University of Sheffield

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Heterogeneous Integration (“HI”) is a disruptive foundational technology driving change in the semiconductor industry. It could allow the UK to regain competitive advantage rather than become a niche player if exploited. Global tier 1 vendors are looking to exploit it to dominate future markets and counter disruptive change from open hardware IP communities such as RISC-V.  UK innovators need a low-cost entry into HI systems. The Centre for Heterogeneous Integrated MicroElectronic and Semiconductor Systems (CHIMES2) will act as a concentration point for the UK design community, delivering low-cost entry via knowledge transfer in HI design anchoring semiconductor systems design and economic benefit in the UK. The UK design community currently targets offshore manufacturing via standard design practice, leading to decoupling from significant innovation in the UK science base and UK pathways to manufacture. This UK cannot exist in isolation, and the UK design community will utilise both UK and non-UK pathways to manufacture, but design enabled by HI will bring the component parts together and allow reconnection of UK supply chains. CHIMES2 will bridge the gap between design teams, science and manufacturing via knowledge transfer and innovation translation pathways in HI. HI will disrupt and open up supply chain opportunities for the UK but increases risks that could undermine vital UK cyber security resilience. To address these risks, CHIMES2 will develop resilient system architecture and design methods building on UK investments such as the Research Institute in Secure Hardware and Embedded Systems. New verification methods for Heterogeneous Integration of design IP independent of pathway to manufacture will be developed. This will enable open yet resilient supply chains for components aggregated into systems by HI. CHIMES2 will develop translational pathways that feed foundational research innovation from materials through devices and into systems that demonstrate industry-relevant HI impacts. It will raise the UK's profile, increase research metrics and IP filing in HI. CHIMES2 will capture, disseminate and maintain fundamental HI design knowledge, providing both context for future innovation and practical means to accelerate its transition to industrial use. Strategically, ensure awareness of UK and global advances in semiconductors, advanced packaging, test and verification, where HI is an enabler to improve system design, focusing on UK specialisms. Coordinate the community via knowledge transfer of assets, including needs and technology roadmaps and UK capability landscapes, which are developed and shared widely with the community. Tactically, provide easily accessed design assets for low entry costs to key markets. These include; architectures, design patterns, exemplar reference designs, and tool flows for HI System Design, enabling academia and innovators to prototype novel systems in time for market demands. Upskill the UK design community: A Skills and Training activity for Heterogeneous System Co-Design will be developed and deployed into various curriculum pathways to upskill the current and prepare the next generation UK workforce. These skill development assets will be built on our maintained design commons and secure systems architecture. CHIMES2 will validate interventions by industry-led co-created projects, our initial cohort partners are execution-ready (see letters of support). These partners cover a range of markets where the UK has strength, power management, wireless communications, photonics and sensors. Example systems where HI can have impact are; 5G/6G transceivers, medical and defense-oriented sensing devices, control of efficiency in power conversion, and photonic integration across multiple materials.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

This project addresses two critical and interlinked biological phenomena associated with bacterial plasma membranes: (i) the biophysical processes that couple respiration to ATP production by the F1Fo ATP synthase, and (ii) the sensitivity of bacteria to membrane-targeting antibacterial compounds. It is well established that proton transfer from the membrane surface to proteins (and vice versa) and proton diffusion along the membrane surface between protein complexes play a key role in cellular bioenergetics. However, the study of proton dynamics on the membrane has been limited to rhodopsin and photosynthetic bacterial membranes, as these models allow light-dependent experimental control of the process. Thus, our biophysical insights into proton transfer and diffusion processes in bacterial bioenergetic systems, and bacterial membranes in general, are highly limited due to the lack of suitable experimental approaches and analytic tools. In addition to being the hub for cell bioenergetic systems, the bacterial plasma membrane is also a key target for antibacterial compounds such as antibiotics and components of our immune system. In vivo analyses of such antibacterial activities are largely limited to detecting membrane permeability using large fluorophores (e.g., live/dead stains), leakage of cytoplasmic content, or induced membrane depolarisation. As a result, our understanding of how membrane-targeting antimicrobials interfere with cell bioenergetic systems is only superficial. Moreover, despite the proximity and reliance on interactions with anionic phospholipids, virtually nothing is known about the impact of membrane antimicrobials on proton transfer and diffusion processes. In this interdisciplinary project, we introduce a new experimental system to follow proton transfer events and proton diffusion on the surface of the bacterial membranes using the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis. For this aim, we will use novel membrane-tethered fluorescent probes that act as either Brønsted photoacids or photobases, which are molecules that can release or capture a proton, respectively, following light triggering. Due to their ability to serve as proton acceptors/donors and to support proton diffusion, these probes are highly sensitive to changes in the biophysical properties of the surrounding membrane. To date, these probes have only been used in vitro with liposome model systems, and this project will be their first in vivo application. In the first part of the project, we will investigate the role of proton transfer and diffusion in the context of cell bioenergetics, focusing on ATP synthesis by F1Fo ATP synthase as well as respiration. By providing in vivo data about this understudied biophysical phenomenon, the project will offer fundamental new biophysical insights into bacterial membrane bioenergetics. In the second part, we will explore the role of proton transfer and diffusion on the membrane surface in bacterial sensitivity to membrane-targeting antibacterial compounds. Here, we have two principal aims. The first aim is more applied, focusing on the development of our novel probe as a new ultrasensitive in vivo tool to study the interactions between antibacterial compounds and the bacterial membrane. The second aim is more fundamental, aiming to decipher how proton transfer processes can suppress antibiotic membrane binding and how proton transfer and diffusion processes important for cell bioenergetics can be disturbed when binding is achieved. This will advance our understanding of how this important class of antibiotics and antimicrobial compounds unfold their antibacterial properties.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

The EPSRC National Epitaxy Facility (NEF) seeks investment in a new state-of-the-art Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) Cluster System at The University of Sheffield (TUoS) to further its mission to support world-class compound semiconductor research in the UK. Epitaxy is a crystal growth technique allowing deposition of atomically thin layers of semiconductor materials. It is used to create functional devices that constitute the bedrock of modern electronics at the heart of internet communications, displays, solar cells, environmental sensors, AI chips, and quantum technologies. The new MBE equipment will provide unique epitaxial materials combinations and advanced in-situ characterisation and processing capabilities. It will include a step-change in integrated data management systems for real-time epitaxy feedback allowing, for the first time in the UK, machine learning-driven materials discovery in an advanced semiconductor epitaxy system. The system will also enable transfer of materials in an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) environment to external tools facilitating enhanced collaboration with other semiconductor R&D investments around the UK, such as the Ion Beam Centre at the University of Surrey and the extensive facilities of the Henry Royce Institute. The MBE System will be designed as a flexible platform for expansion towards future capabilities, including ongoing advances in automation processes for high throughput production of epitaxial wafers that meet current and future national capacity needs. The NEF is the largest of EPSRC’s National Research Facilities (NRFs) whose purpose is to support research communities in the UK with access to world-class infrastructure and expertise. The NEF provides the UK with bespoke epitaxial wafers, underpinning semiconductor research across a broad range of EPSRC themes – a role it has played continuously since its inception in 1979. The Facility is ISO9001-certified for Quality Management and has decades of research excellence resulting in internationally-leading publications and pioneering research impacts; including technology transfer to industry and support for new start-up companies in the sector. The NEF was cited in the recently published National Semiconductor Strategy as a key element of semiconductor research in the UK. Moreover, the RAEng Quantum Infrastructure Review - commissioned by the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to inform the £2.5bn National Quantum Strategy Programme over the next 10 years - specifically calls for increased investment in existing national epitaxy capability to enable higher-volume production and support growth of this sector. Semiconductors and Quantum Technologies have been identified by the UK Science & Technology Framework as two out of five technologies critical to securing UK strategic advantage and to delivering prosperity, security, and sustainability for the Nation.  The pace of innovation in semiconductor science and technologies globally presents a major challenge to the UK. This new equipment will provide unprecedented epitaxy capabilities to pioneer a new generation of compound semiconductor devices. Managed strategically through the NEF as a centre-of-excellence, it will enable UK researchers in academia and industry to play a leading role in the future of the semiconductor industry. The proposed MBE Cluster System will address the increasing demand for bespoke epitaxy research, fuelled by the UK ambition of becoming a leader in semiconductor and quantum technologies. It will ensure that the NEF can continue its 45-year history of supporting world-leading semiconductor research in the UK, accelerating new developments in line with institutional, EPSRC, and National strategic priorities.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

When a child attends hospital with unexplained fractures, doctors must rule out all diseases that weaken the bones, making them more likely to fracture, before considering child abuse. Incorrect diagnoses risk the child being taken away from loving carers, while missed diagnoses risk returning the child to an abusive environment, where abuse may continue and perhaps lead to death. However, conditions such as isolated low vitamin D (VD) in children might lead to weaker bones without visible pathology on X-rays and nearly 40% of children below 2 years of age have low VD. The debate among doctors (and sometimes in courts) is whether isolated low VD (i.e., Low VD with normal X-rays) is a cause of fracture. This is difficult to prove or disprove in live children. There is no external gold standard to reliably quantify bone strength in children that could accurately predict the risk of fracture. However, sub-optimal VD level has been used in court cases as a cause of fracture in children with otherwise unexplained injury and researchers have been challenged to replicate and validate the traumatic nature of contentious fracture injuries. We believe that by using engineering technology and Digital Twins (DTs, computer models that replicate an object such as the femur that contain personalised shape and material properties), the effects of isolated low VD on bone strength (i.e., failure load of the bone) can be demonstrated. DTs have been successfully developed and validated for adults, but there is no such validated model for children due to the scarcity of child-specific medical imaging and experimental data to inform these models. This project aims to address these challenges by developing child-specific DTs of the femora and ribs across a wide age range (0-16 years) of children and young people with both sufficient and sub-optimal VD. The current scarcity of data will be addressed by prospective recruitment and collection of paired Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans of children to capture the shapes of both the mineralised bone and the non-mineralised cartilaginous region (including the growth plate). Mechanical testing (nanoindentation and in situ mechanical testing/digital volume correlation) of rib samples will also be carried out to evaluate personal-specific material properties and validate the DTs. The personalised DTs will be used to simulate different loading conditions to obtain bone strength to evaluate the effect of sub-optimal VD levels. Correlations will be explored between in vivo (i.e., anatomical features, blood serum VD level) and ex vivo (i.e., nanoindentation modulus, histology score) biomarkers and the predicted bone strength to identify measurements that can be used to speed up diagnosis between fragility and injury fractures. We will create an open-source database containing 3D geometries, material properties, finite element models and predicted bone strength derived from this study to share with the research community and the public. This database can be used in combination with low-radiation EOS® and machine learning methods in the future for faster diagnosis in a larger clinical study. The project aims to lower the uncertainty associated with the diagnosis of unexplained fracture in children, particularly differentiating child abuse from metabolic bone disease. This work will shape our understanding of juvenile bone properties, developmental biology, multiscale modelling in children and will have impact on medico-socio-legal fields for more robust safeguarding of our children.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Evapotranspiration (ET) represents a key flux in urban heat & water budgets, cooling cities, mitigating flood risk and reducing Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) discharges into urban watercourses. The role of ET in the 'urban metabolism' makes it a key component in our efforts to deliver climate change resilient cities. The stormwater management benefits associated with ET can be significantly enhanced through retrofitting vegetated Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) such as green roofs, bioretention cells and rain gardens. In the days between storm events, the removal of soil moisture from SuDS generates capacity for rainfall-runoff retention. However, knowing how much retention to expect represents a significant challenge for SuDS designers. This uncertainty around retention capacities for SuDS may lead to under- or over-design, or prevent their implementation altogether. Continuous simulation modelling of SuDS allows drainage engineers to understand the dynamic wetting and drying cycles that occur in response to rainfall and ET respectively. Model results can provide probabilistic estimates of the expected retention capacity; a designer could utilise either a median expected retention depth (50th percentile) or a more conservative estimate (e.g. the 90th percentile), depending on risk attitude and regulatory requirements. However, robust model outputs are dependent upon credible estimates of rainfall and SuDS-specific ET rates. Whilst global climate models provide estimates of expected future rainfall time-series, we do not yet have reliable information regarding ET rates for SuDS. Potential ET can be estimated from climate data for a standard reference crop. However, Actual ET rates associated with SuDS vegetation may be significantly different depending on the plant characteristics and the availability of moisture. Bioretention cells are deliberately planted with multiple diverse species, providing year-round colour/interest and maximising the landscape value and biodiversity benefits. Structural diversity means there may be multiple overlapping plant canopies and shading effects, with complex implications for overall ET. ET rates for SuDS vegetation will also be affected by fragmentation and/or massing of vegetation, and urban microclimate effects such as street canyons. This complexity necessitates new research to quantify ET for vegetated SuDS. We will utilise multiple techniques to quantify the Actual ET rates for SuDS vegetation across experimental scales ranging from controlled test beds to specific SuDS devices, and finally a corridor of extensive SuDS Green Infrastructure in the City of Sheffield. We will develop and apply a non-invasive ET quantification techniques in the field based on thermal remote sensing. Whilst these techniques are utilised extensively in the agricultural and natural sciences, their use here, to characterise the functionality of an engineered urban drainage device, is novel and adventurous. The techniques will be refined and validated against direct measurements of rainfall, runoff and substrate moisture content in the instrumented green roof test beds. Once validated, the thermal remote sensing techniques will provide an operational method for characterising a wide range of SuDS vegetation types and settings across the city. The remote sensing will utilise both a UAV (drone) and a sensing vehicle equipped with thermal and hyperspectral cameras to provide high-resolution data on vegetation coverage and on the plant canopy's thermal and water status. Finally, the acquired data will be utilised to produce practical SuDS design guidance.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Digital twins are a fusion of digital technologies considered by many leading advocates to be revolutionary in nature. Digital twins offer exciting new possibilities across a wide range of sectors from health, environment, transport, manufacturing, defence, and infrastructure. By connecting the virtual and physical worlds (e.g. cyber-physcial), digital twins are able to better support decisions, extend operational lives, and introduce multiple other efficiencies and benefits. As a result, digital twins have been identified by government, professional bodies and industry, as a key technology to help address many of the societal challenges we face. To date, digital twin (DT) innovation has been strongly driven by industry practitioners and commercial innovators. As would be expected with any early-adoption approach, projects have been bespoke & often isolated, and so there is a need for research to increase access, lower entry costs and develop interconnectivity. Furthermore, there are several major gaps in underpinning academic research relating to DT. The academic push has been significantly lagging behind the industry pull. As a result, there is an urgent need for a network that will fill gaps in the underpinning research for topics such as; uncertainty, interoperability, scaling, governance & societal effects. In terms of existing networking activities, there are several industry-led user groups and domain-specific consortia. However, there has never been a dedicated academic-led DT network that brings together academic research teams across the entire remit of UKRI with user-led groups. DTNet+ will address this gap with a consortium which has both sufficient breadth and depth to deliver transformative change.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Quantum mechanics is often thought of in the context of highly controlled laboratory experiments and complicated theoretical calculations. Yet, its principles also govern everyday natural processes. As a consequence, quantum correlations—phenomena like coherence and entanglement that have no classical equivalent—may be the key to dramatically enhancing their efficiency. Hence, this project is devoted to uncovering the hidden potential of quantum mechanics with a particular focus on energy transfer in molecules. Central to our research is the process of singlet fission, where a molecule absorbs a single photon creating an excited state which then divides into two quantum mechanically linked electronic states. This process has the potential to facilitate more efficient charge transfer—a critical step in converting light into electricity. However, despite its significant promise, the intricate mechanisms underlying singlet fission remain largely unexplored, presenting both a challenge and an exciting opportunity for research breakthroughs leading to step changes in technology. Understanding singlet fission poses a dual challenge that intertwines theoretical and experimental obstacles. On the theoretical side, traditional quantum chemistry methods often fall short in capturing the rapid, complex, and non-equilibrium dynamics intrinsic to singlet fission, e.g., where coherence or entanglement play a crucial role. On the experimental side, unraveling the dynamics demands specialized spectroscopic techniques capable of simultaneously resolving both electronic and spin effects over a broad range of timescales. Moreover, the gap between the sophisticated theoretical frameworks of quantum information science and the practical constraints of experimental chemistry is a formidable barrier that this project will overcome: We will integrate cutting-edge modeling with state-of-the-art spectroscopy to achieve a unified understanding of singlet fission. To tackle the challenges outlined above, our project brings together a team with wide-ranging expertise in quantum chemistry, quantum information, open quantum systems, spectroscopy, and synthetic chemistry, to capture the intricate dynamics of singlet fission and the subsequent charge transfer processes. We will develop a novel theoretical framework that combines state-of-the-art quantum chemistry with open quantum systems theory, which will be rigorously tested using cutting-edge ultrafast optical and magnetic resonance spectroscopies on specially-synthesized molecules engineered to exhibit singlet fission. By directly observing the quantum behaviour that drives these processes, we will gain unprecedented insights into optimizing energy transfer and pioneer the integration of quantum information techniques with advanced chemistry research. The potential applications of this research are extensive. A deeper understanding of quantum correlations in singlet fission could lead to the development of next-generation solar cells that significantly exceed current efficiency limits. In addition, these insights may inform the design of photocatalysts and other optoelectronic devices, contributing to more sustainable energy solutions. Beyond immediate technological applications, integrating our new methodology with advanced spectroscopy and chemical synthesis will foster interdisciplinary collaboration, bridging the gap between quantum information theory, chemistry, and materials science, and thereby enriching the broader research community. In summary, our project will combine quantum chemistry with quantum information theory through open quantum systems theory with backing and grounding in experimental measurements to advance fundamental knowledge of quantum dynamics in molecular systems. More, we aspire to translate these insights into practical applications to lay the groundwork for transformative technologies in renewable energy and quantum-enabled devices, ultimately addressing critical challenges in energy conversion and sustainability.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Stochastic processes are used throughout mathematical modelling in a vast array of applications, both in their own right and as the building blocks for more sophisticated systems in which many elements interact. To give an intuition that is easily visualized, a single stochastic process is often described as a small  particle that makes random movements within some space. The path traced out is, formally, the stochastic process. The project focuses on systems that are naturally viewed not just as a single path, but as an infinite random set of paths. Typically such models involve many different particles moving around in space, each creating a path, whilst interacting with one another. For example, particles that meet each other might coalesce together, or a particle might branch (i.e. split) into two, or perhaps jump across space or disappear entirely. A key topic of interest in such a model is to determine what behaviour emerges over large spatial and large time scales. Such behaviour can often be characterized by rescaling both space and time (and perhaps other parameters too) and showing that the rescaled system approximates some known ‘limit’ object. The Brownian web was the first example of a model represented as an infinite set of random paths. This representation proved key to establishing that the Brownian web could describe the long-term large-scale behaviour of a wide variety of models with diverse applications – from population genetics, aggregation and interface growth, drainage networks and traffic analysis, as well as models of interest within abstract probability theory. In one sense these connections are a great success: a wide range of models are now known to share a key common feature. In another sense, it carries a visible limitation: both the applications and the theory that has developed have so far focused almost exclusively on just one limit object i.e. on just one possible type of large-scale behaviour of random infinite sets of paths. The project will provide natural examples of webs, in analogy to the Brownian web, but without a prescribed behaviour for the particle motions. It will provide robust conditions for rescaling models to such webs, thereby allowing connections to be made between far wider classes of physical systems.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

This project aims to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms of damage initiation in advanced rail materials and how the microstructure of the materials affects this. This project will be undertaken in collaboration with The Royce Institute leveraging their world-leading expertise and equipment investment in materials characterisation and has been developed following introductions to their Tescan And Newtek In-Situ Testing (TANIST) facility during the Metallics CDT conference. The Royce Institute’s state-of-the-art facilities, including Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and in-situ Digital Image Correlation (DIC), will provide unparalleled in-situ data on the evolution of microstructure and crack initiation and growth, at a scale not seen previously in the development of rail steels. The proposed research aligns perfectly with the focus of this call on advanced materials and its commitment to supporting collaborative research. Within standard grade rails, wear and RCF are critical challenges limiting the lifespan of rail infrastructure, incurring substantial economic costs (£3.9bn on renewals in 2021/22), carbon costs and hindering railway capacity increases. Previous approaches to extending standard grade (R260) railway track component life include regular maintenance, such as grinding, which is conducted to maintain rail profiles (preventive), to keep contact conditions optimum and to remove damage such as cracks (corrective). Advanced rail steels, such as heat-treated grades (350HT), high performance alloys (e.g. HP335) and laser clad coatings (e.g., Martensitic Stainless Steel (MSS)) offer a significant leap forward in rail infrastructure, offering a promising solution to the financial and safety critical challenges of rail wear and rolling contact fatigue (RCF). Although railways have been around since the 1800s every advance in materials is met with an increase in demand (speed, axle loads, drive to reduce maintenance need), so these remain live issues that limit transition to a low carbon transport future. Most recently, advanced rail materials with refined microstructures which provide a harder material with greater resistance to deformation and crack initiation, but they have not resolved the underlying issues. This project will provide a better understanding of the way in which the intricate microstructure of these materials respond to services loads and the consequent damage initiation mechanisms such as white etching layer (WEL) from grinding. This will allow further material design improvements to create rail, which is more durable, easier to maintain and ultimately more sustainable. Collaboration with The Henry Royce Institute will enable novel in-situ testing within the scanning electron microscope (SEM) with High resolution digital image correlation (HRDIC) to provide an in-depth study of the microstructure of advanced rail materials using novel techniques for rail development. Through the study of the behaviour of the microstructure of advanced rail materials with EBSD, nanoindentation and in-situ SEM with HRDIC, visualisation of strain fields will be possible for the first time which will help our understanding of how the grain size and orientation affects deformation. As advanced rail materials are developed it is critical to understand how the refined microstructure behaves with common damage mechanisms to design against current problems. This project will explore the potential of laser-clad additive repair to extend the lifespan of advanced rail materials. By applying a targeted area of like-on-like material, we aim to optimise the microstructure and ensure the repaired region is as durable as the original material whilst avoiding weakness at the interface of different materials.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

The world now depends on mobile communications. By the end of 2022 there were estimated 1.3 billion 5G connections globally. In aggregate, the energy consumed by these systems is already very significant. Furthermore, humanity seeks higher user data rates (to 1Gbit/s or beyond) needing higher radio system performance, which will lead to even higher energy consumption from potential 6G systems. This will make reaching net-zero targets for climate protection harder. The radio technologies available today consume increasing power with higher carrier frequencies, notably at millimetre Wave (mmWave) and upwards. These high carrier frequencies are needed to support the future data rates demanded. Therefore, research that seeks to improve the overall performance and power efficiency of future radio systems from a multidisciplinary view but with a hardware perspective is still critically needed. The proposed continuation of this Fellowship builds on my work nearing completion in mmWave antenna arrays, mmWave mixers, mmWave oscillators and signal processing -all emerging from the original work packages in years 1-4. So far during the life of the Fellowship the importance of even higher frequencies for future mobile systems has emerged, relating to sub-THz and future 6G systems. To further strengthen the relevance of my work in the Renewal period, I now propose to take forward the best of my emerging transceiver subcomponents and concepts and research them for these higher frequencies, which will be important for future 6G handset systems. Therefore, the proposed work will incorporate new research investigations in power efficient RF circuits, including SiGe, and achieving high RF performance passive systems in InP. Additive manufacturing (AM) capabilities have also grown in capability, and resolution, now with suitability for mmWave systems. Hence, we will incorporate aspects of die connection and encapsulation research using AM. New architectural proposals for high mmWave mobile transceivers for D band and 6G, considering emerging RF hardware prototypes and associated signal processing, will bring the project research strands together. My work is relevant to the UK Government’s Semiconductor Strategy and DSIT Future Telecommunications strategy. As in the first 4 years, the Renewal phase will also result in advanced prototypes and demonstrators. This remains a key method to support impact and better facilitate transfer of concepts to UK R&D and manufacturing organisations wishing to exploit our findings.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

Proposal context Ambitious net-zero targets and society's expectation for a continuous 'on-demand', clean, secure, and sustainable energy commodity necessitates a significant expansion in the UK's electrical infrastructure. The DfT's 2022 report "Taking Charge: the electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure strategy" and the APC's automotive battery end-of-life value chain roadmap, published in June 2023, highlight strategic economic benefits associated with this challenge. Regional and UK-wide prosperity, allied with extending battery life provides the support needed to grow a second hand EV market to allow vehicles to be more affordable, whilst simultaneously improving environmental stewardship through improved recycling and a reduction in demand for critical raw materials, further reducing energy usage. The challenge the project addresses and how it will be applied to this: Extending battery life through tactical replacement or repair of battery cells and / or modules provides a manifold of benefits and offers new market opportunities for the transportation sector. Presently, battery designs and those sub-assembly electrical connections between cells and busbars are created using fusion or solid-state bonded processes producing non-reversible joints; i.e., separation of joints is a destructive activity if they are to be replaced, repaired or recycled. Mechanical methods have been investigated and used for early designs, but these are vulnerable to 'efficiency drop-off' triggered by 'resistance ageing', resulting from thermal and corrosive activities between the connection interfaces and loosening of connections caused by random vibrations. The University of Sheffield, Heriot-Watt University and the University of the West of Scotland will develop a sustainable manufacturing process for battery applications, enabling assembly, non-destructive disassembly and reassembly between electrical connections to achieve full recovery of the cells and busbars. Our EPSRC funding request brings together expertise from across multifarious engineering disciplines: surface engineering and flow dynamics; materials science; joining; AI; and tooling design. We will utilise outputs from previous EPSRC funding projects; e.g., 'NASCENT' to accelerate capability to produce a reversible solution.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-06

Bright, efficient quantum light sources for the generation of single and entangled photon states are essential for transferring and processing quantum information in emerging quantum technologies. Quantum light sources based on individual III-V semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) operating at wavelengths around 950nm have key figures of merit that no other source can match. However, significant materials challenges remain for the development of scalable QD quantum light sources emitting at more technologically relevant wavelengths that overlap with established quantum memories and provide low loss fibre-based optical transmission. Here, we address this challenge through a materials-focussed programme that will provide a monolithic QD platform for future integration with quantum memories, efficient on-chip frequency conversion to telecoms wavelengths and on-demand generation of large entangled photonic ‘cluster’ states, with important application in secure communications, sensing and quantum computing. We will capitalise on the very favourable properties of strain-free GaAs QDs, developing growth approaches to enable efficient operation of QDs embedded in tightly-confining, single mode AlGaAs waveguides. Careful control of layer thicknesses and doping levels will be achieved during growth using a dedicated molecular beam epitaxy reactor, integrated with quantum optical spectroscopic characterisation and device fabrication in state-of-the-art facilities. Our research objectives are: Design and grow single GaAs QDs in AlGaAs membranes with world-leading optical properties by incorporating the QDs in p-i-n diodes. Design and grow the first GaAs QD molecules in AlGaAs p-i-n diode membranes, providing a high-performance, voltage-controlled spin-photon interface. Demonstrate on-chip single photon generation and routing using optimised GaAs QDs in AlGaAs nanobeam waveguides. A key benefit of our approach lies in the use of AlGaAs, which due its high optical nonlinearity and favourable materials properties is emerging as a leading choice for quantum photonic integrated circuits (QPICs). By incorporating single GaAs QDs via monolithic integration, our materials platform combines bulk (AlGaAs) and quantum (QD) nonlinearities, opening up new directions for future advanced QPIC operation. The project will establish a close collaboration between academic researchers with highly complementary expertise in QPICs (project lead, PL), QD quantum light sources and QD growth (project co-leads). Funding will also enable the PL to develop important new collaborative links with the National Epitaxy Facility and a leading spin-out company developing integrated photonics for quantum networking and computing.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-06

The origin of magnetic fields in white dwarfs remains a fundamental unresolved problem in stellar astrophysics. In particular, the very different fractions of strongly magnetic white dwarfs in evolutionarily linked populations of close white dwarf binaries challenges our understanding of how these systems form and evolve. Strongly magnetic white dwarfs are absent among young detached white dwarf binaries but make up more than one third of their semi-detached descendants (cataclysmic variables). A recently developed evolutionary scenario attempts to explain these apparently contradictory facts by hypothesising that the magnetic field of the white dwarf emerges after the binary has come into contact, during the cataclysmic variable phase. The emergence of the field forces the two stars apart, briefly detaching the system, before they come back into contact and the binary becomes a magnetic cataclysmic variable. If this scenario is correct then the brief detached phase offers a unique window into the formation and emergence of magnetic fields in white dwarfs. By probing the fundamental stellar properties of the magnetic white dwarfs in these binaries during this short-lived detached phase we can for example, see if the magnetic field is generated as a result of the core starting to crystallise. This project will utilise significant amounts of high-speed photometry and phase-resolved spectroscopy of the first large sample of detached, eclipsing magnetic white dwarf binaries. The project will develop a novel method for modelling the light curves of these systems, allowing for far more accurate and precise measurements of the stellar and binary parameters, revealing the exact state of the white dwarf very shortly after the magnetic field has emerged and the effects this has had on the evolution of the binary. Knowledge of how and when magnetic fields emerge from white dwarfs is crucial for our understanding of white dwarf binary evolution as well as some channels towards the creation of thermonuclear supernovae and this project represents a pivotal step forward in this field.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-06

Context Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death globally, responsible for around 1 in 3 deaths annually. The economic burden is significant, costing the NHS approximately £10 billion and the wider economy £25 billion each year. Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is the current gold standard for the assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD), the most common CVD. But it is invasive, time-consuming, expensive and risky. Accurate, non-invasive diagnostic tools such as virtual FFR (vFFR - VIRTUheart) and absolute coronary blood flow can improve patient outcomes and comfort, pathway efficiency and reduce costs. Challenges to be Addressed State-of-the-art diagnostic models, including VIRTUheart, face limitations in clinical deployment due to reconstruction instability (Objectives 1-2) but provide an ideal foundation for more comprehensive diagnostic metrics based upon improved and expanded physiological content (Objectives 3-5). Complex cases, characterised by very twisted vessels and inadequate contrast in 2D angiograms inter alia result in vFFR inaccuracies. These same inaccuracies obstruct the shift from the relative metric of vFFR to absolute flow for CAD assessment. Meanwhile, an ageing population with increasing prevalence of CAD is escalating the demand for rapid, efficient, scalable, and deployable diagnostic solutions. Objectives and Methods This pilot project will strengthen collaborations between computing engineer and mathematician Xu, consultant cardiologists Gunn and Morris, and medical physicist Halliday. It will also enable Xu to gain cardiology insight and deliver novel engineering and physical sciences (EPS) research from a clinical user perspective, addressing EPSRC health technologies’ ‘transforming prediction and early diagnosis’ challenge. We aim to refine and extend the current patient-specific VIRTUheart models with more accurate captures of anatomy and embedded physiology, for effective and efficient CAD assessment and treatment planning. The team seek to: Enhance tool geometry reconstruction and quantify uncertainty: Utilise digital and 3D-printed phantoms to validate and minimise errors in 3D artery reconstruction from 2D angiographic images. Quantify uncertainty in the models to produce predicted metrics with confidence bounds. Simulate contrast medium dynamics: Understand the impact of radio-opaque dye transport on angiography, using convection-diffusion models to predict angiographic image accuracy. Incorporate sequestration flow: Develop novel models to account for blood flow into unresolved side-branch vessels, modelled as a porous wall flux in 3D.  Verify absolute distal flow as an alternative CAD diagnostic metric: Validate blood flow simulations against in vivo measurements to establish and verify the diagnostic reliability of absolute flow. Introduce pulsatility: Incorporate pulsatile blood flow effects into current VIRTUheart models. Develop and validate pulsatile flow boundary conditions using digital phantoms and quantify the diagnostic significance of temporal complex flow dynamics. Potential Applications and Benefits Multiple benefits stem from this project: (i) enhanced accuracy in detecting and assessing CAD, leading to better patient outcomes; (ii) more accurate vFFR calculations will reduce the need for invasive procedures and impacting costs, and increase accessibility and patient participation; (iii) advanced understanding of coronary anatomy and haemodynamics will support new treatment approaches and personalised interventions accounting for patient characteristics. The novel EPS research and techniques developed in this pilot project could be applied to other computational medicine areas modelling physiological flow, e.g. pulmonology, neurology, oncology and orthopaedics. We expect the project findings to inform clinical practice and national guidelines on the use of vFFR and establish regulatory standards for the accuracy and reliability of medical imaging and computational diagnostics - a step towards commercialisation.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-06

Infectious diseases pose a major threat to forests and woodlands. Diseases such as Ash dieback and Dutch elm disease have drastically altered the natural environment. With sustainable forest management being central to both DEFRA and UN sustainability goals, it is vital that we have scientifically informed management strategies for when diseases are identified in forests and nurseries. In this proposal, I will develop tailored mathematical and computational models to examine the dynamics of disease in forest systems. Crucially, the models will include both spatially-structured populations and seasonality, two sources of complexity that have rarely been combined in previous mathematical models. I will develop both systems of non-linear ordinary differential equations and stochastic simulations to take a robust approach to exploring the dynamics. Further to the mathematical advancements in developing and analysing these complex models, I will develop a Knowledge Exchange collaboration with an external project partner, Forest Research, to apply the models. Specifically, we will use the case study of Dothistroma needle blight in Scots Pines, a disease of considerable economic importance to the UK forestry industry. I will work with the partner to include key details of the system and parameterise the models. We will then use these models to compare different management strategies for the outbreak of Dothistroma in a forest nursery. The proposal therefore has two objectives: O1 - Develop a general theoretical model of disease spread including both spatial structure and seasonality. Undertake bifurcation analysis to explore the outcomes, such as where the disease does and does not persist, and the potential for limit cycles, quasi-periodic cycles and chaos. O2 - Apply the model to the specific system of Dothistroma needle blight in Scots Pines. Work with the project partner to use the models to implement proposed management strategies to advise on best practice in forest nurseries. Additionally develop an interactive web-modeller.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-06

Plants play a crucial role in providing oxygen to, and sequestering carbon from, the atmosphere. This sequestration is made possible by the rhizosphere microbiome - the community of microorganisms surrounding plant roots. This microcosm is fuelled by a phenomenon called root exudation, where plants release carbon compounds into the soil. Up to 20% of the carbon fixed by plants ends up in the soil, and half of this comes from root exudates alone. The process of root exudation is vital for soil health, microbial activity, and ultimately, carbon storage. Grasslands, covering a significant portion of our planet's land surface, are key players in the carbon cycle. Despite their ecological and agricultural importance, grasslands are under threat from climate change-induced stresses like drought, warming as well as pathogens and pests, whose range and seasonality are increasing with a warmer climate. Climate-change associated disturbances, such as those mentioned above, disrupt the delicate balance of carbon sequestration and impact soil microbial communities, which are essential for plant resilience to stress. My proposed research aims to shed light on this intricate web of interactions between plants, soil microbes, and environmental stressors. By examining the chemistry of root exudates and how it influences microbial communities, the study seeks to uncover the mechanisms behind plant recruitment of microbes and the resilience they can impart onto their hosts in the face of stress(es). Previous research has shown that plants adapt their root exudates in response to stress, priming the soil around plant roots to aid in recovery from stress. However, the specifics of these responses, especially under combined stressors like drought and warming, remain unclear. By studying grassland species with different growth strategies and exposing them to various stressors, the research aims to capture the complex interplay between plant physiology, exudate chemistry, and microbial activity. The findings from this study could have far-reaching implications across various sectors. From informing agricultural practices to guiding policy decisions on land management and climate change mitigation, the research promises to offer valuable insights into safeguarding grassland ecosystems. Moreover, by raising awareness of the intricate relationships between plants, soil, and climate, the research aims to engage the public in the urgent need for conservation efforts. In summary, this research will unlock fascinating biology below the ground, revealing the profound impact of plant-microbe interactions on ecosystem resilience and carbon sequestration. By understanding and harnessing the power of these natural processes, we can work towards a more sustainable future for generations to come.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-05

Polymers play a vital role in our daily lives and we continuously encounter polymers that are specifically designed and optimised for optimal performance. They are present in various aspects of our lives, such as clothing, computer displays, and medical technologies. However, in order to maintain a sustainable and healthy society, we need advanced solutions that offer higher performance and new capability that are affordable. They could also pave the way for innovative materials that open doors to new medicines, advanced lubricants, organic photovoltaics, and lithium battery matrix technologies. Living anionic polymerisation is a highly precise chemical synthesis technique that can be used to make these polymers, allowing for an array of molecular architectures. However, there is a lack of efficient methods to quickly screen polymers synthesised using this technique. Currently, it is only carried out in specialised laboratories equipped with the necessary infrastructure and skilled personnel to meet the rigorous experimental conditions. Due to this, scientists will make only one or two batches of material per week meaning rapid prototyping is impossible. Here, we will develop a platform technology which facilitates synthesis of polymers by LAP using an automated reactor platform which can maintain precise conditions with minimal human input. By equipping this instrumentation with machine learning capability, we will demonstrate an ability to rapidly screen polymers and demonstrate the ability to scale-up whilst maintaining the precision required. This technology will precipitate an array of opportunities for developing new sustainable materials which can contribute to solving challenges facing society.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-04

The Inflection Points project brings our knowledge about linguistic forms into language teaching and assessing language acquisition. Partnering with language professionals - L1 and L2 teachers and speech pathologists - who teach and assess using these forms in real life, it reassesses, repurposes and redesigns tools designed for academic use, co-creating resources with practitioners to meet the growing and evolving needs they are encountering. In doing so, it also benefits the end users: children and others who learn and use language professionally. Inflection Points originates in our AHRC-funded research on forms of words and in tools produced and used during this grant to study them. It focuses on Czech and Croatian, two languages with complex inflectional morphology (the different forms words take in performing different functions: e.g. speak, speaks, spoke, spoken). In these languages, nouns have 10-12 different forms and verbs more than twice as many. Consequently, speakers' mastery of correct usage of these forms in context is critical to assessing fluency. Teaching these forms to children, non-native speakers or heritage speakers, or assessing children's developing fluency, has a profound equality dimension. Both languages have long traditions of language culture focused on forms found in authoritative sources. Language has been taught - to native speakers and non-native learners - through presentation and assimilation of these forms, and has traditionally been assessed by adherence to or deviation from the forms learned. But both Croatia and Czechia have undergone profound changes in the last two decades. Language teaching has begun to adopt more research-based methods, especially at lower levels. Aware that specific language impairment and general voice and speech difficulties affect respectively 7% and 10% of children under 10, practitioners are moving to modern methods of assessment. Czechia has seen a massive influx of Ukrainian refugees since 2022, nearly 370,000 (over 3% of the population, Europe's highest proportion, including nearly 50,000 children in Czech schools). Croatia experienced outmigration to Germany of c. 350,000 after 2012, and reintegrating returning children of emigres in schools is a linguistic teaching issue. Our project speaks to these challenges and works with those facing them to create suitable resources. The project engages associations of primary and secondary school teachers of Czech and Croatian, teachers of non-native Czech learners and heritage speakers of Croatian, speech pathologists and other language assessment professionals. Stemming from research produced in the AHRC-funded Feast and Famine project (AH/T002859/1), we start with three tools developed in this project (MultiDis, an app for child language assessment; DvojBa, a database of competing forms in Croatian; and GramatiKat, a corpus-based visualiser of grammatical profiles in Czech) and one pre-existing resource (the Internet Language Reference Book for Czech). With colleagues from professional associations, we will redesign, revisualise and repurpose these apps for their membership, providing more accurate tracking of child language development; better targeting of L1, L2 and heritage-language teaching resources; and we conduct a survey of users of the Czech online grammar to provide more relevant information for publicly-accessible language handbooks.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-04

In response to the increasing international recognition of the harms arising from the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI)  systems and the emergent establishment of AI Safety Institutes in multiple countries, this project aims to synthesize current  knowledge about AI-related harms and propose an expanded framework of AI Safety. We will critically assess  interdisciplinary literature and transnational and national regulatory efforts within an AI safety framework. By bridging  academic scholarship, policy documents, and stakeholder perspectives, we aspire to develop what we call an "AI safety net"  for the UK and Canada. This project aims to accomplish three goals. 1) Develop the idea of AI safety net by mapping the  global landscape of AI safety policies and critically reviewing the existing scholarly literature on the economic, social, and  environmental impact of AI production and deployment. 2) Synthesize country-specific approaches and regulatory  frameworks for AI safety to develop policy recommendations tailored to the contexts of Canada and the UK. 3) Engage with  industry stakeholders and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Canada and the UK to incorporate diverse perspectives for the development of AI safety net policy framework. To achieve our goals of scholarly contributions and policy interventions, our knowledge synthesis will address three  interconnected themes: 1) power, dynamics, and competition landscapes shaping AI industry, 2) labour and the workplace in  AI production, and 3) environmental implications. We identify these themes based on established literature that has explored  the societal, economic, and political consequences of AI, but not within a safety framework, and the emerging scholarly  discourse that advocates for a more inclusive examination of AI harms, especially from communities directly impacted by AI. By critically integrating diverse research approaches, our approach aims to transcend the prevailing AI safety paradigm's  narrow, predominantly technical orientation. The distinctive value of our approach lies both in developing a more robust  framework of AI safety net and in articulating the connections between these three themes to guide future research agendas on AI safety and global governance. This project also distinguishes itself through a comprehensive and synthetic approach to literature review and an inclusive  strategy for developing policy recommendations. Our methodology extends beyond traditional academic publications; we will systematically collect and analyze the legal and regulatory documents, government reports, national AI plans, position papers, and research reports and studies by CSOs such as the United Nations, tech industry associations, labour, and environmental  organisations. In analyzing this expansive body of non-academic literature, we will proactively reach out to policymaking  offices, industry stakeholders, and CSOs to gather their insights and feedback. To further enrich our research, we will host  two knowledge mobilisation workshops in Canada and the UK to incorporate stakeholder perspectives into our knowledge  synthesis report and policy briefs. Finally, we will create an open-access Zotero digital library that serves multiple purposes.  This online resource will feature thematic reading lists, annotated bibliographies, country-specific resources, and regular  updates on cutting-edge research and policy initiatives. While at its inception as an academic output for this project, this  library serves as a foundational and evolving resource for broader academic and policy communities.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-04

CareQuAI will open “the black box” of AI-driven platform care services, through cross-national comparison, organisational case studies, stakeholder involvement and the participation of care workers in the development of equal and inclusive platform care digital-technologies. AI-driven platform care are identified as online services that use ‘algorithmic management’ to predict workflow needs, match supply (workers’ availability and capacity) and demand (people seeking care), and automated administrative functions. This project explores the technological affordances, opportunities and social consequences of platform care in three European countries: the UK, Sweden and Finland. As in Europe, the long term care (LTC) for older people delivered in these countries is considered to be ‘in crisis’ (United Nations, 2018). Demographic changes, a shortage of institutional and community services, high costs and poor quality of care have reinforced the challenge of providing affordable LTC, and the covid-19 pandemic has further deteriorated the working conditions and exacerbated labour force shortages. Imperatively, job quality and levels of staff turnover are also shown to be interrelated with quality of care (Allan & Vadean, 2023; Burns et al 2016) and an important focus for change recognised by labour trade unions and policy-building organisations. In this crisis context the size of the EU platform economy in the domestic and home services sector has increased from EUR 0.8 to 1.5 billion between 2016-2020 (European Care Strategy, 2022). AI-driven platforms are increasingly employed by care companies, care workers, and service users and their family members, and are presented as offering solutions to the interlinked challenges of workforce shortages and job quality. Platform work has been presented as offering higher wages than conventional employment (De Groen et al. 2018) through optimised scheduling and decreased manual administration. Yet platform work also challenges existing rights and obligations related to labour law, social protection and health and safety as empirical research evidences heightened risks for workers and the informalisation of work (Macdonald, 2021). Other challenges relate to the forms of AI used to enable matching of care worker to people seeking care using machine learning, which has shown to be problematic due to algorithmic bias in big data sets (Norori et al. 2021). Large language models that generate coherent text and speech by using prompts as a mechanism for inferring the context, are expected to become part of any AI-driven platform in the future. However, they are also found to contribute to risk for private data breach and increasing inequalities: e.g., by perpetuating gender stereotypes and social biases (Weildinger et al. 2022). Given the increased use in AI by care providers, a clear, evidence-based understanding of the risks and opportunities that platform services offer for LTC are essential. Informed by the International Labour Organisation’s ‘Decent Work Framework’, CareQuAI will examine the potential of AI-driven platforms to generate good quality jobs and will produce solution-focused guidelines and recommendations responding to issues of equality and inclusion. CareQuAI has three objectives: to analyse cross-national differences in how AI-driven platform care is provided; to produce cross-national guidelines on equal and inclusive AI-driven platform work in LTC; to contribute to policy, practice and frameworks that support decent work via AI-driven care platforms. The outcomes will produce both novel insights and practical-solution focused recommendations for equal and inclusive platform care, improved job quality and worker rights – critical factors which underlie effective recruitment and retention.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-03

Rooting for Resilience presents a comprehensive approach to understanding and harnessing the power of forests in mitigating the impact of landslides, particularly those with long runout. The project goal is to develop a numerical and conceptual model that can assess the capacity of forests to counteract the devastating consequences of landslides. By examining the complex interactions between trees and landslides, including the effects of tree failure and the entrainment of woody debris, this innovative framework will enable evaluating the potential for existing forests to minimize hazards, and hence guide effective reforestation and afforestation strategies. The project acknowledges the historical deforestation that has led to significant ecological and infrastructural challenges in the UK and elsewhere. The loss of forest cover has contributed to issues such as soil erosion, flooding, and an increased vulnerability to landslides. With climate change intensifying extreme rainfall events, the threat of landslides has grown, causing disruptions to communities and economic losses. This project recognizes the need for sustainable and nature-based solutions, in place of conventional structural countermeasures. The first part of the project focusses on developing a numerical model that simulates the interaction between landslides and trees, considering tree breakage and the entrainment of large woody debris. This advanced computational approach integrates the Lattice-Boltzmann Method and the Discrete-Element Method, allowing for a multiphase simulation of landslide runout. The research also expands towards a forest-level assessment, involving multiple tree stems, to understand the collective response of forests to landslides. Experimental work on laboratory flumes provides validation data, gathered through an innovative use of high-speed cameras and shape recognition software. The second half of the project upscales the framework to the regional level by creating a depth-averaged numerical model applicable to broader areas. By considering the influence of trees on various rheological parameters, this model will enable a comprehensive hazard assessment that includes forest-mitigation effects. The potential impact of the project will be increased by exploring the time-evolution of mitigation during reforestation projects. Through field-based case studies and numerical simulations, the project aims to develop guidelines to inform optimal strategies for hazard reduction over time, such as planting patterns and integration of forests with more traditional structural mitigation measures. The societal benefits of the Rooting for Resilience project are manyfold. By providing insights into the interaction between forests and landslides, the project offers practical guidelines for policymakers, land managers, and stakeholders involved in hazard mitigation. These guidelines can lead to informed decisions on reforestation and forest management, ultimately contributing to the safety and resilience of vulnerable populations, critical infrastructure, and precious ecosystems. The project outcomes have the potential to significantly reduce economic losses, environmental degradation, and the risk of landslides in the UK and beyond.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-03

Power electronics will play a central role in the impending energy transition from fossil fuels to electrification, which will profoundly change transport and energy distribution infrastructure. New wide-bandgap semiconductor technologies provide active components that can operate at 200ºC or above, allowing reductions in heatsink size and equipment weight. However, the high switching speeds of these wide-bandgap devices requires that passive and active components must be in close proximity (i.e. co-packaged), demanding high temperature operation of the passive components. A key component in power electronics are multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). MLCCs are found everywhere in modern technology, with over 3 trillion produced every year. A smartphone may have up to 500, and a notebook computer or tablet device up to 800, while an electric vehicle may require up to 15,000. However, no MLCCs exist with the high temperature, voltage and volumetric efficiency required. The development of next generation Class-II dielectrics with a wide operating temperature range, from -55 to 200-300ºC is thus of global importance. In addition, they must work at higher operating fields (> 150 MV/m), be Pb-free and not prohibitively expensive to manufacture, i.e. compatible with base metal electrodes such as Ni. BaTiO3 is ubiquitous in MLCCs for consumer electronics, but BaTiO3 based capacitors perform poorly at high fields since the capacitance is heavily modified. Moreover, X7R core-shell MLCCs break down at the high fields required in power electronics and cannot operate above 125 °C. High permittivity Class II dielectrics such as Bi based relaxors and various anti-ferroelectric compositions have been proposed but they are either incompatible with low-cost electrodes and/or exhibit large strains and sudden changes in permittivity. As a result, the current default in power electronics is a Class I dielectric based on CaZrO3 whose volumetric efficiency is low due to its low permittivity. In this project, we will develop new, low-loss Class-II, quasi-linear dielectrics based on the Q phase of NaNbO3 to achieve higher operating temperature (200-300ºC), higher field (>250 MV/m) and higher energy density (>40 J/cm3) base metal electrode MLCCs for power electronics. A successful outcome to our project will benefit UK companies who manufacture MLCCs, battery manufacturers who will gain superior system performance, the wider solid state chemistry community who will gain greater understanding of the crystal chemistry of perovskites and dielectrics, early career academics who will obtain experience of being involved in a consortium grant, and PDRAs and PhDs who will advance their careers by working on critical net-zero technologies with leading UK academics.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-03

This CDT will train the next generation of manufacturing researchers with unique capabilities to combine predictive models and in-process data, with a systems perspective, to enable faster, more flexible, and more sustainable high value manufacturing. The UK's growth lags behind Europe and North America [1], and the chancellor, whilst celebrating our advanced manufacturing sector, also states [2] that 'poor productivity, skills gaps, low business investment and the over-concentration of wealth in the South-East have led to uneven and lower growth'. Although digital technologies are recognised [3] as a key productivity enabler, integrating these into an advanced manufacturing environment is a significant challenge. Our CDT will address this from a systems perspective by using sensors, communications, controls and informatics technologies that are coupled to the physics underpinning complex manufacturing processes. This vision aligns strongly with the EPSRC's priorities (especially AI Digitalisation and Data); the EPSRC Made Smarter programmes, and the UK Innovation Strategy's [4] digital and manufacturing priorities. However, embedding Digital Manufacturing into the UK economy will require people with new doctoral-level skill sets dedicated to the four productivity challenges in manufacturing: 1. sustainability - an emerging underpinning theme in our stakeholder discussions. 2. speed - reducing production lead time; 3. quality - eliminating rework whilst achieving functional performance; 4. flexibility - adaptive production systems that eliminate intrusive setup/measurement; The CDT will train cohorts that focus on cross-disciplinary research at the interface between these productivity challenges and key Digital Engineering themes identified by our industrial co-creators: (1) mechanics, modelling, and intelligent control / optimisation of processes; (2) sensor networks and monitoring; (3) manufacturing informatics, system integration, and data security. We will focus on key manufacturing processes that are essential to the UK landscape: subtractive manufacturing (machining) and product assembly. We are uniquely placed to enable this approach: we lead the machining capability on behalf of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, collaborate on the Manufacturing Made Smarter Research Centre in Connected Factories, (with a focus on assembly automation), and through Factory 2050 we host the UK's first state of the art factory entirely dedicated to reconfigurable robotic, digitally assisted assembly and machining technologies. We will provide a unique opportunity for students to study alongside peers with a common application focus in machining, assembly, and digital engineering for manufacturing, leveraging the world leading environment provided by the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre. This will enable the highest standards of subject-specific research training, underpinned by Sheffield's breadth of activity in engineering science. We will tailor the first year training to support their transition into the centre, and provide cohort experiences that reinforce system-level thinking and leadership skills, to ensure that our alumni's impact on society far exceeds that of a typical PhD student. Training will be undertaken individually, within a cohort, across the centre, and in combination with other centres and groups. Through this approach, we will achieve horizontal and vertical integration of the student experience within the centre and will support students in developing the specific skills required for their research. This will foster a collective culture in key training areas such as leadership, inclusion, innovation and communication, amply preparing students for their future careers. [1] IMF, World Economic Outlook Jan 2023 [2] Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's speech at Bloomberg, 27/1/2023 [3] RAEng/IET Connecting Data Report 2015 [4] UK Innovation Strategy: Leading the future by creating it

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-03

What is the problem? Habitat and biodiversity loss are a global nature emergency, and urbanisation is a key driver. With the UK now one of the most nature-depleted countries in Europe, governments have recently introduced policies for nature recovery that operate through spatial planning systems. We call this 'Nature Recovery Planning', and it employs new market-oriented logics to count, evaluate, and mitigate habitat and biodiversity loss. From Autumn 2023, the English government will introduce Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). Ecologists will assess the quality and quantity of the habitat destroyed due to development. Developers will then mitigate this loss either by creating areas set aside for nature recovery on the development site or by purchasing offsite biodiversity credits. In Scotland, recently introduced planning policies emphasise the need to consider 'natural capital' (the idea that nature has economic value and provides essential services to humans) but BNG is not mandatory. However, at present, we do not have data on the extent of habitat and biodiversity loss associated with planning decisions under the previous and new policy regimes in either nation, which makes it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these new policies. We also do not know how much weight ecological considerations will hold compared to the other social, spatial, economic, and environmental objectives balanced by planning systems. Furthermore, it is unclear how the types and scales of mapping used for nature recovery and spatial planning relate to one another. Importantly, the introduction of new forms of ecological assessment raises wider theoretical questions about whose view of nature is conceptualised, counted and valued, and the democratic and social justice implications of these changes for key actors. What will the project achieve? This interdisciplinary project will provide the first analysis of Nature Recovery Planning in the context of wider spatial planning systems. It will generate: The first robust quantitative ecological assessment of habitat and biodiversity loss associated with planning decisions in England and Scotland, comparing the effectiveness of emerging nature recovery policies with previous policy regimes. A groundbreaking qualitative analysis of the weight and status granted to ecological considerations compared to other social, economic, and environmental objectives in spatial planning processes across England and Scotland. A detailed study of the mapping processes of nature recovery and spatial planning, comparing their logics, studying the degree of integration between them, and exploring their impact on the production of urban and natural space. The first in-depth understanding of the ways that emerging policy is changing the types of ecological knowledge and expertise that are valued in the planning system, exploring the social justice and democratic implications of the change for different actors in planning systems. A series of recommendations to improve planning policy and practice to better respond to habitat and biodiversity loss. We will produce robust interdisciplinary research that generates new, timely appraisals of this emerging policy approach, and is of academic relevance to scholars beyond planning studies, including environmental economists, conservation researchers, ecologists, geographers, and political ecologists. Findings will be of immediate interest to government policymakers, planning and ecology practitioners, conservation NGOs, and community groups, and the project has strong support from major national organisations in these areas. It will be supported by a match-funded Knowledge Exchange Associate, who will ensure findings inform policy and practice.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-03

Despite progressive moves towards lesbian and gay equality, societal stigmatisation and discrimination persists across Europe. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans & intersex (LGBTI) people still experience significant inequalities in well-being, with these particularly pronounced for young LGBTI+ people who are at higher risk of depression, anxiety and suicidality than heterosexual youth. These risks have been compounded by numerous crises: for example, the pandemic, growing economic insecurity, and the rise of populist anti-LGBT / anti-gender political movements. Many young LGBTI+ people across Europe are growing up in a period of profound turbulence which may prevent them achieving their full potential in adulthood. Yet LGBTI+ youth remain significantly neglected in well-being research, despite sustained evidence of their unaddressed needs. This pan-European consortium of academics, policy makers and NGOs, will generate unique, in-depth data on how inequalities in well-being are experienced, and how LGBTI+ youth build networks of resilience and resistance in times of crisis. It will be the first qualitative study to examine LGBTI+ youth well-being across diverse national contexts: Estonia, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Its focus is on LGBTI+ youth on the cusp of adulthood (aged 18-24), exploring the challenges they face as they develop their identities and plan for their futures in the face of political and economic uncertainty. Creative participatory methods will produce in-depth data about what LGBTI+ youth think, and feel, about their lives and imagined futures. The project will let LGBTI+ young adults define what well-being means to them, and will open-up space for them to construct collective visions for a future in which their well-being can be enhanced. A key objective is to identify how policy makers can best tackle inequalities in LGBTI+ well-being by learning from the innovative strategies and visions developed by young LGBTI+ people themselves.