University of Hertfordshire

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-09

The field of Galaxy Chemical Evolution (GCE) has taken significant strides forward in recent years. But perhaps the most important GCE question of all has yet to be addressed from a rigorous theoretical standpoint -- "when and where does life form in the Universe?". Early attempts using galaxy evolution simulations have been severely limited by either model realism or statistics. However, with the rapid development of efficient calibration methods and a plethora of data from planet hunting missions on the horizon (e.g. PLATO, ARIEL, VLT-HRMOS, and HWO), now is the perfect time to start making the first meaningful theoretical predictions for habitable planet formation in both nearby and distant galaxies. Due to the inherently multi-scale nature of GCE, this goal can only be achieved through the comprehensive synchronisation of high-resolution and large-scale -- porting detailed physics to the whole Universe. We will do this by constructing a multi-scale galaxy simulation suite called L-EDGE, combining the large-scale L-Galaxies and high-resolution EDGE simulations (PL in management team for both). L-EDGE will be optimised for GCE studies and will coherently simulate galaxy evolution across at least eight orders of magnitude in size and mass resolution, from individual supernovae (SNe) to the vast cosmic web, providing a prototype method to the community. With L-EDGE, we will finally be able to answer key outstanding GCE questions such as, "what small-scale mechanisms drive the rapid build up of dust observed in low-metallicity galaxies?", "can large-scale simulations actually reproduce GCE scaling relations when tuned to high-resolution physics?", "where should upcoming planet hunting surveys look for habitable planets in the Milky Way and Local Group?", and ultimately "when and where does life form in the Universe?" Our novel synchronisation technique will leverage the established Hamiltonian MC method and a highly-efficient auto-differentiable version of L-Galaxies to enable the direct constraint of all free parameters simultaneously. This means we won't have to resort to emulators of small sub-volumes which require constant retraining. In addition to GCE applications, L-EDGE will be ideally suited to other inherently multi-scale areas of galaxy evolution, such as star formation, SN-driven galactic winds, and active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback, adding huge legacy value to this project. The proposed work will succeed due to PL’s extensive experience with GCE modelling and galaxy evolution simulations, and direct access to the required simulations and data. Strong and growing links with planet surveys (PL is a member of VLT-HRMOS) will ensure close correspondence with the latest observations, and complimentary (but non-essential) work to support this project will be carried out by students under the PL's supervision. We will be the only team in the UK working on habitability using galaxy evolution simulations, championing STFC's stake in this important and rapidly evolving field. This proposal is divided into three work packages (WPs). First, missing GCE physics will be added to EDGE (WP1) while the synchronisation methodology is developed (WP2.1). Then, EDGE and L-Galaxies will be synchronised using advanced Bayesian inference techniques to form the L-EDGE suite (WP2.2). A planet formation model will then be added to L-EDGE so that habitable planets can be coherently studied at high resolution with EDGE, and across the cosmos with L-Galaxies (WP3).

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-09

Understanding atmospheric energy transport is fundamental to all aspects of planetery science. Clouds, chemistry, and thermal structure all depend on energy transport, and have all been implicated in driving variable emission from substellar and giant planet atmospheres. Decoding this variability has become a central theme of substellar science.  Meanwhile, spectacular data from JWST is revealing unexpected thermal structures that cannot be explained with traditional models and require additional sources of heating or energy transport. The research proposed here tackles these challenges head-on. We will implement a new data-driven analysis framework for determining the key factors driving variability across the full temperature range of known giant (exo) planets by uniformly analysing all JWST timeseries datasets for substellar objects obtained so far. This analysis will measure variations in cloud cover, thermal structure, chemistry, and establish the importance of auroral processes in atmopheric heating. We will also carry out a detailed spectroscopic study of WISE1935, which appears to display the first known star-free stratospheric temperature inversion to establish the full picture of the nature of the emission and its implications for energy transport in this very cool atmosphere. This research programme will provide unparalleled insights to energy transport processes across a range of extrasolar atmospheres from the warmest down to the cold water cloud regime.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

The development of a new medicinal product requires a formulation to be designed that provides consistent performance when manufactured at scale, and when the medicine is used by patients in real-world scenarios. To meet the high regulatory burden for medicine performance a number of quality (Q) requirements must be met. Namely that each batch of the product must contain the correct qualitative material composition (Q1), in a defined quantitative ratio (Q2), that generates a specific three-dimensional arrangement of those materials (Q3, the microstructure). Manufacturing operations are designed so that products meet these quality requirements. Over the last fifteen years under the quality-by-design concept, substantial R&D effort into molecular/process modelling and digital twinning has begun to reap rewards in terms of accelerated formulation design. The Q3 microstructure has emerged as key knowledge gap to the engineering of product performance. A formulation microstructure dictates the manufacturing behaviour and quality attributes as diverse as powder flow and tablet compaction, the dispersion state and viscosity of suspensions and topical creams, gels and ointments, and the fluidization and aerosolization of inhalation medicines. The ability to characterise microstructure to map and quantify its impact on performance is an unmet challenge, particularly for powder-based products. X-ray imaging has emerged as a potential solution to powder analysis, although many technical and computational barriers exist to unlocking its potential. In this project, we aim to develop quantitative x-ray imaging techniques to characterize the microstructure of dry powder inhalation (DPI) products. DPI formulations are challenging products for x-ray imaging, due to high particle density, small particle size of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and the low concentrations of API relative to excipient substances. Nevertheless, studying DPIs is a challenge worth investigating, since the need for techniques to assess microstructure has been identified as a major barrier to establishing bioequivalence between innovator and generic products by regulatory agencies in Europe (EMA, MHRA) and the United States of America (US FDA). This creates a barrier for market entry of cheaper generic products, and the economic advantages that this could bring for healthcare systems. The outcome of this project will be the availability of analytical tools to support the manufacture of innovative therapeutics with a specific focus on microstructure-guided product engineering. Several research centres in the UK have emerged as world-leaders in translational development and medicines manufacturing. The science of microstructural characterization would open up a powerful route to exploiting the digital product modelling tools that are emerging from that research. The ultimate goal of our research is to exploit early identification of a formulation microstructure to engineer manufacturability into early-stage products right from the start of their development, and accelerate the scale-up to clinical supply.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

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

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Jets from active galactic nuclei (AGN) are a fundamental, but poorly understood, ingredient in galaxy evolution. My recent work with the novel, pan-European LOFAR radio telescope array has revolutionised our traditional view of radio AGN, showing that host galaxies play a crucial role in shaping the fate of radio jets and regulating black hole accretion, and it has opened new areas of parameter space, unveiling entire populations of sources which are invisible to old, less sensitive radio surveys. As a Rutherford Fellow I will study newly-discovered radio AGN populations in star-forming galaxies, selecting clean samples two orders of magnitude larger than current benchmarks for these populations, analysing their demographics and duty cycles with LOFAR and WEAVE, the next-generation optical spectrograph at the William Herschel Telescope. With the proposed research programme I will: Identify the precursor populations of these new radio galaxies, both with LOFAR/WEAVE and by extending my analysis to early results from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) surveys. Establish the fuelling mechanisms and activity cycles of supermassive black holes giving rise to these AGN, through high-resolution IFU data. Chart how host mass and gas availability drive the evolution of black hole accretion and radio jets up to z~4. Derive new empirical relations linking key parameters (e.g. host mass, star formation rate, black hole accretion rate, radio morphology, jet power) to build probability grid models of possible `ancestors' of these populations. My work will enable new understanding of jet influence on the energetics and cosmic evolution of galaxies and clusters, and the history of galaxies like our Milky Way. My results will inform key priorities in next-generation extragalactic surveys with the SKA and the Vera Rubin LSST optical survey, and they will help ensure the UK's strong involvement and leadership in these programmes.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-08

Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, plays host to a super-massive black hole (SMBH) at its centre, dubbed Sagittarius A*, with a mass more than 4 million times that of the sun. SMBHs reside in the centres of most (if not all) galaxies, from low-mass dwarf galaxies to giant ellipticals in vast galaxy clusters. Despite their small sizes compared to the galaxies that host them, SMBH and galaxy properties are intimately linked through co-evolution. SMBHs represent some of the most extreme objects in the Universe and act as incredibly efficient engines that can convert a large fraction of the rest mass energy (remember Einstein's famous equation E=mc^2) of material that falls under their gravitational spell into energy, known as feedback, in the form of radiation, winds and jets. These processes give the SMBH its voice, allowing it to communicate across a vast range of scales, from the black hole event horizon to far beyond the host galaxy. Over the coming decade and beyond, many missions (e.g. SKA, Athena, Euclid, JWST and LISA) will provide observations of the Universe not only in light but with LISA also in gravitational waves, and hence revolutionise multi-messenger astronomy of SMBHs. Systems ranging from SMBH binaries to individual galaxies, up to vast clusters that represent the most massive objects in the Universe and contain thousands of galaxies, will be observed in the local Universe and out to when it was less than a quarter of its current age. We will receive more data than ever before providing insights into the co-evolution of SMBHs and their galaxies over cosmic time. To help to interpret the plethora of new observational data, it is vital to have robust and realistic theoretical models to compare to. The vast array of complex physical processes that shape the properties of SMBHs and their cosmic environment and the huge range of scales involved presents a formidable challenge. Using powerful supercomputers, I will perform state-of-the-art simulations that combine novel new models and techniques to provide a unique method for capturing a wide range of physical processes on multiple scales and in different environments. This includes small-scale simulations of pairs of SMBHs in binaries and the gas discs that surround them, high-resolution simulations of individual galaxies, groups and clusters, and large cosmological boxes that capture a representative volume of the Universe. These simulations will combine to provide answers to a range of questions related to SMBHs, such as: - How does energy released by SMBHs shape galaxy, group and cluster properties? - How does the state of a cluster, such as how turbulent it is or the properties of its magnetic fields, impact feedback from the SMBHs? - How can we use galaxy clusters to probe the underlying properties of the Universe (Cosmology)? - On what scales can feedback from SMBHs have a significant influence? - How do SMBHs come together and merge? - What are the multi-messenger signatures of SMBH mergers? Overall, the simulations and their outputs will provide a vital resource for interpreting the many observational missions launching over the next two decades, and it is by working in tandem that the combination of theory and observation will enhance our understanding of both astrophysics and cosmology.