University of Cambridge

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-02

Drawing on the Borana Oromo word for custom, tradition or way of life - Aadaa - this project aims to create new, cross-sector and multiple stakeholder networks for developing integrated policies for protecting pastoralist tangible and intangible heritage in northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia against a context of accelerating climate change. The project builds on the knowledge, experience and expertise developed in two ongoing research projects on pastoralist landscapes, wellbeing and heritage co-created with Borana, Gabra and Rendille communities residing in these areas. It will link researchers in the UK, Europe, Kenya and Ethiopia with diverse stakeholders drawn from local pastoralist communities, national and local heritage management agencies, national and regional climate change activists and policy advisors, and other relevant regional government authorities, tourism and education departments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs), women's groups and youth organisations. The project is structured around three overlapping yet distinct activities, each with different planned outputs and envisaged impacts, as follows: 1) To develop new and strengthen existing partnerships to integrate heritage into climate policies aligned with the Paris Agreement, Sendai Framework, the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and African Union's Agenda 2063, the project will co-create with stakeholders in both southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya an assessment of current risks to tangible and intangible heritage and develop local climate risk preparedness strategies and policy recommendations. Researching these will include a combination of desktop reviews of published and grey literature, key informant interviews with stakeholders drawn from local communities, CBOs, NGOs, regional and national government and academia, and focus group discussions with women's groups, youth groups and pastoralist collectives. 2) To encourage uptake of the climate risk preparedness strategies and policy recommendations, we will run training workshops on the relevance of heritage to the SDGs, how to incorporate heritage protection into sustainability, resilience and transformation planning, and in the preparation of Biocultural Heritage Protocols. These workshops will target professionals engaged in delivering different SDG targets, and community leaders. 3) To enhance public understanding and awareness of the rich tangible and intangible heritage of the study areas, we will commission two distinct forms of popular artistic productions. One will be a locally designed animated cartoon written in a manner to promote principles of intergenerational and gender equality in adapting to climate change and the importance of cultural heritage. Spinoff products will include brochures, posters and digital images featuring the cartoon characters for display at various venues, including schools, and via social media. The other will be a short documentary by a Kenyan film production team on the archaeology and history of pastoralist adaptations to climate change in the study areas, focusing on traditions of water and natural resources management, and the role of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in promoting cultural and societal wellbeing. The film will include conversations with pastoralists and other local residents about their understanding of current climate change and threats to their heritage, allowing them to voice their concerns and ideas for ensuring future sustainability. The documentary will be showcased at regional and international film festivals and offered to state broadcasters for airing on Kenyan and Ethiopian TV. The combined outputs will empower different stakeholders in more effective heritage protection and management measures, enhance public participation in these and embed heritage concerns in local and regional sustainable development.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-02

Atomically thin body (ATB) semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) hold tremendous promise for scaling of modern electronics because their ultra-thin channel nature provides excellent gate electrostatics. Major semiconductor companies and international roadmaps for devices and systems have cited ATB semiconductors for sub-1-nm technologies beyond 2030. To realize high-performance complementary field effect transistors (CFETs) with ATB semiconductors, both n- and p-type field effect transistors (FETs) with low contact resistance, high ON current, low subthreshold swing, and stable threshold voltage are required. In bulk semiconductors, these characteristics are achieved by substitutional doping doping and forming ultra-clean interfaces through covalent bonding. However, these approaches cannot be applied to ATB semiconductors. Therefore, interfaces that are free of defects between the metal/semiconductor and semiconductor/dielectric must be realised to achieve high-performance n- and p-type FETs based on ATB semiconductors. However, making clean and defect free metal/semiconductor interface on ATB semiconductors for electron/hole transfer has proven to be challenging because atomically thin materials are fragile and easily damaged by the deposition of metals. My breakthroughs (Nature 2019, 2022) in gentle deposition of metals on monolayered TMDs provide ultra-clean van der Waals (vdW) contacts where the Fermi level of semiconductors can be tuned with gate bias so that n- or p-type polarity can be achieved by selecting high or low, respectively, work function metals. Development of vdW contacts for 2D semiconductors have shown high ON-state currents (over milliamperes per micrometre) and contact resistance close to quantum limit (tens of ohm micrometres) for n-type FETs. P-type FETs are more challenging due to issues with depositing high work function metals on ATB semiconductors. The growth of metal films on TMDs tends to give preferential orientations that have low work functions compared to their bulk counterparts. Another overlooked issue for p-type FETs is that many widely used oxide dielectrics cause electron doping on ATB semiconductors, which reduces the overall hole current in the p-type FETs. The interface interaction between ATB semiconductor and dielectric is also problematic for achieving reliable threshold voltage and low subthreshold swings for n-type FETs. My recent work shows that an inert semiconductor/dielectric interface gives low subthreshold swing values (63 mV/dec) approaching the thermal limit and very low threshold voltage for n-type FETs. These challenges remain for p-type FETs based on ATB semiconductors. The main goal of this proposal is to demonstrate high-performance CFETs based on ATB semiconductors that are currently limited by p-type FETs. This will be accomplished by studying the interface between high work function metals and ATB semiconductors, developing remote doping strategies, and optimising the interface between oxide dielectrics and ATB TMDs to achieve high-performance p-type FETs. The proposal builds on my previous breakthroughs in realizing ultra-clean vdW contacts (Nature, 2019, 2022) on ATB semiconductors for high-performance FETs. It also builds on my recent work on ultra-clean interface between ATB semiconductors and CMOS compatible dielectrics (Nature Electronics, under revision). Efficient hole injection into atomically thin semiconductors will also facilitate the development of other novel energy-efficient electronic and optoelectronic devices such as tunnel field effect transistors, valleytronics, and light emitting diodes. Outcomes of the proposed work will accelerate advanced semiconductor development in application areas that are strategically important to the UK.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-02

There is significant unmet demand for Policy-to-Research (P2R) opportunities from public and civil servants across central, devolved, regional and local government, as well as UK parliaments and assemblies. This is a vital missed opportunity to improve public policy decisions and outcomes through drawing on research expertise and evidence from our world-leading academic research organisations, and to build transferable skills among our public and civil servants. Current activity lacks the diversity, reach, scale and coordination to fully realise the potential benefits. It is vital that we build on existing infrastructure, including all the lessons learned in their development, while radically opening up access to the full variety of public and civil servants and research organisations. The Evidence and Skills Exchange (EvEx) consortium will deliver the transformative ambitions of this funding opportunity by leveraging our significant head-start from co-creating sector-leading programmes of P2R fellowship schemes, professional development and training with public and civil servant colleagues. We will take a relationship-building approach to growing and diversifying the P2R system: involving the use of digital tools, growing and providing a curated way through the knowledge brokerage activities between demand from governmental and public bodies, and supply from research organisations. We will bring new research organisations as providers of P2R, and help civil and public servants navigate to the research access and professional development opportunities they need. Our activities will encompass: A national Digital Clearinghouse for P2R which is fast, simple and utterly pragmatic; Three Engagement Mechanisms which engage a diverse range of public/civil servants and researchers; and for which toolkits are produced to help further knowledge mobilisers. These are professional development courses; innovative policy hackathons, sandpits, immersive workshops and policy labs; and policy fellowships and secondments. Extending Capacity through an open approach and a Commissioning Fund to help us to scale to serve civil and public servants, and research organisations. Our national network will have hubs in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland as well as in England, and for local and combined authorities. Our partners include the Universities Policy Engagement Network. Our aim is to bring research evidence to all levels of public policy making across the UK. To achieve this aim, we will not only connect public and civil servants with a functional UK-wide network of researchers, but crucially will also transform these policy professionals into adept consumers and commissioners of research, better equipped to ask the right research questions about the administrative data they have access to. We will bring this transformation to all levels of government (national, devolved and local) and all levels of seniority. We will create an enduring national infrastructure which is financially self-sustaining through a mix of institutional, philanthropic and direct fee funding. Above all, the extending capacity work will gather, attract, integrate and serve new research and policy actors, so that EvEx keeps evolving to meet new challenges.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Key Message Recent exciting results suggest that certain plant viruses transmitted exclusively through seeds and pollen, but which cause no obvious disease ‘pay back’ their hosts by, among other things, improving growth or protection from insect pests. We will test the limits of this hypothesis by determining the extent to which these 'persistent' viruses benefit plants of three species. Context With respect to their effects on hosts, viruses are more ambiguous than generally considered. For example, several erstwhile disease-causing (pathogenic) viruses benefit plants under specific circumstances; for example, by increasing host resistance to drought, cold temperatures or heavy metal toxicity.  Remarkably, certain viruses inferred to have descended from ancestors that caused disease in plants or that were pathogenic to plant-associated fungi, appear to have followed an evolutionary road towards becoming benign plant symbionts. Challenge Among viruses that appear to have evolved furthest away from pathogenicity the best studied are ‘partitiviruses’ and ‘endornaviruses’. In recent literature these RNA viruses are often referred to as persistent since they are inherited via seed and pollen and so persist between generations. Persistent viruses are not infectious in a conventional sense, i.e., they are not transmitted by invertebrate vectors or wounding, as are most plant viruses. Persistent viruses are common in wild plants and occur in certain lines of major crops, but infected plants show no symptoms typical of viral disease e.g., developmental abnormalities or mosaics (discolouration patterns). Importantly, both partitiviruses and endornaviruses are reported to have beneficial effects, leading to the hypothesis that these viruses are mutualists rather than pathogens. However, that work used non-identical host backgrounds in a limited range of bean and pepper varieties, making it impossible to distinguish definitively between viral and host influences. Aims and objectives We produced genetically identical (‘isogenic’) lines of pepper (Capsicum) plants that are infected or cured of specific persistent viruses. We found that partitiviruses and endornaviruses can exert significant effects on seed size and mass and plant growth, but that these effects are not identical in all host backgrounds. The results are important because they point to persistent viruses influencing competitiveness in wild plants and to potential effects on crop yield and vigour. We will investigate how persistent viruses exert their effects, and how conserved these effects are in different plants through three objective-based work-packages. Further characterise persistent viruses’ effects in pepper  In the important legume crop, common bean, develop isogenic persistent virus-infected/non-infected lines to characterise the effect(s) of persistent viruses on yield and resilience Introduce a persistent virus into a model plant background Potential applications and benefits Persistent viruses occur in lines of many crops including cereals and legumes. If persistent viruses improve plant productivity and/or resilience, even conventional crossing will provide breeders with a simple, environmentally friendly crop enhancement approach. In contrast, if they are problematic in some crops or genotypes, they can be screened for to avoid incorporation into new lines. The work addresses BBSRC’s strategic objectives of World-Class Ideas by improving understanding of fundamental ‘rules of life’ governing symbiosis in virus-host interactions, World-Class Innovation via fundamental research with potential to underpin future commercial applications leading to World-Class Impact through sustainable bio-based solutions to enhance crop characteristics and food security. Work addresses recent Spotlight areas: ‘Plant Health’, ‘Novel crop protection strategies’, ‘Better understanding of… symbionts in resilient crops’.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Bumble bees are not just the beloved buzz of summer meadows, they are essential to the fertilisation of wild flowers, and without them and other flower-visiting insects many of our flowering plant species would disappear. Bumble bees are one of the most important pollinating groups for wild flowers but many bumble bee species are in decline around the world. One reason for their decline is the impact of parasites on their health. Our recent work has shown that flowers not only supply visiting bumble bees with nectar for sugar and pollen for protein, but that they also provide substances that can help to combat parasite infections, and thus improve bumble bee health. If we can understand where and when these substances are produced and under what circumstances they can improve bumble bee health, we will be able to manage the landscape to maximise their benefit. In essence, we can turn natural landscapes into pharmacies for bees. Recently, we found that ling heather, which dominates heathland and moorland in the UK, and is one of the top 4 producers of nectar for bees, produces a natural substance called callunene in the nectar, which prevents the infection of individual bumble bees with a gut parasite that can have dramatic impacts on bee health. However, lowland heathland is a highly threatened habitat, with more than 80% lost over the last 200 years, and the UK holding 20% of the global remains. In this study we will test whether the positive impact of callunene on individual bumble bees scales up to similar impacts on the health of bumble bee colonies. We will do this under controlled laboratory experiments, through controlled exposure in the field, and then in actual lowland heath, to unravel how positive impacts emerge. We will also quantify callunene production across lowland heaths to understand what factors drive its production. This will allow us to calculate the additional health value of lowland heaths to bumble bees, and understand how we can manage heaths to maximise their value to bee health. Overall, we will assess the value of Nature's pharmacy to bee health, and provide information and guidance to managers of lowland heath to aid them in maximising the health of the bees on which heather relies.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Bacterial spores are among the most pernicious cells in nature. Formed as survival structures in response to nutrient starvation, their ubiquity and extreme resistance to heat and other stress factors that would ordinarily kill vegetative cells means they are difficult to eradicate. This presents problems in the food sector, for example, since spores can survive processing and then germinate and proliferate, resulting in spoilage or toxigenesis. Germination and ultimately improved control of spores is at the heart of the current proposal. In order to complete germination, spores must enzymatically degrade what is essentially their cell wall, a thick layer of peptidoglycan referred to as the cortex. This is mediated by cortex lytic enzymes, one of which – SleB – is somehow held in an inactive state during spore dormancy and which can withstand whatever insults are thrown at the spore during that period, before rapidly assuming activity during spore germination. The molecular mechanisms associated with regulation of SleB activity in dormant and germinating spores are largely unknown, but if understood should present new routes to improved control of spores. This project aims to solve the SleB puzzle while at the same time identifying and developing inhibitors of the enzyme. We will achieve this by: Combining X-ray crystallography and related techniques with Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations to yield insight to the protein complex formed by SleB and its partner protein YpeB, revealing the molecular mechanisms that regulate the enzyme’s (in)activity during spore dormancy, exposure to heat, and germination. Solving the crystal structure of SleB with bound cortex peptidoglycan substrate, revealing the structural basis for substrate specificity by the enzyme. Conducting crystallographic fragment-based screens to identify small molecule ligands and potential inhibitors of SleB. Ultimately the project will fill crucial knowledge gaps in current models of spore germination while providing a platform for spore-associated interventions in global food production and nutrition, and in the public health, infectious disease, and animal welfare sectors.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Some individuals learn faster than others but the molecular and circuit basis of these inter-individual differences are unknown. In principle, differences in learning could be due to differences in: 1) numbers or types of neurons in learning circuits; 2) patterns of synaptic connections between neurons; 3) functional strengths of connections; 4) baseline excitability and intrinsic properties of neurons; or 5) second messenger cascades and effector molecules that implement synaptic plasticity. These properties are dependent on specific patterns of gene expression in neurons that write or store memories. However, identifying homologous neurons in different individuals and comparing their synaptic connectivity, functional properties and transcriptomes is challenging in larger brains. We propose to use the tractable genetic model system, the Drosophila melanogaster larva, to uncover the circuit and molecular basis of differences in associative learning between distinct strains of the same species. Due to its small size, the 1st instar larval brain (with ca. 3000 neurons) can be rapidly imaged with electron-microscopy (EM) and we have recently published the synaptic-resolution connectome of one larval brain, revealing all neurons and their connections1. Most neurons are uniquely identifiable based on their morphology and gene expression and we have generated a collection of selective genetic driver lines, each targeting gene expression to a single neuron per brain hemisphere, that allow manipulation of homologous neurons in different individuals. Like all insects, Drosophila larvae have a higher-order learning circuit, the mushroom body (MB), specialised in forming associative memories. We have characterised the connectivity and functional roles of the core components of the larval MB and identified specific dopamine neurons (DANs) that drive appetitive or aversive learning, as well as their target neurons that store and recall memories. Thus, we know exactly which neurons are involved in writing and storing aversive or appetitive odour memories and we can selectively label and manipulate these neurons in different individuals, using our selective GAL4 lines. Furthermore, we have developed automated methods for training larvae to avoid or approach odours by pairing them repeatedly with punishments or rewards2,3. Using these methods, we have identified a strain of D. melanogaster larvae that learn faster than others, even though their innate responses to conditioned and unconditioned stimuli are the same. With these tools and findings in hand, we are in a unique position to identify structural, electrophysiological and molecular underpinnings of differences in learning between different strains of the same species by performing the following Aims: Aim 1) Identify differences in synaptic connectivity and activity of learning-circuit neurons between the faster- and slower-learner strain and determine which differences in activity improve learning. Aim 2) Identify genes differentially expressed in specific learning-circuit neurons between the faster- and slower learner strain that can improve learning and their mechanisms of action. By revealing circuit features that improve learning this project will provide fundamental insights into the way in which learning is implemented and regulated in the brain and may provide potential avenues for treating learning deficits and improving artificial neural networks. Furthermore, the project will reveal gene molecules that enhance learning and their mechanisms of action. Many genes implicated in learning and memory to date have conserved functions across the animal kingdom, so we expect the genes and mechanisms we discover here will also be conserved.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Climate change – and the transition to a net-zero society – is the biggest challenge the world faces. Although efforts to decarbonise our energy infrastructure through photovoltaic cells have progressed rapidly, several industry areas cannot be easily electrified (e.g., long-haul transport, steel production, chemical manufacturing). One solution to this problem is switching to alternative fuels and feedstocks, such as low-emission hydrogen. However, most hydrogen today is produced from fossil fuels via steam reforming (99% globally in 2022). Low-emission hydrogen can be produced by water electrolysis. However, the broad deployment of water electrolysers will add significant demand (> 600 TWh) to the national grid. Consequently, there is a pressing societal need to develop off-grid decentralised approaches to decarbonise our energy infrastructure fully. One exciting avenue is the direct conversion of solar energy into chemically stored energy through photocatalysis, creating ‘solar fuels’. However, a critical challenge that currently limits the efficiency of this approach is the inability of photocatalysts to harvest all wavelengths of sunlight effectively. Low-energy near-infrared (NIR) photons are poorly absorbed, and high-energy ultraviolet (UV) photons can degrade the photocatalyst. This challenge can be overcome by upconverting and downshifting the incident light. Through upconversion, two or more low-energy NIR photons can combine to form one photon of higher energy that is readily absorbed by the photocatalyst. Through downshifting, a high-energy UV photon is re-emitted at lower energies, thereby limiting damage to the photocatalyst. In this fellowship, I will pioneer the use of luminescent solar microreactors (LSMRs). These innovative devices will absorb solar photons and convert them to more suitable wavelengths for photocatalysts, leading to a significant increase in conversion efficiency. This research has the potential to revolutionise the way society manufactures chemicals by harnessing the power of sunlight. The specific objectives of this project are to: Identify upconverting and downshifting species that will enhance the absorption of sunlight by a model ruthenium(II)-based photocatalyst. Explore key material-structure-function relationships when light-converting species are incorporated into polymer films. Integrate light-converting polymer films with chemical microreactors and determine the effect on the conversion efficiency of a photochemical reaction. Develop a fabrication pathway to produce light-converting polymer films at scale. Assess the tunability of light-converting polymer films when different photocatalysts are employed. This project will directly enhance product yields in photochemical reactions, thereby improving the energy return on energy invested (ERoEI) of photocatalytic devices. The project will also have far-reaching benefits beyond the solar chemical community in other fields, such as the agritech sector, where crop yields can be boosted by fitting spectral converters in greenhouses.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Does quantum entanglement play a role in a chemical reaction? Can entanglement be used to direct the outcome or enhance the yield of products? This proposal addresses the first important steps towards understanding these questions. We will formulate the question rigorously using quantum information science (QIS), identify suitable chemical systems that we will use to test hypothesis, and develop experimental and theoretical methods that will enable us to assess whether quantum entanglement plays a role in a photochemical reaction.  Our system of choice is a photoinduced electron transfer reaction which is ubiquitous in chemistry – it is fundamental in the some of the most important processes including photosynthesis, photovoltaics and photoredox catalysis. We capitalize on our recent discovery of a unique symmetry breaking photoinduced electron transer reaction in materials with open-shell character. These materials present a unique opportunity to track spin-states through a variety of techniques allowing for a clear picture of the evolution of the states during a reaction. By combining synthesis, spectroscopy and theory we will understand and probe the extent of entanglement in this photochemical reaction paving the way to a new understanding of the role of quantum mechanics in reaction mechanisms.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Strongly correlated materials are the source of many of the biggest unsolved puzzles in physics and could potentially revolutionise information technology, through robust quantum computation, spintronics or superconductivity. However, these materials lie on the border between localisation and delocalisation and so small changes in charge, composition and weak interactions can switch a material between states: whether metal, insulator or superconductor. Realising target properties therefore requires careful control over their stoichiometry and interactions. The modularity and directional bonds in magnetic and electronically conducting metalorganic frameworks (MECMOFs) permits design over the interactions and structures impossible in conventional inorganic or organic materials. The first examples of MECMOFs with high conductivity and magnetic ordering temperatures have just now been made, but as a new class of materials, our toolbox of methods for MECMOFs lags behind that of conventional strongly correlated materials, in both synthesis of non-stoichiometric materials and measurement of their quantum properties. In this project, we will use doping with charge carriers and ligands to transform these first examples of strongly correlated MECMOFs into a new class of quantum materials. Strongly correlated materials have complex orderings, structural orbital and spin, so I will use my expertise in diffraction and spectroscopy techniques to uncover the hidden orders within these materials. We will also develop methods to measure the quantum properties of Doping Induced Strongly COrrelated MOFs (DISCO MOFs), using the power of (in)elastic neutron scattering and advanced physical property measurements, in field and under pressure. DISCO MOFs will allow us to design in MECMOFs exotic strongly correlated states, such as unconventional superconductors, heavy fermion states, and quantum spin liquids, able to resolve fundamental problems and produce transformational technologies.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

Many receptors display spontaneous (constitutive) basal activity as they generate a signalling response without agonist stimulation. Elevated spontaneous basal activity has been reported for numerous members of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily and has physiological, pathological, as well as therapeutic implications (e.g. hyperthyroidism and retinitis pigmentosa). Such is the extent of elevated spontaneous activity for some receptors that molecules known as inverse agonists have been developed that suppress their basal activity. While this has opened promising therapeutic windows for disease treatment, rational design of inverse agonists has been hindered as the underlying molecular/structural details of inverse agonism and basal activation remain opaque. Major questions persist about the fundamental molecular details of basal activation, including what receptor conformations are involved and how basal activity is reduced by inverse agonists. The issues are compounded since, to date, there are no published structures of GPCRs bound to inverse agonists in a (ternary) complex with a G protein. This is despite reports that some inverse agonists may distinguish between different signalling outcomes (e.g. ghrelin receptor) and the notion that G protein pre-coupling to a ligand-free GPCR is also discussed as an on-path intermediate of agonist-stimulation. Our proposal aims to address these questions regarding basal activation. Typically, for structural information the GPCR field relies primarily on immobilised proteins (as has been extensively used for agonist activation). In the context of ligand-free receptors and their G protein complexes, however, static methods such as cryo-EM and X-ray crystallography have shown little success as low population of relevant states and unfavourable conformational dynamics of the apo (ligand-free) receptor pose challenges. Hence, insight is required from complementary methods such as NMR that can inform on the conformational sampling of GPCRs. Building on our recent agonist-focused studies with ß1-adrenoceptor (ß1AR) we will use solution NMR to provide a molecular explanation of basal activation and inverse agonism, resolving the questions above. We have developed a platform where through point mutations we can tune basal receptor activity. We will use this to explore the receptor conformational landscape. Combining NMR with complementary biophysical methods (that assess the kinetics of G protein interaction) and a wide range of cellular assays (which reveal the signalling specifics in a cellular context), we propose a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach to establish the molecular framework driving basal activation and inverse agonist action. Our findings will foster inverse agonist development in the future. Our proposal pursues three fundamental objectives: Establish how inverse agonists stabilise the apo-state of GPCRs. Obtain a comprehensive molecular description of apo-receptor-G protein complexes and explore the role of inverse agonists in signal abrogation. Assess the role of allosteric modulators in controlling spontaneous GPCR activity. Successful completion of these objectives will provide the first detailed model of inverse agonism for GPCRs. While this project focusses on the ß1AR its true cost-effectiveness and impact will be realised through its general applicability to the entire GPCR superfamily (>800 members). As such, the research has the potential to unlock future production of novel therapies promoting increased long-term life expectancy and improved quality of life; key national priorities for the UK (BBSRC’s ‘Healthy ageing across the Life course’ and Innovate UK’s ‘Securing better health, ageing and wellbeing’ areas of support). The project focuses on essential aspects of GPCR functioning, which fits the BBSRC's ‘Understanding the Rules of Life’.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

We propose to develop a novel biopsychosocial formulation of delusional beliefs which draws together complementary perspectives from social anthropology, philosophy, psychiatry, and neuroscience. It has long been acknowledged that understanding psychiatric illness demands a biopsychosocial approach, embracing and integrating not just a biological and pathological framing, but also the broader sociocultural context that drives and shapes it. This is especially relevant to delusions, which are fixed and frequently bizarre beliefs that are defined not solely by their content but by their deviation from what a person would be expected to believe given their sociocultural background. This definition – which is core to clinical practice – is accompanied by profound conceptual and practical difficulties. Consider ‘Dorothy’ – an Aberdeenshire woman in her seventies who found hidden codes in the Scots translation of the Bible that revealed to her that she was the Virgin Mary, that her husband was Joseph, and that her son was the Christ. Her divine mission, she believed, was to hand her file of biblical codes to Benjamin Netanyahu to bring ‘born again’ revival within Israel and thereby trigger the apocalypse. We might see Dorthy’s beliefs as bizarre and indicative of a serious mental illness, but in its local socio-religious context, steeped in millenarianism and Christian Zionism, should we see such claims as delusional? What about similarly ‘unbelievable’ worldviews adhered to by large numbers of people, such as ‘gang stalking’ of ‘targeted individuals’ as an organised government programme to stamp out dissent? Do such beliefs no longer qualify as ‘delusional’ if sufficient numbers of individuals coalesce around them to form supportive communities of fellow believers, or if they emerge from a wider cultural (and social media) context where society-at-large is grappling with similar issues? Within clinical neuroscience, progress has been made in elucidating the cognitive operations and information-processing that may be disturbed in psychiatric illnesses characterised by delusions. But without a more comprehensive understanding of what makes a belief delusional, such efforts remain limited and incomplete. We propose to focus on what we call the “grey zone”: the border between delusional and non-delusional beliefs. Our analysis will be drawn together through a series of case studies within this “grey zone”, with a focus on religious ideas about being divinely ‘chosen’ and conspiracist ideas about being nefariously ‘targeted’. Such cases, where defining delusions is made more complex by prevailing cultural context, offer the best opportunity to elucidate the effects of social factors on information processing and belief formation. Shedding light on religious and conspiracist ideation by integrating philosophical, social anthropological, psychiatric, and neuroscientific lenses will offer new and important clarifications with implications for how we approach, study, and diagnose delusions. The shared notion of beliefs as “maps” or “models” – enabling people to navigate and predict their world – provides the necessary analytical common ground. Yet, important and useful divergences also exist, allowing each discipline to reshape the others. Philosophy generally locates such models as existing within the inner thoughts of the individual, while anthropology locates these models in the space between such individuals – within culture and society. Thus, while this pivotal notion of mind-models will be the uniting concept in applying the disciplines to delusions, Exploring the Grey Zone will synthesise the tools of each discipline, including qualitative coding, semi-structured and ethnographic interviews, and philosophical model-building.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Context Kidney cancers behave very differently between patients. Some patients have slow-growing tumours that are restricted to the kidney and respond well to treatment, whilst others experience aggressive disease that spreads to other organs and is unresponsive to treatment. It is currently very difficult to  predict which patients will do well and which will not. This means some people receive treatments they don’t need, while others miss the chance for early intervention. This Programme, AI-SEED-RCC, brings together researchers from the University of Cambridge, the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University College London. AI-SEED-RCC is based on the idea that cancer is not just a problem of the faulty cells that become tumours ("the seed"), but also of the environment around those faulty cells ("the soil"), such as immune cells and blood vessels. Exactly how "seed” and "soil" interact across patients is a mystery. We seek to tackle this using cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), spatial genomics and advanced imaging, with aligned data from patients, to understand how kidney cancers grow and change after treatment. What problem are we solving? Despite progress in cancer care, there are three major gaps that still need to be addressed in kidney cancer, which when solved, will be key to designing better treatments: Lack of precision: It is difficult to know which early tumours will become dangerous and which will not, leading to overtreatment or missed opportunities to act early. Treatment resistance: Many patients stop responding to existing drugs, in part because tumour biology can adapt over time. Limited understanding of the tumour environment: It is unclear how cancer cells interact with the vasculature supplying these tumours and the immune cells which attempt to fight them. What will we do? This project has three main aims: Create tumour maps: We will use spatial genomics and AI to analyse 100 kidney tumours from untreated patients, creating detailed maps that track how cancer cells, their genetics changes and their surroundings behave and change as the disease progresses. Track responses to treatment: Using samples from unique clinical trials, we will study how tumours respond to t after therapy, helping to explain why some respond and others do not. Predict and test new treatments: Using AI tools, we will simulate how alterations to "the seed" or "the soil" influence kidney cancer, which will inform tests of newer and smarter anti-cancer drugs in cutting edge laboratory-based models. What difference will this make? Our tools, data, and results will be shared openly with the global research community. By decoding the “seed” from the “soil” of kidney cancer, this Programme could transform our understanding of how kidney cancer grows and responds to treatment by: Generating rich information about the cells that drive untreated kidney cancer, helping to identify which patients need treatment and which can safely be monitored. Leveraging information on the genetic and cellular features of a patient’s tumour to match the best available therapies for them. Supporting the development of new treatments that target the vasculature and immune cells that support tumours, to inhibit or reverse tumour growth.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

We aim to catalyse meaningful, early-stage patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) in biomedical research through a new scheme at the University of Cambridge: ‘Public Voices in Research Funding’. Designed for researchers developing Medical Research Council (MRC) proposals, this scheme addresses a critical gap: the lack of funding and support for inclusive, contributor-centred engagement during proposal development. Building on a successful pilot in 2023, this new scheme will enable researchers to engage with patients, community members, and/or those with lived experiences (‘contributors’) to shape or codevelop their research proposals and help to create a new, sustainable culture of best practice. Pre-application PPIE activities will be supported through a competitive open call, with small grants of up to £1,000 offered to cover reasonable costs including reimbursement of contributor time, expertise and expenses, ensuring fair and equitable participation.     Our scheme will:        Support researchers to engage contributors at the idea stage         Build institutional capacity for inclusive, contributor-centred research design         Strengthen the quality and impact of MRC proposals through relevant, grounded involvement        Develop a sustainable culture of best practice in PPIE by fostering a growing, inclusive community of contributors and researchers skilled in PPIE, embedding learning into institutional guidance and strategy, and supporting a broader shift towards contributor-centric research practice across the biomedical community. The scheme will be strategically coordinated by the University’s Engagement, Knowledge Exchange and Impact (EKEI) team, who will provide facilitation and capacity-building to help researchers embed high-quality PPIE throughout their research lifecycle. This coordination is supported by an interdisciplinary advisory group and our community of contributors.   Eligible applicants include University of Cambridge researchers across all career stages and disciplines applying for MRC grants. Funding will be distributed through a peer-reviewed call with clear assessment criteria. In addition to funding, successful applicants will receive tailored support; unsuccessful applicants will receive feedback and may reapply. By embedding best practice and enabling meaningful involvement from the start of a project, we aim to deliver more relevant research with greater public value and long-term benefit.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

In 2012 the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) discovered the Higgs boson to complete the Standard Model, our most precise theory of Nature. But the Standard Model provides no account of dark matter, which outweighs all known particles by 5:1. Furthermore, the Higgs is central to two mysteries: the hierarchy problem, whereby the Higgs was found to be much lighter than it should be, and the flavour puzzle, whereby the Higgs gives very different masses to three otherwise identical copies of quarks and leptons (the lightest forming all atomic matter). Before the LHC turned on, theorists were confident it would find particles that solved the hierarchy problem and doubled-up as dark matter, and they put the flavour puzzle aside. But after extensive searches at the LHC and in dark matter direct detection experiments, there is no evidence supporting this paradigm. This project will pioneer new theoretical approaches to solve these problems and develop experimental strategies to test them. 1. Higgs and Flavour: rather than separating the Higgs-centric mysteries of the Standard Model, I will build theories that solve the hierarchy problem and flavour puzzle together. I will do so by merging our best solutions to the hierarchy problem, namely supersymmetry and the composite Higgs, with the idea of non-universal gauge interactions and ultimately electroweak flavour unification - which furthermore explains why there are three copies of particles in the first place. The resulting theories predict new particles that interact strongly with the Higgs and the heaviest quarks and leptons. Experimental constraints on such flavoured particles are currently much weaker than the constraints on the flavour-blind particles favoured pre-LHC. I will collaborate with experimentalists to search for these new particles in data from the LHC and other experiments, as well as exploring their prospects for discovery in future colliders, thereby charting a new “flavoured path” to BSM physics. 2. Higgs and Topology: I will demonstrate how algebraic topology, the abstract mathematics for measuring rigid properties of shapes, provides an untapped way to experimentally probe composite Higgs solutions to the hierarchy problem. While all experimental studies to date constrain geometry, every composite Higgs theory is also characterized by interesting topology, the consequences of which have been barely explored. After using tools from topology to construct a suite of new topological interactions appearing in these theories I will collaborate with experimentalists to design innovative searches for them in the ATLAS detector. I thus hope to demonstrate that topology provides a distinctive way to test compositeness at the LHC and even in cosmology, which I expect to be especially rich for the flavoured composite Higgs theory that I will develop in part (1). 3. Dark Matter and Topology: I apply the same topological tools as in (2) to explore a new topological portal to the dark Universe, that can explain the observed abundance of dark matter as well as its non-observation in direct detection experiments. I will build a complete high-energy theory for this topological portal. With this theory in hand, I aim to establish new experimental paths to discovering dark matter via spectacular signatures in the LHC and electron-positron colliders like Belle-II predicted by the topological portal, for instance involving long-lived particles with distinctive multi-photon decays, that have been so far overlooked in experiments.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Fundamental to the infection mechanism of Salmonella is its ability to survive and replicate within intestinal epithelial cells. This requires modification of its membrane-bound compartment, known as the Salmonella-containing vacuole, transforming it into a novel organelle with a unique biochemical composition that supports Salmonella replication. Changes in organelle composition require recruitment of cytoplasmic proteins or alterations in vesicular trafficking. Despite its importance for Salmonella infection, it remains unclear how Salmonella coopts these host processes to modify the Salmonella-containing vacuole and enable Salmonella replication. Crucial to this process are two highly-conserved secreted Salmonella virulence proteins, called SseF and SseG, and their interaction with the host Golgi-associated protein ACBD3. All three proteins are required for efficient intracellular Salmonella replication and for maintaining close proximity between Salmonella-containing vacuoles and the Golgi. In this proposal we will apply advanced cell biological techniques to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying this host-pathogen interaction. Firstly, we will combine biochemistry, microscopy and molecular cell biology to characterise the molecular interface between SseF, SseG and ACBD3 and explore how the association between the Golgi and Salmonella-containing vacuoles is mediated. This will determine the role of Golgi proximity in Salmonella infection. Next, we will determine how the composition of Salmonella-containing vacuoles depends on SseF, SseG and ACBD3. In a targeted approach, we will focus on membrane-modifying enzymes recruited to the Golgi by ACBD3, testing whether these proteins are diverted during infection to modify the composition of Salmonella-containing vacuoles. In an unbiased approach, we will use subcellular proteomics and lipidomics to provide a comprehensive characterisation of the protein and lipid composition of the Salmonella-containing vacuole. Finally, we will use kinetic trafficking assays to investigate how host components are redirected to the Salmonella-containing vacuole during infection. To test the hypothesis that SseF and SseG are involved in selective vesicle capture, we will anchor their cytoplasmic domains to mitochondria. This in-depth characterisation of how two key Salmonella virulence proteins modify membrane dynamics to enable Salmonella replication is critical to understand the mechanisms by which Salmonella causes disease. Furthermore, by producing a comprehensive description of the Salmonella-containing vacuole composition and how it is modified, we will uncover new therapeutic targets for combatting Salmonella infection.  

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

We propose a project that will explore the divergent approaches to causation in law and statistics, identify the scope for learning across disciplines, and advance the state of the art in each. Context Lawyers use qualitative models and natural language to identify ‘causes of effects’ at individual level, while statisticians use mathematical models and data analysis to study ‘effects of causes’ at population level. Despite their differences, the two disciplines increasingly interact. Courts are being called upon to assess statistical evidence when determining issues of civil and criminal liability, while statisticians are developing formal models that seek to capture a wide variety of causal mechanisms with application to law. The challenge The interdisciplinary challenge is not to convert legal reasoning into statistical reasoning or vice versa, but rather to identify methods, concepts and paradigms from each field which can be used to enhance the coherence and effectiveness of the other.  Thus, statistical concepts can be deployed to show that legal precedents which have accreted over time lack a clear diagnostic rationale and may result in inconsistent decision making.  Conversely, law offers statistics a rich source of data and a practical context in which to apply models and techniques.  In particular, statistics may help us to better understand the causal effects of legal interventions on social and economic outcomes, and clarify the factors influencing judicial decision-making. Statistics understands the causal inquiry as an inferential process for choosing among alternative hypotheses and interpretations under conditions of limited information. Legal reasoning would benefit, we believe, from engagement with this way of thinking about causation.  Our overarching challenge is to map this development and spell out its implications for practice in areas where the two fields overlap.  The potential gains are great: for law, enhanced consistency and fairness in legal decision making, and for statistics, a data-rich field of inquiry. Aims and objectives (i) To examine how far statistical theory can be used to improve the coherence of legal concepts relating to causation. (ii) To develop new and emerging statistical approaches to causal inference and apply them to issues of law. (iii) To apply statistical models of causation to study the factors influencing judicial decision making. Applications and benefits In addition to exploring the scope for conceptual mapping and translation of ideas across the two disciplines, we will undertake empirical research to explore how legal decision-making works.  To this end we will use historical data on British and Irish workmen’s compensation cases and more recent data on the use of AI assistants by US courts deciding whether to grant bail.   We will use causal models derived from the state of the art in statistics to explore how courts arrive at causal understandings, what difference legal rulings make to social and economic outcomes, and how far AI assistance can improve the decision making process.   Our work will have the potential to lead to fairer and more consistent outcomes in civil and criminal cases. We will also be in a position to make an important contribution to the fast-developing debate over the use of AI-related computational techniques in legal analysis and decision-making.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Establishing the timing and trajectory of early animal evolution is vital to efforts to determine the evolutionary processes responsible for generating Earth’s incredible diversity of animals. However, the early evolutionary history of animals is poorly constrained. This project will gather fossil and geological data from spectacular new localities in southern Namibia to illuminate the early stages of animal diversification, and to ascertain the extent to which animals both caused, and responded to, major environmental shifts at the dawn of animal life. Recognisable members of most major living groups of animals appear ‘explosively’ in the fossil record ~538–510 million years ago (Mya) in the Cambrian Period, but older fossils of large and complex soft-bodied organisms in late Ediacaran rocks (~574–538 Mya) demonstrate that animal evolution commenced considerably earlier. However, many Ediacaran fossils lack the recognisable anatomical features that characterise the main animal groups, making it difficult to precisely determine how closely related Cambrian animals were to the earlier Ediacaran forms. To unify these disparate records, we require new, high-quality fossil assemblages that bridge the transitional interval of time between the Ediacaran and Cambrian periods. We have discovered remarkable new fossil sites in southern Namibia that span the final ten million years of the Ediacaran Period, and which offer an unprecedented opportunity to reveal the progress of animal evolution during this critical interval. The sites contain an astonishing array of new fossil species and include unexpected forms alongside candidate members of ‘modern’ animal groups, in addition to clear evidence for behavioural innovations such as movement and burrowing. These new assemblages hold the potential to fundamentally reshape our knowledge of early animal ecosystems and their role in setting the stage for the ‘Cambrian explosion’ of animal diversity. We will employ detailed palaeontological, sedimentological, stratigraphic and cutting-edge geochemical techniques to these new fossil assemblages to achieve the following objectives: Objective 1: Describe and interpret new latest Ediacaran fossil taxa from in-situ fossil assemblages, and utilise their anatomical features to inform the evolutionary timing and trajectory of animal diversification. Objective 2: Document the ecosystem structure of terminal Ediacaran fossil communities, and the nature of organism interactions and behaviours in early animal ecosystems. Objective 3: Constrain the physical depositional environments of in-situ early animal ecosystems and component organisms. Objective 4: Reconstruct the terminal Ediacaran ocean chemical conditions these organisms lived in. Successfully achieving these objectives will allow us to resolve key questions about how early animal ecosystems emerged, diversified, and adapted in response to local and global shifts in ocean chemistry and climate. Our findings will directly advance knowledge of links between early animal evolution and environmental change, for example identifying the extent to which physical and chemical conditions influenced the distribution of early animals in marine habitats, or addressing how animals themselves shaped the biosphere through their evolutionary and behavioural innovations. Our palaeobiological results will inform the pattern and timing of early animal diversification, and contribute key datapoints for discussions regarding the precise biological relationships between basal animal clades. We will track evolutionary innovations such as burrowing and shell-building to determine how they altered sediment structure and ocean chemistry, and we will provide essential chemical and environmental context to enable robust testing of hypotheses regarding the causes and consequences of the ‘explosive’ radiation of animal life.  

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

We will combine physics with Earth science to measure the most elusive gravitational signals in the universe and on Earth. An array of seismometers will measure accelerations near an atom interferometer, so that the novel quantum sensor system can compensate for local fluctuations, thus vastly improving its sensitivity. An interdisciplinary approach is vital to achieve this step change in sensing. Combining quantum sensing with classical seismic sensors will enable a first of its kind sensitivity to gravity waves and standing waves of the Earth. Quantum technologies are poised to revolutionise fundamental physics by enabling access to new detection regimes. Atom interferometers, or quantum gravimeters (QGs), are sensitive to all gravitational signals and have the potential to search for gravitational waves and ultralight dark matter in unexplored frequency ranges. These quantum sensors will be limited by gravitational fluctuations of the local environment, including anthropogenic activity and the vibrational (seismic) movements of the Earth. Furthermore, higher-frequency vibrational noise can alias down into the QG detection region, limiting their sensitivity. New techniques and methods to mitigate these noise sources are urgently needed as numerous long-baseline atom interferometers will be coming online in the next few years. While seismic noise sources are limiting for the fundamental physics goals of QG, they are at the same time key signals for Earth scientists and seismologists investigating whole Earth oscillations to determine our planet’s density profile and inner core dynamics. Low frequency signals are key to understanding the fundamental behaviour of the Earth at its largest scale, from length of day to magnetic field reversals. Signals in this frequency range are elusive – large seismic networks deployed to measure them struggle to resolve their low frequencies (<1 mHz), precisely where atom interferometers are more sensitive. We aim to interweave the advantages of QG’s low-frequency sensitivity with the resolution and high-frequency sensitivity of large aperture seismic arrays to amplify the capability of both individual sensor types. This project was conceived as interdisciplinary from the earliest stages, bringing together experts in atom interferometry and seismology, making crucial technology advancements in both fields. Data of the classical array will be used to optimise control and sensitivity of the QG which in turn will allow the use of the QG in conjunction with the seismic array to search for elusive signals from free Earth oscillations. This project will significantly benefit both quantum sensing and Earth and environmental sciences. Atom interferometry for fundamental physics searches will require long-term autonomous operation, working with real-time data from environmental monitoring systems, to mitigate background noise. Designs for ambient condition monitoring systems with classical sensors have been proposed, however this project’s implementation and demonstration for real-time feedback and control of an QG sensor represents a step-change in the typical measurement protocol that is crucial for upcoming long-baseline QG experiments. Routine detection of long period signals for Earth science would enable exploration of the most difficult to acquire frequencies for Earth science – a holy grail of seismology – and the ability to study the deep Earth in unprecedented ways. At the same time this project will provide highly timely data and advancements in urban seismology in east England, which is urgently needed to monitor the burgeoning CO2 storage industry just offshore.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

The origin of cell membranes is a critical unresolved issue in evolution. Evolutionary biology suggests that early cells had membranes made of diverse lipids involved in genetic and metabolic processes. However, the assumption that lipid diversity relies on enzymatic chemistry has led to models with simple membranes (composed of binary or ternary mixtures of short-chain fatty acids or phosphatidic acids) that passively host these processes. LipRise challenges this assumption, demonstrating lipid diversity can be achieved through non-enzymatic, prebiotic chemistry. LipRise will identify prebiotic chemical processes that could have enabled the emergence of diverse membranes and show how these membranes support key cellular functions, such as membrane division, one of the hallmarks of a cell cycle. To achieve this, I will employ diversity-oriented prebiotic strategies to non-enzymatically convert primitive pluripotent lipids into a variety of lipids, which will then be used to build diverse membranes capable of interacting with protoenzymes and facilitating life-like functions. The success of LipRise relies on my expertise at the intersection of chemistry and biology, the interdisciplinary skills of my team (prebiotic chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, biophysics, and biochemistry), and preliminary evidence showing the feasibility of transforming lipids within membranes through non-enzymatic chemistry. LipRise aims to revolutionize our understanding of life's origin and evolution by challenging the assumption that early cells were built on functional protoenzymes (and nucleic acids) within simple passive membranes. Instead, LipRise suggests that lipid diversity played a crucial role on early Earth, influencing the interactions between membranes and peptides during the emergence of life. It proposes that life-like lipid diversity, essential for membrane functions, could have arisen from pluripotent lipid precursors, shifting the focus from an RNA-peptide-driven process to an RNA-peptide-membrane-driven process. The impact of LipRise is threefold: it will provide a fundamental understanding of the origins of lipid diversity, including characteristics of bacterial and archaeal lipids; it will develop new strategies using diverse membranes to study, sense, or replicate membrane behaviours; and it will offer deep insights into the molecular-level emergence and evolution of cellular processes.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Globalising Gender Studies explores the gendered effects of transitions to liberal democracy and neoliberal market economies after the Cold War through a global history of Women’s & Gender Studies carried out in partnership with women’s studies centres and non-profit organisations in Eastern Europe, Latin America and South Asia. Through multi-country archival research, semi-structured interviews and analysis of the research, advocacy and outreach materials produced by women’s and gender studies scholars since the 1990s, we provide a unique comparative analysis of how this new interdisciplinary research field emerged in the context of interactions between international donors in the global North, including financial institutions and philanthropic foundations, national governments, and local social movements in the global South and post-socialist East. Understanding Gender Studies as a site of contestation between historical actors, as well as a source of social scientific and policy research, we contribute to an emerging debate among historians about writing the history of the post-Cold War era, a period that until recently was the preserve of social and political scientists. Addressing AHRC theme ‘Contemporary Challenges’, Globalising Gender Studies departs from existing academic scholarship by i) analysing Gender Studies in the context of global ‘transitions’ after the Cold War, ii) examining the role of international, national and local state and non-state actors as historical agents in this process, iii) generating, preserving and disseminating oral histories and archival research in disparate local contexts from around the world, iv) collaborating with non-profit organisations to translate our research into accessible formats for wider audiences in Chile, Czechia and India. Through a comparative analysis of the global history of Women’s & Gender Studies since the 1990s, we aim to: identify how international organisations and donor agencies, national governments, social movements and scholars used ‘women’ and ‘gender’ as categories of analysis in research, advocacy and outreach in the context of global transformation before and after 1989 map, collate and conserve organisational records, oral history, published texts and ephemera in disparate archives for the benefit of future researchers work collaboratively with feminist non-profit organisations to support gender sensitisation training To achieve these aims, we will: 1) Write a new global history of Women’s and Gender Studies from the 1990s to the present, published as a monograph 2) Create a research team with expertise in Eastern Europe, Latin America and South Asia to guide the project, as well as a wider international network of scholars with expertise in other geographical contexts, especially South Africa, West Asia, the United States, and China; 3) Establish a sustainable research agenda for historically-informed scholarship on gender and post-Cold War transformation, outlined in a special journal issue and academic articles; 4) Create a database on our project website of primary sources and oral histories with scholars and activists who founded or engaged with gender studies in these regions, as a resource for researchers 5) Produce a video documentary, podcasts and educational materials with our project partners (nonprofit organisations in Chile, Czech Republic, and India) for use in gender sensitisation training in those countries.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

The ADAPT-EAF Prosperity Partnership aims to address critical knowledge gaps in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking and design new steels amenable to EAF processing. The UK is undergoing a transition from blast furnace to EAF based steelmaking. This will reduce UK CO2 emissions by 1.5% and increase capacity for steel recycling. However, for this to be achieved, technical challenges must be overcome. Specifically, commercially competitive steels produced through EAF processing requires high scrap contents. This leads to the accumulation of residual elements that can negatively impact properties. In particular, they can severely compromise the processability of products that require thinner cross sections, like those used in the automotive and packaging industries. Understanding the impact of residual elements is therefore imperative for producing economically attractive steel grades. Through collaborative efforts between Tata Steel UK, University of Cambridge, Warwick Manufacturing Group and Imperial College London, our research will develop a comprehensive computational framework for predicting steel properties based on composition and processing variables. The data required for this will be generated through coupled rapid alloy prototyping and testing. Once established, the framework will allow the accelerated design of new EAF steel compositions specifically optimised for automotive and packaging applications. Our research strategy unfolds in four stages. In the first stage, Tata Steel will curate commercial data on scrap quality and conduct a techno-economic analysis to inform alloy design targets. In the second stage, a computational framework will be developed to predict steel properties, with targeted experimental studies filling data gaps. This will initially focus on creating a robust understanding of the interactions between residual elements, microstructure, and processing response. High-throughput alloy prototyping capabilities will generate microstructure and property data, complemented by formability assessments. Stage three enhances the computational framework with processing-microstructure correlations and iteratively refines steel compositions for optimal properties in the target applications. In stage four, alloy assessment transitions to full-scale validation and demonstration, ensuring consistency with small-scale results and customer acceptance. The Partnership's objectives include developing a digital predictive platform using AI and data analytics to predict steel properties, leveraging high-throughput processing capabilities for targeted data generation, and understanding the mechanistic origins of residual element effects on microstructural evolution. Additionally, the project will assess the equivalence or superiority of EAF steel to blast furnace steel, examine tolerance levels for scrap/direct reduced iron balance variations, and explore potential positive effects of residuals on steel properties. Importantly, the project will also focus on developing research staff with metallurgical expertise to support the talent pipeline in the UK steel industry. The outcomes of this research project will underpin the UK steel industry's transition to EAF production, and accelerate the development of environmentally sustainable steel grades with enhanced properties. By bridging critical knowledge gaps and leveraging advanced computational and experimental techniques, the partnership aims to enable Tata Steel to maintain global competitiveness and contribute to the UK's clean growth agenda. These initiatives are critical to secure the future prosperity of UK steelmaking, which directly employs 34,500 individuals and generates £2.4 billion of UK GDP as well as indirectly supporting an additional 43,000 jobs that creates an additional £3.1 billion in economic activity through supply chains.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Recently, drawing on the field of Decolonial Studies, scholars and educators have been investigating the impact of colonial histories on curriculum, higher education experiences, and teacher education both in formerly colonised communities and in the former colonial powers, including the UK. However, despite some initiatives linked to teacher education in England and Scotland, fewer studies exist which explore schoolteachers’ and teacher educators’ agentic experiences of decolonial curriculum-making in this former colonial power, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and geography school-subjects. This is despite increasing scholarship emerging from formerly colonised communities such as the USA and Brazil which underline the importance of decolonial curriculum-making in these subject areas due to their own colonial entanglements and legacies around: scientific racism, health inequalities and medical mistrust, over-exploitation of natural resources, environmental racism, data colonialism, algorithmic biases and profiling, etc. It is therefore vital that a teaching profession rooted in the value of teachers’ subject expertise and located in former colonial powers such as the UK engages and challenges such colonial legacies within the areas of STEM and geography to support meaningful experiences of equity, inclusion and anti-racism within and beyond our increasingly socio-culturally, ethnically and racially diverse school communities. This study therefore seeks to explore views and experiences of secondary/post-16 schoolteachers and teacher educators around subject-specific decolonial curriculum-making within STEM and geography across England and Scotland. In particular, it will attend to the following objectives: O1.Understand educators’ purposes and agentic experiences of subject-specific decolonial curriculum-making across England and Scotland. O2.Explore strategies mobilised and support required for educators’ agentic decolonial subject-specific curriculum-making to be sustained at scale in England and Scotland. O3.Drawing on O1-O2, co-create with participants a framework to enhance STEM and geography educators’ engagement with subject-specific decolonial curriculum-making beyond this project. Through life-history interviews, observations, knowledge-and-practice-exchange workshops, and arts-based co-creation workshop with STEM and geography educators across England and Scotland, this project will contribute to developing scholarship across the UK and internationally around educators’ agentic experiences of decolonial curriculum-making grounded in their own voices and experiences. In doing so, this project will expand knowledge around what decolonial thinking and practices can mean to STEM and geography education across the UK, and generate a co-created framework to guide decolonial work by educators grounded in the expertise and experiences of this professional community. This project will also bring together STEM and geography educators in a collaborative community of decolonial practitioners to support theirs and other practitioners’ engagement with this area during and beyond the life of this project, seeking to enhance capacity-building for educational practitioners’ engagement with decolonial curriculum-making which is context and subject-appropriate, sustainable and scalable.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

High Throughput Operando Optical Light Scattering as a tool to Accelerate Battery Material Development

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

Context: Uncontrolled epilepsy is a major health burden. In the UK, 120,000 people have drug-resistant focal epilepsy (DRFE), which causes unpredictable and life-threatening seizures (Wigglesworth, 2023). Surgery is the only curative treatment but will only stop seizures if it removes or isolates the diseased tissue driving the seizures – called the “epilepsy lesion”. Current NHS practice uses “3T MRI” and “FDG-PET” scans to find epilepsy lesions, but in 30% of patients the scans do not show the location of the epilepsy lesion clearly enough to justify surgery. At present, the remaining option is to surgically implant electrodes and record brain activity for 2 weeks (SEEG). This costs ~£30,000, is uncomfortable, and also carries a risk of complications. Ultra-high field (7T) MRI is more sensitive to detect epilepsy lesions (Opheim 2021), but so far, it has only been implemented in a few single-site studies using an older form of 7T MRI called single transmit (7T-sTx) which means that the temporal lobes - a key site for epilepsy lesions – are frequently obscured by signal-dropouts. We are leaders in parallel transmit (7T-pTx) technology, which images the whole brain with exceptional sensitivity and sub-millimetre resolution, including the temporal lobes. We have developed a 7T-pTx protocol for epilepsy. In a pilot study in 31 DRFE patients, we found epilepsy lesions in 29% of cases when normal scans had been inconclusive. Some patients were referred for surgery without further tests, while for others the 7T-pTx scan showed that surgery was not possible, avoiding further invasive tests and focusing scarce SEEG capacity for other patients.   Challenge: This project addresses the challenge of establishing a clinically-viable and cost-effective alternative to scarce SEEG testing so that DRFE patients can access life-changing epilepsy surgery.   Aims: We propose a two-site, four-year prospective study to prove that 7T-pTx MRI is ready for NHS implementation in cost-effective epilepsy surgery pathways. Our project has three work packages: First, we will harmonise 7T-pTx MRI protocols and demonstrate reproducibility across sites. Second, we will recruit 100 patients for 7T-pTx MRI whose clinical 3T MRI and FDG-PET scans have not provided sufficient information to proceed to surgery and who would otherwise need SEEG. We will measure the number of epilepsy lesions newly identified by consultant neuroradiologists based on 7T-pTx MRI as our primary outcome measure. We will measure the percentage of cases where 7T-pTx scans alter the clinical team’s recommendations (e.g. towards surgery instead of SEEG) as a secondary outcome. For patients who have surgery, pathologists will check the removed tissue to confirm whether the 7T-pTx scan findings were correct. We will measure the health benefits to patients and economic benefits to the NHS. Third, we will implement an AI-powered workflow for automatically processing 7T-pTx images by updating a tool called “MELD” for use on 7T-pTx scans. This will assist neuroradiologists to search through the many images produced by a 7T-pTx scan looking for small abnormalities by giving them hints on where to look. We will combine this with complementary information about brain metabolism from PET scans.   Potential benefit: By establishing 7T-pTx MRI in standard clinical practice, we expect to fast-track curative neurosurgery in 29% of patients with otherwise untreatable focal epilepsy, without needing invasive SEEG. This will accrue significant health economic benefits by letting these often younger patients have a productive working and social life.