SWANSEA UNIVERSITY

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-03

In 2023, 145,214 UK hate crimes were recorded. Councils  and their partners each have separate systems of reporting  hate visuals, joined in an ad hoc way via Community Safety  Partnership teams. As has been identified through focus  groups with practitioners, this process needs to be  formalised, systematic and mandatory. The development of a  monitoring instrument to streamline the reporting,  monitoring and removal of graffiti is essential for  practitioners and in turn the community. Ridding the UK of hate crime remains a priority across  frontline practitioners. Local council community cohesion  programmes are responsible for monitoring hate groups and  behaviours across local authorities. The academic has been  working with Community Cohesion Leads (users &  beneficiaries) across South Wales since 2018, to streamline  the monitoring and reporting process across local boroughs.  This has involved providing training for elected members,  line managers and front-line staff on when, why, and how to  report, monitor, collate and remove hate-fuelled graffiti and  stickers across South Wales. To date collating this  information has meant relying on staff (whose primary job is  not to report such content) to email community cohesion  coordinators with images when/where applicable. In 2023,  with the support of Welsh Government SMART Partnership  funding, the project lead co-designed an app 'StreetSnap' with practitioners resulting  in a successful product now being utilised throughout the  borough of Bridgend. A number of councils (beneficiaries)  now want to utilise the app. StreetSnap is an innovative technological solution allowing  councils and their partners to better record, utilise and  remove hateful graffiti and visual representations of hate  throughout their boroughs. The app allows users to track  potential areas of higher hate crime effectively and efficiently  within their communities. StreetSnap enables councils to  communicate across departments and partners as well as  better allocate resources and funds into areas where issues  are identified, ensuring public safety and support community  cohesion. The StreetSnap app is a ‘problem first’ innovation created as  a technological solution to a specific real word problem and  has direct application and impact. Media interest through  success in Bridgend has shown there are clear beneficiaries  for this project and that potential customers are aware of this.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-02

The exchange of energy between p-conjugated molecules and light underpins current and future technologies for displays from light-emitting diodes, electricity generation in solar cells, bioimaging and photochemical production. These applications require molecules to transition between different excited energy states within a manifold of levels. The ‘normal’ ordering of molecules set the first excited states to have weak light absorption and emission properties, forming (triplet) states that are detrimental for these applications by lowering their efficiency. In this proposal we explore ‘inverted’ molecules – working against ‘normal’ expectations from quantum mechanics (Hund's rules) to solve this problem – where now the first excited states (singlet) exhibit strong light absorption and emission. By coupling these molecules to stable radicals with unpaired electron states we enable magnetic characterization of ‘normal’ vs ‘inverted’ order of levels. We will explore new opportunities in upconversion that converts lower energy states to higher energy: demonstrating the potential to get more energy and work done from less in future applications. This project will push the boundaries of spin and optical properties of advanced molecular materials for energy management with potential future applications in more efficient and sustainable energy generation and consumption (UN SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy; UN SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities), as well as photocatalysis in production of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals (UN SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production). The programme is enabled by two leading early-career researchers from the UK (Evans) and Japan (Aizawa) with complementary expertise in molecular materials design, characterization and exploitation.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-01

The separation of molecules and ions by membranes is essential for the separation of gases, purification of water, energy conversion and storage, and many other applications, and is therefore of crucial technological importance for achieving the sustainable development goals "clean water and sanitation", "affordable and clean energy", and "climate action" defined by the UN. The membranes established to date suffer either from a poor compromise between permeability and selectivity or from fouling. Innovative concepts to extend the lifetime of membranes and to improve their separation performance are urgently needed to achieve the aforementioned goals as quickly as possible. PhotoBrane will train a new generation of leading experts in a completely new approach to membrane technology to take separation performance and longevity to a new level. Our research will be built on the most modern membrane materials, investigated by PhotoBrane's PIs. In our new research approach, we are exploring how to use photochemistry methods to develop photo-switching regimes of the membrane's wettability to prevent their fouling. To achieve unprecedented separation performance, we take the photo-switching a step further and investigate the influence of photo-tuning the structure, porosity, and polarity of dye-loaded membranes on their function in gaseous and liquid media. Through this research, the doctoral researchers receive interdisciplinary training and, through secondments to industrial partners, gain insights into various topics of photo- and material chemistry as well as membrane technology. The excellent research is carried out at renowned European centers of membrane research and photochemistry. The mobility within the network, combined with excellent research and training, creates a highly synergistic framework for success. This ensures an efficient transfer of excellent academic results to industry through a new generation of entrepreneurial and highly skilled scientists.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Research in Particle Physics (PP) in the next decade will be dominated by a ten-fold increase in the amount of experimental data. Analysing and interpreting these data, as well as modelling and simulating the fundamental processes, requires advanced software techniques. Research projects in both theoretical and experimental particle physics are based on large international collaborations, and collaborative values are deeply embedded in the research culture of the field. CCP-TEPP is built upon existing international collaborations with the goal of providing world-leading contributions to future developments. Collaboration with industry is crucial to gain and exchange technical knowledge and fully exploit advancements in both hardware and software. CCP-TEPP offers the unique opportunity to build a roadmap for particle physics software development in the UK as part of the international community. The UK community is already established with workshop and activities supported by UKRI and STFC grants, the participation to CoSeC would give us a long-term place to maintain the links within the community and to further develop interactions with other software communities active in the UK. The core of the proposal is the editing of the road map in two steps as per the call details. The roadmap will involve researchers, research software engineers and academics from several UK institutes and will be the topic of two workshops organised co-located with relevant community events. Letters of support from the researchers involved are available in attachment. The list of topics includes the spectrum of current UK involvement. (i) The modelling of quantum field theory using lattice methods, (ii) the interaction between particles at colliders (iii) the simulation of interaction of particles with detectors and (iv) the reconstruction and analysis of data from PP experiments. For each topic we will review the current involvement, define future plans and identify areas of leadership. The final document will be made publicly available and will drive future work within CoSeC and the community as a whole. From a technical point of view the scope of the community covers a large amount of codes, and the roadmap will also identify areas where 12 months of RSE effort can make a difference. We expect effort to be dedicated to the themes of artificial intelligence, and portability and sustainability of the code. The use of advanced machine learning techniques is ubiquitous in PP and further exploration will ensure that modern techniques can be used on the latest HPC machines. The portability of the code is also extremely important given the rate of progress of hardware technology, which requires software to evolve faster than the timescale of particle physics projects, requiring a high degree of future sustainability. Funding is requested at Swansea University and the University of Warwick and will cover staff time for the proposal co-leads (Y1-Y2), as well as 12 months of RSE time (Y2), and administrative support. In addition, we request funding for workshops and for the community participation in the roadmap writing (Y1) and further community participation in the CoSeC initiative (Y1-Y2). We expect to be long term participants in the CoSeC work as part of the UK research software environment.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Context Energy inequality continues to hamper socio-economic growth in many African nations, where millions lack reliable access to electricity. Traditional energy sources are expensive, environmentally damaging, and dependent on external supplies, which limits their sustainability and accessibility. The REACH-PSM project (Resilient Renewable Energy Access Through Community-Driven Holistic Development in Perovskite Solar Module Manufacturing) aims to revolutionise energy access by enabling the local development and manufacturing of sustainable perovskite solar modules (PSMs) in Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, and South Africa. The Challenge With >500 million people in Africa without electricity, there is an urgent need for scalable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable energy solutions. Current renewable technologies, while beneficial, often fail to address local contexts and can result in significant environmental waste, particularly from end-of-life photovoltaic systems. The challenge lies in developing a localised manufacturing process for next-generation solar technology that is both cost-effective and sustainable, with simultaneous development of efficient end-of-life treatment to mitigate waste, allowing for widespread adoption across Africa. Aims and Objectives The REACH-PSM project seeks to accelerate the development and commercialisation of PSMs by focusing on the following objectives: Delivering commercially competitive low-cost manufacturing of PSMs in partner locations in Africa with a performance of >15% PCE and a lifetime of >10 years. Developing novel components of PSMs, and identification of domestic green supply-chains to enable regional manufacture and improve sustainability. Delivering PSMs designed for the circular economy with optimised end-of-life processing, minimising waste and maximising the circular flow of materials delivering enhanced commercial viability, sustainability, and resource security.  Creating novel sustainable business models and community co-designed products that are suitable and appropriate for use. Potential Benefits The REACH-PSM project will accelerate the transforming energy access agenda in Africa by pioneering the development of locally manufacturable PSM, demonstrating the first next generation solar module manufacturing in Africa. This localised production will not only empower communities by fostering energy independence and creating jobs but also set a new standard for sustainable energy solutions. By utilising sustainable materials and processes, the project will also address the environmental challenges associated with traditional solar technologies, offering a more resilient and adaptable energy solution. Ayrton Challenge Areas The project addresses the Next Generation Solar Challenge Area. REACH-PSM advances perovskite technology, which offers the potential of more distributed solar manufacturing thanks to low-cost processing and manufacturing routes. REACH-PSM will collaborate across the Ayrton Fund portfolio to amplify impact. We will align with the Ayrton Challenge on Energy Storage, the LEIA programme, the Climate Compatible Growth Project, and the Zero Emission Generators initiative, exploring synergies in local manufacturing, circular economy principles, and sustainable energy solutions. ODA Compliance REACH-PSM is fully compliant with ODA criteria, as it directly addresses the economic and social challenges of Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, and South Africa—countries listed on the OECD DAC. By focusing on localised manufacturing and sustainable energy solutions, the project promotes economic development and improves the welfare of communities most in need. The expected outcomes include significant advancements in energy access, environmental sustainability, and economic empowerment, aligning with the broader goals of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG13 (Climate Action). We also seek to advance progress towards SDG5 (Gender Equality), SDG9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG10 (Reduced Inequality), SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

Swansea University (SU) will use this equipment award to strategically invest in Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in key areas across the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), within Engineering and Physical Science Research Council’s (EPSRC) remit. The University's research strategy prioritises enhancing global research impact while creating a nurturing environment for its researchers. A key aspect of this strategy is the strong support provided to ECRs, with an emphasis on mentoring, training, and career development in line with the Researcher Development Concordat. This commitment includes offering customised training programmes, networking opportunities, and promoting a positive research culture, all aimed at helping ECRs thrive and develop into future leaders in their fields.   Several pieces of equipment are being requested, which SU believes represent a sound investment for both itself and EPSRC. The items will support the development of future research leaders while also enhancing, augmenting, and adding value to SU’s existing research capabilities.   The CW-EPR spectrometer equipment will further world class lab provision in materials at SU. It will be located at the new £30M Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM) building that opened in 2023. The equipment furthers the investment in infrastructure and capital equipment that is being made in materials fabrication, characterisation and devices in CISM by SU, South Wales semiconductor industry partners and external funding (>£3.3M since 2022).   The high viscosity jetting AM platform will build on SU’s expertise in the multi-physics simulation of smart materials (such as magneto-electro polymers) and allow the creation of physical prototypes to validate numerical studies. This technology is currently unavailable at SU and is directly aligned with EPSRC’s focus on advanced materials and digital manufacturing. The dry electrode forming machine will enable the manufacture of coatings using solvent-free processes. Dry coating represents a groundbreaking advancement in sustainable coating technology, offering a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional coating methods. Coating technologies have always been a key research focus at SU, and this will enable the University to increase its research and development in this area. SU has a longstanding tradition of excellence in High-Performance Computing, which the Grace Hopper System will complement. In 2021, it acquired the AccelerateAI facility, based on 48 NVIDIA A100-40 cards, then state-of-the-art and one of the largest in the UK. The investment sits alongside the planned upgrade of a Central Processing Units (CPU)-based computer cluster, which will cost £2M.   The Franka Research 3 Robot will be the latest investment in the Intelligent Robotics lab, which provides a dynamic educational and research environment. This investment will enable SU to establish a cutting-edge research facility to conduct outstanding research in Robotics and AI. The Sensor Testing Equipment will build on and benefit multiple departments, Research Institutes and their sensor systems supply industry chain networks. Some examples are: Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute(M2RI), where sensors enhance quality and efficiency in materials and manufacturing;  Health Technology Solutions Research Institute, for research into sensors for monitoring health;  CISM, for sensor building blocks and semiconductors;  Artificial Intelligence(AI), for sensor data interpretation and Smart Sensor Systems;  Climate Action Research Institute(CARI), where sensors monitor environment and wellbeing.   Acquisition of the above equipment will result in publications in high-impact journals, open new avenues for collaboration, expand networks through extensive public and industrial engagement, and help secure external funding to continue advancing research in these areas.  

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

Despite advances in knowledge about MND, diagnosis and treatment have lagged behind because we lack effective biomarkers - biochemical signatures that indicate presence of a disease and give information about disease type and progression. Currently there are no biomarkers that are specific to MND. Cholesterol is essential for motor neurons, but studies have identified high blood-cholesterol levels as a risk factor for MND. Other studies show links between disturbed cholesterol production and genetic mutations that cause MND. Disturbed cholesterol production leads to abnormal cholesterol metabolites (substances created when cholesterol is broken down) in blood, something we found in pilot work. We will now expand earlier studies to a large number of blood samples from people with MND, to establish definitively how cholesterol and its metabolites change at disease presentation and during progression. This should identify biomarkers that could be used to diagnose MND earlier and monitor disease progression and treatment response.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

We urgently need to use a lot less material in tall buildings to reduce carbon emissions, but cannot do this until we know how occupants will be affected. Constructing buildings accounts for at least 11% of all global carbon emissions. Thanks to advances in technology and renewable electricity, a modern building already has a low carbon cost once in operation, and most of its lifetime emissions come from its construction ? particularly creating and disposing of carbon-heavy materials like concrete, steel and glass. The world expects to see 41,000 more tall buildings by 2050 and we could dramatically reduce their construction emissions if they used less concrete and steel. Shorter multi-storey buildings could use low-carbon structural materials like timber. In both cases, while these buildings would be as safe as today and would last as long, they would inevitably be more flexible and would sway more in the wind. Critically, we do not know how this might affect occupants' wellbeing, comfort and productivity. International building design standards currently assume that perceptible swaying motion is always unacceptable for occupants. They therefore demand that building sway is totally imperceptible, except in the most rare and extreme weather. To meet these exacting standards, buildings are over-engineered with disproportionately large amounts of carbon-intensive materials. There are multiple concerns with these widespread practices: (1) today's standards are based on questionable estimates of how much sway motion occupants can perceive; (2) they take a one-size-fits-all approach that does not distinguish between different types of building or occupant; (3) they assume any regular perceptible motion will be unacceptable to occupants, when this is not evidenced; (4) they assume building motion is acceptable when it is not consciously felt, despite growing evidence that this is not correct; and (5) most fundamentally, they are unable to draw upon scientific understanding of how building sway motion affects the human body and how this, in turn, impacts occupants' comfort and wellbeing - because there is none. LOCAST will, for the first time, show when and why sway motion is acceptable or unacceptable to people inside buildings by rigorously measuring the human effects of this motion. Through a genuinely interdisciplinary collaboration of structural engineers, physiologists and psychologists, we will transform the current level of scientific understanding, making it objective and evidence-based. We will use world-leading UK research infrastructure to simulate real building movement, assessing in detail for the first time how the human body is affected, how this in turn affects people's levels of wellbeing, comfort and productivity, and what is the role of people's expectations in shaping this process. To ensure real-world advances, we will rapidly and effectively disseminate our findings so that they can be embedded in next-generation building-design guidelines, based for the first time on objective human factors. This will be greatly facilitated by our team members sitting on key ISO and BSI building standards committees. These new evidence-backed guidelines will empower the construction industry to make much more judicious use of the millions of tonnes of carbon-intensive materials that it consumes globally to build thousands of towers each year. Our close partnership with the construction sector ? who were already involved in co-creating this project's scope ? means we know that by shaping human-centric guidelines, LOCAST will meet an urgent and clear need from within the industry.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-10

What is the problem? Poor mental health affects everyone at some point in their lives. It is the biggest cause of ill-health and the links, both ways, between physical and mental ill-health are often underplayed but increasingly important. People with poor mental health are less likely to take part in or remain in usual types of research studies, be they about physical or mental health, or they are actively excluded. This means that much of what we know about mental illness is not based on the very people who are worst affected. The UK has some of the best data in the world to look at how to prevent mental ill-health and work out the best ways to treat it. But we're still not making the most of them- they can be tedious to find and using them can be hard work. People working on physical health, like heart disease, and mental health tend to work apart, and overlook each other which means we don't share learning or really understand how things work in people. What will we do about it? In 2021 we set up DATAMIND to improve people's mental health by changing the way the NHS, charities, industry, and researchers use and share information and data that's already out there. It's a data hub, where researchers and others can find what data is out there and what it covers (e.g., how many people have depression in similar studies and was it measured in the same way). We want existing mental health data to be used to benefit patients and the public and improve care. We work alongside people, patients and people with personal experience of mental health to understand who they trust to use their data and develop ways people can work together (check out our DATAMIND Glossary which helps people understand and talk to each other about mental health data science). We work with researchers, patients and the public, policy makers, charities, and industry to understand what sort of data they think can answer the questions they want to ask. Our Hub is led from across the four nations of the UK so that mental health data will relate to everyone. We use data from where people are, not just healthcare, but also schools and now mobile phones (with consent). It ensures everyone's' voice is heard- even those who do not usually take part in research. We also plan to work closely with others doing the same sort of work as us but in different areas like cancer so we can understand the links and share learning. How will this benefit patients? By making it easier to know where the data is, matching it to people's needs and streamlining how to use it the Hub supports world class research in cutting-edge ways that will improve the lives of people living with poor mental health in the UK. We have worked alongside patients and the public from the start and will continue to do so - we are one DATAMIND team. We have assembled a network of researchers, across several universities and partners, including HDRUK, who have lots of experience in doing this sort of work with the aim of preventing and improving mental health for all.

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

Valuable research has been undertaken on current social polarization, weaponization of difference and democratic backsliding. Less common are investigations into everyday navigation and negotiation of diversity in creating conditions for mutual understanding and social recognition. Our project, "Repairing sociality, safeguarding democracy: Transatlantic North-South narratives and practices of deep equality" (RSSD), seeks to address this gap. RSSD is an interdisciplinary North-South comparative research project that, drawing on Lori Beaman's concept of deep equality, focuses on daily practices, or "non-events," through which people move beyond politics and the law to defy notions of "diversity as a problem" and find ways of "living together well" through, among others, recognition of similarity and making of community. Teams in South Africa, Brazil, Canada, and the UK will develop local case studies and collaborate in cross-country comparative analyses to understand how local practices of deep equality may provide new frameworks for strengthening democracy, ensuring inclusive governance, and improving trust. The project will craft a conceptual framework incorporative of both South and North epistemologies to enable mutual learning about alternative practices that repair sociality towards greater trust and inclusion, despite the erosion of confidence in political representation and the legal system of producing justice. Homing in on the intersections of race, ethnicity, nationality and other differences, cooperation and exchange practices will be mapped and compared. Uniquely, the investigation extends to digital practices to understand how digital and social media play a role in practices of deep equality particularly by exploring agency, community and sociality in online discourses related to each local context and through a separate case study which focuses specifically on social media activism in the UK. The interface between deep equality and bottom-up practices of democracy, we hypothesize, will provide novel pathways of approach to the contemporary (and future) challenges associated with democracy, governance, and trust.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

The Natural Products BioHUB Centre (NPB-Centre) seeks to enhance the industrial potential of eukaryotic microbes, fostering a collaborative ecosystem across disciplines. The eukaryotic microbe natural products market has grown substantially, with annual increases of 10-15%. Including markets such as antimicrobials, organic acids, and emerging sectors in algal and agricultural natural products. The potential of eukaryotic microbes, including fungi and algae, goes beyond established markets like industrial ethanol production to address urgent global needs in alternative energy, resilient net-zero agriculture, and antimicrobial resistance. The NPB-Centre will leverage existing research capacities and innovative business models to address emerging opportunities utilising eukaryotic microbes, particularly in biopesticides, biofertilisers, waste capture technologies, and high-value compounds. The NPB-Centre aims to address fragmented pathways from discovery to commercialization and regulatory hurdles, facilitating the commercial viability of new products and driving green technology innovation. Streamlining pathways to market will accelerate economic growth and support global sustainability goals. To achieve its overarching aim, the NPB-Centre has five strategic objectives: Foster Collaboration: Promote cross-sector collaboration and NPB-Centre activities through networking events and workshops. Accelerate Market Access: Develop strategies to expedite bringing discoveries to market, establishing key infrastructure for efficient commercialisation pathways. Overcome Barriers: Address knowledge gaps and regulatory complexities through "The Ecosystem," providing support for innovation-to-market pathways. Drive Economic Growth: Stimulate economic growth through innovation, investment attraction, establishing a physical hub for "The Ecosystem" to supporting business development. Ensure Long-Term Sustainability: Develop strategies for sustainability beyond the grant funding period, leveraging a spin-out company and fostering partnerships. Partnerships and Collaborations. The NPB-Centre builds upon existing partnerships with Swansea Council and industrial collaborators. The Centre benefits significantly from the regional focus on green technology, facilitated by the Swansea Bay City Deal and initiatives like the Celtic Freeport, which aim to forge a robust regional ecosystem for R&D and sustainable economic growth. Our co-creation model has already secured collaborations with 32 industry and 19 civic partners, 5 business & finance sector stakeholders, securing over £10 million in cash and in-kind support, underscoring the commercial credibility of our proposal. Support is distributed as follows: approximately £1.9 million for engagement and outreach, £3.2 million for capacity building, £3.6 million for R&D projects, £700K for business support, and £1 million in interest-free loans for businesses. This substantial backing, supported by the elected and professional leadership of Swansea City Council, regional local governments, and Welsh Government, underscores the strong regional demand for the centre. Operational Approach, Future Prospects and Sustainability The NPB-Centre's operational approach integrates collaborative outreach, organism exploitation, and screening platforms with substantial infrastructure support, advancing natural product research and sustainable economic development. Looking ahead, positioned to be a beacon of innovation and economic progress, the NPB-Centre aims to attract private investment, enhance local capabilities, and drive the widespread adoption of green economy solutions. These endeavours will secure the Centre’s future sustainability while fostering the emergence of new markets, creating green jobs, and regional prosperity. By excelling in green biotechnology R&D, the centre is committed to delivering tangible economic and environmental benefits.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-08

Tabletop gaming and neo-Victorianism have seen a resurgence within popular culture, as represented by the exponential growth of the board games market and the popularity of films and television shows inspired by the nineteenth century, such as Poor Things (2023) and The Artful Dodger (2023-). Against this context, disability remains underrepresented in tabletop gaming. In the few games where disability is portrayed (such as Cyberpunk Red [2019]) it is often rendered in ableist ways. Furthermore, many board games are also inaccessible to disabled people. Those that are adapted for disabled people are often prohibitively expensive. For example, Large Print Scrabble (2005) is sold on Amazon for £58.85, £36.86 more than the original version. The "Legless in London" Commercialisation Project (LiLCP) will exploit the current popularity of board games and neo-Victorianism while addressing the need for more accessible games and games that represent disability in more nuanced ways. The LiLCP will seed fund the commercialisation of the board game "Legless in London" (LiL), which has been developed through the AHRC Impact Acceleration Account-funded Inclusive Board Game Project (IBGP) at Swansea University (25/08/2023-25/08/2024). The IBGP funded Ryan Sweet (RS), the games company Focus Games Ltd. (FG), and a focus group of members of the disabled community (including a member of Disability Arts Cymru) to develop an accessible board game inspired by RS's 2022 book Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture. The result of this collaboration is a prototype for the game LiL. In this game, all players play as a lower-limb amputee and attempt to navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by nineteenth-century London. Characters have individual victory conditions that need to be fulfilled by engaging with different aspects of Victorian society, including work, the marriage market, and the prosthesis industry. The first player to achieve two of their character's victory conditions wins! The game's accessibility features include QR-code-linked resources, large print, and Easy Read instructions. Taking LiL to market will benefit disabled people interested in games as they will have access to an inclusive product that speaks to their history and represents disability in an affirming way. The amputee characters players role-play in LiL are not objects of pity, subjects of "inspiration porn", or dehumanised villains but rather varied people with aspirations, choices, opportunities, and barriers to negotiate. More broadly, board gamers and those interested in Victorian culture will benefit from having a new game that represents an aspect of Victorian life seldom explored in popular culture. The LiLCP will also confer societal benefits as through playing LiL non-disabled players will be encouraged to empathise with disabled people and to reflect on the social barriers that they faced in the past and today. Importantly, it will also help players to consider disability in positive and layered ways. Finally, the board games industry will benefit from having a new model for inclusivity, in terms of both accessibility features and disability content. The inclusive aspects of the game will be promoted by RS and FG at trade events and conferences.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-08

This 18-month project will enable sustained engagement with six primary schools in two nations: Northern Ireland and England. Students will interact with a series of four innovative workshop interventions in school to strengthen connections between schools and STFC science and scientists. Their activity will end with a showcase event where students from the 'wonder audience' present a science project to our partner and STEM networks. 600 students in Years 5 and 6 will carry out a series of accessible hands-on science investigations that build their understanding of Astronomy. The workshop investigations begin with a Discovery Bag of hands-on science activities and resources which have been shown to remove barriers of participation to science and inspire students from primary schools in socioeconomic deprived areas to feel included and get involved. Collaborating with STEM networks, local charities and our established school partners, we will recruit and build relationships with schools in deprived areas of England and Northern Ireland where there is documented low social mobility and with low levels of education, employment, health, and housing. To develop and test our approach we will work with schools in Belfast, Thanet and Canterbury. One school in the Thanet area will be a peer lead and mentor, supporting other schools with developing their pedagogical approaches, with the aim that all students whatever their ability and background feel included and build their understanding of STFC science. The methodology we employ begins with hands-on science, resourced via an innovative 'Discovery Bag' of science and Big Questions investigations. As such students engage directly with science activities and ways of thinking that are curiosity-driven and agentic, without the necessity for prior learning. For example, students experiment with making water droplets on a plastic lid to observe the properties and behaviour of water while generating their own follow-up questions such as 'Where does water come from?' and 'Is there water in space?'.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-07

Background and Motivation: Our project aims to innovate the production of high-quality soft magnetic materials (Fe-Si alloys) with increased silicon content (up to 6.5%). Soft magnetic materials are vital in various electrical devices, including as motor cores in generators and motors. With increasing electrification, demand for efficient materials grows, particularly for electric vehicles (EVs). However, current production methods face limitations in silicon content due to processing difficulties, and state-of-the-art technologies are expensive hindering the take-up of higher silicon materials. Our project targets this challenge by exploring innovative manufacturing approaches. This advancement in soft magnetic materials will reduce core-losses, and will enable more economical energy-efficient motors thus supporting the global shift towards renewable energy and net-zero emissions. The development of 6.5% silicon electrical steels is an objective of the APC automotive roadmap to reduce the weight of electric vehicles and to extend range / reduce battery size for electric vehicles in line with the UK governments' strategy for low emission road transport. Research Hypothesis and Objectives: We aim to develop cost-effective soft magnetic materials through two approaches: the Spray Lamination Process (SLP) and the High Silicon Process (HSP). The target is to achieve an 80% cost reduction compared to current state-of-the-art methods, while maintaining at least 80% peak efficiency These methods involve thermal spray coating technologies together with diffusion annealing to achieve high silicon content. This will be developed at the level of a single laminate, multiple laminates and final as a proof-of-concept core which will all be tested for magentic and mechanical properties. Outcomes of Programme: The project addresses current manufacturing limitations, making high-silicon materials economically viable for broader applications, especially in EVs. Successful implementation could lead to significant advancements in energy efficiency and sustainability across industries. Technical risks are mitigated through systematic experimentation and analysis. The project's transformative potential lies in its contribution to reducing energy consumption, enhancing motor efficiency, and facilitating material recycling. Ultimately, this investment could revitalize soft magnetic material manufacturing in the UK, bolstering its position in the EV supply chain and fostering export opportunities. Overall, our project aims to revolutionize the production of soft magnetic materials, paving the way for more efficient and sustainable electrical devices, particularly in the burgeoning electric vehicle market.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-07

High grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is the most common type of Ovarian Cancer (OC), accounting for up to 80% of OC deaths, with only modest advances in OC clinical management over the past 3 decades, highlighting a requirement for modern therapeutics.[1,2] Treating cancer through the transfer of genetic material is one class of precision, advanced therapeutics, being developed. Indeed, miRNAs, whose deregulation has been associated with tumorigenic effects, now serve as disease diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers and are being explored for advanced gene therapy development.[3] At the moment there are no clinically approved gene therapies for OC. Due to the nature of RNAs and their pharmacokinetic limitations, they require a drug delivery system (DDS) for efficient cellular internalisation and targeted delivery. Using SMART polymer nanovectors (PEG-pTMC), we have developed a flexible DDS with favourable bioaccumulation in OC tumours, that demonstrate increased efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs. Developed in line with the EMA GoNanoBioMat FRAMEWORK guidelines this platform is compatible with miRNA gene therapy payloads.[4] Leveraging publically available databases that aggregate current knowledge on disease associated and therapeutic miRNA expression, our team have developed a new in silico methodology for discovery of novel therpeutic miRNAs for advanced gene therapy development in OC.[4] This informatics tool has been used to strategically select three distinct single miRNAs that have shown in vitro anti-cancer efficacy while also allowing potential for synergy when combined in a "cocktail". Subsequently we have successfully encapsulated these miRNA(s) into PEG-pTMC nanoparticles and demonstrated their increased anti-cancer efficacy in established laboratory assays at Swansea University. Our over arching aim is to develop an innovative nanoparticle-encapsulated miRNA-based gene therapy for HGSOC, with the goal of transitioning from pre-clinical discoveries to a clinically applicable treatment. We have developed 4 clear aims for the project; Formulate and optimise PEG-pTMC miRNA cocktails, identified through our in silico assays, for maximised anticancer efficacy in HGSOC. Feedback wet lab in vitro data for iterative development of the in silico tools and optimised selection of miRNA cocktails. Validate anti-cancer efficacy, dose range and treatment shedules to inform pharmaceutical formulation and in vivo testing using a small-cohort mouse orthotopic study Demonstrate clinical translational readiness and PEG-pTMC(miRNA) utility through the collection of anti-cancer metrics from pre-clinical models, including assessments of tumour growth inhibition, survival benefits, and potential off-target effects cross-referenced to pertinent regulatory frameworks. Applications and benefits; Benchmarking against the current DDS standard for miRNA, solid lipid NPs, which improve cellular penetration but still lead to systemic exposure, we will address both the clinical and product development needs in this gene therapy area. Upon project completion, the therapy will have comprehensive preclinical evidence to support clinical translation, underscoring the therapy's efficacy, safety, and readiness for the next stages of development. Moreover the informatics and separate DDS platforms (Technology Readiness Level 5/6), will have demonstrable applications to other solid tumour contexts (STCs), positioning our approach as an exemplar for gene therapy development in non-lipid based precision medicine catalogues, filling a significant gap in the current landscape of precision medicine.[5] Under the experienced leadership of Professor Francis, our interdisciplianry team combines advanced skill sets to support therapeutic product development, ensuring intellectual property (IP) protection and future translation profiling, toward DPFS funding in 2025.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-07

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) represents a significant advance in the exploration of the universe through its unprecedented sensitivity and infrared capabilities. We will use the JWST to spark the public’s curiosity to inspire a new generation of scientists and explorers to share the wonder of the Universe with young people and the public in Wales. Oriel Science will be a regional hub for running bilingual astronomy/STEM workshops with a particular emphasis on reaching under-represented groups in Wales. We aim to offer workshops for schools, home-schooled groups, the public/families, and also as part of our social prescribing programme. The schools/home-schooled groups workshops will support the integral skills and new Curriculum for Wales’s Four Purposes, giving teachers new resources to support the new curricula they must develop, and enabling pupils to progress using innovative resources and data. The public/families workshops will engage and enthuse all visitors to Oriel Science, particularly those from areas of high socio-economic deprivation and with low science capital. The workshops will also form part of our social prescribing programme with Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB). Cultural spaces such as Oriel Science can play a role in health interventions particularly for socially isolated groups such as older people. Health care professionals have used social prescribing where participants are referred to programmes held in museums with research showing significant well-being improvements (Thomson et al.). We will use our existing relationship with the SBUHB to build on our existing provision of workshops. We will partner with the Faulkes Telescope Project (FTP), which involves schools in real research from their classrooms using state-of-the-art optical robotic telescopes across the world. This will give the opportunity to showcase how astronomers use optical and IR wavelengths to study the cosmos and engage schools, teachers and the public in the science of the Universe in real time allowing everyone to share in the wonder of the universe. Our project team have many years of experience delivering high quality PE activities, and we aim to continue this by showcasing the latest results from JWST, and including the use of optical telescopes around the world. We will bring together partners involved in formal STEM education (FTP) and social prescribing (SBUHB), improving our reach with diverse audiences, and finally, by ensuring that the schools workshops are aligned with the Curriculum for Wales, we can ensure that teachers/educators are supported in bringing similar topics to their classrooms.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Millions of children living in the UK today experience adversity – often starting very early on in their lives. An increasing number of children are being identified as needing help and protection because of the potential risks to their development or health (‘Children in Need’), or are deemed at high risk of becoming looked after by local authorities (‘Children Looked After’).   Access to current, comprehensive national longitudinal data for children facing high levels of adversity is crucial so that policymakers and academics have a clear and robust evidence-base on the ongoing and lifelong impact of such early experiences on the health and development of these children. This is an essential step to help inform the design and implementation of national-level policies for the provision of services aimed at improving the health, social, developmental, and educational outcomes for these vulnerable children. A major roadblock to achieving this is the typical exclusion of such children from the UK’s world-leading portfolio of national longitudinal studies of child development. This is largely due to the multiple challenges researchers face in identifying, sampling, and retaining these participants. When they are included, there is usually little information about which children are involved with social services, what help they are getting, and how effective this is.   This 12-month project aims to understand stakeholder evidence needs and to test the feasibility of an innovative new quantitative longitudinal birth cohort study of children at risk of poor outcomes across the UK. It is led by an interdisciplinary team, with substantive knowledge of children’s social care, observational research and advanced expertise in data science and statistics. It builds on some significant groundwork, including the ESRC-funded Early Life Cohort Feasibility Study which had a scoping study on children in need, and two studies scoping the potential for qualitative longitudinal studies to capture the experiences of ‘seldom-heard’ children’; it also builds on an ADR UK Catalyst project scoping which evidence needs can be met using administrative data.   We will engage closely with key policy and academic stakeholders, as well as with care experienced young people and their parents, to deepen our understanding of scientific and policy evidence needs with respect to these young children, and to establish examples of best practice and co-production when involving vulnerable children and their families in longitudinal research.   Further, we will assess the feasibility of different sampling, recruitment and retention approaches. One important question is ‘who is our target population?’ and we will undertake statistical analysis of administrative data to consider different ways of identifying children at risk, based both on child and maternal administrative records. We will undertake engagement with data controllers, consider deeply the ethical considerations around different approaches, and estimate potential sample sizes required to address the evidence needs and survey costs. A next step – outside the scope of this project - would be to draw a sample and test recruitment into it.   This project will create a blueprint for a new UK-wide longitudinal birth cohort study of children at risk of poor outcomes. Such a study will fill a vital evidence gap to help transform our understanding of the risk and prevention strategies urgently required in child welfare service provision to support some of the most vulnerable members of UK society now and into future.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

This Fellowship is about re-orientating interactive AI systems, away from systems that might lead to people feeling powerless, redundant and undervalued, turning towards approaches that let people experience joy, creativity, connection and agency as they use AI innovations to amplify their innate abilities, qualities and values. Many everyday people worry about the impact of artificial intelligence on their lives and livelihoods. In the most recent Stanford AI-100 report (September 2021), for example, while the fear of robots taking people's jobs has reduced, there is a strong concern that such systems will erode democracy and values through deep fakes, manipulated social media feeds and the like. The report points to Grand Challenges for AI that involve systems outpacing or outsmarting humans. Even as I write this summary (late Jan 2023), there is a frenzy of excitement over Open AI's ChatGPT, a system that can turn a simple written request (e.g. "Write me a compelling EPSRC summary") into, at least at the surface level, a seductively articulate response (N.B., this summary is definitely written by me). Further, I am writing this while in South Africa where I have engaged with community members in Langa, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, as part of the preparation for the Fellowship. These people spoke of the starkly real problems (from violent crime to very high unemployment). With so many underserved and unheard voices, globally and indeed in the UK, there is a timely and urgent need to think about how to radically enable these "natural intelligences" rather than to replace them with artificial ones. In this Fellowship, then, we will work intensively with people who are not usually involved in AI discovery and innovation - people with lower socio-economic opportunities in the UK and those in Global South communities such as the informal settlements in India, Kenya, Brazil and South Africa. Their lived-experiences will be brought into the design and development process, a process further richly enhanced through the involvement of a diverse set of technology, service provision and creative partners. In doing so, we aim to discover novel ways for people - everywhere, whatever their contexts and opportunities - to engage with AI systems. We call this new trajectory for AI research, EVE - everyone virtuoso everyday - to succinctly summarise the drive of the work. That is, we are interested in defining and evaluating a class of AI technology that enable expressive, individual and masterful interactions, like a virtuoso musician who channels all of their being - physical, mental, emotional and even spiritual - through their instrument to help themselves and others make sense of the world. However, our work is not about turning everyone into an AI-fuelled artist, dancer or musician. Quite the contrary, we look to providing tools that can be deployed in the mundanity of their daily lives. As a Fellowship, the vision and agenda is broad and open to continuous shaping with communities, academics and wider societal stakeholders as the work proceeds over three cycles, each 20 months long, as ideas move from seeds of possibility, growing and being refined into working embodiments, enabling us to evaluate them, integrating them into toolkits for wide impact in academic and practice worlds.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

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.