what is a digital badge? A digital badge is essentially a graphic or a symbol which is hyperlinked to information which explains what the person did to earn that badge. Not only can we deploy them at scale but it also means that teachers can collect and share them digitally as well. This groundbreaking research is just the tip of the iceberg of what's going on here at the Open University. All four of these projects have been nominated for the People's Choice Award. If you would like to find out more about research projects or courses at the Open University, go to open.ac.uk.