University of Manchester

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

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

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

The proposal outlines a project geared towards revolutionizing data accessibility and security through innovative data synthesis techniques. We first highlight one bottleneck in the data discovery process: the scarcity of good teaching datasets, particularly for data that sit in virtual research environments where access restrictions impede their creation. The creates a discoverability challenge for new users, who are unable to explore data before going through an approval process, increasing barriers to entry. While synthetic data is a potential solution, concerns about risk and utility exist. Data services often grapple with assessing the disclosure risk associated with synthetic data, as it deviates from the scope of conventional output disclosure control rules. Moreover, there is uncertainty about its utility, especially when specific analyses might yield results diverging from real data, diminishing the training process's effectiveness. The project has three objectives: (1) investigate tailored teaching datasets for restricted data access, (2) develop a systematic approach to assess disclosure risk in analytical outputs from restricted data sources, and (3) assess the feasibility of producing linked synthetic data from different sources (using the same methodology). The project spans from April 2024 to March 2025 and falls primarily under Theme 2: Data discovery using machine learning or other AI technologies, but also has the potential to add value under the other two themes (with objective 3 speaking to the federated services agenda and objective 2 providing a tool for augmenting the skills of output checkers). A preliminary study conducted at Manchester University, in collaboration with Administrative Data Research UK, demonstrates the feasibility of generating synthetic datasets with both high utility and low risk. The methodology involves leveraging cleared analytical outputs from data services as the basis for generating synthetic data using a genetic algorithm. The goal is to provide trainees with data that not only closely resembles real-world data but also yields analytical output very similar to that of the real data, enhancing the training experience. Beyond merely this replication of analytical properties, the approach also offers a route to formalise assessment the disclosure risk associated with analytical outputs from safe settings. By embodying statistical outputs in synthetic data, it enables a systematic evaluation of disclosure risk, addressing the informality and potential inconsistencies present in current output checking procedures. Furthermore, the project aims to bolster the federated services agenda by exploring the creation of synthetic linked data from using analytical outputs from data of multiple services. This approach expands the possibilities of data synthesis without the need for actual linkage and elaborate governance of infrastructure, such as trusted third parties. Deliverables include open-source code, example synthetic datasets, and academic papers aimed at knowledge dissemination and skill development. The project emphasizes collaboration among data providers, services, and stakeholders to address challenges in data accessibility and security. In essence, the project aims to redefine data accessibility by providing tailored teaching datasets and systematic disclosure risk assessment methods. It will also foster a collaborative ecosystem for transformative advancements in data synthesis and access management, and contributes to the broader research data landscape.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Sea ice is a key indicator of climate change and as such is one of the World Meteorological Institute's Essential Climate Variables (ECV). Monitoring ECV are deemed essential by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as these datasets provide the empirical evidence to understand and predict the evolution of climate, to guide mitigation and adaptation measures, to assess risks and enable attribution of climate events to underlying causes, and to underpin climate services. However, knowledge of the thickness of sea ice lags other ECVs as currently we can currently only measure it conducting labour-intensive surveys such as drilling for samples. This approach lacks the speed and scalability of non-destructive sensing methods, which have the potential to yield a far greater insight into ice thickness trends over much larger areas as a result. The Arctic is warming at more than twice as fast as any other region of our planet and possibly the most dramatic changes are those associated with Arctic sea ice. Satellite records have revealed a significant decrease in sea ice extent in all months, especially in summer. There has been a reduction in summer sea ice extent from about 7 million km2 in the late 1970s to around 3.4 million km2 in 2012; a reduction of over 50%. Complex computer models predict that the Arctic Ocean is on track to become ice free in summer in the 2030s. Whilst the decaying sea ice cover opens up opportunities for economic development in the Arctic, such as exploitation of natural resources, fisheries, tourism and shipping, its loss has immediate implications for the sustainability of many northern local and indigenous communities, their economies, health and well-being. In many ways, sea ice can be viewed as the glue that binds these northern communities together because it is utilised both for commercial (hunting/fishing) and social (transport network) means. However, the sea ice is changing; annually, it is melting earlier and forming later and as a result it is becoming thinner and less stable. These dramatic changes impact the safety of people on the ice, but also the hunting ability of the Inuit, thus threatening the cultural survival of these people. It is therefore imperative to further advance the monitoring of sea ice thickness through the development of more accurate and easier to use monitoring systems. A low-cost ability to accurately quantify the thickness of sea ice with a high resolution can benefit a range of stakeholders, from the wider scientific community, through to industry and to local and indigenous Arctic communities. Presently there is no single modality of sensing technology which can return accurate, high resolution, sea ice thickness measurements under a range of sea ice conditions. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that there is potential to affect a step change in our capability to measure sea ice thickness by fusing multiple sensor modalities, and by investigating the potential for novel forms of signal processing and detection algorithms, including the implementation of inversion techniques. This will include the ability to separately quantify the total snow depth, and sea ice thickness, with further confidence information being returned to quantify any ambiguities caused by the presence of brine pockets. The proposed programme of research will investigate this hypothesis by implementing a dual modality sensor consisting of both electromagnetic induction and ground-penetrating radar technologies. These modalities are sensitive to different aspects of the environment, and together can be used to determine sea ice thickness non-invasively and through routine transit over the ice. Our goal is to be able to provide processing methods and appropriate instrumentation which has the potential to collect data on a scale which is impossible to realise using current methods.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

The proposed CDT will address the UK's need for a pipeline of highly skilled scientists and engineers who will be able to secure the country's position as the global leader in the science and technology of two-dimensional materials (2DMs). Having started with the discovery of graphene at the University of Manchester, this research field now encompasses a vast number of 2DMs, 2DM-based devices, composites, inks, and complex heterostructures with designer properties. Numerous proposals for applications have emerged from research groups worldwide, some of them already picked up and being developed by big established companies and a large number of start-ups (30+ spin-outs just from the two partner universities, Manchester and Cambridge). Many of the ideas put forward require further research and validation and many more are expected to emerge, thanks to the unique properties of this new class of advanced materials and the ability to use modelling to predict new useful combinations of 2DMs or design conditions that bring about new properties. The CDT will support and enable new avenues of research and the development of 2DM-based technologies and work with industry partners to accelerate lab-to-market development of products and processes that leverage the exceptional properties of 2DMs. 2DMoT CDT will be an important part of graphene and 2D Materials eco-system centred on the Manchester and Cambridge innovation networks. It will contribute to the plans by the local authorities, in particular, of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to pilot Manufacturing Innovation Networks focused on graphene & nanomaterials, coatings and technical textiles. Industrial co-supervision of research projects will accelerate realisation of new products and technologies enabled by 2DMs, which is key to competitiveness. The CDT will implement a new approach to PhD research training by incorporating individual research projects into several overarching, multidisciplinary research missions with 2-3 CDT students a year joining each research mission, either at Manchester or Cambridge, and gradually forming 8-10 researcher teams incorporating CDT students at different stages of their PhD and involving several research groups with complementary expertise, working collaboratively and sharing ideas and knowledge. All students will have opportunities to shape their own projects and overall research missions, creating an inclusive environment, ideal for peer-to-peer learning and innovation. A 6-months-long formal taught programme at the start of PhD will be complemented by further advanced skills training during the research phase, transferrable skills training and research schools and workshops organised jointly with leading international research centres and the CDT business partners. Environmental sustainability of the developed products and technologies will be a focal point of the CDT programme, with specialist training and considerations of sustainability embedded in all research missions. Training in innovation and commercialization of research, project management, responsible research and innovation, and dealing with the media will be mandatory for all CDT students. To ensure that the benefits of CDT training are available to a wider group of PhD researchers, a range of CDT events - residential conferences, seminars, research workshops, commercialisation training - as well as some of the courses, will be open to non-CDT students whose research interests are aligned with the CDT research missions. Outreach events will form an important part of CDT activities, in particular participation in Science festivals, British Science weeks, Bluedot, Science X, with exhibits showcasing the science of 2DMs and their developing applications.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Competitive cycling is a sport where marginal gains in speed and endurance are sought. With aerodynamic drag accounting for over 90% of resistance that a cyclist encounters over a levelled surface, cycling leans heavily on optimised posture and superior design of helmet, bike and clothing, which can often prove to make the difference between winning and losing. The flow field around a paddling cyclist is very complex. It is highly three-dimensional and dominated by separated flow. It is also unsteady due to the paddling motion of the rider. Furthermore, the subtle effect of clothing fit/texture as well as the environmental flow field conditions, such as turbulent atmospheric boundary layer that exhibits gusty wind profiles during a time trial and the turbulent wakes of other riders, can have a significant impact on the rider aerodynamics and hence the racing performance. Such a complex flow is difficult to predict accurately using computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations and it is not well understood. The most effective method to optimise a cyclist's aerodynamic performance to date has largely been through a trial-and-error approach to force measurements in a wind tunnel. To ensure the continuous successes of the GB Cycling Team in increasingly more competitive international contests, a specialist wind tunnel focusing on studies of Human-flow Interactions (HFI) has been installed at the Manchester Institute of Health and Performance adjacent to the National Cycling Centre. The tunnel became operational in October 2022 and has been used by British Cycling to complement their human performance training on racing tracks since. To enable the GB Cycling Team to continue staying ahead of the game, it is crucial to decode the impact of body shape, posture and motion as well as the effect of clothing fit/texture and environmental flow conditions on athlete performance. In this project, the University of Manchester (UoM) will work in partnership with UK Sports Institute (UKSI) and British Cycling (BC) to equip the HFI tunnel with enhanced aerodynamic testing capabilities and the state-of-the-art measurement and computational equipment. The upgrade will be the catalyst for a new level of detailed analysis in human-flow interaction, incorporating novel aerodynamic measurement capabilities, integrated biometrics and 4D scanning for image-based analysis and flow simulation. It will also ensure that the operational range and relevance of this facility will extend beyond cycling, to aerodynamic aspects of other sports and, more broadly, to human-factor aerodynamics. The research will further strengthen this unique regional facility to deliver new scientific insights and opportunities to UK Sport's celebrated 'Marginal Gains' strategy, with potential to enable record-breaking results in international contest. A management board with members from both UoM and BC will support the project team to deliver the upgrade and ensure accordance with EPSRC/NWTF usage objectives and BC's performance goals. The amount of in-kind contributions from both UoM and UKSI/BC to support the upgrade and the operation of the facility is substantial during and beyond the grant period of four years. This reflects the strong commitment of both the host institution and the project partners to this project and also ensures a better value for money for the infrastructure investment from the UKRI.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

This project challenges the equation of early modern English literary culture with English-language books printed in London by transforming our knowledge of foreign-language books published on the Continent available in England between 1500 and 1640. England was unusually dependent on the importation of books, but we still know relatively little about what those books were. The project will address this problem by combining information from a wide range of sources about the translation, importation, sale, and ownership of foreign books in early modern England. It will thus highlight the multilingual and transnational dimension of literary culture across the whole of England in the 1500s and 1600s. The project will create the largest and most comprehensive database of information about foreign books in early modern England. Its ground-breaking use of Bibliographic Data Science (BDS) makes it possible to combine existing datasets with divergent data models hosted on separate platforms, notably PLRE.Folger (the largest database of 16th and 17th century English book owners) and Renaissance Cultural Crossroads (a catalogue of all translations printed in England before 1641), and add important new data about the sale, ownership, and importation of books. BDS will further enable the addition of Linked Open Data about people, works, and places. Finally, BDS will allow us to perform sophisticated visualisation and analysis of the data (e.g., maps, networks, charts) that will create new insights into the key trends and developments in the circulation of foreign books in early modern England. The project's interdisciplinary methods will be underpinned by an innovative partnership between humanities academics and library and data scientists from the Digital Development Team of the University of Manchester Library. The database will enable ground-breaking analysis of the types of books printed abroad most popular in England and the effects of their language and where they were published. Was the fashion for Italian books during the Renaissance confined to literature, for example? Did English readers prefer books printed in Protestant cities like Geneva, even if the texts were not religious? The project will also consider how these patterns changed over time and varied depending on social background, gender, and place of residence. Did people who lived further away from London have access to a narrower range of foreign books, for instance? Did women read more books in French and men in Latin? The project further compares England to other parts of Europe to see whether its dependence on foreign-language books printed abroad affected its access to texts and ideas. In particular, it considers whether England's marginal place in the European book market impacted on its access to the expanding knowledge about the rest of the world during a time of exploration and early colonisation. Did discoveries about the New World reach English readers more slowly because of England's reliance on foreign books? The project dataset will be made freely available for download so it can be reused and expanded and thus form the foundation for future scholarship in this area. A project website will enable users to query and visualise the dataset in a variety of ways. The findings of the project will be shared through 4 journal articles and an interdisciplinary academic conference that will launch a research network. The project will also offer opportunities for impact and engagement with a range of audiences. A workshop on Bibliographic Data Science will encourage dialogue between academics and library scientists and technologists. Volunteers with an interest in books and their history can contribute transcriptions of booklists through a transcribathon and a Zooniverse Project and both beginners and experts hone their digital skills through a data visualisation workshop and hackathon.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

If successful, this work will more than double the chemical resolution of a wide range of NMR methods. Why does this matter? Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is by far the most important and widely-used tool for determining the chemical structures of species in solution, but it relies absolutely on the ability to distinguish between the signals of nuclear spins in different chemical environments. The more complex a chemical material or mixture, the more different environments there are, and the more NMR struggles to resolve the differences between them. This limits both the size of a molecule, and the degree of complexity of a mixture, that can usefully be studied by NMR. The classic way to improve the resolution of NMR is to increase the strength of the magnetic field used, but this is limited by magnet technology. It has taken 30 years for improvements in magnet strength to double the basic resolution of NMR spectroscopy, and the strongest magnets now cost many millions of pounds. A more efficient - and much cheaper - way to improve resolution is to use more sophisticated experiments, exciting the nuclear spins with multiple pulses of radio waves and then disentangling their responses using the mathematics of the Fourier transform. This has proved very effective, and now enables chemists and bioscientists to solve problems that are far out of the reach of basic NMR methods. Frustratingly, though, we still continually come up against the limits of resolution in NMR, whether in large molecules or in complex mixtures of small ones. What can we do to give us chemical resolution when existing methods reach their limits, and the signals from different chemical sites are so intermingled that we cannot tell them apart? This project will go a significant step further, encoding extra information into these overlapping signals and then using advanced statistical methods, so-called matrix tensor decomposition, to disentangle them. The most powerful algorithms, such as parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), need the experimental data to vary independently in three or more different ways. We will design new experiments that are tailored to produce data for tensor analysis, using multiple independent NMR dimensions ("MIND"). Using modular pulse sequence elements will allow this MIND approach to be incorporated into a range of existing experiments, multiplying their resolving power. We will produce all that is needed to allow end users to implement these new methods easily: computer code to control the spectrometer, processing software to analyse the data, and illustrative examples. These new MIND NMR experiments will have wide application across a range of academic and industrial research areas, including chemistry, biochemistry, biology, pharmacy, petrochemistry, agrochemistry, healthcare, and flavours and fragrances.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Language is the most natural means of communication among people, as well as for interaction between people and robots. As the great majority of words people use are abstract words, to achieve natural language interaction with robots it is crucial that machines can handle both concrete and abstract concepts. This timely project strategically builds on the recent, substantial advances in developmental psychology and embodied cognition theories on abstract concepts, on developmental robotics and AI methods for cognitive modelling, and in human-robot interaction and language use, to bootstrap our scientific and technological understanding of the grounding of abstract concepts and words in robotic agents. The project will develop and test a novel cognitive developmental architecture utilising the latest generative deep learning models and developmental robotics methods for human-robot interaction experiments on the learning of concrete and abstract words via grounding transfer. Three case studies have been strategically planned to show the breadth and robustness of the proposed approach, and to demonstrate the flexibility of the computational approach in dealing with various types of abstract concepts. The case studies focus on: (i) abstract word grounding for perceptual, motor and affective concepts, (ii) number word learning, and (iii) function words for demonstrative (deictic) prepositions, words about time and fuzzy quantifiers. This project will lead to breakthroughs in our deeper understanding of the computational approaches to the grounding and embodiment bases of language and cognition and in the design of humanoid robots which can learn to understand, and act on, conversations about a variety of abstract words, as these are intrinsically grounded in their own sensorimotor experience. The project will benefit from direct engagement with users and stakeholders of the application domains, as well as from the international advisors from both academia and industry.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

This project aims to generate novel insights into the social, spatial and political inequalities that underpin energy-related injustices and struggles, with a geographical focus on the Western Balkans. It does so by uncovering the relationships between gender and energy poverty - a condition characterized by the inability to secure adequate levels of energy services in the home. GENERATE posits that gendered experiences and contestations of energy poverty represent a form of precarity, and as such shape energy frontiers - understood as marginal(ized) sites of encounter between different forms of energy production and consumption. In foregrounding hitherto 'hidden' processes relating to, and emanating from, the domestic domain, the project seeks to transform understandings of energy circulations in society more broadly. To date, work on the gender dimensions of energy poverty has tended to focus on the Global South, alongside treating the home and household in descriptive and monolithic terms. Very little is known how geographically and politically peripheral forms of energy use across the Global North and East both shape, and are shaped by, precarious practice. GENERATE responds to these challenges by developing a conceptual framework that places the homes and communities at the heart of the energy frontier. It analyses statistical data on energy and gender at multiple levels, in addition to developing an in-depth comparative case study approach in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. This includes a combination of household and institutional ethnographies, as well as a social innovation labs approach. Given the highly topical nature of energy poverty alleviation efforts in Europe and the world - not the least due to the rising imperatives of climate change and social inequality - the project is expected to result in policy-relevant insights relevant to the work of multiple global, national and local organizations.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

To responsibly and critically understand the contemporary construction, reconstruction, and erasure of diasporic cultural narratives across traditional news media and the participatory spaces of social and digital media, we propose moving beyond a focus on disinformation by taking the evolution of diasporic identities, cultures, and histories seriously. This state of knowledge survey will actively give space to diasporic engagement and contestation of dominant colonial "great power" narratives, while identifying the adjacent governmental, commercial, technological and social domains shaping of those narratives spaces across linguistic and regional contours of the emerging global information order. The legal, political, and economic techniques that govern national media landscapes are increasingly mobilized to influence regional and global worldviews. Yet, there are major knowledge gaps in terms of how neo-authoritarian governments increasingly rely on and exploit the disruption caused by commercial digital innovation, the economic turmoil of newsrooms, the lack of oversight across social media moderation, targeted advertising and data-brokerage industries, and the mobilization of non-state actors to strategically amplify, repress, and preclude diverse opportunities for underrepresented communities to participate in negotiating personal, communal, national narratives of belonging and identity.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

Galleries, libraries, museums and archives (GLAM) are institutions typically associated with the articulation of collective narratives on identity, culture, history and society. A retrospective examination on the global history of GLAM institutions over the past centuries reveals a diversity of dynamics, approaches, and ideas regarding their roles in producing narratives on culture and society (Poulot 1997; Crane 1997; Robinson 2012; Bennett 2013). GLAM institutions are both shaped by powers, and have traditionally expressed dominant narratives of culture and society, yet they also serve as platforms for alternative practices that seek to rebalance the public discourse on culture, identity, and history (Smith 2006). The aim of this knowledge synthesis is to bring awareness about the importance of GLAM institutions in enabling intercultural relationships. While extensive literature exists on GLAM's involvement in cultural diplomacy --focusing on enabling diplomatic relationship between states through culture and promoting narratives of friendship and shared ventures, this knowledge synthesis project focuses on bringing to light on works that help us understand how GLAM institutions have also been spaces for transnational relationships, which transcend dominant narratives and formal knowledge as well as empower minority groups through the expression of their cultural identities. Delving into transnationalism may inform policy development and shed light on the significance of GLAM's institutional and professional autonomy. The creativity that developed by GLAM at local level not only fulfils cultural policy and international cooperation objectives, but also empowers marginalized groups by nurturing their identities and supporting their international initiatives. Such a synthesis, as outlined in this project, can identify the transferable values and practices of GLAM institutions that enable intercultural relationships, bring attention to the peculiarities that are contingent on specific contexts (e.g., Canadian and UK contexts), and facilitate a critical examination of practices and open a window on the different ways in which GLAM institutions and their professional contribute to global narratives of history, culture, and identity. In doing so, this literature review will contribute to the following question outlined by the funding call: "how can educational and cultural institutions, including galleries, libraries, archives, and museums, support the flourishing of diverse cultural perspectives and practices"? The team is currently developing projects to collaborate on and establish a global research programme on GLAM and cultural transnationalism. This funding opportunity provides the necessary platform and resources for the team to conduct a thorough literature review and to test its theoretical framework. This presents a prime chance for us to capture and organize 10 years of literature on cultural transnationalism and GLAM as well as to revisit cultural diplomacy literature and see how it stands vis-à-vis transnationalism.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

DNA-encoded libraries (DELs) have emerged in recent years as a powerful approach for lead compound screening in drug discovery. Indeed, the combination of organic molecules and genetic encoding have unlocked a methodology where billions of compounds can be simultaneously tested in one vessel, decreasing both the cost and the amount of material needed in comparison to classic high throughput screening. This approach has already shown success and led to the discovery of several hit molecules by pharmaceutical companies. However, the current limitation of DELs lie in the development of chemical synthesis tools compatible with DNA to ensure the diversity of these compound libraires. In this proposal, we aim to address the unmet challenge of developing both C H arylation and alkylation on substrates linked to DNA sequences to expand the chemical space of DELs by applying the host group's expertise in Ru catalysis. We envisage that by tuning the Ru catalyst and the other reaction parameters, highly selective methodologies for C H activation of DNA-linked molecules may be at hand. Indeed, Ru catalysts from the host group have previously been shown to achieve C H activation under very mild conditions, in line with key requirements for on-DNA chemistry. Finally, we expect the methodologies developed in this project to be applicable in an iterative way in order to construct a DEL of various functionalised molecules starting from readily available building blocks. Success will push the boundaries of the state of the art in DNA compatible chemistry and the construction of DELs.

Other NSERC · FY 2024

Aboveground-belowground linkages, Drought, Ecosystem function, Ecosystem stability, Land-use change, Microarthropods, Nematodes, Soil food webs, Urbanization, Warming

Other NSERC · FY 2024

two dimensional materials, twistronics, electron-electron interactions, emission spectrum, quantum dots, tungsten diselenide, optical properties, exciton