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Forty-four academics are included in Clarivate's 'Highly Cited Researchers 2019' list, which recognises authors of the most influential research papers around the world. The results are comparable with university peers such as Oxford (55 researchers recognised), Cambridge (53) and Imperial College London (34) and represent an increase since last year, when 41 UCL researchers were recognised.

A UCLH and UCL led trial of a technique to preserve men's sexual potency after prostate cancer surgery has begun to recruit participants across the UK. The trial of the NeuroSAFE procedure - designed to avoid the removal during surgery of nerves near the prostate which are important for sexual function - is being led by UCLH consultant urological surgeon Greg Shaw and sponsored by UCL.

In February of this year, UCL launched a new online reporting tool called Report + Support to make reporting issues of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct easier. Staff and students can report 'anonymously' or 'contact an advisor' to find out their options for support and resolution. Report + Support has been in place for over six months, and as part of the commitment to improve transparency and build trust and confidence in reporting, UCL has published a Six Months Insights Report.

People exposed to a lifetime of psychosocial adversity may have an impaired ability to produce the dopamine levels needed for coping with acutely stressful situations, according to a new UCL-led study. The findings, published in the journal eLife , may help explain why long-term exposure to psychological trauma and abuse increases the risk of mental illness and addiction.

University reading lists are not representative of the student body and tend towards overrepresentation of white, male and Eurocentric viewpoints, a new study from UCL has found. The study, published in Higher Education, analysed 144 authors of Social Science papers and 146 authors of Science papers included in two university reading lists, gathering data on gender, ethnicity and the country in which the researchers' affiliated institutions were based.

Each time a newborn baby hiccups, it triggers a large wave of brain signals which could help the baby learn how to regulate their breathing, finds a new UCL-led study. The study, published in Clinical Neurophysiology , was based on brain scans of newborn infants. "The reasons for why we hiccup are not entirely clear, but there may be a developmental reason, given that foetuses and newborn babies hiccup so frequently," said the study's lead author, research associate Kimberley Whitehead (UCL Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology).

Engaging in artistic activities such as singing and dancing from a young age can reduce social inequalities and encourage healthy behaviours, according to a new report from UCL and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The study, published today, is the world's largest review to date into the health benefits of the arts.

Universities Minister Chris Skidmore MP visited the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering (IHE) Autumn Research Symposium today as part of Tomorrow's Engineers Week. Mr Skidmore met Professor Becky Shipley, Director of the IHE, who with her team demonstrated the REANIMATE project (REAlistic Numerical Image-based Modelling of biological Tissue substratEs), which is a virtual modelling technique that creates highly detailed 3D models of individual cancerous tumours and simulates the delivery of drugs into them.

White British young people living in more ethnically diverse deprived neighbourhoods have better mental health than those living in "white working-class" neighbourhoods, according to a new UCL study. The study found there was no difference in the mental health of ethnic minority youths by whether they lived in neighbourhoods of differing levels of ethnic density and ethnic diversity.

Common wasp species could be valuable at sustainably managing crop pests, finds a new UCL-led experimental study in Brazil. The study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B , found that social wasps are effective predators that can manage pests on two high-value crops, maize and sugarcane.

The genome of an ancient Egyptian wheat has been sequenced for the first time by a UCL-led team, revealing historical patterns of crop movement and domestication. The study was carried out by an international research team, which mapped the genetic code from a sample of wheat harvested over 3,000 years ago, that was excavated in 1924 from the Hememiah North Spur site in Egypt.

Nearly half (45%) of in-house lawyers have been asked to advise on an action with debatable ethics, according to research by UCL. The research, published in a new report ' Which way is the wind blowing? Understanding the moral compass of in-house legal counsel' also found that 39% of in-house lawyers had been asked to advise on something which was potentially illegal.

By creating protocells in hot, alkaline seawater, a UCL-led research team has added to evidence that the origin of life could have been in deep-sea hydrothermal vents rather than shallow pools. Previous experiments had failed to foster the formation of protocells - seen as a key stepping stone to the development of cell-based life - in such environments, but the new study, published in  Nature Ecology & Evolution , finds that heat and alkalinity might not just be acceptable, but necessary to get life started.

People with more harmful amyloid plaques in the brain already score worse than their peers on cognitive tests at age 70, finds a new UCL-led study. Amyloid plaques are implicated in Alzheimer's disease, which typically develops multiple years later, so the new findings, published in Neurology , might show early warning signs before any disease develops.

The human brain can recognise a familiar song within 100 to 300 milliseconds, highlighting the deep hold favourite tunes have on our memory, a UCL study finds. Anecdotally the ability to recall popular songs is exemplified in game shows such as 'Name That Tune', where contestants can often identify a piece of music in just a few seconds.

Quitting smoking and doing more exercise can cut the chances of becoming frail in later years by more than half, according to new research led by De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) and UCL. A team of researchers from UCL, De Montfort University Leicester and St George's University, Grenada, studied data collected by the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA), which collects information from people aged over 50 to understand aspects of growing old.

The central component of LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) - the largest direct-detection dark matter experiment in the US - has been slowly lowered 4,850 feet down a shaft formerly used in gold-mining operations by a team involving UCL physicists. Although dark matter accounts for about 27 percent of the universe, we do not know what it is made of and experiments have yet to make direct contact with a particle - it has only been detected through its gravitational effects on normal matter.

Stone tool use develops differently within species of Old World monkeys in spite of shared environmental and ecological settings, according to a new study involving UCL. Macaques are the only Old World monkeys that have been observed using percussive stone tools and scientists do not know for certain how or why certain groups have developed this behaviour.

A three-dimensional map of the Universe that reaches deeper in space and time than ever before is one step closer as final testing begins on the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), designed and built in part by UCL physicists. From early 2020, DESI will observe the light from 35 million distant galaxies and 2.4 million quasars over five years to precisely map their distance from Earth and gauge how quickly they are moving away from us.

The social climate in the UK following the European Union (EU) referendum has had a detrimental impact on migrants' mental health, according to a new study led by UCL. The study, published today in the  American Psychological Association's  Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psycholog y, suggests that the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum has contributed to a rise in discrimination and anxiety amongst migrants living in the UK.