As office workers in many parts of the world are returning to workplaces, we’re confronted with the ‘new normal’: the need to maintain physical distance. For many employees, even simple rules like “stay 1.5m apart” are proving hard to consistently follow in practice. Fortunately, behavioural science gives us clues as…

Since March, over 1 million people across the UK have signed up to volunteer as part of the coronavirus effort. From shopping for vulnerable neighbours to cooking for key workers, there has been a huge surge in good will and community spirit. …

When communicating about coronavirus, policymakers face a delicate balancing act: sharing enough information that people know what to do, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming. How much information is too much? To answer this question we ran a randomised controlled trial (RCT) in Bangladesh on good handwashing technique…

COVID-19 has put education systems under enormous strain. With sweeping lockdowns imposed across the world, 90% of the world’s learners have missed out on face-to-face lessons at some point during the last few months due to nursery, school and university closures. In the UK, 90% of teachers report that pupils…

Students about to start or return to higher education in September face a radically different experience to what they originally anticipated — with online classes and reduced social contact. As social distancing measures become the ‘new normal’ under COVID-19, higher education providers must explore new ways to support access, success…

It has been 5 months since the coronavirus pandemic upended ‘normal’ life and forced millions of people around the world to establish novel behaviours. The disruption was, and continues to be felt, in every area of our lives from relationships to work to physical wellbeing. …

Results from an experiment with 4,099 UK adults With growing support in the UK for using face masks (or DIY face coverings) to help fight coronavirus, and new guidance from the government recommending that people wear face coverings in crowded enclosed spaces, a key challenge now for behavioural science is to ensure people are using them correctly. To…

Individuals across the world have been doing their part to combat COVID-19, including adopting simple measures like regular hand washing and keeping physical distance from others. However, there is one simple measure which some countries have been slow to adopt — facemasks As of late April, 80–90% of people in…