UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Insects are the most diverse group of animals on Earth, and play vital roles in maintaining ecosystems. As pollinators, nutrient recyclers, natural pest controllers, and ecosystem engineers, they are essential to the health of the environment. However, recent reports highlight significant declines in insect populations, threatening the essential services they provide. The reasons behind these declines are complex, but effects of agricultural pesticides on non-target species have been identified as a potentially major contributor. Research shows that pesticides have sublethal effects on various traits in insects, such as foraging, movement, learning, and lifespan. In response to these findings, the European Union has banned several pesticides. However, our understanding of how these chemicals and their successors affect non-target insects in their natural environments is still limited. Most of what we know comes from lab-based studies, where controlled conditions provide enormous power to detect effects, but fail to capture how insects interact with their environment. This lack of real-world context is a concern because many critical factors, like the presence of predators or changing environmental conditions, aren't accounted for. To address this deficit, we aim to study the effects of pesticide exposure in nature using a unique experimental field system: "WildCrickets".  By studying insects in their natural habitat, we can observe how pesticides impact individual fitness through longevity and reproductive success, as well as the traits that contribute to fitness including behavioural and life-history traits.  Furthermore, by following successive generations, we can determine whether pesticides only affect exposed individuals or whether impacts can be passed on to offspring. A key focus of our project is how pesticides affect predator avoidance. In labs, predators are absent, but in the wild, being eaten is a major risk factor for most insects. Pesticides may impair insects’ ability to evade predators, which could have a significant effect on their fitness. Similarly, mating behaviours may be disrupted by chemicals affecting reproduction. Another area of focus is how pesticides affect the ability of insects to control their body temperature. For crickets and many other temperate insects, this is particularly important, as they rely on moving between sun and shade to optimise their body temperature. In addition to understanding immediate sublethal effects in their environmental context, another key question is the long-term impact of pesticide exposure on population evolution. For example, if pesticides affect traits related to sexual selection, such as a male’s ability to compete for mates, this may impact the rate at which a population can adapt to changes in its environment. Our research has both ecological and practical implications. By studying the effects of pesticides in the wild, we will address key knowledge gaps and contribute to more accurate environmental risk assessments for pesticides. European authorities have already acknowledged that current pesticide risk assessment methods are outdated.  Our findings will help improve these frameworks by identifying where key risks lie.  Ultimately, our goal is to use fundamental research in evolutionary ecology to support the development of more sustainable agricultural practices that minimize harm to insect populations.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs) pose a significant global public health challenge, affecting millions of children worldwide, with premature infants being particularly vulnerable. Current care pathways often involve delayed diagnosis and missed opportunities for early intervention. To address this, we propose an innovative approach using electroencephalography (EEG)-based digital twins (DTs) to transform neonatal neurodevelopmental care through quantitative, precision prediction. Our vision is to develop mathematical models (DTs) derived from EEG that can quantify, predict, and understand neurodevelopment. These DTs will simulate individual infants' brain maturation trajectories, enabling fine-scale quantitative prediction of typical and atypical neurodevelopmental outcomes. This predictive capability will guide follow-up assessments, inform resource allocation, and facilitate personalised interventions. The project has three key aims: Foster a dynamic, cross-disciplinary team to advance the construction and clinical use of DTs for childhood brain development, while developing future leaders in AI for healthcare. Collect longitudinal EEG data to calibrate models at different time points, ensuring model validity and understanding practical DT deployment. Develop DTs capable of simulating brain developmental trajectories with quantified uncertainty. To achieve this we need to develop new mathematical models of infant brains at different stages of neurodevelopment, addressing a current gap in this field. Another crucial component of our work involves matching model output to EEG (model calibration), which presents challenges due to the complex nature of the brain itself and models of the brain, which are nonlinear, non-identifiable, and stochastic. Crucially, we will develop novel calibration methods that enable us to quantify uncertainty in predictions. Our interdisciplinary team combines expertise in mathematics, paediatrics, statistics, data ethics, and industry. We will collaborate with Huru, an industrial partner developing innovative wireless EEG recording solutions, to facilitate data collection and explore potential clinical applications. Our work has significant potential for societal impact. By enabling early diagnosis, individualised prognosis, and personalised treatment planning, our DT technology will provide a powerful tool for precision medicine in neonatal care. This could lead to improved outcomes, enhanced quality of life, and substantial societal and economic benefits through optimised neurodevelopmental outcomes at a population level. In conclusion, our project aims to transform neonatal neurodevelopmental care through the development of EEG-based digital twins. By combining mathematical modelling, clinical expertise, and innovative technology, we seek to enable earlier identification of at-risk infants, provide quantitative predictions of developmental trajectories, and support informed decision-making and personalised interventions. This groundbreaking approach has the potential to significantly improve outcomes for infants at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders and their families.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Mine waste is a major problem worldwide, having detrimental effects on human health as well as the environment. In a drive for low carbon technologies, metal demand is projected to increase >450% by 2050. There is thus a pressing need to develop long-term sustainable remediation strategies. Microbes play key roles in geochemical processes and their vast metabolic diversity may aid in the clean-up of mine-degraded soils. Detoxification in microbial communities not only depends on individual behaviour, but also on interactions between different species. However, we have limited understanding of metal-detoxification in multi-species contexts, severely curtailing their effective use in remediation. My FLF explores siderophore-mediated bioremediation, with a focus on divisions of labour within soil communities to maximise detoxification. Bacteria release siderophores into the environment which bind toxic metals, preventing diffusion into cells. Mine-degraded soils typically contain multiple toxic metals. In theory, if different species specialise to detoxify different metals, this can improve species coexistence and remediation. However, such cooperation can also break down when cheats (individuals that do not produce siderophores but reap benefits from others) are able to displace siderophore producers. From work on single species, we know that cheats should be less successful in structured environments as this restricts their access to siderophores. My original FLF tested this prediction using a combination of theory and controlled experiments with synthetic and natural soil communities. By tracking ecological and evolutionary changes, my work so far has shown that species stably coexist when they specialise to detoxify different metals, increasing community-wide siderophore levels. However, coexistence quickly breaks down when cheats newly evolve or when they can freely disperse into local patches of producers. The relative speed of ecological and evolutionary change is thus crucial to the maintenance of divisions of labour. My team and I are currently identifying the molecular mechanisms underpinning changes in siderophore production. During the renewal, I will build on these results and further increase realism by examining another key ecological factor underpinning bacterial divisions of labour: plants. Plant-microbe feedbacks are ubiquitous in nature and have important implications for phytoremediation. In theory, plant roots can alter social behaviour by providing structure and nutrients, both of which are predicted to affect cooperation by altering the relative costs and benefits of siderophores. We have limited knowledge of how cooperation and conflict within soil bacterial communities feeds back to influence plant fitness, for example by altering metal solubility. In the renewal I will fill these knowledge gaps by addressing five objectives: (1) as individuals can regulate siderophore production in response to environmental cues, I will determine the role of phenotypic plasticity versus mutation in underpinning siderophore changes; (2) I will test whether siderophore production is increased in relatively nutrient-rich root-associated communities versus bulk soil communities; (3) I will determine how variation in siderophore production affects plant fitness and plant metal uptake by increasing metal solubility; (4) I will assess the impact of adaptation to local environmental conditions on plant-microbe interactions, as and (5) I will focus on the effect of land management on metal mobility, using a citizen science approach. The data obtained in the renewal will result in a major advance in our understanding of plant-microbe interactions and phytoremediation. The insights gained will be of great interest to policy practitioners aiming to optimise microbiomes for environmental function and health.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

The quantity and quality of our friendships can profoundly impact our health and lifespan. The benefits of social relationships are not unique to humans; across species, individuals with strong social connections, or “friendships”, generally experience greater reproductive success and longevity. However, despite these benefits, a perplexing phenomenon is that social connectivity - the number and strength of social ties - often declines with age. Understanding the causes and consequences of this phenomenon, termed social senescence, is a critical interdisciplinary challenge. Social senescence has generally been attributed to biological ageing processes. Age-related declines in cognition, mobility, and sensory perception may hinder individuals' ability to form and maintain social bonds in old age. However, significant variation in social ageing patterns exists across species, sexes, and populations. Indeed, individuals sometimes maintain or even increase their social engagement in later life. These observations challenge the prevailing view that social senescence is merely a byproduct of biological ageing. This project will develop an innovative, adaptive framework to understand why social ageing occurs and why patterns of social ageing differ between individuals, the sexes and species. We propose that social senescence is an adaptive process shaped by evolutionary trade-offs in the costs and benefits of forming and maintaining social relationships across the lifespan. Building and sustaining social ties early in life can provide long-term benefits, including improved reproductive success and survival. However, as individuals age, the returns on these investments diminish, potentially leading to a reduction in social investment and social connectivity. Despite its potential significance, such an adaptive framework for social ageing remains unexplored. We predict that adaptive patterns of social ageing will depend on the degree of relatedness between social partners. Kin relationships offer indirect benefits - by helping relatives survive and reproduce, individuals can promote the transmission of shared genes. Thus, we predict that the patterns of social interactions with kin across the lifespan will shape the evolution of social ageing. Our previous work reveals substantial variation across species and the sexes in how social interactions with kin change across the lifespan. We predict that these species and sex differences in kinship dynamics will explain variation in social ageing patterns. This research will develop a novel theoretical framework to predict how individuals adaptively allocate social effort (forming and maintaining relationships) over their lifespan and how age-related changes in these investments drive social ageing. Using this framework, we will predict the evolutionary consequences of varying patterns of interactions with relatives across the lifespan for social ageing. These predictions will be tested using over 50 years of longitudinal data on Southern Resident killer whales - a population characterised by strong kinship structures and well-documented social behaviour - and comparative datasets on social ageing across mammal societies. This research is inherently interdisciplinary, spanning biology, ecology, social sciences, health  and psychology. It will advance our understanding of social ageing by providing an adaptive framework grounded in evolutionary theory. Practically, the findings will support conservation efforts for the endangered Southern Resident killer whales, shedding light on how shifts in population age structure influence social dynamics and population resilience. More broadly, as the number of people over 65 is projected to double by 2025, understanding how and why social relationships adaptively change with age has the potential to shape societal perspectives on ageing and help foster more age-aware communities.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Precise provision of calcium is crucial for successful aquaculture. No current method enables accurate, real-time monitoring of dissolved calcium. This project aims to bring new calcium sensing technology to market which will address this urgent requirement, thereby improving animal welfare, product yields and aquaculture sustainability. All aquatic animals require the correct quantity of environmental calcium for good health and growth, and too much or too little can rapidly prove fatal. For finfish this is particularly true for fertilization, eggs and larvae. Shellfish species, such as crabs, lobsters, and prawns (i.e., crustaceans) are especially vulnerable because they rapidly extract calcium from water to build their exoskeleton (shell) after each moult, and survival and growth are significantly impaired when concentrations are too low or too high. Successful, profitable aquaculture with appropriate animal welfare depends upon tightly controlled water chemistry. Modern sensor technology enables accurate monitoring of many important parameters in real-time (e.g., temperature, oxygen, pH, ammonia, salinity); however, dissolved calcium is conspicuously absent because current detection methods are either too slow or inaccurate. Consequently, calcium provision in aquaculture is poorly-controlled, and this can severely compromise animal health and growth, and overall productivity. This is true for outdoor settings (ponds, raceways etc.) but even more acutely for indoor recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS).  The scale of the industry (global aquaculture market estimated at $311 billion in 2024) means that improvement in calcium sensing technology will have far-reaching impacts in both outdoor low-tech, and indoor RAS high-tech settings. We seek funding to bring a real-time calcium sensing device for aquaculture to market. As part of the BBSRC-funded UK Sustainable King Prawn Project (BB/W018039/1), we designed and synthesised a sensor molecule which changes colour in response to dissolved calcium. Measuring colour intensity change allows quantification of calcium concentration. The sensor can be reset simply by irradiation with white light, allowing measurements every 30 seconds. Importantly, the sensor shows no interference from other common chemicals found in aquaculture. To generate a prototype sensing device, we are collaborating with Seneye Ltd., (a world-leading aquatic sensor company), as our sensor molecule is a perfect fit for their pre-existing sensor device technology. Correspondingly, the overall aim of this proposal is to bridge the gap between our prototype device and a real-world sensor product, which is ready for market. To achieve this, we will evaluate sensor performance under both controlled laboratory conditions and in a wide range of commercial aquaculture settings (freshwater, marine, fish, shellfish), whilst making informed sensor improvements using feedback from trials (WPs1-3). Furthermore, to prepare the device for commercialisation, we will design a large-scale manufacturing process (WP4). To connect our new technology to its target market, we will use aquaculture conferences/trade shows to promote our device and engage with potential end-users to understand their requirements (WP5). This yields the following objectives: Trialling under precisely controlled lab conditions. Sensor optimisation; produce 2nd generation sensors. Trialling in commercial aquaculture. Large scale sensor synthesis. Market development and commercialisation. This project is designed around aquaculture sector needs; however, there are further significant applications for real-time dissolved calcium sensing, including home and public aquaria, environmental, domestic and industrial water quality, and even point-of-care calcium sensors for healthcare/veterinary use.  Thus, successful delivery of this project will result in a wide spread of economic, societal and environmental benefits.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

A cell's identity is defined by its genes. A cell located in the heart, for example, will express heart genes, but not genes important for liver or brain function. Conversely, liver cells express liver genes but not heart or lung genes. During embryonic development animals are formed by different groups of stem cells, which are able to give rise to the myriad of different cell types found in an adult organism. Cells "know" which cell types they should become because of signals they receive, usually sent by neighbouring cells so that cells in the right place at the right time take on the appropriate identity. Responding appropriately when the levels of these signals reach certain thresholds is crucial not only during development but also in maintaining a healthy state. When these responses fail the consequences include developmental disorders and cancer. When stem cells undergo the process of differentiating into a new cell type, they need to turn on genes appropriate for the new cell type, but also turn off the genes that define a 'stem cell' identity and also keep off any genes associated with other cell types. This process is tightly regulated by a group of proteins called chromatin remodellers. DNA is not "naked" within cells but exists in the form of chromatin, i.e. it is wrapped around proteins in a way that keeps it compact and stable. Chromatin remodellers are able to change how tightly packed specific regulatory parts of the chromatin are. In this way chromatin remodellers are important for making some genes available to respond if the right signal is received by a cell, while other genes are kept silent. We are interested in how the signals which enter a cell are interpreted to produce a change in gene expression. We recently discovered a previously undetected step in an otherwise well studied signalling pathway in mouse pluripotent cells. Signal activation in these cells results in a very fast event in which the chromatin of key regulatory sequences gets reset from a 'waiting' configuration to an 'active' configuration. We further showed that different chromatin remodelling proteins are required for different steps in this resetting event. We now wish to determine how human pluripotent cells respond to activation of these same signals. Our current data indicates that a resetting event occurs in human cells, but we've already detected species-specific differences. In the current study we will move beyond the scope of the mouse work to define how cells respond to changes levels of different signalling pathways, and to determine why some cells are responsive to signals while others are not. We will use what we learn to devise methods for controlling the responsiveness of cells to signals, something that would be of enormous benefit in regenerative medicine and in treatment of diseases where cells exert aberrant signalling responses, such as cancer. We are using cutting-edge methodologies analysing chromatin behaviour at the genome-wide level and at the single molecule level. Overall, this proposal represents a comprehensive investigation of how early embryonic human cells are directed to form the myriad of cell types present in an adult organism, through which we will devise ways in which to control this process.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Wetlands are a C paradox, with huge capacity for C storage but also a strong source of C as methane (CH4). Wetlands worldwide are highly sensitive to climate change, given dependencies on rain and groundwater. Seasonal shifts in saturation have potential to lead to highly dynamic greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes, in the form of CO2 and CH4. Tropical wetlands are particularly understudied but make outsized contributions to the global CH4 budget. Though Brazil has vast wetlands, previous work largely focused on permanently saturated systems, e.g., Amazon or Pantanal floodplains. In contrast, the poorly studied Cerrado domain includes permanent (peatlands) and seasonally inundated (seasonal grasslands), wetlands and dry grasslands, with saturation shifting seasonally and episodically. Climate change is likely to bring warmer and drier conditions to this region, increasing areas of seasonal and dry grasslands and concomitant potential increases in GHG emissions. Given current paucity of observations and importance of predicting future of these critical seasonal systems, it is vital to determine mechanisms driving spatial and temporal shifts in GHG emissions and C storage across the saturation gradient, as well as changes in spatial extent of these systems through time. Our overall objective is to overcome these knowledge gaps in sites in Brazil. Our combined field and modeling approaches in Cerrado tropical grasslands will focus on answering three questions: Q1. What are the drivers of spatial and temporal heterogeneity in sea storage and flux across saturation gradients? Q2. How does saturation extents (areas and perimeters) in tropical grasslands change over box? Seasonal and decadal scales? Q3. How will rates and forms of sea emissions from tropical grasslands change under future climates? To test Q1, spatially distributed measurements will be coupled with high-temporal resolution measurements to understand GHG, soil and vegetation C dynamics across the saturation gradient. GHG variability will be measured spatially with static flux chambers and temporally with automated chambers. Site changes through time will be determined by initial soil characterization, combined with seasonal measurements of plant phenology, stomatal conductance, porewater chemistry, baseline climate and groundwater seasonally. To test Q2, high resolution remote sensing and field reference data will be combined to map wetland extent, seasonally 14C and 210Pb dating will be used to understand wetlands extent changes at decadal scales. To test Q3, data from Q1 and Q2 will be utilized in simulations with E3SM Land Models coupled to PFLOTRAN reactive transport models. Estimates of C sequestration patterns and GHG emissions will be spatially simulated with projections of C balance changes and GHG with expected shifts in regional climate and hydrology.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

There is growing concern about the rise of vector-borne diseases (VBDs) in Europe and worldwide as they represent the majority of emerging infectious diseases, and severely affect human and animal health. The main European transmitters of VBDs are hard ticks (Ixodidae), especially Ixodes ricinus, transmitting a wide range of pathogens while feeding. The most common and important tick-borne disease (TBDs) is Lyme disease, whose symptoms depend on the genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. that is transmitted. Among them, B. garinii causes the highly invalidating Lyme neuroborreliosis for which birds are competent hosts. In the UK, it has been hypothesized that the release of millions of common pheasants for recreational shooting may considerably boost the population of I. ricinus (as feeding host) and the spread of B. garinii (as competent vector). However, despite our efforts the comprehension of the spread of TBDs in the wild is severely hampered by the lack of an integrative approach investigating hosts, ticks and their microbial community as a unique set of interactions. In this project, I will investigate the ecological dynamics between birds, ticks and their bacterial microbiome. First, the physiological determinants underpinning differences in tick load between native and non-native birds will be examined. Second, I will investigate differences in tick physiology, fitness and host preference between and within native and non-native host species. Third, the role that (the diversity of) bacteria (especially Borrelia) within ticks play for tick fitness and host choice will be studied. The project will be mainly carried out at the University of Exeter (UK) under the supervision of a leading expert in host-parasite interactions, dr Barbara Tschirren. The analysis of the tick symbiont communities and tick physiology will be performed at MiVEGEC, France (secondment, dr Olivier Duron) and at the University of Sussex (secondment, prof. Jeremy Niven).

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

This joint exploration across disciplines and with non-academic partners, with potential for wide-reaching ramifications and innovation, aims to explore how AI could help conservators and archivists to deal with the burgeoning field of performance and new media art documentation. Documentation is usually carried out by a range of stakeholders at the point of acquisition of an artwork. This may be subsequently updated if an artwork is (re-)activated over time, illustrating that documentation is a broad, varied, and often generative field benefitting multiple stakeholders. Historically, the point of view of the artist has been the primary factor considered in generating a documentation though current practice also includes documentation of the audience experience and stakeholder considerations about the maintenance of a work. Overall, documentation has been an expanding field, both in terms of the quantity of documentation generated at the point of production and acquisition, and in terms of subsequent iterations of it. However, since several parties carry out documentation, and frequently do so with different agendas, the resulting growing number of (sometimes conflicting) documents has become increasingly onerous to manage. Here we show that AI could play a key role in art documentation, including in the case of AI generated artworks, but only if the roles played by bias and positionality are addressed and utilised. In AI research, bias refers to the skewed or distorted outcomes produced by machine learning and AI algorithms. This bias stems from two main sources: 1) human preferences in selecting specific generalizations or hypotheses over others during the algorithm design process; 2) potential distortions in the training data due to human predispositions or unrepresentative sampling. These biases can lead to inaccurate results that may not be entirely dependent on or justified by the observed instances in the data. Positionality refers to the choice of a specific theoretical approach. While it is commonly presumed that AI bias can reduce AI’s accuracy and effectiveness, and so bias, whether produced by data scientists or stakeholders, is often hidden, we think that making bias and positionality explicit will improve the reliability of a documentation. Moreover, artists often introduce bias into AI artworks by subverting AI technical methodologies, including machine learning pipelines, and some researchers use positionality which AI should reflect. Just as archives declare the provenance of their collections and researchers cite the origin of their sources, making the bias and positionality more explicit will not only make art documentation more precise but also make AI more efficient in that the datasets created as this field develops could be used to enhance future training. We aim to explore how AI could play a significant role in performance and new media art documentation provided that bias and positionality are made explicit. To this extent, our project, researched with stakeholders, will investigate the advantages, challenges, modalities, and consequences of making bias and positionality visible, primarily in the museum sector but with relevance to documentation practice more widely, paving the way for future research in the use of AI for art documentation.  

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

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 2025 · 2025-08

During the 13th-17th centuries CE, Northern Europe was increasingly under the political and economic control of a powerful merchant class, responsible for the development and centralization of economic and political power throughout the region. Merchant trading companies coordinated the management of maritime-based trade in goods like wool, agricultural products, and, perhaps most importantly, preserved fish. Archaeological fish remains provide a useful lens for examining the consolidation of economic power by these trading networks. They offer perspectives on influence over regional market preferences, trade patterns, and technological change. However, research into the late-medieval/early-modern fish trade has primarily focused on the stockfish (cod and similar species) and herring industries, with the role of migratory and freshwater species remaining understudied. The primary goal of Beyond Stockfish is to investigate the trade in fish other than herring and stockfish, using archaeological material from two major industrial trading centres in Germany and England– Lübeck and Exeter. The fish bone assemblages from these two locations will be studied through the integration of several methods, including comparative skeletal analysis, collagen peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS), and geometric morphometrics (GMM). These analysis methods are focused on the study of both the physical form and chemical properties of archaeological fish bones, and can be used to identify individual fish bones to taxonomic groups including genus and species. While identification and quantification methods have already been developed for some of the most commonly exploited fish species (e.g. cod, herring), this project will focus on establishing new collagen peptide barcodes and morphometrics-derived length/weight regression estimate models for understudied fish species. Armed with detailed information about species of fish exploited, this study will explore the role that Lübeck and Exeter played in North Atlantic and Baltic trading networks. Beyond Stockfish will reconstruct regional differences in species frequency, contextualise the archaeological record with documentary research into the fish trade, and explore the historical ecology of key species such as Northern pike, zander, and whitefish. Both the modern and archaeological material used in this project will create new tools for identification and quantification of fish bones from a variety of scientific contexts, and their publication will benefit researchers from fields ranging from ecology to food science and economics. This research will explore the role that fish played in defining the power of mediaeval trading companies and provide a deep-time baseline for understanding the economic, cultural and political origins of modern commercial fisheries.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

One of the main challenges in delivering the decarbonisation of the built environment is represented by the high embodied carbon of concrete, the main used construction material. Due to the thermochemical processes involved in the preparation of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), the most common type of cement used in the sector, concrete has an average embodied carbon of about 300 kgCO2/m3, out of which more than 95% attributable to OPC, whose production is responsible for ~8% of global CO2 emissions. Globally, about 12-14 billion m3 of concrete are produced annually, using about 4.2 billion tonnes of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), whilst its consumption in the UK is about 15Mt/year. A common decarbonation strategy consists of partial substitution of OPC with supplementary cementitious materials (SCM), whose chemical composition (presence of Ca, Si, and Al) and physical structure (mainly amorphous) support the reactions involved in the cement hardening. The UK consumption of SCM is about 4Mt/year. Commonly used SCM are by-products from other industrial processes, mainly slag from steel production (ggbs) or ash from hard coal combustion in power station (fly ash). Due to shifts from current steel and electricity productions, ggbs and fly ash are becoming scarce. Calcined clays (mainly metakaolin) have attracted growing attention recently. However, not every clay is suitable for calcination, neither are large volumes of mineral waste with suitable chemical composition (e.g. construction and demolition waste, dredged material, waste soil or rock), but lacking amorphous structure. The application of shockwaves has been proved to modify the lattice structure of inorganic silicates, leading to amorphous conditions. However, this approach has never been explored to produce SCM. Shockwave generation and application can be obtained with different methods. These techniques are usually outside the civil engineering expertise, where shockwaves are investigated only in relation with explosive blasting (either for intended purposes such as excavation or demolition, or for passive protection against explosions), or earthquakes. The investigation of shockwave generation and propagation is instead carried out in aerodynamics, or matter studies in physics. One of the methods for shockwave generation mentioned in the literature refers to the application of short- and ultra-short-pulse laser. The collaboration between the applicant and the Central Laser Facility team represents therefore an extraordinary opportunity to create a fruitful, novel, and complementary partnership across two relatively far fields or research. PRICE-SCM will be the very first investigation on novel and transformative approaches aiming to produce SCM by application of shock waves on geological materials or industrial by-products, addressing the formidable challenge of unlocking the potential of large volumes of SCM diverted from landfill and made available as SCM, significantly impacting the carbon emissions of concrete and construction industry. The project objectives are: (i) to determine the effects of shock waves on the physical structure of powders such as clays or waste from industry, clarifying the optimum conditions to achieve a low-carbon and low-energy transition from crystalline to amorphous materials; (ii) to prove and quantify the reactivity performances of processed materials in the manufacture of cementitious blends by partial to total substitution of traditional binders such as Portland cement or fly ash and slag; and (iii) to determine the embodied carbon of the novel SCM and the energy use for their production, considering suitable shockwave generation and application methods.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Transposable elements, or transposons, are short, repetitive sequences within a cell's DNA. They are sometimes known as "jumping genes" because they can replicate and integrate into new sites. These integrations are inherently mutagenic so our genomes have evolved mechanisms to repress them. This has resulted in an evolutionary arms race where transposons evolve to evade these defence mechanisms, while our defences evolve to silence the transposons. The result is that our genomes contain many thousands of inactivated, often mutated transposons, along with a relatively small number of active ones. One way a repeat might escape inactivation is to deliver useful function for the cell. Indeed, several examples exist where a recently evolved class of short interspersed nuclear element (SINE) is used by mammalian cells to enhance gene expression during development. These sequences have been termed "eSINEs". Cells must precisely control when and where eSINEs are active lest uncontrolled activity derail normal development. The activity of DNA is controlled by how it is packaged within the nucleus. DNA is not "naked" within cells but exists in the form of chromatin, i.e., it is wrapped around proteins so it is compact and stable. A group of proteins called chromatin remodellers control how tightly packed different parts of the genome are, and therefore whether they are "active" or "inactive." We have spent many years working on a chromatin remodeller called CHD4. CHD4 is a component of two different multi-subunit complexes, NuRD and ChAHP. We've shown that NuRD facilitates developmental decisions in mouse and human stem cells by controlling the activity of regulatory DNA sequences. We expect NuRD and ChAHP to share some similarities in how they act, however the two complexes have many different components and while NuRD is found at all active regulatory sequences, ChAHP localises mostly to SINEs. Mutations in one of the ChAHP components, ADNP, give rise to a human neurodevelopmental disorder called Helsmoortel Van der Aa Syndrome (HVDAS). HVDAS is characterised by facial dysmorphisms, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal problems and autism spectrum disorder. Understanding what ChAHP does during human development and how it does it will provide important information not only for HVDAS, but also for understanding autism spectrum disorders and human tissue development generally. We hypothesise that ChAHP holds eSINEs inactive but ready to be activated if/when cells need to start differentiating. We further suggest that ADNP is displaced from eSINEs during their activation, allowing CHD4 to recruit NuRD components which help the eSINEs to interact with promoters and activate gene expression. In this project we will use cutting edge technologies to determine the molecular and developmental functions of ChAHP during human cell fate decisions. In mouse stem cells ChAHP acts on a class of SINEs which does not exist in primates so to fully understand human ChAHP function we need study it in human cells. We will create human pluripotent stem cells in which we can quickly deplete proteins and assess the primary consequences of their loss on ChAHP assembly and function. We will define how ChAHP is directed to its sites of action, what it does there, how it interacts with the cell's transcription machinery, and how ChAHP facilitates the use of eSINEs to control gene expression. We will define exactly which developmental decisions show ADNP dependency during formation of some of the tissues most affected in HVDAS, and then determine what goes wrong in cells harbouring disease-causing ADNP mutations. Together this will be a comprehensive investigation into how human stem cells are able to use eSINEs and how this can go wrong in human disease. Our findings will be of relevance not only to those affected by HVDAS or autism, but also to basic scientists studying transposons, transcriptional control, and human stem cell biology.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

The British colonial project vastly altered the ecology of Caribbean island landscapes through agricultural methods which exploited both nature and human bodies.  In the ‘sugar isles’ of Barbados and Saint Lucia, the production of sugar destroyed biodiversity as plants, forests, animals, and indigenous communities were cleared to facilitate large monocrop cane plantations. In spite of this, enslaved and indigenous communities often resisted oppressive conditions through maintaining traditional ecological practices and botanical knowledge during and beyond the period of plantation slavery. However, recovering and locating such knowledge poses challenges given colonial archives and texts about plantations often serve to marginalise or silence so-called subaltern agency. This project aims to explore and recover indigenous and African-descendent knowledge with a specific focus on the ecology of planation and post-plantation landscapes in the Anglophone Caribbean.  It develops an approach which brings archival methods into dialogue with oral cultures through collaboration with partners in Saint Lucia and Barbados, including students and community groups from the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College and the University of the West Indies.  The project aims to reposition the plantation as a site not solely on which colonial ideology was enacted, but also where multiple knowledge systems existed in shaping the landscape in ways that have lasting legacies today. Scholars such as Linda Tuhiwai Smith have underlined how colonial texts (here broadly considered as travel narratives, diaries, and administrative documents) often enact forms of epistemological violence on colonised subjects through erasing or marginalising knowledge systems, underlining the need for scholars to decolonize research methods when working with archives.  Drawing on Smith’s call, this project encourages scholars, students, and community groups to think beyond Eurocentric narratives of the global spread of Western science to consider traditional ecological and indigenous knowledge in relation to both textual and ancestral/oral sources.  Crucially, the project challenges, in Walter Mignolo’s terms , ‘zero-point epistemology’; whereby the knowing European coloniser maps the world, observes its people, plants, and projects an assumed universal knowledge. Primary research will consider texts on the ecology of the Caribbean, including J.B. Moreton’s 1791 travel narratives which deal extensively with ‘West-Indian’ botany; as well as gothic novelist and slave-owner Matthew Lewis’s plantation diaries; and botanical works by naturalists such as Alexander Anderson which include numerous contributions from indigenous and enslaved individuals.  Textual references to traditional ecological knowledge will be brought into dialogue with oral cultures through workshops held on Balenbouche Estate (Saint Lucia) and Walkers Reserve (formerly known as Willoughby Plantation in Barbados) with students, poets, academics, and community groups.  These workshops will explore ancestral knowledge and the ways in which epistemologies were maintained or severed by coloniality and the plantation economy.  This process will allow for new readings of botany and natural history in contemporary Caribbean writing, with a specific focus on considering ‘creolized plantation landscapes’ in the work of Jamaica Kincaid, Derek Walcott, Kamau Braithwaite, and Kendel Hyppolyte among others.  Findings will be disseminated through a book, collaborative art project, website, and two community-centred exhibitions.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Many modern-day technologies largely work within a paradigm that relies upon the micro- and nano-structuring of materials in a plane. However, recent advances now enable fabrication on the nanoscale in three-dimensions.  Alongside seminal progress in modelling, imaging and characterisation, this has led to the realisation of 3D metamaterial prototypes offering exciting new discoveries in fundamental science, and valuable generation-after-next functionalities and performance - arising from meta-atom interactions in all three dimensions. Nonetheless, 3D nanoscale metamaterials science and technology is much underdeveloped globally due to the significant design, simulation and fabrication challenges it poses. It is just such challenges that our MetaHub will address. By bringing together a world-leading team of academics, and leveraging strong support form national investments and industry, we will bring about truly game-changing control of energy, information and light, with applications in highly efficient computing and communication, energy generation, heat recovery and environmental sensing. We will explore and exploit 3D metamaterial approaches for sustainable energy solutions, including high-efficiency photocatalysis through to toxic-material-free thermoelectric devices. We will pioneer the development of novel 3D meta-optics for solar-energy generation and solar-driven photocatalytic reactors. We will deliver reconfigurable magnonics systems for dissipation-free telecommunications, switching and logic processing. We will exploit MetaHub’s leading expertise in nanophotonics to demonstrate novel, fast, low-energy, 3D meta-photonic devices for optical neural-networks and in-materia computing. We will develop 3D nano-structured metamaterials to deliver faster, lower-energy, more compact and ‘intelligent’ capabilities in sensing. We will explore adaptive interactions between metamolecules to deliver life-inspired technology. We will develop 3D core-shell nanoparticle metamaterial assemblies for environmental and medical sensing applications, including the sensing of PFAS-type ‘forever chemicals’ and the early diagnosis of cancer and neurodegeneration. We will pioneer novel routes to fabrication and scale-up of 3D nanoscale metamaterials and accelerate technology transfer. To achieve this, we have support from the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, Henry Royce Institute and over 30 project partners with specialist expertise, from ICT, sustainability, manufacturing and fabrication, defence and instrumentation. We will leverage connections with the UK Metamaterials Network (UKMN) to deliver a pipeline of skilled people and advocate responsible research and innovation (RRI), and will also work with the EDI Hub+ to set best practice.  Our £1M Flexible Fund will support new exciting projects, linked to our Energy, ICT, Sensing and Scale Up research themes, from the wider community, and particularly support areas related to technology translation. MetaHub is led by internationally renowned metamaterial researchers - Hibbins, di Falco, Zheludev, Zayats, Baumberg, Wright and Ladak - supported by a dedicated team (predominantly institutionally funded, i.e. at no cost to EPSRC) of specialist academics including rising-star early-career future leaders. We bring together unique expertise, skill set and track record, across physics, engineering and materials, in order to realise disruptive 3D metamaterial technology. We also ally with experts in sustainability and circularity, and RRI, alongside technical experts and a cohort of post-docs and PhDs. MetaHub will provide leadership so that the UK competes globally, delivering a positive impact by translating the science into application, benefitting national prosperity and society, and underpinning an environmentally sustainable future.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-08

Acute pain is short lasting and is a necessary sensory function that signals tissue damaging stimuli vital for survival. In comparison, chronic pain can persist beyond the period of tissue repair or have no known cause lasting months to years. Treatment strategies effective for acute pain often fail in chronic pain, which is notoriously challenging to manage. Therefore, new research is essential to identify novel targets for developing chronic pain treatments. For acute and chronic pain, the experience is dynamic, and can change depending on psychosocial factors related to an individual’s emotional, social and cognitive state. Emotions, such as fear and anxiety can directly contribute to the impact of chronic pain in a patient. For example, an immediately fearful or aversive event can cause a reduction in pain, while anxiety from a potential threat can enhance it. These emotionally driven changes in the pain experience can impact a patients’ day-to-day functioning, and quality of life. Furthermore, mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety are risk factors for the development of chronic pain, while patients with chronic pain have increased risk for developing depression and anxiety. These comorbidities suggest common underlying mechanisms linking emotions and pain. A major unanswered question is what are the neurobiological mechanisms connecting emotions and the pain experience? Targeting neurobiological mechanisms could help patients with their quality of life by modifying the impact of emotional contributions to pain. One such mechanism might involve the suppression or enhancement of pain transmission by pathways travelling from the brain to the spinal cord through the so-called descending pain modulatory system (DPMS). In some individuals the DPMS becomes abnormal and amplifies the pain signal leading to chronic pain. Survival networks, made up of networks of neurons across many brain regions, drive protective behavioural responses to aversive events and contribute towards the emotional experience and expression of fear and anxiety. These networks make predictions about the world around us which are then compared with actual outcomes. If the predictions are wrong, an error signal is created and the outcome is modified. We hypothesise that chronic pain is due to a change in the ability of survival networks to correctly predict the appropriate pain response to injury, and that this causes amplification of the pain signal by the DPMS. The periaqueductal grey (PAG) is a region of the brain known to co-ordinate fear and anxiety related behaviours, while playing a key role in modulating the DPMS. The cerebellum also contributes to survival circuits and emotional behaviour, in part through its connections with the PAG. Both regions are able to detect predictable and unpredictable pain information making them strong candidates in driving emotional contributions to the pain experience. This project will test, using a rat model of pain, how the cerebellum and PAG contributes to chronic pain and if emotionally driven contributions to the pain experience are dependent on cerebellar interactions with the PAG. The results from this project will provide essential foundational knowledge for developing treatment strategies that benefit chronic pain patients. For example, future research could explore the use of non-invasive brain stimulation targeting the cerebellum to reduce psychological factors affecting pain. Additionally, it may help patients with comorbid mental health issues better understand the mechanisms underlying their chronic pain.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a core technique enabling analysis of most types of biomolecules. It enables a detailed analysis using a range of sensitive techniques vital for our understanding of cellular biology.    This can extend from small molecule metabolites to macromolecular complexes. This provides vital information to address modifications to proteins which regulate cellular function (post-translational modifications), studying the structure and interaction of proteins (structural biology), and discovering/identifying novel small molecule compounds. The purpose of this proposal is to provide a high-resolution MS instrument to significantly upgrade the capability of the Exeter MS Facility. The current available equipment is obsolete, at the end of its life and does not offer the full set of capabilities that MS can offer. The proposed high-resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry instrument will enable a very wide range of projects that are limited by the current capability of our MS Facility. We propose a high-resolution mass spectrometer coupled to samples/liquid chromatography systems for protein and small molecule analyses plus an automated sample preparation and delivery system for hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS). The increased resolution, sensitivity, mass accuracy and MSn capability of the equipment will introduce the following new capabilities: Protein structure studies by HDX-MS. This technique will complement the structural biology expertise at Exeter and the wider community. Identification and quantitation of proteins and their post-translational modifications. Significantly increased ability to detect and identify unknown compounds. The projects that will leverage the power of high-resolution MS cover a wide area of BBSRC-facing science in the areas of structural biology, cell biology, metabolism and chemical interactions between organisms. The research covers bacteria, algae, plants, insects, worms and mammalian cells. The instrument will catalyse advances in understanding light and magneto-sensing proteins, allostery, bacterial surface structure in relation to antibiotic targets, thermosensing proteins, membrane contact sites in cells, ribosome hibernation, stem cell biology, translational control of vitamin C biosynthesis, metabolic co-operation in bacterial communities and novel compounds involved in interactions between algae, bacteria and viruses. The instrument will significantly increase specialised MS capacity in the South-West region and aims to provide a national capability for wider use of HDX-MS, including opportunities for commercial users in the longer term. It will expand the capability of the metabolomics service which already collaborates across the UK.  

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

Challenge and Context This research addresses a crucial yet overlooked challenge: Even with a 4-year Bachelor’s degree, university graduates from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds face barriers to employment and upward mobility upon entering the workforce. This trend is pronounced in the South West due to a dearth of upwardly mobile, high-paying postgraduate job opportunities, compared to elsewhere in the UK (e.g., Sim & Major, 2022). By contrast, higher-SES university graduates have more financial and social resources to facilitate good opportunities or relocate to opportunity-rich places, thus improving their professional and economic prospects (Wielgoszewska, 2018). Rooted in decades of research on mindsets and implicit theories (Dweck, 2011; O’Keefe et al., 2023), and “wise” interventions (Walton & Wilson, 2018), we developed a novel growth-mindset-of-opportunity intervention—which fosters the belief that opportunities in life are not fixed but changeable—to help recent graduates cultivate better employment opportunities in the South West. The details of the intervention materials were co-created with beneficiaries to ensure they were representative of diverse voices and lived experiences, appropriate to place and context, as well as effective in communicating the growth-mindset-of-opportunity message. Through the follow-on project, we will conduct long-term evaluations of this intervention, examine the generalisability of its effects on key outcomes like employment status and mobility, long-term work plans, and potential contributions to the economy and innovation. We will also perform knowledge exchange activities to deliver actionable recommendations and advance scientific literatures. In doing so, we aim to reduce place-based socioeconomic inequalities while increasing contributions to local economic growth and innovation. Aims and Objectives We will build on our existing EDF project, which launched an initial evaluation of the intervention among 2024 university graduates primarily from the University of Exeter. In the follow-on project, we will extend our intervention in several key ways. First, we will conduct a new randomised controlled field experiment evaluating the intervention among 2025 graduates across multiple universities in the South West. Extending to other universities is critical to revealing how effects generalise to graduates of other institutions, such as those outside the Russell Group. This additional field experiment also boosts our total sample size for evaluating the intervention (i.e., through analyses combining the 2024 and 2025 cohorts), allowing detection of smaller effects and new moderators or boundary conditions. Second, we will conduct a longer-term evaluation of our 2024 intervention by following up with participants two years later—critical for examining new outcomes likely to only emerge after longer periods, and evaluating the sustainability of the intervention’s effects across multiple years. Third, to spread awareness of the intervention and guide policy recommendations for reducing socioeconomic inequities in the South West, we will engage in knowledge sharing activities, including a workshop with other universities and presenting at a prominent conference attended by leaders in social science and policy. We will focus on how to promote a growth-mindset-of-opportunity among future graduating students, and foster future collaborations to deliver the intervention on a broader scale. Applications and Benefits Our growth-mindset-of-opportunity intervention seeks to improve occupational and economic opportunities overall, with a pronounced benefit for people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The intervention holds the potential for significant broader impact due to its low cost, brief duration, and scalability through online platforms. The findings will inform policy recommendations and contribute valuable insights across multiple disciplines.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

Answers to two of the most important questions facing humankind - Does life exist beyond Earth? and How will Earth's climate change in the future? - are potentially within our reach. These two questions are intricately linked by the requirement of a detailed theoretical understanding of how planetary environments evolve as complete systems, including life itself, and cannot be answered with observations alone. Huge investment in observational facilities targeting planets discovered beyond our solar system, or exoplanets, is being made with even higher levels planned in the coming decade. This opportunity is concurrent with the realisation that existing numerical climate models are not sufficient to provide the accuracy of predictions required to adapt to, or mitigate for, climate change. This realisation has motivated the Met Office to invest in the development of a completely new, state-of-the-art computational framework (termed LFRic) capable of overcoming current barriers in accurately predicting our own climate. Similarly, solving puzzles hampering our progress in understanding exoplanets also requires a step-change in model performance, particularly in light of the imminent advancement of observational facilities (e.g., James Webb Space Telescope, 2021; Extremely Large Telescope, 2025; Terra Hunting Experiment). My research sits at the confluence of these factors, boosted by investment in a new building housing both the Astrophysics group and the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter. Using this UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship I will deliver a research programme focused on co-developing the next generation of climate modelling software, launched from a foundation of a strong, and unique, existing knowledge transfer connection with the Met Office, and exploiting the combination of the described large-scale investments. The research programme will be coupled with a coherent programme of innovative engagement activities/resources (e.g., https://tinyurl.com/y48tewug), linking with partners to enhance interaction with research and further study, and enhance pedagogical practices themselves. The unique flexibility, focus and freedom afforded by a Future Leaders Fellowship will allow me, with the group formed as part of the programme, to create a hub of excellence leading exoplanet research intricately linked to efforts to predict our own changing climate. The breadth of the programme, addressing outstanding issues for both gas giant and terrestrial or Earth-like exoplanets, alongside the unique real-time connection, via software development and exchange of people, between exoplanet and Earth-system science, partnered with the wider impact and engagement programme will make this UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship a unique endeavour. The primary objectives are to adapt and co-develop LFRic, adding capabilities beyond the model's Earth focus, to address key areas of exoplanet research: why irradiated gas giant exoplanets have much larger radii than models predict, combining detailed models of the chemistry (including condensates/clouds and photochemistry), dynamics and radiative transfer (or heating) to interpret the currently confounding observations of exoplanets across the mass range, and finally quantify the impact of processes such as stellar flares, clouds and convection, as well as simple biogeochemical cycles, on the possibility and signposts of life on other planets. The shared development and knowledge exchange will enable progress to also benefit efforts to better predict Earth's climate as it moves beyond the current regime. Crucially, the developments will be performed following an open-source approach, allowing a wide group of beneficiaries both within Earth system and exoplanet science to benefit. The link of the research with engagement will also benefit students both in the south west and nationally, business partners and teachers and improve the wider perception of UKRI programmes.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

This project aims to uncover how connections between different compartments in human cells are re-organised during cell division and the importance of this process in health and disease. The text-book picture of a eukaryotic cell traditionally shows a collection of apparently isolated compartments (organelles) which appear to function independently. My research focuses on an emerging concept, challenging this text-book view. Recent work has shown that organelles are not isolated islands but are instead physically and metabolically connected. These connections, known as membrane contact sites (MCSs), are critical to how cells function. Membrane contacts control the lifecycle, activity, and positioning of organelles, allowing exchange of critical messages and metabolites. For example, our work has shown that defects in one organelle, e.g. mitochondria, can impact on other organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Membrane contacts are generally formed by binding between pairs of proteins on different organelle membranes, forming molecular tethers which hold organelles together. Defective organelle tethering has been identified in a range of human disorders including neurodegenerative and other metabolic disorders which are increasingly prevalent in ageing populations. My research has identified tethering proteins which connect organelles and linked mutations in the tethering proteins to specific diseases. However, we have little knowledge on the cellular consequences of altered membrane contacts and how this links to disease symptoms. We also lack understanding of how tether proteins, which control organelle connections, are regulated. However, if we can understand tether protein regulation, then we may be able to develop therapeutic approaches to restore normal organelle communication in disease contexts. This proposal focuses on addressing this challenge, how membrane contacts are regulated and the cellular consequences when regulation is lost. During the first part of the fellowship, we studied membrane contacts between mitochondria, the ER and peroxisomes in human cells and identified new regulatory systems which control these connections. Specifically, we found an unexpected link between regulation of peroxisome-ER connections and the process of mitosis – when one cell replicates to form two daughter cells. In preliminary work we observed that connections between organelles change when cells divide and disrupting this process causes defects in mitosis, with potential disease-related consequences. In the fellowship extension we plan to use a combination of advanced molecular cell, biochemical and imaging approaches to pursue this novel and unexplored research direction. This work is technically challenging, addressing a highly complex system and requires collaboration across disciplines, but promises a step change in our insight into the process and consequences of MCS regulation. We aim to: Objective 1 - Elucidate the detailed mechanism of regulation of peroxisome-ER MCSs Objective 2 – Assess how post-translational modification of tether proteins leads to peroxisome-ER MCS regulation during mitosis. Objective 3 – Identify how dysregulation of peroxisome-ER MCSs leads to mitotic defects. Realisation of these aims will give comprehensive insight into a topic currently at the forefront of cell biology and inform our understanding of the pathophysiology of disease with potential to identify therapeutic approaches based on restoration of organelle connections. Therefore, this work will impact on different applications and fields, contributing to our understanding of fundamental processes in human cells, disease pathophysiology, and the cellular ageing process. This will influence the cell and developmental biology and biomedical research community as well as patient groups and, via outreach work, the UK public.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

The mechanical interplay between neighbouring biological substances is fundamental to life processes from the sub-cellular to whole organism scales. However, defining the complex relationships between biomechanical forces and processes in living samples has been limited by current technologies and approaches. This application seeks to overcome this barrier, building the UK’s first correlative fluorescence microscopy-spectroscopy platform – “BrillFM”. This accessible novel multi-modal imaging platform will allow the live, non-invasive, and in vivo examination, relating cellular dynamics with biomechanics. Specifically, we will combine a Cellsense Discoverer Brillouin light scattering (BLS) spectrometer with a Nikon Ti2 W1 SoRa Spinning Disk and iLAS fluorescence microscope (FM). In contrast to other biomechanical probing tools, BLS is optical, so requires no physical contact with the sample. It is also compatible with existing live sample preparation methods. Therefore, the same cell or tissue can be probed to provide readouts of both material properties (such as ‘stiffness’ and ‘elasticity’) and outputs relating to fluorescently-labelled cellular structures. BrillFM will therefore uniquely provide insights into the complex interplay between cellular processes and their biomechanical environments. The University of Exeter’s Biosciences department, Living Systems Institute, Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, and Biomedical Physics groups are renowned for their contributions to the fundamental understanding of our natural world. They routinely working across disciplines to generate biological knowledge which can be used to benefit some of society’s greatest challenges. Its Bioimaging Centre functions as a hub in the Southwest, providing the region with supported access to advanced microscopy systems. The unique combination of state-of-the-art transformative technology, the expertise of our applicant team (consisting of experts in biology, microscopy and spectroscopy), and the reach of our collaborative partners (regional, national and international), will provide novel insights into the fundamental rules of life, facilitating and accelerating discoveries in plant and animal cell, and developmental biology, and biophysics. Our aims and objectives include: Establishing a transformative technology platform to provide novel insights into the biophysical rules of life. Enabling research within the BBSRC strategic challenge of sustainable agriculture and food. Provide unique educational, training and talent recruitment opportunities for students, early career researchers and senior academic levels. As BrillFM will provide quantitative outputs not possible with other systems in the UK, it will have many potential applications and benefits for a wide range of research in Exeter and beyond. For example: Understanding the influence of stress (including climate change and pathogens) upon plant biomechanics to provide insights for food security and climate change mitigation strategies. Provide novel insights into the interplay and influence of biomechanical environments in cell fate decisions, cell migration and organ morphogenesis, to better understand the biophysical rules of life. Investigate how pathological stresses disrupt cellular biomechanics to probe the cellular mechanisms underlying organismal health. By supporting the UK’s first correlative BLS and FM system, this proposal will provide a significant increase in our ability to understand the complex and fundamental role biomechanics play in biology. The University of Exeter, and applicant team, are uniquely placed to deliver this transformative technology, delivering impact relevant to understanding the fundamental rules of life and towards society’s greatest challenges. This world class capability will provide a boost to Exeter’s ability to attract, train, and retain, the very best researchers working towards BBSRC strategic objectives.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

The transition to teaching in English across the university sector has become the most significant trend in higher education in the 21st century. However, research highlights that internationalisation policy decisions are running ahead of awareness, capacities and practical knowledge regarding how to implement this policy in effective, context sensitive and sustainable ways. Further, the globalisation of English has numerous implications for how it should be taught as an international language. The ELINET network emerged from my research in the fields of English Medium Instruction (EMI) and Global Englishes, two rapidly growing sub-fields of Applied Linguistics gathering momentum. I am a leading scholar in the former field and established the field of Global Englishes and a new approach to teaching English as a global language (Global Englishes Language Teaching). The research underpinning the venture stems from books (7), chapters (16), research reports (4), articles (23) and a new edited handbook on the globalisation of English. It also stems from externally facing engagement and impact activities, which include the growing popularity of my textbook, invites for advisory work from Ministries of Education and professional organisations and plenary invites at conferences, given the interest in both of these fields.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

Early pregnancy loss is common and most often occurs in the first trimester. Ethical and technical limitations mean that we do not understand the mechanics of how the early embryo develops in this period, and therefore cannot fully understand what goes wrong. Consequently, we must build accessible and reliable cellular models to interrogate and reveal processes underpinning embryo development. Following fertilisation, a zygote undergoes continuous cell divisions to form a structure called the blastocyst that contains three founding lineages: epiblast, trophectoderm, and hypoblast. After implantation into the uterus, the epiblast will develop to make the embryo, whilst the trophectoderm and hypoblast makes extra-embryonic tissues that support embryo growth. Our focus in this project is to understand the development and specialisation of the hypoblast, which plays a key role in patterning and providing nutrition to the growing embryo. Indeed, a recent study has shown that blastocysts with fewer hypoblast cells are more likely to fail in later development leading to unsuccessful pregnancies. Recently, we developed an approach that allows us to derive hypoblast cells from human naïve pluripotent stem cells. This method offers a unique opportunity to study how the hypoblast forms, develops, and functions. Building on this, the project will focus on three main objectives: Uncovering the signals that control hypoblast development: We will study how different signals influence the formation of hypoblast cells. By fine-tuning these signals, we aim to create simple, reliable cellular models that accurately represent hypoblast development. Tracing the origins of hypoblast-derived cells: Using a genetic cell-tracing technology, we will investigate how and when various hypoblast-derived cells are formed. Discovering genetic regulatory mechanisms that control hypoblast differentiation: Combining computational predictions and experimental gene perturbations, we will identify the key genetic regulators that ensure precise control of the developmental process. This project uses novel stem cell-based models to address fundamental biological questions and aligns with the "MRC highlight for engineering biology." This research will advance our understanding of hypoblast development and provide novel tools for studies of human embryology. Additionally, the findings could improve the way human embryos are cultured in the lab, with important implications for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and the understanding of pregnancy failures. Ultimately, the insights gained may lead to better treatments for early pregnancy issues, supporting more successful outcomes for assisted pregnancies.  

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

Belonging is a fundamental human need that plays a crucial role in educational success. In the UK, marginalized groups, particularly Black students, continue to face systemic barriers that limit their sense of belonging in educational spaces. Research highlights that Black students experience educational inequities such as tracking biases, awarding gaps, exclusionary disciplinary practices, and a lack of parental engagement opportunities. These barriers are especially pronounced in NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) sciences, where Black representation declines significantly through the education pipeline, reaching as low as 0.52% in some degree-level subjects. To address this, targeted interventions that enhance belonging are needed. This project builds on the B-HUGs (Black Heritage University Groups) initiative to create and evaluate a structured model designed to foster belonging in NERC sciences for Black secondary school pupils in the Southwest UK. The B-HUGs programme is rooted in Africana activism and committed to “giving back,” challenging the centrality of Whiteness in educational narratives and ensures that Black students’ voices are prioritized in programme planning and evaluation. Building on a successful 12-week pilot, this initiative will expand partnerships with local secondary schools and a network of educators, researchers, and creative practitioners to provide sustained interventions that enhance Black students’ engagement and retention in NERC science. A key component of this project is the recognition that representation significantly influences educational outcomes. In the Southwest UK only 0.94% of secondary school teachers are Black and many students complete their education without ever encountering a Black educator. This lack of representation limits students’ access of opportunity to experience representation across a diverse range of subjects. Through structured interventions, this project aims to counteract these effects by increasing Black students’ exposure to role models, creating spaces where they can see and engage with successful Black professionals in NERC sciences. The project will implement three core outreach activities to foster belonging: (1) Community Walks, place-based explorations integrating environmental science with heritage and cultural narratives, engaging both students and their families; (2) Micro-Internships, providing hands-on experience with Black NERC scientists, allowing students to develop skills and connect with professionals; and (3) Mentoring, linking students with young people further along the education pipeline, offering sustained guidance and inspiration. These interventions will be supported by two infrastructure-building initiatives: creating a database of Black NERC internship supervisors, ensuring that future students have access to mentors and role models in environmental sciences, and establishing a youth advisory board, composed of Black youth aged 16-25 in the NERC education pipeline, who will contribute to shaping and refining programme activities. Beyond direct student impact, this project has the potential to drive systemic change. Partner schools, will benefit from increased dialogue on inclusive education and the creation of professional networks that connect Black educators across institutions. At the university level, the project aligns with efforts to address the underrepresentation of Black students at the University of Exeter (just 1.9% of UG students are Black). By fostering a sense of belonging in Southwest UK higher education spaces, the project may contribute to increased recruitment and retention of Black students and staff. In 2021-22, no NERC funding awards were granted to Black principal investigators or fellows, continuing a five-year trend of exclusion. By highlighting disparities and creating pathways for Black students to engage, this project contributes to long-term efforts to diversify the field.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

The ‘early career’ stage has been identified as a critical phase in a researcher’s development. For those on ‘education and research’ contracts, navigating the transition from PhD/postdoc to independent researcher alongside teaching responsibilities and ‘citizenship’ roles can be challenging – particularly as this is often considered to be achieved by ‘on the job’, self-led development with little support. The probation period for permanent academic staff in the UK is typically three years, which may be seen as providing sufficient time to master this shift in role but can also be argued to be a significant wait for researchers to be ‘confirmed in post’. It is unsurprising, therefore, that research councils and other organisations offer dedicated support for individuals identified as ‘early career researchers’ (ECRs), while the recently launched ‘Researcher Development Concordat’ is often interpreted by Higher Education Institutions as prioritising ECRs in its implementation. An additional complexity is the experiences of academics from groups marginalised based on gender, race/ethnicity and social class, as research has shown ECRs do not start on an even playing field. Underrepresented academics are less likely to have access, through their families and social circles, to knowledge about academic careers and strategies for success in these pathways and are more likely to experience ‘imposter phenomenon’ than their peers. There is currently little research which explores the impact of the extended, unstructured probationary period for female, working-class and ethnically minoritised ECRs, although we hypothesise the nature of this process may significantly impact their retention and success. Internal research at our institution has demonstrated experiences of uneven career progression support for individual staff in their immediate research environment, despite uniform institutional promotion policies. This has implications for career success of already under-represented staff: e.g. female staff in senior positions and the representation of ethnically minoritised staff at all career levels. This project aims to investigate the mechanisms of support which Natural Sciences ECRs who are on a permanent ‘education and research’ contract and from a range of sociocultural backgrounds, have accessed – or otherwise – to meet their probationary targets. We aim to better understand the relationship between these mechanisms and the specific research cultures in natural environment disciplines to improve the diversity of these fields at every career stage. The objectives of this pilot project are to conduct interviews and focus groups with 30 ECRs from diverse backgrounds in NERC-facing departments at the University of Exeter e.g., Geography, Ecology & Conservation and Earth & Environmental Science. We will combine social learning theories with social identity theories to analyse the data and share the findings with ECR stakeholders and prospective follow-up project partners in a co-creation event to develop recommendations for institutional and external support that can directly address inequalities in progression based on gender, race/ethnicity and social class. We will build on this pilot in a larger project sampling more institutions, with the findings used to develop a baseline-assessment document for identifying gaps in ECR development. This document will link to a roadmap indicating a range of recommended pathways to support, which institutions can link to their internal staff development processes. There is scope to use findings from the larger project to develop a survey for capturing research cultures in ECR onboarding processes, which could be disseminated by NERC and potentially adapted for other research councils.