LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-09

East Midlands SLAM (Sustainable Living And Mental Well-Being) is a consortium of four universities and non-HEI partners around the urban conurbation of the East Midlands (Loughborough, Leicester and Nottingham), with the principal aim of training emerging changemakers across the priority theme of Healthy People, Planet and Place. It is situated at the nexus of Environmental and Health Humanities to address what it means to live in an inclusive, sustainable, flourishing community and demands a conjoined approach that maps to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. EM-SLAM provides the opportunity for new dialogues to address the interdependent social impacts of the environmental and mental health crises, including climate anxiety and feelings of ecological hopelessness. Consortium members have been at the forefront of developing Health Humanities in the UK, and internationally with UKRI support, and are therefore equipped to offer a unique postgraduate experience. To explore the complex issues, it adopts a transdisciplinary, co-production approach across a wide range of hitherto disparate disciplines and diverse stakeholders. EM-SLAM will train a minimum of 40 doctoral researchers over a 9-year period (30 AHRC-funded, 10 match-funded by the HEIs), a new generation of arts and humanities researchers (including practice-based researchers), and future-focused policy makers, third sector workers, arts practitioners and business leaders trained in the following transdisciplinary methods and skills: Creative research across disciplinary boundaries  Storytelling approaches to policy-making and implementation  Conjoined thinking to address major societal challenges  Impactful working across academic fields, partnering with sector leaders  Co-design of research, co-creation of outputs, co-production of knowledge.  EM-SLAM is led by Loughborough University’s Storytelling Academy, a world-leading research and teaching centre based in Design and Creative Arts, focussing on Applied Storytelling and Storytelling for Change. Storytelling is the core of the programme as a methodology ensuring impactful research, and a bridge to enable transdisciplinary working and knowledge co-creation and co-production. The wider leadership team includes researchers across disciplines including Health Sciences, Psychology, Environmental Science, Critical-Creative Writing, Design, and Sports Science. This is underpinned by a larger supervisor pool which draws upon expertise from across the disciplinary spectrum. Whilst EM-SLAM will reach across the full range of the Environmental and Health Humanities, the initial focus, as the name suggests, will be in the areas of Sustainable Living and Mental Health and Well-Being, where the partnership already has considerable expertise. It is an initiative with a global optic that simultaneously promotes the East Midlands as a key incubator for two intersecting reasons. Firstly, this area is amongst the most culturally diverse in the UK and compels an enquiry that confronts spurious inclusionary narratives when it comes to environmental and health challenges. Secondly, it commits to fostering a vibrant transdisciplinary ecosystem in a UK region so often overlooked between the mythologised spaces of the North and the South. EM-SLAM will measure its success, impact and progress against the following aims: Creating postdoctoral career paths across academic and non-academic environments  Nurturing an inclusive research culture and attracting non-traditional applicants   Embedding storytelling as an effective approach to policymaking and implementation  Establishing the East Midlands as a recognised region of expertise for transdisciplinary, applied storytelling and the interface between sustainable living and mental health and well-being  Pioneering a model of excellence for cross-institutional and cross-sector collaboration  Effecting change in practice within partner organisations. 

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-09

i-Risk will develop the next generation of research leaders to advance understanding and deliver innovative tools and solutions for multi-hazard systemic risk resilience and sustainability practice. 41+ Doctoral Researchers (DRs) will undertake a structured training programme and partner co-created interdisciplinary research projects. i-Risk builds on 4 leading UK institution’s long-standing strengths at the vanguard of informatics, multi-hazard risk, and resilience research, with unparalleled facilities and >70 multidisciplinary academic supervisors for subject-specific support, providing students with an exceptional research environment. Escalating climatic hazards, like floods, heatwaves and droughts, increasingly strain national and global infrastructure, people, and their property. Natural hazard related disasters and their consequences are rapidly multiplying: from 1980-1999, 4,212 events impacted 3.25bn people and cost US$1.6tn; by 2000-2019, 7,348 events impacted 4bn and cost US$2.97tn. This urgently demands effective Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategies. DRR is at the heart of international agendas – like the Sendai Framework and the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – and integral to several UN Sustainable Development Goals; yet current research gaps hinder progress. DRR efforts are often siloed, failing to account for multiple, concurrent hazards interacting with infrastructure systems and diverse human sectors, and the complex risk landscapes arising from them. Advancements in digital informatics, such as high-performance computing (HPC), big data analytics, AI and digital twins, offer an opportunity to address these challenges, but a national and global engineering skills gap jeopardises progress, as recognised in many government reports. An online survey of over 30 partners identified that future research leaders need multiple technical skills and capabilities to identify and translate challenges? into research problems, harness technology and knowledge for future-proof solutions?, anticipate and manage future evolving risk, and adapt to rapidly changing technology, knowledge and environments. Cohort-based doctoral training is recognised as an ideal method to impart these skills, fostering a tight network of students and supervisors, encouraging academic discussion and innovation, and promoting new thinking in academia and industry. This approach aligns with the demand for comprehensive doctoral training in resilience and sustainability – particularly to address the intertwined challenges of climate change, DRR, and societal resilience – as acknowledged by various organisations, e.g. the Skill and Net Zero Advisory Group (SNZAG). The i-Risk programme aims to produce future leaders capable of translating new knowledge into practical solutions for a wide range of DRR stakeholders. We have co-developed the proposal with industry and stakeholders to deliver critical research in the following themes: Deploying nascent technologies and intelligent observation/monitoring approaches to gather rich data to understand evolving hazards; Developing HPC and data analytics approaches/tools to model and understand intertwined natural, social, and engineering systems, enabling analysis and characterisation of multi-hazard systemic risks; Predicting and forecasting hazard risks for timely, reliable warnings, facilitating effective risk mitigation and community/infrastructure resilience; Delivering innovative tools and solutions supporting sustainable multi-hazard systemic risk management, rendering hazard/risk information accessible to/intelligible by end-users/stakeholders, advancing sustainability practice and policy. i-Risk is unique, and strongly aligns with NERC/UKRI's strategic plans and NERC’s Digital Strategy. Whilst other initiatives include informatics, they are incidental to theme-based CDTs and DTPs, missing the opportunity to valorise new technology and data via a holistic and systemic focus on the exploitation of nascent informatics for understanding and managing evolving, interactive climate hazard risks.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-06

Context. Rivers are fundamental to our landscapes, ecosystems, and communities, yet their natural flow is interrupted by both human-made and ecological features - including aquatic vegetation, trees and roots, and woody debris. These living or once-living elements, termed ecological roughness, alter water flow through river channels, affecting the flow depth, velocity, and turbulence. These processes underpin socio-ecological factors, including flood risk, particulate transport, and biodiversity. Amid accelerating climate change, rising extreme rainfall, evolving management priorities toward ecological restoration, and the spread of invasive plant species - the physical character of rivers is undergoing transformation from the conditions observed in recent decades. Despite this, current flood prediction models largely overlook the complexity of these ecological roughness features, creating a critical blind spot undermining both scientific understanding and practical flood management. Hence, there is an urgent need to quantify the diversity of ecological roughness to develop up-to-date models incorporating their dynamic, multi-scale influence on flow to enhance flood resilience while supporting river ecosystem health. Challenge. My Fellowship addresses four critical knowledge gaps that will transform how we conceptualise, measure, and model river systems: The diversity and extent of ecological roughness elements remain undocumented. Conventional assessments consider roughness components in isolation, neglecting combined effects of multiple obstructions and underlying bed topography. The effect of roughness porosity (water passage through structures) on flow remains difficult to quantify. Flood models inadequately represent the dynamic nature of ecological roughness that changes over multiple timescales. Research Aims and Objectives. This Fellowship has two interconnected aims: (1) comprehensively quantify the diversity of ecological roughness in rivers and develop a new conceptual framework to improve flow modelling via field observations, flume experiments, and numerical simulations; and (2) apply this framework to tackle environmental and societal issues related to flood prediction and management in a changing climate. These aims are addressed through four research objectives: RO1: Establish a database documenting the location and spatiotemporal diversity of riverine ecological roughness. RO2: Evaluate the multi-component contributions of ecological roughness to flow resistance using high-resolution field data. RO3: Develop a universal empirical formula for flow resistance through physical modelling of ecological roughness coupled with bed roughness. RO4: Integrate refined ecological roughness parameters into hydraulic flood models to improve predictions of flood extent. Applications and benefits. This research will deliver wide-reaching transformative impacts across science and policy sectors - bridging river science, hydraulic engineering, and ecology. The work will generate a novel, integrative framework for identifying, quantifying, and modelling ecological roughness across scales, reshaping how flow processes are represented in predictive models - enabling more realistic flow predictions, improving flood modelling accuracy, and potentially reducing damage costs. An open-access database and empirically derived tools will support flood risk managers, environmental agencies, and river restoration practitioners in making evidence-based decisions that balance flood mitigation with ecological restoration. Citizen science engagement will empower the public to contribute data and deepen their understanding of river systems, strengthening links between science and society. These contributions will also inform broader applications such as habitat assessments, sediment transport analysis, and landscape change modelling, key to building climate-resilient river environments. Finally, this fellowship will accelerate my trajectory toward research independence – developing my leadership, project management, and stakeholder engagement capabilities, while creating opportunities for international collaboration and follow-on funding at the critical interface between hydraulics and ecology.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-04

My fellowship will transform understanding of lake biogeochemistry by evaluating the critical role of internal cycling of legacy nutrients, across a range of internationally representative lake ecosystems. My research will integrate novel stable isotopes with ecological proxies from modern and historical archives to close vital knowledge gaps regarding lake ecosystem functioning in a changing climate. Globally, nutrient enrichment (eutrophication) has driven a decline in freshwater health, causing critical environmental challenges. Managing eutrophication, and resultant cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs), has been a central focus of freshwater regulations worldwide, with limited success. Lake management has traditionally fixated on reducing delivery of external catchment nutrients (particularly phosphorus). However, these efforts have failed due to the impact of internal nutrient cycling—nutrient recycling within the lake ecosystem itself— which sustains eutrophication and related ecological challenges. Fundamental to this are internal biogeochemical processes that release legacy nutrients from lake sediments, paired with the unique ability of cyanobacteria to adapt and utilise less bioavailable forms of nutrients. Lake stratification—the formation of distinct water layers—plays a crucial role in these internal lake processes by stabilising surface-waters in which cyanoHABs thrive and establishing deep-water conditions that trigger sedimentary nutrient release. Previous studies have estimated internal nutrient loading by arbitrarily assigning the difference between measured and modelled phosphorus concentrations to internal sources, without direct evidence. These outdated approaches cannot distinguish between internal and external sources and have focused solely on phosphorus, with little regard for nitrogen cycling. Despite our limited and fragmented understanding of the scale, timing, and interactions of holistic internal cycling, this knowledge continues to underpin lake restoration strategies. My fellowship will apply innovative stable isotope techniques to directly quantify internal sources and cycling of both phosphorus and nitrogen, delivering groundbreaking insights to address these key research challenges. Climate change projections identify prolonged periods of lake stratification in the future, with corresponding increases in internal loading and cyanoHAB prevalence. However, the impact of enhanced internal nutrient mobilisation and its interaction with biological cycling is unknown. My fellowship will investigate how lake stratification influences internal nutrient cycling dynamics, and how future climate-induced increases in stratification could impact nutrient budgets and cyanoHABs. Building on my internal nutrient cycling research at Rutland Water, UK, my fellowship will consolidate the critical roles of internal cycling and cyanoHABs in lake nutrient dynamics globally. I will challenge the traditional focus on external nutrients, fostering new perspectives that advance scientific knowledge and create practical management opportunities. My research will deliver timely insights for the benefit of societies worldwide, working with stakeholders at local and (inter)national levels to inform effective lake management policies. Through enhancing the sustainability and resilience of crucial lake ecosystems, my fellowship will advance UKRI’s “Building a Green Future” strategy and contribute towards UN Sustainable Development Goals focused on water and climate. My fellowship will empower me to drive innovation, shape the trajectory of my field, and champion research with real-world impact. I will pioneer cutting-edge stable isotope techniques, undertake advanced analytical training, and forge strategic collaborations to develop international, multidisciplinary networks. By conducting responsible, high-impact research while advocating for equality, diversity, and inclusivity at every level, I will foster the growth of others. Combined, this will solidify my reputation as a global authority in aquatic biogeochemistry and (palaeo)limnology and realise my ambition to lead a world-class research group.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-02

Gambling is acknowledged as a mental health disorder. In the DSM-5, gambling was reclassified from an Impulse Control Disorder to an Addictive Disorder, but although previous research has identified similarities between gambling disorder and substance use disorders, less is known regarding the interaction between the motivational properties of different forms of gambling, the gambling environment, individual susceptibility, gambling related harms, and how these factors are related to treatment seeking and treatment outcomes. This portfolio of research will address this knowledge gap by advancing the traditional experimental paradigms used to investigate gambling behaviour, by utilising existing relationships with gambling treatment providers and experts by experience to better understand gambling related harms and factors that contribute to positive and negative treatment outcomes, by better understanding the role of gambling cues in gambling disorder, and by developing a novel treatment methodology to support those seeking treatment for gambling disorder. Therefore, the proposed body of work will be developed and expanded across four major objectives that will further understanding of gambling disorder development, treatment and ultimately inform policy and reduce gambling related harm. First, I will use virtual reality to better understand how events that happen whilst gambling, influence gambling behaviour. For example, on a slot machine, a gambler can experience an event called a near-miss where the reels line up in a configuration that appears close to winning. These types of events encourage continued gambling, however the psychological mechanisms behind this are unclear. The research can also look at other events important in gambling such as speed of play, and stake size limits, all in safe, realistic virtual environments and establish which product features can be adjusted to decrease gambling harm. This is important to better understand how specific gambling product features influence gambling behaviour, and gambling related harm. Second, the research aims to generate a deeper understanding of gambling related harms, and treatment outcomes. Harms experienced by the gambler themselves and those close to them can be extremely damaging; working with some of the biggest treatment providers in the UK, this research aims to better understand harms, and how they relate to treatment outcomes. We will also work to calculate the social and economic costs of gambling which will further reveal the negative impact of disordered gambling across different parts of society. Third, I will use a variety of measures to understand how gamblers react to specific gambling cues. I will use different outcome measures, such as skin conductance, heart rate, and eye tracking. This is important as physiological arousal to gambling cues is an important factor in craving, which can lead to increased gambling or relapse in gamblers in recovery. By better understanding these mechanisms, we can reduce gambling related harm. Fourth, the research will combine the virtual reality work, and the knowledge generated through working with experts and treatment providers to develop a new treatment methodology for disordered gambling. To be piloted through existing treatment providers, the research will examine outcomes for treatment delivered in virtual environments that can be tailored to the specific circumstances of the individual, compared to more traditional treatment delivery methodologies.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-02

This is a project in the field of perturbation theory for dynamical systems. Its objective is  to provide a systematic asymptotic description of the maximal delay of stability loss (known as a buffer point) phenomenon at passage through a bifurcation for systems with slowly varying parameters. This is a challenging open problem in perturbation theory of dynamical systems deeply connected with other scientific fields  such as mechanics (e.g., flutter phenomenon), physics (e.g., operation of argon lasers), chemistry (e.g., Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction with varying parameters), and biology (e.g., neuronal bursting). In classical bifurcation theory, the behaviour of systems depending on a parameter is considered for values of this parameter close to some critical, bifurcational one. This is a static theory in the sense that  the parameter value does not vary with time. In theory of dynamical bifurcations, the parameter changes slowly over time and passes through values that would be bifurcation points in the classical static theory. A standard general framework for description of dynamics here is that of slow-fast dynamical systems. These systems have variables of two types: fast and slow ones.   Slow variables represent slowly varying parameters.  Some phenomena arising here are drastically different from  seemingly reasonable  predictions based on static theory.  Stability loss delay is one of such phenomena. Assume that at some value of a parameter an equilibrium  of a system for fast variables for frozen values of parameters (a fast system) loses its asymptotic linear stability  while remaining non-degenerate.  It turns out that in analytic systems stability loss delays are inevitable: phase points attracted to the stable equilibrium of the fast system  remain near the unstable equilibrium for a long time after the bifurcation, during which the parameters change by a quantity of order 1. Such delay generally does not exist  in non-analytic (even infinitely smooth) systems. The existence of a maximal delay  is a fundamental property of the stability loss delay phenomenon in generic analytic slow-fast systems. Its manifestation is that all the phase points that are attracted to stable equilibrium prior to some threshold value of a parameter, leave a neighbourhood of unstable equilibrium almost simultaneously near some other threshold value of a parameter. Stability loss delay beyond this parameter value (the buffer point) is not possible unless the initial data are of a very specific form. These two new threshold parameter values are related to singularities of solutions in complex time, a relationship that is still to be fully understood and represents one of the main challenges in this area.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-02

Kenya is the third most populous country in East Africa, with a population of nearly 57 million, around 10 per cent of whom live in the metropolitan area of Nairobi. Around half of those (i.e. 5% of the national population) live in Nairobi’s informal settlements. The impacts of climate change and extreme weather events are already having a major effect on Kenya, particularly in terms of agriculture, a major part of the economy. Drought and floods are increasingly common, leaving lasting damage to the agricultural infrastructure. Impacts of climate change are most keenly felt amongst the marginalised and poorest communities in Kenya, including young people and women, whose economic precarity make them particularly vulnerable. This includes a vulnerability to the mental health consequences and feelings of powerlessness and a lack of agency. In addition climate change is having a negative effect on intangible cultural heritage within many communities, as changes in weather patterms threaten traditional cultural practices linked to agriculture and the wider environment. JENGA brings together a network of researchers in applied storytelling from Loughborough University in the UK, in environmental communication from Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Sweden, and cultural heritage and curation from the National Museums of Kenya, along with industry partners White Loop, with expertise in educational project development in Africa, and Hope Raisers, a community-based NGO from Korogocho, one of the largest informal settlements in Nairobi, to explore how storytelling and cultural heritage might engage young people from Nairobi in developing climate literacies, including their capacity to understand and respond to the challenges of climate change. . Through a series of network-building and agenda-setting meetings (both in Nairobi and online), and pilot storytelling and cultural heritage co-creation workshops, JENGA will work with communities and diverse stakeholders to explore how storytelling might unlock the potential of cultural heritage to build capacities in climate awareness, engagement and resilience amongst young people. In bringing together the cultural heritage of young people, in the form of their stories, traditional practices and other creative expressions of lived experience, with the extensive collections of the National Museums of Kenya, we will also connect marginalised communities with national heritage institutions, thus expanding access to those national collections to groups who would normally feel excluded and increasing appreciation and a sense of ownership of the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Kenya. The main outcome of the network will be to prepare for a major bid for a Horizon Europe 'Resilient Cultural Heritage Partnership' in 2027, by expanding the network and building a comprehensive agenda around the questions emerging from the network activities. The long-term aim is for nothing less than a transformation of climate literacy in Kenya and the establishment of a globally transferable model of storytelling-led climate engagement to inspire resilience, equality, agency and policy influence in other climate-vulnerable regions and communities. The network will contribute to the programme of the recently established UNESCO Chair in Storytelling Education for Sustainability, which will increase the visibility of the work on the global stage and across international policy forums, helping give voice to marginalised young people, who are suffering from the consequences of climate change, to policymakers at local, national and international level.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

This project aims to empower the UK's research institutions and industry with a state-of-the-art dual laser (green/infrared) laser powder fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) system. This development system can be used to process novel metallic materials, using either laser sources. The green laser will enable AM of low laser absorptivity materials, especially Cu and its alloys, precious metals, as well as some structural materials of poor laser absorptivity in the infrared (IR) range. As switching the laser-source is fully automated, the system can tailor the heat input with the geometry in defect-susceptible materials or build functionally graded materials. The small processing chamber will enable the development of excessively costly materials using limited quantities of powders in a fully open system with unlocked parameters and with a quick material changeover, unlike the majority of the IR-based systems in the UK universities. The presence of both lasers on the same system will permit exploring the utility of the laser source on consolidation, throughput and performance, especially novel materials of unknown laser absorptivity. The interest in AM of novel materials is growing rapidly with the expansion in its applications in the space, energy, healthcare, and communication devices sectors. The system will support projects for both the UK academia and industry, due to its ability to process limited quantities of powders, as well as build medium sized components, making it ideal for both material and product development. It will also support research on in-situ process monitoring, materials development and Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) to simulate the laser-powder interaction and the resulting material properties.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2026 · 2026-01

This overseas travel application will fund the visit of one academic from Loughborough University Chemical Engineering Department (Dr Mark Leaper) to the Chemical Engineering Department at MNIT Jaipur, India. The focus will be on wastewater treatment for the local paper industry. In addition to the department, Dr Leaper will visit potential industrial collaborators in the Jaipur area and will lead a workshop at the university for local stakeholders. The whole visit is planned to take 10 working days as part of a further engagement between the universities lasting 12 months. The paper industry is a major economic sector in Jaipur but relies on independent artisan workers who often do not have access water treatment facilities. Upgrading and expanding existing municipal treatment systems is expensive and not feasible; however, decentralised water treatment systems using sustainable adsorption with materials like biochar would allow expansion of the sector by allowing treated water to be re-used. This is particularly important in a water-stressed area such as Jaipur. The visit will allow clarity on issues such as scale, availability of adsorption materials, the ease of which the treatment systems could be used, cost restrictions and disposal; it will also provide an opportunity for MNIT researchers to show existing progress and identify how the involvement of Loughborough would be beneficial. This work aligns with MOU of research and innovation signed between India and the UK and other programmes to develop researchers such as the UKRI-India Concordat.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Context The UK has a rapidly ageing population, with adults aged 55 and over now representing more than 30% of the population. Despite this, very little research or policy attention has been devoted to how gambling affects older people. Although gambling research has expanded in recent years, it has focused largely on young adults, online gambling, and acute “problematic gambling.” Older adults are often treated as an “add-on” category rather than a group with specific needs, motivations, or vulnerabilities. Yet international evidence shows that older adults engage in a wide range of gambling activities, both online and in person, and may face unique risks linked to loneliness, bereavement, fixed incomes, cognitive changes, digital exclusion, and reduced social support. These issues have become more visible since the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, which intensified social isolation and financial pressures. A clear, up-to-date evidence base is therefore urgently needed. The Challenge There is no UK-focused synthesis of evidence on gambling among older adults, and several gaps remain: Fragmented evidence: Existing reviews are dated or focus mainly on prevalence, giving limited insight into older people’s motivations, lived experiences, and support needs. Unclear age-specific pathways: How life events such as retirement, bereavement, loneliness, or moves into supported housing shape gambling and harm is not well understood in the UK. Hidden in services: Older adults are under-represented in support and treatment, and barriers to help-seeking (stigma, shame, mobility, generational attitudes) are poorly evidenced. Digital risk and exclusion: Older people may face online gambling risks while being less able to use digital harm-reduction tools. Overlooked inequalities: Very little is known about gambling among older adults from minority ethnic, low-income, or socially isolated groups. Aims and Objectives This project will deliver a Rapid Evidence Review to provide the first comprehensive, policy-ready synthesis of what is known about gambling among older adults aged 55+. It will: Identify and synthesise international and UK evidence on gambling behaviours, motivations, benefits, and harms among older adults. Assess life-course pathways into gambling and harm, including social and psychological drivers. Examine digital gambling and digital exclusion, including risks and barriers to safer-gambling tools. Review inequalities, including differences across gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and housing or care settings. Analyse help-seeking behaviours, accessibility of interventions, and the suitability of current service models. Produce an evidence gap map highlighting areas where research is missing, outdated, or contradictory. Engage older adults with lived experience to ensure findings and recommendations are grounded in real-world perspectives. Potential Applications and Benefits Inform policy and regulation: Support DCMS, the Gambling Commission, NHS England and Integrated Care Systems to design age-inclusive gambling policies and harm-reduction strategies. Improve services and support: Guide charities, clinicians, local authorities, and community organisations in developing age-sensitive interventions that address loneliness, cognitive change, financial vulnerability, and digital exclusion. Strengthen prevention and early identification: Highlight risk factors specific to older adults, helping GPs, social workers and community health teams recognise and respond to early signs of harm. Promote equity and inclusion: Bring marginalised older groups into focus, helping reduce inequalities in health, access, and digital participation. Shape future research: Use an evidence gap map to help UKRI and partners prioritise future studies and intervention trials. The review will provide the first robust evidence base on gambling and older adults in the UK.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Context Gambling-related harm is now recognised as a major public health, criminal justice, and social policy concern in the UK. Although there is growing evidence about the health and economic harms of gambling, much less is known about how gambling is connected to crime. Existing research is scattered, outdated, or focused on narrow areas such as individual offending. At the same time, the gambling landscape is rapidly changing, with growth in online platforms, crypto-based gambling, and unregulated international markets. These developments raise new risks linked to fraud, money laundering, organised crime, and exploitation. Government bodies, justice agencies, and regulators have all highlighted gambling-related crime as an important but poorly understood area. This project responds directly to that gap. The Challenge There is no clear or up-to-date picture of how gambling and crime intersect. Key unanswered questions include: how gambling harms contribute to offending and pathways into the justice system, how illegal and unregulated markets operate, how digital technologies and offshore providers enable criminal activity, how vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected, and how police, prisons, probation, courts, and regulators identify and respond to gambling-related crime. Much of the existing literature is limited by poor data, reliance on self-report surveys, inconsistent definitions, and a lack of cross-sector evidence. As a result, policies and frontline responses are not grounded in a reliable evidence base. The challenge, therefore, is to map what we know, identify what we do not know, and highlight where better evidence is urgently needed. Aims and Objectives This project will conduct a Rapid Evidence Review (RER) to create the first comprehensive, cross-sector evidence map of gambling-related crime. The review will: Synthesize existing research on links between gambling and crime, including individual offending (such as theft, fraud, coercion), criminal exploitation, and harms within the justice system. Examine structural and systemic factors, such as poverty, deregulation, prison environments, and corporate practices that may contribute to criminal harms. Assess evidence on illegal and unregulated markets, including black-market operators, dark-web gambling, offshore platforms, and crypto-based markets. Explore technological and enforcement challenges, including cross-border crime and regulatory evasion. Identify how harms and criminalisation affect different groups, especially those who are marginalised or already disadvantaged. Evaluate current justice system and regulatory responses, including policing, probation, prison practices, and Gambling Commission enforcement. Produce an evidence gap map showing where research is strong, weak, or absent. Potential Applications and Benefits This project will produce clear, actionable findings for policymakers, regulators, justice agencies, and treatment services. Benefits include: Policy and regulatory insight: Helping bodies such as DCMS, the Gambling Commission, and the National Crime Agency understand emerging threats, enforcement gaps, and the role of illegal markets. Improved criminal justice responses: Supporting police, prisons, courts, and probation to recognise gambling-related harm, strengthen screening, and develop more effective, fair, and trauma-informed interventions. Public-health and prevention benefits: Highlighting where harms are concentrated and which groups are most affected, guiding prevention programmes and early-intervention pathways. Foundation for long-term impact: The review directly underpins a Stage-1 UKRI GHRIP proposal, enabling the development of evidence-based pilots and justice-system reforms. Overall, this Rapid Evidence Review will deliver the first authoritative, accessible, and policy-ready assessment of gambling-related crime in the UK, supporting safer communities, better regulation, and more equitable justice outcomes.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Tyres create over 30% of the world’s microplastic pollution, and emit over a third of a modern combustion-engined car’s airborne Particulate Matter (PM) during use. Electric vehicles (EV) will produce more of this pollution in operation, exacerbated by their increased mass and torque generation. In response, upcoming Euro 7 emissions standards will, for the first time, limit the wear rate of tyres, based on the engineering assumption that wear quantity is the primary cause of harm to people and places. In contrast, knowledge from microbiologists and environmental scientists suggests that toxicity will depend on the size, shape and composition of particulates, but the toxicity vs quantity trade-off is unknown.   Knowledge of this trade-off exists at the intersection of engineering, biology and geography: an unexplored knowledge space that is difficult to access due to unique challenges around tyre pollution generation. Unlike other sources of PM, such as friction brakes, generating representative tyre particulates in a laboratory environment is challenging because of the physical and chemical interactions between: a moving tyre; existing road-based tyre debris; the road itself. No knowledge yet exists to say if any of these interactions produce critical impacts on people and places.   Additionally, engineering knowledge gaps about key road surface characteristics on tyre wear preclude transferring measurements between surfaces, complicating the process of developing synthetic particulates to replicate real inputs into biological systems and ruling out a multidisciplinary solution. These engineering knowledge gaps manifest in Euro 7 emissions test development, where insufficient repeatability has been observed.   This project aims to  quantify the effects of tyre particulates on people and places, by developing a holistic interdisciplinary experimental approach to quantify particulate impacts as a function of tyre state and road surface characteristics. By integrating knowledge from engineering, biological and environmental sciences in both the design of these experiments and the analysis of experimental data, key factors will be identified linking particulate characteristics to both tyre states and their health/environmental impacts – something that is only achievable with an interdisciplinary approach.   Successfully achieving this project's aim will, for the first time, develop new interdisciplinary knowledge to quantify particulate effects as a function of their generation, enabling existing particulate mitigation measures to be evaluated in terms of their capability to reduce harm and informing future legislation. Without such knowledge, transport policy could repeat previous mistakes of promoting one technology (diesel) over another (petrol) due to using the wrong metric to evaluate environmental and health impacts. A similar event may occur with tyres: carbon black (a known toxin) is used as a filler to reduce tyre wear; knowledge of particulate toxicity and quantity trade-offs are needed now to inform future policy decisions.   This research will have wide-reaching societal benefits. Generating knowledge about tyre particulate generation, transmission and effects will maximise the chance that future vehicle emissions policies can use appropriate standards to evaluate the consequences of legislative limits, thus maximising their effectiveness at protecting people and places from harm. Understanding environmental transmission mechanisms will help guide future urban planning to minimise environmental and human exposure to harmful microplastic particulates generated from tyres during use. Collectively, these benefits will help to minimise the negative consequences that arise from future transport emissions, improving health for future inhabitants of urban spaces and minimising future transport’s environmental impact.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

Solar photovoltaics has become the most important renewable energy technology worldwide.  It is forecast that 2.35TWp will be deployed by 2027.  The extraordinary growth of solar over the past decade has been driven by cost reductions.  However, it is now clear that the efficiency of single junction solar cells is approaching its limit. The next step change in solar photovoltaics will be the development of tandem cells capable of large-scale manufacturing. Perovskite-on-silicon tandem cells have been developed and are now commercially available. However, concerns remain about the long-term stability of the perovskite top cell especially for application in large scale utilities.  Here we propose to develop cadmium selenide as a photo-absorber as an inorganic and stable top cell. Cadmium selenide is an n-type semiconductor with a bandgap of 1.72 eV which is ideal for use with a silicon bottom cell.  The bandgap is similar to a perovskite.  Cadmium selenide is already used as a precursor layer to form an CdSeTe alloy at the front of cadmium telluride solar cells.  The challenge will be to maximise the photoactivity of cadmium selenide and to develop suitable contact electrodes to extract the charge carriers. The objective is to create a 4-terminal and then a 2-terminal tandem solar cell on silicon with a conversion efficiency exceeding 25%. This will establish proof of principle.  The materials used in cell fabrication will be sustainable and the stability of the devices will be proven using accelerated environmental laboratory tests and real outdoor trials at a number of locations.  A cadmium selenide-on-silicon tandem will de-risk the possible stability issues with perovskites but will also open up new application areas where high irradiance and high temperatures are common.  

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

Coatings are critical to our daily lives. They protect our buildings and structures against damage from the weather, chemicals, corrosion, and fire. They prolong the life of our food. They enable and enhance the production of renewable energy by wind turbines and solar panels. They improve fuel efficiency of various transportation methods. And, notably, they protect us from infections. However, translating state-of-the-art scientific advances for the improvement of coatings is frequently unsuccessful. One of the main reasons for these failures is the poor fundamental understanding of the dynamics and interactions of the coating ingredients within its liquid formulation. In this project, we will develop experimental and theoretical tools to advance such understanding and apply them to translate a novel particle assembly method into fully formulated and functional coatings. We will take antibacterial coatings as a case study. Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs), acquired at a hospital or other healthcare facility, are an enormous burden to public health and finances. It is estimated that 653,000 adult inpatients in NHS hospitals acquire an HCAI and 22,800 die as a result of their infection per year in England. Most of these infections are associated to the accumulation of bacteria on surfaces. Therefore, the development of novel antimicrobial coatings to prevent the adhesion of bacteria and/or kill them upon attachment to surfaces is imperative. We have been developing a method to obtain coating surfaces on demand which segregates formulation ingredients by size during drying. We will harness this  strategy to achieve control over the distribution of the different formulation ingredients to enhance the performance of antibacterial coatings and prevent the growth of bacteria on them. We will combine state-of-the-art experimental techniques, soft matter theory, and computational modelling to establish the foundation for a science-based formulation framework that would eventually replace the current trial-and-error approaches. We will go up the innovation ladder to increase the technology readiness level of our size segregation technology. This will involve demonstrating the approach in a fully formulated product, testing its antibacterial activity against HCAI-relevant bacteria, and ensuring its stability upon the action of the photocatalytic nanoparticles which give the coating its functionality. The uptake of the size segregation technology by industry and its application in healthcare settings would help to mitigate the burden of healthcare-associated infections, saving lives and reducing their financial burden. Importantly, our technology would give the UK an advantage to become a global leader in functional coatings. Developing a science-based approach to replace the current trial-and-error formulations methods would make UK industry more adaptable and responsive to external challenges. For example, it would help to improve the sustainability of liquid formulated products, conserving natural resources and minimising pollution and waste.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

A-PLUS is a strategic research collaboration between Loughborough University (UK), Princeton University, and Georgia Institute of Technology (US), aimed at addressing critical security challenges in emerging wireless communication systems. As Beyond-5G and 6G networks increasingly rely on highly directional and complicated RF frontend systems such as Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) to enhance spectral efficiency, latency, and coverage, they also introduce new vulnerabilities at the physical layer. These open a gateway for potential signal injection, spoofing, or passive eavesdropping, which could compromise national telecom infrastructure. A-PLUS seeks to proactively identify and mitigate these threats by combining LU’s strengths in RIS hardware design with PU and GT’s expertise in cyber-physical security. The project will develop a comprehensive threat model, simulate adversarial attacks, and validate findings through experimental measurements using a 5 GHz RIS already manufactured at LU. Key performance indicators such as signal-to-noise ratio, beam directionality, and power leakage will be analyzed to assess the vulnerability severity. The project will conceptualize novel physical-layer security mechanisms, including artificial noise generation, RIS-specific fingerprinting, and angle-of-arrival-based user verification. These innovations aim to create scalable, resilient security protocols tailored for RIS-enabled networks. Through bilateral secondments, joint multidisciplinary experiments, and high-impact publications, A-PLUS will foster a cohesive collaboration and lay the foundation for longer-term international research proposals. The outcomes will directly support national cyber strategies in both the UK and USA, ensuring secure deployment of next-generation telecom infrastructure for critical applications such as healthcare, autonomous transportation, and defence.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

This Prosperity Partnership will create a Global Centre of Excellence, building on the successes of the well-established Innovation and Research Centre at Loughborough which is a collaboration between Perkins (as a Caterpillar UK subsidiary) and Loughborough University. The UK off-highway construction industry is 1st in Europe and 5th globally, and four times the size, in revenue terms, of the heavy-duty on-highway sector.  Therefore, for the UK to meet its climate change targets as well as maintaining its excellent market share, it is imperative that it invests in solving the immense challenges of this sector that are significantly different from other sectors.  Full electrification is not an option for many applications due to a range of complex scale, geographical, economic, and technical factors. Leveraging £2.57m of EPSRC investment, to deliver a total project value of £8m, this centre will develop disruptive technologies which will transform the design and engineering of complex heavy duty power systems to decarbonise this sector. The co-created vision and programme devised by Perkins and Loughborough University to undertake the foundational research required to decarbonise this hard to abate sector, 80% of which is off-highway, will investigate the use of alternative fuels including hydrogen and renewable fuels such as methanol and ethanol. The Perkins and Loughborough University partnership which is manifested in the Innovation and Research Centre at Loughborough, is ideally positioned to address these enormous challenges.  With a track record of delivering excellent research through funding from bodies such as the Advanced Propulsion Centre, this team have a well-established collaborative working relationship and have extensive experience in co-creating impactful projects, combining the superior engineering capabilities and market knowledge of Perkins with the excellent academic capabilities of the Loughborough team.  The outputs of the I&RC have been realised in many Perkins products which have been distributed worldwide, thus benefitting many downstream industries as well as the Perkins supply chain, much of which is in the UK. This Partnership will focus on improving the efficiency of a range of alternative fuels, reducing harmful emissions, enhancing materials durability and performance, and creating engineering design tools for the rapid, robust, optimal design of new products. To support this significant undertaking, Perkins is making substantial investment in hardware and Loughborough is investing over £1m in the centre’s infrastructure. The prosperity partnership funding will support early TRL projects complimenting the existing portfolio: to create a state-of-the-art facility delivering end-to-end research for this sector and facilitating impact beyond current capability. Additional benefits will be the consequential strengthening of the supply chain for manufacture of new products for alternative fuels, a nucleus of skilled engineers capable of designing and delivering complex power systems into the future, and a knowledge transfer of technology to the wider automotive industry. The expansion of the already successful I&RC into a centre of excellence for focused heavy-duty off-highway power systems will strengthen the UK’s reputation and capability in this sector, creating the foundations for a thriving manufacturing industry into the future.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Comparative judgement (CJ) is a powerful method used extensively across the social sciences to tackle difficult measurement problems that evade other approaches. It has been applied to measure wide ranging phenomena, including students’ conceptual understanding, the prevalence of abuse, and mathematical beauty. However, the mathematical foundations of CJ are underdeveloped, and this limits the reliability and trustworthiness of CJ studies. This project will deliver advances in the mathematical models used to analyse CJ data and stimulate cross-disciplinary research collaborations between statisticians who research the mathematics of CJ, and social scientists who use CJ as a research tool. Other measurement methods, such as those based on multiple-choice questions or rubrics, tend to be unreliable because they rely on subjective responses. The CJ method, in which participants are presented with pairs of objects and asked to decide which has more of a given quality, is highly reliable because humans are largely consistent when comparing two things to one another. Social scientists commonly use CJ in a mechanistic way, following instructions to create measurement scales without a grasp of the underlying mathematics. Statisticians commonly develop and evaluate models for analysing CJ datasets without awareness of varied and expanding social science applications. The aim of this project is to develop and test improved statistical models in order to foster collaboration between statisticians and social scientists, leading to a vibrant cross-disciplinary sub-field of CJ research. We will achieve this through three specific objectives. Objective 1 will create an online research hub to support cross-disciplinary CJ research. The hub will include archived CJ datasets, tools for generating datasets, code and packages for analysing datasets, a bibliography of relevant scientific papers, guidance for researchers, and a discussion board. These extensive resources, and channels for ongoing communication, will stimulate and sustain cross-disciplinary research as described below. Objective 2 will create an agenda of large-scale CJ research challenges through collaboration between 25 CJ experts. The agenda will contain around 50 research questions that will provide structure for the online hub to help drive and sustain a vibrant research community. Objective 3 will conduct novel statistical research to address two large-scale research challenges: (i) to enhance our understanding of how fitting different statistical models to CJ data impacts findings across different research contexts; (ii) to address the paucity of methods available to researchers for evaluating how well models perform when used to analyse CJ data. To achieve this, Project Lead Ian Jones, a Professor of Mathematics Education at Loughborough University, and a world-leader in CJ methods, will ‘hop’ to the University of Birmingham’s School of Mathematics and enhance his knowledge of statistical research methodologies. There he will work closely with a group of statisticians who are at the forefront of developing pioneering CJ models. The results of Jones’ research at Birmingham will inform Objectives 1 and 2 and will substantially improve the quality and trustworthiness of CJ-based research. In summary, the project will deliver an online hub, an agenda of grand challenges, and new models and tools, thereby stimulating and sustaining a vibrant cross-disciplinary sub-field. This will improve the reliability and trustworthiness of CJ research across a wide range of academic and real-world applications.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Doctoral Training Partnerships: a range of postgraduate training is funded by the Research Councils. For information on current funding routes, see the common terminology at https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/how-we-fund-studentships/. Training grants may be to one organisation or to a consortia of research organisations. This portal will show the lead organisation only.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Developmental dyscalculia is a specific learning difference, characterised by persistent and severe challenges in learning and understanding mathematics, despite adequate intellectual ability and age appropriate education (APA, 2013). Early signs of dyscalculia are present from a young age. Accordingly, it is important that all teaching practitioners have a good understanding of dyscalculia, so that they can timely identify and support children and young people who experience severe challenges with learning mathematics. Nevertheless, our research found that only 5% of UK teaching practitioners had received any specific training on dyscalculia (Roulstone et al., 2025 in review). The situation was equally concerning, if not worse in other countries where we conducted our research (i.e., Italy, Vietnam, and South Africa). To address this problem, we developed a scale to evaluate educators' knowledge and awareness of dyscalculia, which highlighted some typical knowledge gaps and misconceptions. The scale featured 24 statements about dyscalculia and was validated by 30 leading experts (Roulstone et al., 2025). My research found that educators often shared some common misconceptions and knowledge gaps related to dyscalculia. To close these gaps in knowledge, I will design and deliver evidence-informed CPD training workshops aimed at strengthening educators' understanding of dyscalculia. These CPD workshops will directly target known misconceptions and knowledge gaps related to dyscalculia. The effectiveness of the CPD workshops will be evaluated using a pre-post-test design. Throughout the fellowship, I will advance awareness of developmental dyscalculia, informing both educational policy and classroom practice. By specialising in translational research, I will design and deliver targeted professional development that addresses widespread misconceptions and gaps in educators' knowledge. This training will empower teaching practitioners with practical strategies to support learners with dyscalculia, ultimately improving mathematical outcomes and promoting inclusive education. Through this work, I aim to establish myself as a future leader in mathematics education research.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved beyond the hype and is now being integrated into daily life. But there are critical questions about the social impact and trustworthiness of AI-generated communication and who has the power to define how these technologies are embedded in routine practice. As environmental organisations adapt to this rapidly-evolving new landscape, they must navigate the complex hopes and fears surrounding AI. The spread of disinformation through low quality and misleading AI images, sometimes termed ‘AI slop’, is threatening credible, authentic, and engaging environmental communication. AI infrastructures pose deep dilemmas for traditionally underfunded environmental organisations: they are attracted by the potential boosts to campaign efficiency but repelled by the environmental costs. This ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship will examine these new issues by dissecting how environmental organisations perceive AI, how their campaign practices are evolving in the process of interacting with AI, and whether they are developing genuinely ethical and inclusive AI frameworks. Part of my ESRC-funded PhD explored Greenpeace International’s adoption and use of generative AI platforms such as Midjourney in the context of the organisation’s evolving digital communication strategies. I discovered that typical AI visualisations of climate futures often conflicted with Greenpeace’s own internal statements on AI use, as well as its broader goals of decolonisation and empowerment. This Fellowship will augment these findings by exploring how a broader range of organisations perceive, use and navigate AI challenges. This will be achieved through four streams of work:  1) I will submit my in-progress book (under contract with Palgrave), publish an article on AI and environmental communication in a high-impact journal, and present my research at the prestigious ICA and IAMCR 2026 conferences. 2) With Greenpeace International, Friends of the Earth and The Wildlife Trusts as project partners I will foster new networks and collaborations to maximise the social impact of my research. This includes informing the development of their AI frameworks and encouraging reflexive AI practices. I will achieve this through delivering a hybrid workshop at Loughborough on ‘Best practice principles for AI and environmental communication’ for invited environmental representatives and key stakeholders, as well as publishing a public-facing report on AI for environmental organisations.  3) Expanding on my PhD findings, I will conduct pioneering targeted new research that explores how environmental organisations are employing generative AI in their communication campaigns and the implications this has for effective and ethical environmental advocacy. The gaps in research on the social impacts of AI technologies grow wider by the day as the rate of adoption accelerates. Through conducting interviews and novel participatory AI fieldwork sessions with key environmental representatives, and analysing environmental organisations’ internal AI documents and press releases, I will add to essential research efforts globally.  4) Building on this Fellowship, I will develop funding applications for further early career research fellowships schemes: the Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship, the British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the ESRC New Investigator grant. These proposals will broaden the focus to the use of AI technology in environmental communication internationally. Through publishing a book, journal article, public-facing report, developing future research proposals, and hosting a workshop for environmental practitioners, this Fellowship will develop the new field of AI and environmental communication research, and support my goal of becoming a recognised leader in the field of environmental communication.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

The ComDisp consortium aims to undertake community-centered research that develops a collaborative, iterative process for grassroots modeling of health disparities with predictive capability across climate change scenarios. We are responding to health disparities related to housing conditions in the USA, Vietnam, Turkey and Ecuador - with broad relevance in every global society - where living environments are shaped by historical and contemporary injustices. When assessing intersecting climate risk, where and how people live matters, and historically overburdened communities will continue to disproportionately accumulate risk if the root causes are not addressed. Five objectives will help us to achieve this aim: Identify and understand housing, air quality and respiratory health issues in each case Data collection, modeling and decision-making approach Link climate change models to housing, air quality and respiratory health issues Design a grassroots scenario planning process Explore and analyze housing and health issues under CC scenarios through interactive tools and resources Extending previous work to 3 new case studies The project end-users are populations who live in housing situations with high risk of climate change impacts. We are particularly focused on the elderly, children, low-income communities, and individuals that have pre-existing health conditions. In each case study location we will leverage existing partnerships with non-academic stakeholders to include local governments (land use, housing, public health), community health & housing organizations, and climate change action advocates. The LPI previously developed a unique agent-based model and deployed a network of indoor and outdoor air quality sensors to collect data in Florida, working with local community members in a participatory action research process. The ComDisp consortium proposes to expand this previous study to other geographies and adapt the model in Vietnam, Turkey, and Ecuador. We will combine spatial analyses of multiple environmental hazards that are impacted by climate change - in particular heat island effects, heatwaves, hurricanes and flooding - pertinent to cardiovascular and respiratory health disparities. The local models of housing and health that we develop across the consortium in USA, Vietnam, Turkey and Ecuador will be able to link to and augment national datasets and models, allowing us to not only project future localized climate change scenarios but to develop a strategy with affected communities to alter their present and future through science and action. About the team The ComDisp consortium brings together diverse international academic and practical perspectives and experiences - a team made up of natural and social scientists, engineers, and community members (see Part 16). The consortium includes a disciplinary mix appropriate for the scope of the project; including disaster studies, architecture, material science, communications, public health, immunology, urban planning, social work, biology, engineering, geology, physical geography and human geography. The investigators from the University of Florida (USA), Loughborough University (UK), Hanoi University of Civil Engineering (Vietnam), the University of Bergen (Norway) and Bursa Technical University (Turkey) will work closely with communities experiencing health disparities related to housing in Vietnam, Turkey and Ecuador. 

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

The electric vehicle (EV) market is growing at an unprecedented rate. EV drivelines face unique operational and reliability challenges to reduce energy consumption, increase vehicle range, and switch from oil-based lubrication. EV lubricants face significant challenges operating inside electromagnetic fields that damage surfaces by electric discharge and changes molecular interactions at the surface. They need to lubricate under severe conditions, from low-speed high-torque to super-high speeds and angular accelerations typical of EV operation. Lubrication is in boundary-to-mixed regime where surface contact occurs, so forming protective tribofilms is paramount. Switching to aqueous lubrication has benefits to the environment, health, and increased cooling (increasingly as both lubricant and coolant combined), but brings significant challenges in film formation and corrosion. How tribofilms form and evolve in the electro-aqueous environment is fundamental to their operation. This project aims to provide fundamental understanding of aqueous EV lubricant performance and create a framework for performance prediction in real applications, thus enabling development of appropriate sustainable lubricants. This includes mechanistic and deterministic models and novel experiments at different scales - the formation of tribofilms at molecular level, single asperity and contacts, and then to full-size bearing components. We have designed four work packages, each for a different length scale. In WP1 we investigate commercial and prototype fluids in an electrified full-size bearing, exploring tribofilm formation, surface damage, and failure mechanisms. A component (bearing) level simulation model, built simultaneously, will incorporate contact analysis, thermo-hydrodynamic and boundary film formation. In WP2, single contact level testing is performed in bench-top simulators to closely control the contact between rolling and sliding parts, watching for tribofilm and damage mechanistic evolution, with and without potential. WP3 considers the single asperity, using AFM experiments, to study tribofilm composition and how it builds atomically at the contact. This is complemented by the molecular dynamics simulations in WP4, studying the adsorption of the candidate molecules to form boundary films and the effect of electric fields. These are then upscaled to film formation at contact and bearing scale. The team consists of three world-leading tribology groups with complementary expertise. Loughborough have a long track record in tribodynamics, including EV transmissions. Imperial College leads the field in development of lubricant additives, transmission technologies, and modelling at all scales. Sheffield specialises in machine element experimental measurement and sensing. The industrial partners span the supply chain and are committed as this aligns with their business needs. Shell will support with their expertise in lubricant design, supply of fluids, access to test equipment, and fund a PhD. SKF will support with expertise in bearings, effect of electric potentials, as well as specialist equipment and PhD funding. Scania will provide data on EV drive cycles, and expertise in performance of EV drivelines. AVL will provide access to their simulation tools and dissemination to their customer base. The output from the project will be a complete methodology for design and selection of aqueous lubricants for electric vehicles. This will be adopted by our industrial partners and more widely into automotive and lubricant sectors.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

The demand for titanium dioxide (TiO2), a critical opacifier and pigment across multiple industrial sectors, is expected to reach 8 million tonnes in 2025. Because of the energy-intensive manufacturing processes involved, such production will lead to the emission of a staggering 40 million tonnes of CO2. In this project, we aim to develop hollow polymer particles that have a lower carbon footprint and can fully replace titanium dioxide in a wide range of formulated products, taking paints and coatings as a case study. We will synthesize a range of hollow polymer particles with tailored size, polydispersity, shell thickness, outer surface roughness, and inner surface chemistry. Tuning these variables will enable us to take a two-pronged approach, not only optimising the properties of the hollow particles themselves but also their interaction with other formulation ingredients. Through this approach, after introducing the particles in coatings formulations and drying them into films, we will be able to control their final distribution and correlate it with the coating's optical, thermal, and mechanical properties. Moreover, we will accelerate their industrial implementation by conducting a life cycle assessment and trialling them in full paint formulations in collaboration with our industrial partner. Although we have chosen paints and coatings as case study, as they represent 55% of the global TiO2 consumption, the new additives would be relevant to a wide range of film-forming formulations. These include inks, adhesives, sealants, personal and home care, and cosmetics. Thus, our work will catalyse a transformative shift towards more sustainable practices across diverse industry sectors by providing a viable alternative to TiO2.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

This project aims to showcase the commercial viability of our novel algae-based carbon capture and utilisation technology (ACCU), to bridge the gap between academic research and industrial-led scale-up and implementation. Our technology utilises surplus renewable electricity to convert industrial CO2 emissions into valuable products, ranging from high-value food supplements to natural pigments or biofertilisers. Unlike conventional algae systems, our process employs an innovative two-stage approach for CO2 capture and algae cultivation, to balance out fluctuations in CO2 production and uptake (based on availability of light/electricity), as well as simplifying photobioreactor operation and facilitating CO2 transport to offsite locations. In addition to capturing carbon, our technology could be seamlessly integrated with other plant operations to fulfil secondary functions such as wastewater treatment and polishing, biogas upgrading into biomethane, or balancing out national grid fluctuations. Our technology could play a particularly important role for capturing and utilising emissions from small-to medium size emitters, which lack access to CO2 networks and are mostly excluded from national carbon capture strategies. These less energy intensive, dispersed sites account for 17.1 MtCO2e year-1, or 24% of total industrial emissions, requiring the urgent development of alternative carbon abatement solutions to meet the UKs Net Zero targets (2021 Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy). In addition, the algae product could be used to replace fossil carbon inputs to the agricultural, chemical or energy sectors, to enable a fair transition to Net Zero. Having already successfully demonstrated the operation of the technology under laboratory conditions, this proposed project seeks to test and evaluate the process under industrially relevant conditions. Working closely with our strategic project partners, representing CO2 emitters from different industries, we will identify and select potential target products which maximise value for their business, mimic site-specific conditions in our laboratories and explore opportunities for further integration with their existing processes. Findings will be summarised in the form of implementation case studies to illustrate the potential adaptation of ACCU within the context of the three industries represented by our partners. These case studies will be shared with funders, business users and policy makers to inform and educate on the potential benefits, gaps and barriers of implementing ACCU within different settings. Based on this work, we will select one of the partners for on-site trials using a bespoke prototype unit compatible with their existing operations. Leveraging digital twin technology, we will optimise system performance to maximise volumetric productivity and conversion of captured carbon into algae biomass and valuable products. At the same time, we will develop forward-looking tools that empower businesses to identify viable commercial pathways to accelerate the adoption of algae-based carbon capture and utilisation technologies. Ultimately, the project will deliver a clear and robust business case to support further industry-led implementation and scale-up via Innovate UK or equivalent funding channels.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

The UK environmental science sector continues to face a significant diversity crisis. While some STEM fields have made progress, environmental sciences remain among the least diverse: fewer than 12% of undergraduates on environment-related courses identify as non-white, dropping below 9% at postgraduate level, and women account for less than 13% of inventors in environment-related technologies. Socio-economic background also plays a crucial role, with individuals from lower-income households far less likely to enter or advance in environmental science careers. Charnwood Champions directly supports NERC’s priority to diversify the environmental science workforce by introducing a structured, progressive model for environmental engagement and education. Based in Leicester and Leicestershire, one of the UK’s most diverse regions and home to the country’s first "plural" city, the project responds to intersecting socio-economic challenges across the region, including high deprivation, limited access to green space, and lower-than-average education and employment levels. These factors make Charnwood an ideal setting to pilot inclusive, place-based environmental education initiatives. Central to our approach is a “Passport” framework, allowing participants to build environmental knowledge and skills over time. This addresses a common shortcoming of many diversity initiatives: a lack of sustained, longitudinal engagement. Rather than offering one-off experiences, our model supports participation from early years through to higher education or employment, creating a robust and diverse pipeline into environmental science. The project will broaden participation in the environmental workforce by: Developing a structured passport model for progressive engagement and environmental education. Partnering with local institutions, organisations, and underrepresented communities. Showcasing diverse environmental science role models, aligned with NERC’s goals. Creating visible, supported pathways into green careers. Evaluating impact and sharing learning across the NERC community. Our project also addresses wider national workforce priorities. The Department for Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy (2022) affirms that “green skills will be needed in every job,” signalling the urgency of embedding sustainability across all education and employment sectors. Yet young people from underrepresented backgrounds are not only excluded from environmental careers—they are not being adequately prepared for the broader green economy. Our work ensures these learners are supported early and continuously. Traditional STEM pathways have long struggled to attract diverse participation. We plan on integrating SHAPE (Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts for People and the Economy) disciplines into our programme to outcome a more inclusive, relevant route forward. A Youth Shadow Panel recently highlighted the lack of climate and nature education in schools and called for sustainability to be taught across all subjects through real-world, project-based learning. Our approach directly responds to this, ensuring environmental education is locally grounded, nationally scalable, and aligned with future workforce needs. Charnwood Champions builds on a strong civic partnership between Loughborough University, the University of Leicester, De Montfort University, local authorities, school academy trusts and the Charnwood Forest Geopark, who are working together to advance a place-based agenda focused on education, sustainability, and green skills. The Geopark, an aspiring UNESCO Global Geopark, plays a vital role in connecting people to the region’s internationally significant geological and ecological heritage. Together, we will deliver a novel educational programme featuring free curriculum-linked resources and integrated green skills training extending from geology to poetry. This will support green skills development, inspire environmental learning, promote inclusive access to nature, and foster long-term stewardship of the local landscape.