University of Glasgow

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

Since its discovery, Staufen1 has been studied for its involvement in a diverse set of aspects of RNA metabolism, ranging from RNA localisation to decay. Given its pivotal role in cellular RNA metabolism, several studies have explored the mechanistic impact of Staufen1 in a wide variety of cell functions ranging from cell growth to cell death, as well as in various disease states. There has been increasing attention on the role of Staufen1 in neuromuscular disorders, neurodegeneration, diabetes, cancer, and viral infection. A major obstacle to our understanding of the multifunctionality of Staufen1 is the lack of structural and quantitative data, in particular on the events leading to the formation of ribonucleoparticles upon Staufen1 binding and assembly on RNA. This project aims to identify the molecular mechanism governing the functions of Staufen1 protein, using our unique expertise in the structural and quantitative biology of protein:nucleic acid complexes, track record on Staufen1 structural biochemistry, and access to beyond-state-of-the-art technology.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

The UK Hub for Quantum Enabled Position Navigation and Timing (QEPNT) will lead and support the community, ecosystem and technologies required for the UK to be a global leader in future position, navigation and timing (PNT) systems. Our vision is to deliver atomic clocks, quantum inertial sensors, single-photon LiDAR sensors and quantum-classical hybrid sensors that will create practical systems for resilient PNT applications. To build the UK community and ecosystem for QEPNT we will bring together experts from academia, industry and Government agencies to ensure delivery of technologies for national security, critical national infrastructure, aerospace, connected and autonomous vehicles, maritime, energy and other applications. Society navigates using satnavs in vehicles and mobile phones. Critical national infrastructure systems including electricity, gas, telecom, water, finance and transport depend on satellite timing signals. The 2023 UK National Risk Register indicates a loss of satellite PNT could have significant to catastrophic impact to UK society. These nanoWatt signals are easy to jam/spoof and do not work inside buildings, under the ocean or underground. The UK Government 2018 Blackett review "Satellite-derived Time and Position: A study of Critical Dependencies" reports that the estimated loss to the UK economy due to the loss of GNSS would reach as high as £5.2Bn in five days, and therefore recommends that national security and safety critical systems should be able to operate for at least three days without satellite synchronisation. At present few atomic clocks provide sufficient timing accuracy for these applications and none at a suitable cost to be widely deployed. Resilient navigation without satellites relies on inertial navigation, dead reckoning and signals of convenience. High end inertial systems are expensive and have large size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C) limiting their use. Our aim is to develop reduced size, weight, power and cost quantum-enhanced PNT systems that have the potential for scalable mass-manufacture using micro-fabrication and heterogeneous integration enabling integrated optical systems that can be scaled to high volume and be readily used in diverse systems to increase UK resilience and prosperity. The Hub will provide mechanisms to develop new QEPNT technologies and approaches, including community networking to facilitate technology translation to UK industry (including new start-ups) and forming technology roadmaps. Over forty UK companies and stakeholders are partnering with the Hub at the proposal stage, with significant expansion targeted through Hub activities. We will develop the next generation of QEPNT leaders; educate postdocs, students and technicians in QEPNT skills; lead outreach with UK schools and science centres to inspire children into quantum careers; engage with the public on responsible innovation of QEPNT technology to build trust in the technology; and engage with key Government stakeholders to advocate for the work. Working with science and engineering professional societies on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) through outreach we will inspire children from primary ages upwards into science and engineering, showcasing the successful careers of Hub and advisory board members, especially those from underrepresented groups. EDI will be at the heart of the Hub and is embedded throughout the Hub governance, membership and operation.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

Infectious diseases are a major driving force in human evolution, selecting for genetic variants that increase resistance to pathogens while also, at times, predisposing individuals to specific genetic disorders. An example of such an infectious disease is human African trypanosomiasis, a deadly disease caused by African trypanosome parasites. Selection imposed by trypanosomes has led to the emergence of genetic variants of the Apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) gene, which have been well-documented for their protective effects against trypanosomiasis. However, this protection comes at a notable cost of a 7–30-fold increased risk of chronic kidney disease among individuals of recent African ancestry, who carry two copies of the variants, an estimated 70 million people. This discovery has led to promising new therapies for kidney disease, aimed at targeting APOL1, which are currently in clinical trials. However, these variants do not fully explain the high incidence of chronic kidney disease in people of recent African descent, pointing to the involvement of other genetic factors.   Our TrypanoGEN consortium has conducted the first genome-wide association study for susceptibility and resistance to trypanosomiasis to uncover other genes associated with trypanosomiasis. This study identified the SPARC-related modular calcium binding 2 (SMOC2) as the most significantly associated gene. Notably, SMOC2 has also been associated with an increased risk of chronic kidney disease in people carrying APOL1 variants, suggesting an interaction between SMOC2 and APOL1. This project aims to dissect the dual roles of SMOC2, providing crucial insights into its protective mechanisms against trypanosomiasis and its contributions to kidney pathology.   SMOC2 is an extracellular matrix protein involved in wound repair. We hypothesize that SMOC2's protective mechanism against trypanosomiasis involves enhanced tissue repair. This genetic predisposition to a heightened repair response, in the context of kidney injury due to environmental triggers, can result in excessive extracellular matrix deposition, leading to fibrosis, a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. This project aims to test this hypothesis.   This research addresses critical gaps in our understanding of genetic resistance to infectious diseases and its consequences, which is vital for developing effective and targeted therapies. By leveraging knowledge gleaned from the evolution of resistance to trypanosomes this study will provide novel insights into the development of life-threatening chronic kidney disease affecting millions of people of recent African descent. Not only will this study advance our understanding of the biology, but it also sets the stage for potential breakthroughs in treatment strategies for both infectious and chronic non-communicable diseases. This study will illuminate the complex interactions that have shaped human susceptibility and resistance to disease, paving the way for evolutionary-informed approaches to treating and preventing both infectious and non-communicable diseases.  

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

In the context of widening inequality and declining trust in democracy, a renewed political attention to place has revealed the need for new methods to understand community aspirations and ideas. Place-based policy often claims to build community capacity, enhance social capital and strengthen neighbourhood bonds, outcomes which are difficult to evidence by traditional approaches and metrics, and need critical investigation. Policymakers need new ways to understand the lived impacts of place and the relational, felt experiences of policy interventions. This fellowship will foster new Civic Imaginary Partnerships, collaborative, interdisciplinary hubs that blend policy-facing research with grassroots creative practice. Civic imaginaries are the ways that people think, feel and dream about the futures of their places. Researching civic imaginaries creates a vocabulary and a geographically specific process to 'work out' and make tangible these relational and felt forces of place. The fellowship will combine theory, practice and policy through the multi-site investigations of four civic challenges: i) Understanding and improving voter engagement; ii) Understanding and improving engagement with local services and public spaces; iii) Understanding and improving public-private place-making; iv) Understanding the lived experience of "successful" community action, including community-led climate initiatives. Phase 1 will map and review the paradigms, goals and methods of place-based interventions since 2016, through desk research, documentary analysis and interviewing of key informants. It will survey current academic approaches to understanding civic culture in the UK and map contemporary community-led development and international civic networks. Phase 2 employs long-term ethnographic fieldwork as its main methodological approach, with participant observation in four case neighbourhoods. This will involve living alongside participants to understand the civic challenges and cultures of participation from their point of view. We will co-create activities with partners and stakeholders, developing a model for civic imaginary partnerships that can encompass a range of civic challenges and place typologies. In Phase 3 we will test and refine the model with policy partners and collaborators to produce a new model for policymakers, and a scalable, transferable framework to support future place-based policy. The fellowship draws on a unique combination of nationwide partners, including a government department, four local authorities and four community-based social enterprises. It will synthesise learning from national and international models to develop an innovative, multi-disciplinary approach that advances understanding about participation and local decision making. It will produce a combination of traditional academic outputs, policy resources and innovative artistic interventions. Drawing on the fellow's experience as a creative director-turned academic, the fellowship will experiment with different artistic forms to co-produce four large-scale works in response to the research findings. We will also co-produce a high-quality film that explores the value of imaginative practice in addressing civic challenges. These will enable us to enrich audiences' understandings of the civic imagination's multiple affects, resonances and contradictions and evidence place-based policy impacts directly to policymakers. We will also produce an informational project website and a national symposium. Academic outputs will advance new theories of the civic imaginary for a UK context, new understandings of the lived experience of place-based policy interventions, and new ways to lead place-based research. The Fellowship will enable the PI to grow as leader in the experimentation of new cross-disciplinary methods and place-based policy research.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

The response of wildlife to the dramatic increase of sprawling urbanization is a key question in conservation and evolutionary biology. Especially environmental changes associated with noise and light pollution are expected to be a major challenge for wildlife, causing behavioural changes or modify the functionality and performance associated with morphological traits. To better predict the consequences of these sensory pollutants it is therefore crucial to study how they can affect the relationship between functional traits, animal performance, and ultimately, fitness. Owlsare a good system to study the effects of noise and light pollution because they are nocturnal predators that strongly rely on their audio-visual senses and display a facial disc, a feathered structure that is thought to improve hearing and thus hunting during the night. Currently, we know surprisingly little about how facial disc influences hunting performance and fitness, above all in the context of light and noise pollution. Using a multi-scale evolutionary approach, the proposed research aims to understand the evolutionary potential of facial disc under anthropic changes. This research represents an important step forward in our understanding of how light and noise pollution might reshape morphological functional traits.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

Context Proteins are molecular machines that perform different jobs in a cell. When they need to adapt to their environment, cells change the way that proteins work by having enzymes make chemical changes to these proteins in a controlled manner. We are particularly interested in a type of protein chemical change called 'palmitoylation'. In this process, fat molecules are added to proteins, altering either how the protein works or where it goes within the cell. Palmitoylation plays an important role in many physiological processes in all types of organisms. For example, how hard and fast our hearts beat, how cells respond to hormones, memory generation in the brain, plant growth and virus replication are all controlled by palmitoylation. Challenge Palmitoylation is controlled by the actions of two families of enzymes in the cell: palmitoyl acyl transferases add fat molecules to proteins, and thioesterases remove these fat molecules. We understand very little about what controls these processes, and the tools available to manipulate palmitoylation are very poor quality, impeding progress in this field. We have designed a strategy to deliver thioesterases to different places in a cell using a targeting unit called a nanobody. In this paradigm the nanobody acts as the 'delivery driver' and delivers the thioesterase to one specific protein in the cell. When we use a nanobody to deliver a thioesterase, the thioesterase does the job it is programmed to do and removes the fat molecule from a protein. These nanobody reagents therefore give us the ability to control whether one individual protein gets palmitoylated or not. Aims & Objectives In this project, in two separate workpackages, we will develop and test this technology. First, we will refine and expand the use of nanobodies to deliver thioesterases to different proteins in cells. We will evaluate which thioesterases can be delivered by nanobodies, and the breadth and specificity of nanobody-mediated control of palmitoylation. We will develop new nanobodies to deliver thioesterases to new protein targets and use chemical genetic approaches to control when a nanobody will deliver a thioesterase to its target. Second, we will develop small molecules that do the same job as the nanobody, acting as delivery agents to bring a thioesterase together with one particular protein. These agents will be the first step towards developing molecules that can control palmitoylation of a protein in a living organism. Potential Applications & Benefits This project will create a set of tools that can precisely control a specific chemical change in a single protein within a living organism using genetic and compound-based methods. The exceptional control over how the proteins behave made possible by this technology will have applications in both basic scientific research and medicine. We expect that the methods developed in this study can be easily adapted to target other chemical changes to proteins in numerous situations. Relevance to the BBSRC long-term research and innovation priorities This proposal aligns to multiple BBSRC long-term objectives, offering world-class ideas, innovation, and the potential for impact. Embedded in curiosity and basic bioscience discovery, the proposal will innovate by producing small molecules that paves the way to access an entirely new class of drugs, with the potential for world-changing impact in both experimental and clinical settings.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

Cells die in our bodies all the time, when in check, this is a good thing, cell death eliminates damaged or useless cells. However, too much or too little cell death is associated with many diseases including neurodegeneration and cancer. Key to cell death are tiny organelles called mitochondria - these are present in all our cells. As cells start to die, mitochondria become leaky, releasing proteins that cause the cell to commit suicide. Recently, various labs have found that as mitochondria become leaky they also cause inflammation. This type of inflammation has important roles in how we fight infection, cancer and how we age. Nonetheless, how mitochondria cause these effects is unknown. Investigating this question, we found that leaky mitochondria get coated in a protein called ubiquitin that signals inflammation. This is an exciting finding, however there are many big questions remaining that our project aims to address. Firstly, we want to understand why ubiquitin gets onto mitochondria, essentially asking what is the machinery in the cell that puts ubiquitin on the mitochondria. For this, we will combine targeted ideas alongside new methods called genome-editing based screens. Secondly, we will ask why leaky mitochondria cause inflammation. We will investigate various possibilities such as examining the similarities between leaky mitochondria and intracellular bacteria. Finally, we want to understand the importance of this pathway in key biological processes. For this purpose, we will develop methods to remove ubiquitin from mitochondria, thus removing the inflammatory signal. Using this method, we will ask whether we can block the inflammatory effects of dying and old cells. In sum, our project will provide exciting new insight into how cells trigger inflammation upon a cell death stress. We hope that this will also provide new ways to think about therapeutic targeting inflammation in diseases including, but not limited to, aging and cancer.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) is a common clinical procedure used to treat obstructive coronary artery disease, one of the leading causes of death. The overwhelming majority of patients will receive drug-eluting stent devices that act as a supporting scaffold and deliver drugs to counteract renarrowing. While this technology has been truly revolutionary, hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide annually still require an invasive repeat procedure, representing a huge economic burden on society and increasing pressure on health care resources. The key issue is that it is currently not feasible to quantitatively predict the immediate effect of a specific intervention and if/when a patient will suffer from renarrowing in the longer-term. Tools that enable optimisation of the procedure on a patient-specific basis are therefore urgently needed to improve patient outcomes and alleviate the resource burden on healthcare providers. Critical to optimising the procedure is assessment of the individual patient's level of disease. Advances in medical imaging technology now make it possible to visualise the degree of obstruction and, crucially, the composition of the underlying plaque, potentially providing clinicians with a wealth of information to inform and plan PCI. However, decisions are presently left to operator experience and there are no definitive guidelines for how to optimise PCI for a given patient, particularly in complex cases. In recent years, we have seen significant developments in computational models of PCI, that have the potential to inform PCI strategy in the future. However, they suffer from limitations and significant methodological advances are required before they can be routinely integrated within the clinic. These primarily relate to increasing the realism and accuracy of the models, improving their robustness, predictive power and speed of computation. This last point is critical, with the exorbitant run times of current computational models significantly hampering timely decision support and genuine impact in the clinic. The EPSRC Centre for Future PCI Planning will address these challenges by developing a computational decision support tool to assist clinicians with PCI planning. Advances in mathematical modelling of fluid-structure interaction, lesion preparation, drug delivery and growth & remodelling, allied to statistical inference, emulation, uncertainty quantification and optimisation will enable us to create computational tools able to answer key clinical questions like: 1) What will a given patient's artery look like immediately after device deployment? 2) How should the plaque be modified prior to stent deployment, and what specialist tools should be used to do this? 3) What length and diameter of stent should be used, and what should be the balloon deployment inflation pressure? 4) What is the optimal placement of the stent? 5) In the case of complex bifurcation lesions, where potentially multiple stents and balloons are deployed, what is the optimal technique? 6) To what extent is the artery likely to renarrow, over what time course, and how can the PCI strategy be optimised to avoid this? 7) Can we effectively plan PCI solely on pre-procedural imaging such as Computed Tomography? Working together with world-leading International Centres, and a range of leading imaging and medical device companies, the EPSRC Centre for Future PCI Planning will develop novel and robust mathematical and statistical methodologies, supported by large clinical data sets, to create the novel, fast and accurate tools that will help realise our vision of integrating computational tools for PCI planning within the clinic.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

Our bodies produce hundreds of different small molecules based on a core chemical framework, known as steroids. These families of steroids play crucial roles in cellular structure, signalling, digestive health and reproduction, and because of this role in signalling many steroids (testosterone, progesterone etc.) are also given as drugs. Subtle changes in the precise balance of steroids are often a marker of biological dysfunction or disease (e.g. metabolic disease), or of steroid drug use/abuse. And due to the ubiquity of steroids in biological processes, if organisms are over exposed to steroids during development, then huge damage can be done (e.g. fish and amphibians in sensitive aquatic ecosystems) . Measuring the relative concentrations of different steroids (creating a steroid profile) in many different samples (blood, faeces, urine, wastewater) enables us to diagnose disease, monitor health or design better environmental remediation, but this is extremely challenging due to the chemical similarities between the steroid molecules. Currently steroid profiling is only possible with high performance chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, a costly and labour-intensive measurement requiring a lot of expertise. Attempts to generate simpler specific antibody assays are unwieldy, requiring tens or hundreds of expensive antibodies and the use of radioactive tracers. Neither are suitable for 'point-of-need' use near a patient or in the field. In this fellowship I will develop a new array of sensors for profiling bile acids and other steroid molecules, using an innovative chemical toolbox and sensing methodology developed in my laboratory. My method uses fast and inexpensive luminescence spectroscopy and is suitable for translation into a point-of-need steroid profiling tool. I hope to make steroid profiling a routine clinical or research measurement and will demonstrate the merits of the technique to measure the profile of a family of steroids called bile acids, in blood, that have been shown to be strongly diagnostic of both early- and late-stage liver disease (the 3rd highest cause of death in the UK and increasing), informing on underlying cause, severity and possible treatment pathways. Whilst 'total serum bile acid' quantification is routine, it is often uninformative, and the crucial profile detail of different concentrations of various bile acids that we can measure will enable a 'precision medicine' approach, particularly in the case of detecting alcoholic hepatitis. Alongside detecting liver disease, there is a growing body of evidence highlighting the potential of steroid profiling in detecting early-stage gastric cancers (7th highest cause of death), cardiac disease (leading cause of death), and metabolic disorders including diabetes in an increasingly overweight population, as well as many other conditions. Steroid profiling can also be used in laboratory experiments to quickly find new ways of degrading steroids in wastewater treatment. I will translate my technology to work with collaborators in water engineering to rapidly discover degrading solutions for estrogens and androgens and work towards preventing environmental damage from human and veterinary medications entering the water systems. Our work will ultimately lead to better detection and management of disease, better understand metabolic health and the effects of diet, and better systems to protect the environment - a One Health approach.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

This grant supports the IRIS Federation deliver computing infrastructure to its science activities by placing hardware at GridPP sites. This funding will allow the University of Glasgow to continue its leading role within the UK-wide GridPP project (led by Prof David Britton), supporting STFC funded research across the UK, as part of international collaborations.  This investment allows us to continue supporting experiments funded by STFC under the IRIS collaboration, including the DUNE neutrino science experiment and Clas12 project which has collaborators within UoG, via the purchase of supporting storage infrastructure on the order of PB of capacity (and the replacement of older equipment, improving efficiency.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-10

Atlantic Salmon aquaculture in the UK is facing an existential threat in the form of poor gill health. Losses are mounting every year, threatening the viability of an industry that is worth >£1Billion to the UK economy and represented the largest UK food export during 2021 but has decreased due to ongoing health challenges. Gills are vital organs, with functions in gas exchange, water balance and excretion of nitrogenous waste. Salmon gills are in constant and direct contact with the constantly changing marine environment, the 'Achilles heel' of this economically important fish. Organisms in the plankton such as harmful algae and micro-jellyfish are the principal cause of gill damage and inflammation, but little is known about which plankton species are detrimental to fish health. Warming surface waters are causing these planktonic agents to bloom more frequently and in greater numbers. Other parasitic organisms, for example amoeba causing amoebic gill disease, exacerbate gill damage. At present, aquaculture producers have few tools at their disposal to predict, avoid or treat the gill damage that occurs. New approaches are required to fully understand the biology of this system and to enable salmon producers to mitigate losses. For example, to understand which planktonic organisms are causing gill damage a systematic approach is required to reveal the hidden diversity of plankton communities. The University of Glasgow has recently shown 'proof of concept' at two aquaculture sites that daily environmental DNA metabarcoding direct from salmon pens, alongside rigorous statistical analysis, can reveal plankton diversity and provide 'early warning' for damaging bloom events. Meanwhile, the University of Aberdeen has developed a panel of gene expression biomarkers that has the potential to detect early gill damage before it becomes irreversible. Selective breeding of more resilient salmon is the ultimate tool to mitigate against salmon losses due to planktonic challenge. Working with Benchmark Genetics, the Roslin Institute has shown that salmon can be bred have resistance to amoebic gill disease. Progress can also be made towards breeding salmon more resilient to gill challenge from harmful plankton if the complexity of these planktonic communities can be simulated under laboratory conditions. The current project is an Industrial Partnership Award which includes contributions and involvement from Scotland's three largest salmon producers (MOWI, Scottish Sea Farms, Bakkafrost), Benchmark Genetics (a salmon selective breeding company) and EsoxBio (a molecular diagnostics start-up). Academic partners are the Universities of Glasgow, Aberdeen, Stirling, and Edinburgh. In a first objective, the project will undertake systematic sampling of planktonic communities and salmon gill biomarkers over three years at nine sites to rigorously identify which planktonic species and which gill biomarkers predict gill damage. Secondly, via in-house marine aquaria and in vitro cellular models, the role that cleaning biofouling from net pens has in releasing harmful organisms into the plankton will be explored in the context of acute gill inflammation. Thirdly, using innovative mobile experimental aquaria at three shore-side aquaculture sites, complex planktonic challenges will be simulated to enable a replicated genome wide association study (GWAS) for salmon resilience to gill damage as well as to trial multiple interventions to mitigate gill damage. The GWAS represents a first step towards a selective breeding program; the intervention study will inform aquaculture producers on immediate steps that can be taken to combat losses. In a final objective, data streams from across the project will flow into an integrated mathematical model that will reveal the environmental and molecular mechanisms that underpin salmon responses to harmful plankton as well as predict the likely success of gill health interventions in the future.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Number theory, one of the oldest areas of mathematics, has grappled with one central problem for 4,000 years: to find whole number, or integer, solutions to equations. Solving such equations, known as Diophantine Equations, can require centuries of inquiry, as demonstrated by Wiles' proof of Fermat's Last Theorem in 1995, over 350 years after it was first conjectured. Beyond their historical significance, Diophantine Equations have important applications ranging from the security of modern cryptographic algorithms to extensions of the standard model of particle physics. The fundamental problem of finding solutions to a Diophantine equation can be split into two questions: A) Do solutions exist – or can we prove that the equation is unsolvable? B) If there are solutions, how many? The proposed research will pursue A) and B) in two largely independent lines of inquiry: the "obstruction stream" and the "abundance stream". The mathematical tools come from a synthesis of number theory with the much more modern mathematical discipline of algebraic geometry. We know in some cases, and conjecture in many others, that the number-theoretic difficulty of a Diophantine equation is strongly tied to the geometric complexity of the shape ("algebraic variety") which the equation describes in a coordinate space. A basic invariant characterising the complexity of an algebraic variety is its Kodaira dimension, which can be negative, zero or positive. Broadly speaking, it is expected that the higher the Kodaira dimension of a variety, the sparser its solutions become. Consequently, much is already known about the solubility of equations with negative Kodaira dimension (although many important problems remain open). On the other hand, little is known or even conjectured about the solubility of equations with zero or positive Kodaira dimension. The two streams of this proposal will expand the frontier of what we know about these more complicated Diophantine equations/varieties. The obstruction stream will investigate classifications of an essential object which one can attach to a Diophantine equation, the Brauer group. In his 1970 talk at the International Congress of Mathematicians, Yuri I. Manin unified many examples of insoluble equations showing that their insolubility could be explained by an obstruction arising from the Brauer group. Swinnerton-Dyer conjectured that Brauer groups could also explain a seeming absence of solutions to some diagonal quartic equations but I have recently shown this to be false. In the distribution stream, I will focus on Diophantine equations of Kodaira dimension zero, which are analogues to elliptic curves in higher dimensions. These equations are in a sense the "intermediate" case between varieties of negative and positive Kodaira dimension and are thus of particular interest. In particular, I will answer the question whether solutions are dense inside the algebraic variety (in the sense of the "Hilbert Property" due to Colliot-Thélène-Sansuc and Serre) for new instances. The results have implications for fundamental questions in other areas such as understanding the possible symmetries of polynomial roots ("Inverse Galois Problem").

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Quantum computational devices have seen rapid development in recent years, with the first claimed demonstrations of quantum devices performing calculations significantly faster than any classical computer, as well as first demonstrations of repeated, real-time quantum error correction. Applications have been suggested in a variety of fields, ranging from quantum chemistry to financial markets to the automotive industry, but the first convincing demonstration of quantum advantage for a problem of real world interest is yet to be achieved. In this project we will construct and study quantum algorithms for detection and analysis of signals in noisy data. Signal processing is a ubiquitous problem in the physical sciences, with applications in e.g. radar, sonar, audio signal processing, and to gravitational wave data analysis, which will form a test case for our study. The gravitational wave data analysis problem has certain features that suggest quantum algorithms may offer a novel solution to current computational bottlenecks. The first direct detection of gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime, occurred just a few years ago in 2015, opening up a new window on the Universe. In the short time since then, detections of certain classes of sources have become routine, however weaker signals remain difficult to detect in noisy data. The data analysis required for detection and analysis of source parameters is extremely computationally intensive, and the sensitivity of searches for certain classes of signals (e.g. continuous wave sources) is currently computationally limited. Improved computational techniques could lead to faster identification of signals, allowing for faster follow-up with conventional telescopes, and could even enable the detection of signals that would otherwise be overlooked. Planned improvements to detectors over the coming years, as well as new space-based instruments such as LISA, will only compound the data analysis challenge. The investigators have recently shown that one of the first known quantum algorithms, Grover's search algorithm, can in principle speed up signal detection from noisy detector data, the first proposed application of quantum computation to matched filtering, a widely used signal processing technique, and to gravitational wave astronomy in particular. However, the algorithm proposed so far requires a large (Megabytes to Gigabytes) fault-tolerant device, likely to remain beyond the reach of technology for several years, if not decades. In this research we will pursue algorithms which have the potential for quantum advantage in the longer term, with large scale, error-corrected quantum processors, as well as construct and implement algorithms feasible with current or near future technology.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Context Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) has been the scourge of rural Africa for centuries. The disease is caused by two species of Trypanosoma brucei parasites (T.b. gambiense in West Africa and T.b. rhodesiense in East Africa) and is transmitted by tsetse flies. It continues to pose a significant threat, particularly in resource-poor settings far from laboratory facilities. Recently, Malawi has experienced a significant HAT outbreak. Challenge Diagnosis of T.b. gambiense relies on serological tests and microscopy. A T.b. rhodesiense serological test has not been developed, and diagnosis is based on microscopy alone following the observation of clinical symptoms. Current diagnostic methods for both subspecies lack sensitivity, require trained personnel, and their ability to detect asymptomatic infections is very limited. Furthermore, in the early stages of disease, HAT resembles malaria (caused by Plasmodium spp) leading to frequent misdiagnosis. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognised that current diagnostics are hindering their progress towards the target of zero HAT transmission by 2030, and so have published target product profiles (TPP) for T.b. gambiense and T.b. rhodesiense diagnostic tests, highlighting required factors such as: low cost; being operational in remote locations in rural Africa with limited staff training and no requirement for cold chain, instrumentation or precise liquid handling. Aims and objectives Previously, we have developed a point-of-care technology for the detection of malaria. The diagnostic is housed in an autonomous chamber, containing all reagents for DNA extraction and amplification. The method was subsequently adapted to detect other molecular targets in large volumes of water. Here, in a unique sentinel approach, we will build on these advances to develop a low-cost test that primarily diagnoses malaria (always co-endemic with HAT and with higher prevalence) together with infections from T.b. gambiense, T.b. rhodesiensespecies. This strategy not only addresses WHO’s specifications on HAT but also allows the introduction of HAT testing in high-risk areas, through malaria diagnosis, decreasing barriers to implementation and commercialisation, as well as tackling the issue of malaria misdiagnosis. Subsequently we will validate our diagnostic in HAT-affected communities in Malawi, providing critical data on the diagnostic’s performance in real-world conditions. Patient and public engagement activities involving stakeholders and policymakers in HAT-affected regions will ensure that the diagnostic aligns with regional needs and minimises risk to future translational activities. The resulting analytical, field, and engagement data will be used to generate a detailed business case for the technology, which will pave the way to future product development activities. Potential applications and benefits The diagnostic proposed here is in direct response to WHO’s recent call for HAT diagnostics: it is in alignment with their TPPs, and additionally addresses the issue of malaria misdiagnosis (at minimal additional cost). It offers an accurate, affordable, easy-to-use, field-applicable diagnostic with no cold chain, electrical power, or precise liquid handling requirements and is therefore readily applicable to HAT-affected regions in rural Africa. It will also be able to analyse large volumes of blood to detect low numbers of parasites in blood, increasing sensitivity. The project will provide a pathway towards sustainable upscaling so that this rapid point-of-care diagnostic will be used for the detection of cases and asymptomatic carriers providing a rapid pathway to treatment, and the interruption of disease transmission. This diagnostic will also transform disease surveillance methods, providing essential data for evaluating disease control strategies.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

NANAQUA emerges at the forefront of addressing the global water crisis, leveraging nanotechnology and nano(functionalized) materials (NMs) for cutting-edge water treatment solutions. In tackling the societal challenge posed by contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), NANAQUA addresses the risks these pollutants, including endocrine-disrupting compounds, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, and pharmaceuticals, pose to freshwater resources and ecosystems. With over 500 European monitoring sites reporting pollutant concentrations harmful to aquatic life, the urgency for effective solutions is clear. NANAQUA's approach transcends current wastewater treatment systems, which inadequately remove CECs, by integrating nanotechnology into (photo)chemical and biological degradation systems. NANAQUA's solution further involves developing smart nanosensors for real-time water quality monitoring and generating insights in toxicity of nanomaterials and CECs. This strategy promises a comprehensive improvement in water purification effectiveness, aligning with the EU's Water Reuse Regulation and supporting sustainable resource management. The project establishes the first European doctoral training network dedicated to NMs integration in water treatment, training 15 professionals through an international, intersectoral, and interdisciplinary research program. This unique combination of training in (bio)chemical water treatment, materials science, (eco-)toxicology, and environmental sustainability assessment is pivotal for becoming experts in this field, granting highly valuable competencies for the job market. Environmentally, NANAQUA's long-term impact includes enhanced water treatment, reducing harmful CECs in aquatic systems, and thus protecting human health and promoting pollution-free habitats. Economically, it aligns with EU regulations, promising reduced costs, energy use, and job growth in the water treatment sector.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Layperson Summary Many Low and Middle Income Countries, such as Nepal, have massive and growing 'double burdens' of ill-health, as the chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD) associated with Western diets and lifestyles, most notably type 2 diabetes (T2D), are added to still-high levels of infectious diseases. Health services, except for relatively privileged people living near to private hospitals, are rudimentary. In the large peri-urban communities which have arisen from recent urban migration, modern diabetes care is inaccessible and unaffordable, and national budgets are unlikely ever to provide it. A Nepal charity, PHASE-Nepal, has pioneered community empowerment approaches to help with social welfare, education and health. Recognising the devastating effects of T2D in younger adults for families and communities, and the dramatic results of the diet intervention in our Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT), PHASE-Nepal invited the applicants to meet in Nepal, to consider adapting the DiRECT method as a low-cost sustainable diet programme which could be delivered within the communities to combat T2D, related NCDs and the adult weight gain which drives them. A diet plan based on DiRECT but using only traditional, local Nepali food and meals has been designed to be nutritionally complete, and pilot research has found it to be acceptable and to produce remissions of T2D in over 40% of people. The present project is built on concepts of community empowerment, community engagement and community-focused implementation. It will first test this diet approach in the real-life setting of Nepal's peri-urban communities, in larger numbers and over a 12-month period. People with undiagnosed, and untreated diabetes will be identified by a simple finger-prick screening test. Importantly, to maximise uptake and minimise costs, the screening and diet treatment will be delivered by 'Women Community Health Volunteers', members of the same communities who help with vaccination, screening and health promotion programmes. The project will document how effective the intervention is in this new setting, and explore in detail its implementation, ensuring no-one is disadvantages because of sex, wealth, caste etc. It uses surveys and interviews to identify barriers and incentives, among people with T2D, in their environment and services, and in local and national government policies. With strong local management for training and capacity-building, input from the DiRECT research team, and engagement with stakeholders and people living with T2D, we aim to make the programme attractive, affordable, effective, sustainable and widely transferable in Nepal and elsewhere. As well as conventional presentations and publication of results, a local film company will make a documentary about the project, to help spread the word and exert influence over policy-makers.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

It is widely recognised that low density development is unsustainable and generates significant Green House Gases (GHGs). Nevertheless, most UK development is built on greenfield land where public transportation is poor and services are scarce. If the UK is serious about 'net zero', then new ways of planning and developing are urgently required. 'Urban retrofit' is defined as repairing existing places by adapting urban form to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, protect the environment and support sustainable lifestyles. Changes to the layout of neighbourhoods are starting to be delivered, including via infrastructure programmes such as separated bike lanes, planning policies that encourage high-densities, and community-based projects like urban greening. The problem is that implementation is slow, fragmented and increasingly controversial. Investment often flows to affluent places rather than communities in the greatest need of support, and the principal actors in the UK's planning and development systems face various delivery challenges. Planning authorities struggle with institutional inertia and time-limited funding meaning retrofitting is poorly coordinated. Property developers stick to tried and tested business models to reduce risk resulting in a preference for low density, mono-use greenfield development rather than mixed-use projects on brownfield land. Communities face capacity challenges and place adaptation is often contested. If the UK is to meet its net zero targets and achieve a just transition, then urban retrofitting must be prioritised, equitably directed and implemented more effectively. URBAN RETROFIT UK will be led by the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence and coproduced with international, national and local planning, property and community partners, including in five UK core cities - Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow and Sheffield. Its aim is to examine the barriers to urban retrofitting, challenge the prevailing growth-logic of planning and development, and coproduce a conceptual framework plotting the critical points of intervention needed to scale up retrofitting through planning and development systems. The objectives are to: Conduct a global evidence review on urban retrofit informed by international partners and a study tour. Identify and investigate a series of urban retrofit cases in collaboration with local authority partners to understand what is working and pinpoint where implementation gaps could be closed. Work with partners to understand where the spatial inequalities of current urban retrofit practice lie and how the barriers to 'scaling up' effective and equitable practices could be addressed. Establish an international URBAN RETROFIT HUBS network between UK and Global North cities facing comparable place-adaptation challenges and initiate new two-way learning partnerships with Global South cities where the context for urban retrofit is different but opportunities exist to explore lesson-sharing. To maximise knowledge exchange across sectoral boundaries and between places, URBAN RETROFIT UK's findings will be shared throughout the project at jointly delivered events with UK partners and internationally via the URBAN RETROFIT HUBS network. New theoretical perspectives on the UK's planning and development systems and coproduced empirical evidence on urban retrofit will be shared through an international symposium and evidence review, a report, film and magazine articles, and academic outputs including articles and an edited book.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Context and challenge: Electronics underpins the digital transformation that affects all businesses, industries, and value chains while playing a critical role in delivering the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the central belt of Scotland, the electronics industry is vital to the regional economy, driving economic growth, environmental commitments, and national security. With over 130 companies and 10,300 employees contributing to an annual £2.8bn+ turnover, this sector is instrumental in fostering productivity and growth, and is built into the products of many vertical sectors (e.g., health, aerospace and retail)[1]. Over the past two decades, remarkable progress has been made resulting in electronics products that offer affordability, superior performance, and compactness. As a result, electronics have become ubiquitous and have revolutionised many socioeconomic sectors such as health, agriculture, and the internet and form the backbone of emerging areas such as automation, smart cities, and 5G/6G communication. However, the electronics industry is driven by technical and economic considerations, often neglecting sustainability principles. This has led to significant challenges, including the large amounts of waste electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste/WEEE), high emissions across the supply chain, and widespread usage of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs). Scaling up sustainable manufacturing solutions requires a transformational shift and needs to foster a collective recognition among manufacturers and consumers of the value of public and planetary health, and for the technical supply chain to provide education and knowledge to ensure electronics products are durable, repairable, recyclable, and made from earth-abundant materials. The Net Zero Strategy recognises that a share of the UK’s 3.5 MT CO2 could be decarbonised annually through consumer behaviour, specifically around electronics and digital technologies[2].  Vision: The Centre for Responsible Electronics and circulAr TEchnologies (CREATE) will set the standard for sustainable electronics manufacturing and design, through an exemplary system-level demonstrator across Scotland's Central Belt. By leading a national effort, CREATE will foster interdisciplinary collaboration among stakeholders and spearhead technological innovations. CREATE will position the UK at the forefront of adapting to and shaping future trends in sustainable manufacturing and reconfigurable electronics. Aims and objectives: CREATE unites world-leading researchers across the Central Belt of Scotland to address the challenges, capitalise on opportunities, and to scale up the research capabilities in net-zero electronic manufacturing. This will accelerate the industry's transition- in the context of the move to a Net Zero economy, and partner with the policy community to maximise these gains. Our centre, initially drawn from 12 prominent research groups at the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and the CSA catapult, will deliver a proactive approach to meet the sustainability challenges of future generations of electronics.  Potential applications and benefits: Measurable reductions in e-waste, decline in the use of CRMs, cost, carbon footprint, and energy use/renewable energy will be achieved through more environmentally friendly processes and products. Crucial to this is the formation of public-private partnerships which will leverage private sector expertise and infrastructure to promote the adoption of sustainable technologies for global public goods. Through co-creation, conferences, workshops, outreach, and advocacy CREATE will work on applied research projects with industry to help transform the regional electronics industry. 

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

The Green Deal has made it necessary to develop low power electronics, using sustainable materials and green processing. The successful implementation of AMOLED (Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diodes) displays in mobile phones, organic-based electronics illustrates that the Green Deal is possible. However, current organic electronics technologies have yet to be efficiency and not all are produced via low embedded energy processing methods. By using bio inspired organic materials deposited by green process technologies achieving these goals could be realised. During project GHOST, we will focus on inter molecular interactions to help address these issues. Irrespective of application; AMOLED, Organic PhotoVoltaics (OPV), Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFET) or Organic Thermoelectric Generators (OTG), the active materials are used in a solid matrix that stabilises them but also changes their properties relative to those in solution. There are many examples where guest-host interactions, e.g. donor-acceptor materials in OPV devices, completely change the properties of the system. Using light-emitting guests blended in a host or donor-acceptor exciplex systems leads to increasing OLED emission efficiency. But how to control these interactions is not well understood and is still largely empirical. Interactions can change both the molecule conformation and electro-optic properties of the materials, but theoretical approaches to understanding these mechanisms are still in their infancy. Moreover, the varied effects of such intermolecular interactions in working devices is very poorly understood. Currently our limited understanding of these phenomena limit our ability to develop bio inspired materials and active components. All life on earth is organic and can perform complex of functions. Taking inspiration from living organisms, we aim to develop a new low energy organic electronics technologies.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Doctoral Training Partnerships: a range of postgraduate training is funded by the Research Councils. For information on current funding routes, see the common terminology at https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/how-we-fund-studentships/. Training grants may be to one organisation or to a consortia of research organisations. This portal will show the lead organisation only.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Engineering unconventional quantum states leads to both transformative fundamental science as well as new technological paradigms. Encapsulating this statement is the 40 year search for quantum spin liquids (QSLs). QSLs are exotic states of matter, predicted to host both functionalilty such as high-temperature superconductivity and macroscopic quantum entanglement, as well as fundamental features such as topological excitations and electronic structures resembling particles observed in high-energy physics. Consequently, the search for QSLs has been a long-sought goal of condensed matter physics, but we have yet to identify a suitable material. The QSL state occurs when magnetic interactions in a material cannot be satisfied, they are ‘frustrated’, and can persist down to zero temperature where quantum fluctuations dominate. As one might expect, QSLs are notoriously fragile and difficult to characterise. Therefore, only a handful of candidates exist through which they can be studied. One of the major challenges in our bid to further understand QSLs, and exploit their predicted functionality, is expanding the candidate materials available to study. Fascinatingly, nature can even provide the solution to forming QSLs. The Kagome lattice – a pattern of corner sharing triangles that is symbolic in cultures throughout the world and found in traditional Japanese basketry – is able to induce the required ‘frustration’. Where do we find the Kagome lattice? In natural minerals found in mines around the world. We aim to engineer exotic electronic states in a new QSL candidate based on the Kagome lattice – the recently discovered mineral Averievite. This mineral is unique as it is the first example of a candidate Kagome QSL based on an oxide, rather than hydroxide. We have recently prepared this material in powder form in order to stabilise what resembles a QSL state. However, the preparation of high quality single crystals, combined with advanced characterisation, is required to fully identify the QSL state in this material. Here we will perform a concerted study of the QSL state in Averievite. This will involve high-purity single crystal growth and advanced characterisation using world-leading national and international facilities. Due to Averievite’s unusual oxide structure, it provides unique opportunities to explore functionality. Therefore, we will conclude this project by exploring routes to the long-sought QSL-driven superconductivity offered by this exciting material. The results will provide a significant step forward in both our understanding of QSLs and how their proposed functionality can be utilised. Both these advances will contribute to the UKs leading involvement in quantum materials and their applications in technologies.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

The "Natural NDT" project led by the University of Glasgow aims to transform the Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) of ageing, built infrastructure through late-stage commercialisation of high-resolution remote muography technologies. Muography is an emerging field rooted in STFC research. It uses cosmic ray muons as a powerful, passive inspection tool capable of producing accurate 3D density measurements within large, complex structures. This relies on the accurate tracking of natural muons through structures using particle detectors. Natural NDT will progress two muography technologies towards field trial on Glasgow's ageing transport bridge network and overcome key technical and commercial barriers to widespread industry adoption of muography. Our transport infrastructure are the arteries of our society and economy. Yet, most of these predominantly reinforced concrete structures are approaching or have exceeded their intended operational lifetime, with the effects of climate change increasingly placing strain on their utility. In many cases, limitations of incumbent NDT technologies in providing timely and accurate detection of deep sources of structural fatigue leads to uncertainty that enforces partial or full closures, and in extreme cases, demolition. Closures significantly impact socioeconomic flow, and the construction of replacement structures has a massive and often unnecessary carbon footprint. The advent of remote muography addresses these pressing challenges by enabling point-of-inspection analysis of operational structures. This will provide unique early identification of deeper defects and inform preventative, predictive maintenance to underpin the safety case for asset lifetime extension and mitigate costly disruption. Under STFC CLASP funding (ST/V002260/1), the muography research team in the Nuclear Physics group at University of Glasgow (led by Project Lead David Mahon) developed and TRL5 tested a low-power, lightweight and portable system for remote inspection of multi-layered reinforced concrete structures. This project researched and de-risked the use of now-patented advanced manufacturing and image reconstruction techniques and low-power scalable readout electronics. It also confirmed the unique potential of muography to identify common sources of structural defects, including small voids within tendon ducts and degradation of steel reinforcement bars without the need for artificial radiation or destructive intervention. This technology was subsequently re-engineered into a high-resolution cylindrical system under STFC IAA funding for subsurface nuclear industry imaging applications. Muography has increased in industrial popularity recently, but widespread adoption is hampered by high technology costs, prolonged imaging timescales and challenges in remotely deploying sophisticated particle detectors, especially high-spatial resolution 3D muon scattering tomography systems. Low-spatial resolution 2D absorption radiography commercial systems exist but lack the precision to identify the structural defects mentioned above.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

The overarching goal of our research programme is to address aspects of the broad science challenge: "What are the basic constituents of matter and how do they interact?". In particular, by performing experiments primarily with electron and photon beams, we study questions such as "How do quarks and gluons form hadrons?", and by studying these basic, strongly-interacting building blocks we are able to tackle the question "What is the nature of nuclear matter?"

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.