University of Bristol

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-12

The transition to a net-zero economy is calling for a new generation of ultra-lightweight materials and structures. Especially in the aerospace industry, where fuel burn accounts for more than 99% of CO2 emissions, reductions in structural mass are a key enabler of better fuel economy and reduced emissions. For this reason, high-performance lightweight materials, such as carbon fibre-reinforced composites, play an important role in enabling net-zero transportation systems. The application of fibre-reinforced composites to improve fuel efficiency has, however, come under increasing scrutiny due to the difficulty in recycling these materials. Often, the inferior mechanical properties of recycled composites mean that a sustainable material choice leads to worse environmental outcomes overall. As a result, recycled composite parts are currently used for predominantly low-value and non-structural applications. The vision of this fellowship is to enable high-performance recycled composite structures by harnessing the processing benefits of discontinuous, reclaimed-fibre composites in manufacturing complex curved shapes and spatially tailored fibre distributions. Thin shell structures are amongst the most effective structural architectures due to the added geometric rigidity imparted by curvature. By optimally combining geometry and material, free-form shell structures of extraordinary material efficiency and functionality can be engineered. This research will develop a design and manufacturing framework for concurrently tailoring the composition of different fibre reinforcements, their steered trajectories, and the overall shape of the designed shell for applications where mass, stiffness and/or shape adaptivity are design objectives. An inherent challenge in realising these "gradient" shells lies in efficiently exploring the vast design space and devising high-quality and defect-free manufacturing protocols. A computational inverse design tool based on efficient nonlinear modelling and optimisation algorithms will be created that returns the desired geometry, material composition and fibre trajectories for specific applications. The manufacturing approach will combine two technologies pioneered at the host institution: a fibre-alignment method for producing high-quality composites from reclaimed fibres and a defect-free fibre-steering process. This manufacturing approach takes advantage of the excellent forming and steering qualities of discontinuous-fibre composites compared to their continuous-fibre counterparts, making reclaimed-fibre composites the ideal material to enable gradient shell architectures. To demonstrate the breadth of the research vision, the programme of work will address both stiff fibre-reinforced composites for applications in aerospace, as well as soft-matter fibre-reinforced liquid crystal elastomers for shape-adaptive morphing applications in soft robotics. In collaboration with key industry partners, this fellowship includes an impact delivery plan for the aviation and space sectors. Both industries are important areas of competitive advantage for the UK but also one of the fastest growing contributors to CO2 emissions. The outcomes of this research will support the transition of these industries to Net Zero through ultra-lightweight structural architectures and by accelerating the sustainable use of composite materials. In addition, the rapid digital design tools developed in this research will support capabilities to embrace novel structural configurations and the automated manufacturing protocols will enable inherent quality improvements and cost reductions. The UK space industry is currently facing a skills shortage that is inhibiting growth and new initiatives are needed to inspire the next generation of space engineers. The outreach philosophy underpinning this fellowship is to address this skills gap by diversifying the talent pipeline of the industry through an inspiring space-focused audio and video podcast that will feature industry leaders from diverse ethnic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

Overview The ocean absorbs more than 90% of the excess heat associated with the Earth's Energy Imbalance and therefore regulates the rate of atmospheric warming. Local changes in both heat and freshwater content of the ocean regulate the spatial patterns of sea level change and have important implications for marine ecosystems. While a better understanding of past and future changes in ocean heat and freshwater content is important for the health of our planet, economies, and communities, our ability to quantify these changes is limited by the sparsity of the available observations. We propose to develop pioneering new estimates of monthly ocean heat and freshwater content changes from sparse in situ observations applying mapping methods that have been optimised using model-based synthetic observations. We will then use this information to constrain new projections of future sea level and surface temperature rise. Our results, including a universal framework to objectively evaluate mapping methods, will offer new insights relevant for a range of applications and variables, including: studying changes in regional temperature, salinity, and sea level; monitoring of the global ocean heat uptake and the global water cycle; forecast system evaluation and development. This project builds on MapEval4OceanHeat, an initial community effort that has demonstrated the potential for our methods and ability to work effectively with international collaborators. Intellectual merit Advances in autonomous profiling float technology have revolutionized the way we can observe the global ocean, yet the nominal spatial sampling (100s of km) remains sparse compared to the energetic ocean lengthscales (10s of km). Therefore, mapping methods are needed to transform sparse profile measurements into an estimate of the three dimensional ocean state. Mapping uncertainty and Expendable BathyThermograph (XBT) bias correction uncertainty remain the two largest components that confound our knowledge of ocean heat content change. We will advance the science on these two aspects of ocean heat content reconstructions and consider the implications for: (1) total ocean heat uptake, with a view to better constraints on past radiative forcing and projections of future surface temperature and sea level rise; (2) our ability to constrain and understand regional heat and freshwater changes (including extremes) and implications for sea level changes. We will develop a novel framework to assess a wide range of mapping methods used to re-construct ocean fields from available in situ observations (and, in some cases, satellite data) and use this information to develop an optimal mapping approach. Also, we will provide insights on the leading dynamical mechanisms for observed changes in heat and freshwater content. Broader impacts Our proposed project will advance knowledge on the ocean's response to radiative forcing of the Earth’s system, modes of variability, Earth's energy and sea level budgets, changes in the global water cycle, and provide new projections of future changes that support policy and decision makers. Our improved estimates of historical ocean heat and freshwater content changes will be used to constrain projections of future surface temperature and sea level rise, to study ocean variability and the associated impacts on communities and ecosystems, to improve initial condition estimates for seasonal-to-decadal forecast systems, and to evaluate and improve numerical models. Best practices identified here for mapping methods can apply to mapping of other ocean and environmental variables in the future. Using outputs from the project, we will create educational activities for undergraduate to graduate classes: these hands-on activities will enhance students’ engagement focusing on societally relevant ocean observations and providing an opportunity to learn about state-of-the-art statistical methods and their scientific application.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

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

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

Context More than twice as many people now survive cancer compared to 1970s. Whilst effective in improving survival, many chemotherapy drugs cause chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). CIPN can lead to  pain, numbness, weakness, impaired coordination, falls and faints and can be one most difficult long-term consequences of cancer treatment. Up to 70% of people will develop CIPN, which may require pausing/changing chemotherapy and over 30% of people have symptoms that last >6months after finishing treatment.  Around 10,000 patients per month start chemotherapy treatment in the UK meaning upto 30,000 patients develop chronic CIPN per year. CIPN has major detrimental effects on patients’ quality of life, need for ongoing healthcare support, ability to work, mental wellbeing and their social lives. There are no recommended therapies to protect nerves or encourage recovery and the current treatments for the symptoms of CIPN are poor- emphasising the need to focus on prevention. The challenge the project addresses CIPN diagnosis relies largely on clinical history and sometimes patient-reported symptom assessments or bedside tests of sensory function that are insensitive. Clinicians under-diagnose CIPN and our PPIE group told us that they failed to recognise or concealed their symptoms. This means CIPN is often recognised late, when the damage is irreversible and that there is a clear unmet clinical need for improved detection of nerve damage. Our current UKRI / Versus Arthritis funded SenseCheQ project has pioneered a sensory testing method using innovative combinations of thermal and vibration sensations. We have established in human models that this is more sensitive than the standard clinical tests. Aims and objectives The SenseCheQ@Home project will develop an intuitive test to enable patients to make repeated assessments of nerve function during their chemotherapy treatment to provide early warning of toxicity. The SenseCheQ@home development programme will be co-created with our PPIE groups who will use their lived experience of cancer treatment and recent experience of use of the SenseCheQ unit to shape our study (Workpackage 1). We will develop a “minimal viable product” of our SenseCheQ@home unit through our industrial collaboration with designworks* (Workpackage 2) to take into proof-of-concept studies in 70 Breast and Gastrointestinal cancer patients having chemotherapy (Workpackage 4). In parallel, we will deploy novel engineering and analysis approaches (Workpackage 3) to broaden the ability to detect nerve toxicity including small fibre denervation, static and dynamic fine touch, motor function and contemporaneous integrated symptom tracking. Potential applications and benefits We believe that SenseCheQ@Home will speed up CIPN diagnosis in normal clinical care pathways and hence reduce the harm from treatment. This SenseCheQ@Home test empowers patients with objective nerve function tests that they can discuss with their clinical teams – giving them more control. This will be a convenient, affordable, and easy to use test that will, therefore, improve access to diagnostics and inclusivity. In the future, this approach could help in monitoring nerve damage associated with other diseases such as diabetes. Our discussions with industry colleagues and collaborators suggest that such community-based sensory tests may also be useful to assess the influence of novel neuroregenerative treatments.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

This grant is requesting a replacement for an aging automated DNA extraction system currently in use in the Bristol Bioresource Laboratories (BBL). The BBL team have considerable experience of creating and managing large collections of DNA samples for Population Health Research. BBL is currently custodian of samples from over 100,000 participants. The majority of these are from world renown longitudinal birth cohorts including the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), the Cleft Collective and the Born in Bradford study (BIB). In addition, BBL manage samples for national population cohort studies such as the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (1946 birth cohort), the 1958 National Child Development study (NCDS) and the Millenium Cohort Study (MCS).  The team also process DNA for several research teams working on specific clinical research projects within the University of Bristol. Once processed DNA samples are used to produce genotype and epigenetic data, some in house and some by external laboratories such as the Wellcome Sanger Institute. In the last two years BBL have supplied over 65,000 DNA samples from ALSPAC, BIB and MCS to the Sanger Institute for a high profile, cross cohort, exome sequencing project. The impact of the genetics data generated from samples from BBL is far reaching. This is because the data generated by cohort studies are resources for the scientific community and data is used by researchers across the world. As an example, over 3,000 scientific publications have included data from the ALSPAC study of which ~50% have utilised data generated from samples held in BBL. The extensive use of data which originates from BBL samples requires high quality standards. The BBL team have a demonstrated commitment to providing a high quality service as illustrated by their ISO9001 certified quality management system. This in turn requires well maintained up to date equipment. DNA is currently extracted from samples using an automated system which will become unsupported by the manufacturer in the next 16 months. Concentration of the DNA is currently measured on a separate automated system requiring manual intervention in the process which increases the chance of user error. We are therefore requesting funds to purchase a bespoke Hamilton STARplus Promega automated DNA extraction and quantification system. This will replace two existing systems with one improved, more up to date model. In summary obtaining this new equipment will improve efficiency, reduce the possibility of errors and by reducing the number of systems required reduce running costs. This will enable BBL to continue the generation of high quality DNA samples for use in world renown Population Health Research.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

Cognitive ability is predictive of socioeconomic position (SEP), and health, with a higher level of cognitive ability being associated with a higher SEP, and lower risk of illness, and common genetic variants, in part, explain this link. The goal of this programme of research is to identify the regions of the genome (loci) and biological systems underlying this relationship, including those on the, as yet, unexamined mitochondrial genome, to quantify the genetic and environmental contributions to the relationship between cognitive ability, health, and SEP, and identify instances where these relationships are likely to be causal. The elucidation of which genetic variants are linked to cognitive differences has proceeded rapidly in the last 5 years. However, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have four issues that limit their use. These issues include a constraint on the sample size due to the difficulty in measuring cognitive ability, the absence of the mitochondrial genome from association studies, not adequately examining causal relationships between traits, and that interpretations of the effects identified using GWAS focus of genetic effects, despite the known presence of non-direct (or environmental effects) that result in trait variation. My research programme will utilise creative, and novel techniques coupled with new data from the international collaborations I have forged to address unanswered questions pertaining to the genetic and environmental contributions to cognitive ability and its overlap with health and SEP. Specifically, I will generate the largest GWAS data set on cognitive ability using a design that allows for the combination of genetically linked phenotypes. The additional power afforded by this design will allow for more loci, associated specifically with cognitive ability, to be identified. These data will also be used to examine the biological systems and mechanisms that, once perturbed by genetic variation, are associated with differences in cognitive ability. Unlike previous genetic investigations of cognitive ability I will also be examining the mitochondrial genome for association with cognitive ability. This novel analysis will also be used to examine the health traits that are associated with differences in cognitive ability to determine if the same loci in the mitochondrial genome is associated with both. This would provide a, partial, explanation for the link between cognitive ability, SEP, and health. The loci identified in the multivariate design will next be used as genetic instruments in a series of Mendelian randomisation (MR) studies to examine causality. MR will be used to identify the causal role that cognitive ability plays in health differences as well as differences in brain imaging traits. Finally, the role of the environment will be examined using family based cohorts and the genetic variants a parent does not share with their child. These non-transmitted genetic variants function in an analogous manner to the genotype of an adoptive parent, i.e. they may contribute towards the environment a child is raised in, but are independent to any genetic effects. By deriving genetic predictors based on these non-transmitted genetic variants I will be able to ascertain if the environmental effects of parental cognitive ability is associated with the offspring's level of cognitive ability and their health in later life. These topics are important for expanding our knowledge of how cognitive ability and health are linked. By increasing statistical power, as well as including non-examined regions of the genome in my work we can have the best understanding of how genetic factors contribute towards cognitive and health differences. Furthermore, the use of MR and non-transmitted genetic effects will allow us to investigate the environmental consequences of cognitive ability on health and the health of the next generation.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

Computer-aided design (CAD) is widely used across engineering processes. Applying CAD and computational approaches in engineering biology is a major ambition, as methods based only on biological knowledge require numerous experimental trial-and-error iterations. This is the case for many engineering biology applications, including metabolic engineering, where the aim is to redirect cellular metabolism to produce desired compounds (for example fine chemicals and biofuels) by modifying biosynthetic pathways. Genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) are computational representations of metabolic fluxes in a cell, which can be used to predict how to best edit a genome (i.e. which genes to remove or insert) to optimise the production of the compound of interest. GEMs are however limited in their description of cellular processes, as they only focus on metabolic interactions at steady state. Whole-cell models (WCMs) are state-of-the-art cell representations that account for the function and dynamics of every gene product and molecule over the cell life cycle. WCMs offer wide-ranging and not yet fully explored opportunities to link genotypes to phenotypes, unlocking biological discovery for a range of biotechnological applications. We propose here to realise the potential of WCMs, together with modern Machine Learning and multiplexed genome editing techniques, to accelerate the engineering of bacterial cells that can be used as optimal production strains for metabolic engineering. Success will deliver radical changes in the way cell factories are designed and programmed, developing tools which interdisciplinary communities can access to deliver competitive bio-based solutions.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

Human development is a complex process involving stem cells that can multiply, turn into different cells, and form the organs of the body. This process is controlled by our genetic code and differences in single genes can disrupt organ growth. To study developmental issues, researchers are increasingly using organoids: small tissues that are grown in the laboratory using clusters of human stem cells. Organoids provide us with an accessible option to study human biology without the ethical and technical challenges of animal research. However, a major limitation of organoids is their highly variable and unpredictable growth. I am addressing this challenge in Years 1-4 of my fellowship: my team are building microchips to produce advanced brain organoids that contain the different regions of the brain in the correct anatomical location. The microchips and organoids that we have developed in Years 1-4 will be used in the renewal period to study KBG Syndrome. Individuals with KBG Syndrome have abnormal development of the brain and skeleton, and a range of associated disabilities (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disabilities, short stature, spinal/craniofacial abnormalities). It is known that these individuals lack the correct version of a gene called ANKRD11, however, it is not known how this genetic difference disrupts the growth of the brain and skeleton. We will address this challenge in the renewal by using advanced organoids to study how deletion of ANKRD11 affects the growth of the brain and skeleton. We have three objectives: - Objective 1 is to delete the ANKRD11 gene from stem cells using a method known as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. - Objective 2 will then study advanced brain organoids that have been grown using the gene-edited stem cells. - Objective 3 will then study advanced skeletal organoids that have been grown using the gene-edited stem cells. This renewal is a clear continuation of my fellowship, enabled by outputs from Years 1-4: advanced brain organoids in objective 2, microchips in objective 3. Importantly, this renewal will progress my fellowship from technology development into disease modelling. Understanding how KBG Syndrome develops will potentially benefit patients and families by improving the clinical practice that is offered. For instance, this study could help to identify other genes that explain why certain KBG patients develop certain features (e.g., epileptic-like seizures). This knowledge would be valuable to improve the guidance and counselling protocols that are offered to KBG patients and families. In the longer term, the outputs from this renewal could be used to design and test new drug treatments for KBG Syndrome. We have also developed an impact strategy to ensure that the work will provide benefit beyond KBG Syndrome. For instance, through collaboration, training events, and commercialization, we will make these advanced organoids and microchips available to other scientists that want to study different questions around development, disease, or drug response. This will ensure broad impact across the biomedical sciences that extends beyond the scope and lifetime of this fellowship.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-11

We seek to establish a partnership between the University of Bristol (UoB) and the Aotearoa/New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) to deliver low-latency, high-resolution methane emissions evaluation using MethaneSAT observations. Our proposed project brings together our groups’ complementary expertise to solve a major bottleneck in our ability to provide rapid, policy relevant methane emissions estimates from this unique new dataset. It will bring valuable new capability to the UK science community and new outputs to non-academic beneficiaries who rely on robust, high-resolution methane flux estimates for tracking progress on climate change mitigation activities. MethaneSAT, launched in 2024, is now making observations of methane (CH4) at unprecedented resolution and precision (~1 km2 and 2-3 ppb) in 200 km2 scenes over key emitting regions. The instrument has been designed to enable near-real-time tracking of the world’s major oil, gas and agricultural sources and therefore to provide rapid feedback to industry and policymakers on the efficacy of mitigation actions. However, the very large data volumes now being delivered by MethaneSAT cause major bottlenecks in the atmospheric modelling and inference methods that are needed to interpret the data. Our partnership aims to overcome this limitation by bringing together UoB’s globally unique artificial intelligence (AI)-accelerated emissions evaluation system and NIWA’s MethaneSAT data interpretation capability. Through a Google PhD studentship and UKRI funding, our team at UoB have created a deep learning model of atmospheric transport for greenhouse gas flux inference, the Graph-based Atmospheric Transport Emulation System (GATES, Fillola et al., 2023). This system can calculate satellite methane measurement “footprints”, the key component of emissions inference frameworks, almost three orders of magnitude more quickly than 3D atmospheric models. The system will be further developed and deployed for global lower-resolution global mapping satellites over the next three years through a NERC Pushing the Frontiers grant. In this seed corn project, we aim to leverage this activity to develop, in parallel, the capability for GATES to simulate MethaneSAT observations, opening the possibility of simultaneously evaluating distributed area fluxes and large point sources. The proposed partnership with NIWA is critical for this project, because, with the Environmental Defence Fund and Harvard University, they are key members of the MethaneSAT science team and are leading on the evaluation of agricultural emissions. They have expert knowledge of the use of MethaneSAT observations for flux inference, which is not available in the UK, and they have developed a substantial set of model simulations that can be used to train GATES. The proposed research plan was co-developed during a 3-week sabbatical of the PI at NIWA in January 2025. These preliminary activities, complementary expertise, and existing model training set will allow us to scale up our project immediately. The primary aim of this project is to make accurate observation-based CH4 flux estimates at scales relevant for tracking climate action in the UK and New Zealand. We aim to do this at a fraction of the computational cost of previous methods. This new capability will attract wide interest from greenhouse gas researchers and stakeholders around the world, opening several avenues for broader investigations into global emissions and sustainable longer-term funding.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-10

A grand challenge for volcanology is to understand the drivers of eruptive transitions. Many volcanoes transition between gently effusive and violently explosive behaviour, or show rapid fluctuations in explosivity during eruption, leading to dangerous escalations in eruptive hazard. Unsteady eruptions are common, but are currently hard to anticipate as there are no models that capture this behaviour. Because of this, unsteady eruptions are associated with significant disruption and fatalities in both historical and contemporary records. Our multidisciplinary team provides the expertise required to integrate and analyse diverse datasets and create models for unsteady volcanic systems that will realise new capabilities for predicting dangerous volcanic eruptions.  Our aim is to deliver a step-change in how we understand and anticipate the dynamic drivers for ‘dangerous’ eruptive transitions.  We can do this now because of recent analytical, theoretical and instrumental developments in volcanology, much of it led by Ex-X team members, and acceleration in numerical modelling capacities. Our collaborations with key international partners who have generated enabling data and models are fundamental to this innovation. Together, we will forensically examine eruptions from three volcanoes with rich records of unsteady and dangerous eruptions (La Soufrière, St Vincent; Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat; Mt Pelée, Martinique). Their deep storage systems and magmatic characters are well-understood, so we can target critical knowledge gaps arising from their unsteady, time-dependent behaviour. These volcanoes provide archetypes for dangerous eruptive transitions worldwide, and our insights will directly benefit interpretations of ongoing unrest and future activity in the Caribbean, and beyond. The Large Grant format allows us to bring together the diverse expertise needed to do this well, and in an innovative and timely fashion.   Our project has the following objectives:    (1) to develop new methodologies that capture fluctuating conduit input (three phase conduit flow, loading and erosion) and consequent variations in eruptive behaviour by:  (a) using ‘microstratigraphies’ to capture the spatial and temporal changes that drive transitions which are uniquely recorded in the eruptive deposits and (b) using nodal seismometers and machine learning to enhance the spatial and temporal resolution of seismic and geophysical records of eruptions and their changing conditions  (2) to develop models with the essential time-dependence needed to describe unsteadiness in each part of the system, beginning with the current state-of-the-art knowledge for: (a) disequilibrium conduit flow and (b) unsteady eruption columns  (3) to create an end-to-end description of the drivers of past eruptive transitions through a brand-new coupled model capable of capturing fragmentation and column collapse, validated and refined via our physically derived datasets.   (4) to demonstrate how this knowledge can improve monitoring and warning systems in the Eastern Caribbean, and beyond by (a) using the coupled model to predict geophysical precursors to transitions (b) using the combined datasets to evaluate the range of likely eruptive scenarios and trajectories that may lead to dangerous eruptive transitions at Eastern Caribbean volcanoes. ?  (5) Through our engagement with Eastern Caribbean partners, and our attention to the career development of early career researchers, we will support and develop a new generation of researchers and partnerships capable of tackling important multidisciplinary problems in volcanology, volcano monitoring and management.  Ex-X will particularly benefit those responsible for volcanic hazard monitoring and management, and through them the exposed populations and managers of risk in volcanic countries. 

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-10

Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA) is a complex and currently incurable genetic disorder, that typically appears in late childhood. People with the condition experience progressive accumulation of neurological disability. The disorder also affects multiple other organs, with over half of FA patients also presenting with cardiomyopathy, and a third with diabetes. Currently, FA treatment is symptomatic and supportive only, and there is a significant unmet need for treatments to prevent disease progression. FA is caused by a genetic mutation in the FXN gene, which carries the genetic code for a life-essential protein called frataxin. This mutation leads to low levels of frataxin within cells, causing them to malfunction and die. Our research, along with studies conducted by other scientists, has shown a promising therapeutic strategy for FA. It involves replacing a patient's blood stem cells harbouring the mutated FXN gene with cells from that of a healthy donor. When transplanted into individuals with FA, the donor stem cells, containing a normal FXN gene, have the capability to distribute and restore frataxin levels throughout the body. However, in clinical practice, transplanting cells from another person does carry several problems, including the challenge of finding an appropriately matched donor. There is also a significant risk of life-threatening complications related to the use of cytotoxic and immunosuppressive drugs to prevent donor cell rejection. Our research team are exploring an innovative approach to overcome the challenges associated with transplanting donor stem cells. This involves isolating a patient's own blood stem cells, inserting a new normal FXN gene using a modified non-pathogenic virus, and then transplanting them back into the individual. We have tested this approach in mice with FA and have shown extremely promising outcomes. These include improvements in blood stem cell function, restorations in body mass, and enhancements in the way the mice can move and walk. To obtain regulatory approval for the clinical use of genetically modified blood stem cells in humans, extensive preclinical studies are required. These studies must adhere to strict guidelines set by regulatory bodies, such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA), to ensure the safety and efficacy of the proposed therapy. As part of the preparations for securing the substantial funding required to initiate this pre-clinical work, it is vital to provide robust data demonstrating both the feasibility and scientific validity of the therapy in human blood stem cells. To bridge the gap between our current findings in FA mice and the planned pre-clinical safety and toxicology studies, we propose a focused, single-step study to validate the use of our non-pathogenic virus for delivering a healthy FXN gene into blood stem cells derived from individuals with FA. This represents a critical and high-risk step, essential for generating experimental, human-specific data on FXN gene addition and expression. This data will be key in rapidly de-risking the subsequent development of our approach and advancing towards a clinical trial application. Overall, through this study our focus is to develop a safe and easily applicable one-time treatment for people with FA that can slow or prevent disease progression.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-10

  Context This proposal is entitled Transformational Educational Leadership in 21st Century Contexts or TransformLEAD.  This is a Design-Based Research (DBR) Professional Development (PD) programme designed for different types of leaders in diverse educational settings. It is a three-month PD delivered in a hybrid mode. Participants acquire leading-edge skills in leadership whilst planning, implementing, evaluating and reflecting upon context-based Transformational Action Plans (TAPs). TransformLEAD will start in the Philippines with the objective of spreading to other regions. The challenge the project addresses TransformLEAD addresses the critical and urgent need to build capacity for 65,000 school leaders in the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) situated in schools, in local councils as well as in national bureaucracies. Currently fragmented initiatives pursued by DepEd, have been dismal as evidenced by ongoing scholarly research and engagement by the project proponent. TransformLEAD that began in 2018 –created by this project proponent -- has been modified through the years to cater to the unique circumstances of the Philippines. In November 2024, senior officials of the National Educators Association of the Philippines (NEAP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) participated in the fifth iteration of TransformLEAD. The Executive Director of NEAP challenged the project proponent to scale up TransformLEAD to be able to build leadership capacity of around 65,000 school leaders as well as to help in upskilling around 300,000 teachers in different discipline areas. Philippine partners are waiting on the project proponent to formalise a possible partnership between the University of Bristol and the Philippine Department of Education, through TransformLEAD. Aims and Objectives TransformLEAD continues to be undertaken with a nuanced recognition of the existing issues that besiege Southeast Asia, specifically Indonesia and the Philippine education systems particularly as it relates to ongoing controversial large-scale reform efforts addressing dysfunctional bureaucracy and perennial capacity shortfalls made worse by the region’s unnatural share of severe seasonal weather disturbances. TransformLEAD is therefore carried out with a full awareness of implementation paradoxes described for example as a mismatch between technological transfers from different, usually foreign contexts, applied to local settings that are plagued by challenges. There is also an authentic recognition of lingering questions besieging educational implementation reforms in cross-country exchanges. As such, an essential feature of TransformLEAD is an acknowledgement of the importance of context-specificity built into the design principles of the programme. Potential applications and benefits The potential customers for TransformLEAD, in the first instance, would be school leaders within the Philippine DepEd, around 65,000. Additionally, there would be around 1,500 system leaders (i.e. Division Superintendents, District Supervisors and members of the DepEd bureaucracy occupying leadership positions. In the middle and long-term life of this proposal, TransformLEAD can be enacted in other countries of Southeast Asia (i.e. Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam). These countries have requested replicating TransformLEAD in their jurisdictions. Currently, the Philippine DepEd has a fragmented approach in capacity-building for Philippine school leaders. Other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines, private companies and Non-Government Organisations provide leadership training --- but these are not the same as TransformLEAD. TransformLEAD has three pillars that make it unique: (1) Utilising Communities of Practice; (2) Taking advantage of critical friends/mentors (previous graduates/alumni of TransformLEAD) and (3) Embedding Design-Based Research interventions -- Transformational Action Plans -- within the programme itself. This is what separates TransformLEAD from other existing capacity-building programmes.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-10

90% of researchers believe research integrity is compromised at times (UKRI 2020). UKRN Services aims to build public trust in UK research by helping stakeholders embed robust, transparent practices. Through tailored training and support, we empower individuals and institutions to adopt open research methods. Our strategic consultancy also contributes to meta-research, generating evidence to guide further improvements. Together, these efforts strengthen the UK research ecosystem’s rigour, transparency, and credibility for long-term societal and scientific benefit.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-10

Meals on Wheels services provide a lifeline for older adults and people with care needs across the UK. By delivering hot meals and social contact, they enable people to remain nourished, connected, and living independently at home for longer. This not only improves individual wellbeing but also reduces pressure on health and social care systems, as residential care can be far more costly. Despite this importance, the Meals on Wheels sector in the UK is fragmented. Providers often operate in isolation, with limited national infrastructure to connect them, share best practice, or advocate collectively. Many lack visibility, digital tools, or opportunities to learn from peers. This contrasts sharply with other countries: in Australia, America, and Ireland, bespoke national Meals on Wheels organisations provide structured support through membership schemes, training, advocacy, and partnerships. The UK has no equivalent. This project seeks to address this gap by exploring the creation of a sustainable social venture dedicated to Meals on Wheels providers. Building on the foundation of the Meals on Wheels UK website, launched in November 2024, which has already mapped more than 300 providers and attracted over 18,000 users, this work will test what a long-term, provider-facing support structure could look like. The project has three main aims: 1. Develop and test potential revenue models - such as annual membership fees, sponsorships, or licensing - to ensure long-term financial sustainability. 2. Prototype practical offers for providers - for example, a secure online portal for sharing resources, an annual conference to bring services together, and tools to enhance visibility and referrals. 3. Explore governance and leadership options - to identify how the venture could be structured and who might take a leading role in the future, whether as a standalone social enterprise, partnership, or other model. The approach will be co-designed with providers, recognising that their time and expertise are crucial. A 'Founding Members Circle' of 10-15 providers will help shape and test the venture’s core offers. Additional providers will be engaged through consultations, workshops, and pilot activities. Compensation for their participation will ensure inclusion of smaller, voluntary, and overstretched services that might otherwise be excluded. The potential benefits are significant. For providers, the venture would offer increased visibility, access to peer support, co-designed resources, and a stronger national voice. For the sector as a whole, it would create resilience, reduce duplication, and improve quality. For policymakers and commissioners, it would offer clearer insight into the value and needs of Meals on Wheels services, supporting evidence-based decisions. Ultimately, for individuals with support needs and their families and carers, it would mean more sustainable, higher-quality services that help people remain independent at home. By the end of the six-month ARC Accelerate programme, the goal is to have a validated business direction, a group of engaged founding partners, and a clear roadmap for what comes next. In the longer term, success would mean the establishment of a UK-wide support structure, with 100+ members, sustainable income streams, and demonstrable impact on service quality, sector visibility, and policy influence.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-10

Future Finance is an accelerator for financial services that takes principles from innovation ecosystem and startup support programmes, and applies them to established firms. The programme of support is designed to enable firms that are currently stagnant in their growth, to innovate. Embedded with academic consultancy, our approach is focused on helping firms to understand organisational and customer problems, market trends, regulations and implement the right solutions to take them forward. Workforce productivity in the U.K.'s financial services sector is declining. The UK Government identifies this and has prioritised digital adoption as a key pillar to drive growth. We solve the challenges relating to digital/AI adoption through modular support that drives successful change in established firms. Our programme not only focusses on delivering technical solutions, but addressing the core cultural, structural, organisational and capabilities around leading change that are required to successfully adopt new technology. Digital adoption is throughout the UK Government's modern Industrial Strategy 2025 and targeted towards Financial Services. The Future Finance Innovation Accelerator modules will directly respond to these adoption challenges and will be capable of being scaled and replicated across other IS-8 sectors, including professional and business services. The Future Finance Innovation Accelerator will draw on learnings and collaboration from pre-existing connections with the financial services industry which will position the accelerator in a unique space where we will work primarily with SMEs, mid-tier firms and social enterprise/not-for-profit organisations (eg credit unions) on applied challenges that will drive innovation adoption that have the potential to scale. We will be helping these firms and organisations to break down the barriers of innovation adoption to continually innovate and adapt to the changing environment in which they operate and respond to challenges faced in relation to AI and digital/technological change.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-10

This project aims to advance the understanding and treatment of psychosomatic heart diseases through a transdisciplinary approach integrating medical science, cultural studies, and the arts. Led by Lomi (East Asian Medical Humanities) and Biglino (Biomedical Engineering), the study focuses on Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (TCM), or "broken heart syndrome." Drawing on findings from a 2018 pilot workshop, which revealed unmet psychological and emotional needs among patients, the project will utilise Japanese cultural metaphors (kintsugi, takotsubo), participatory artistic practices, and immersive digital tools, to create innovative models for patient care and clinician education. Context TCM is triggered by emotional or physical stress, mimicking a heart attack and causing a temporary reversible dysfunction, where the heart takes an apical ballooning shape (narrow neck and round bottom). The term takotsubo (lit. "octopus jar", referring to a Japanese vase traditionally used to trap octopuses) was purportedly chosen due to the resemblance between the vase’s shape and the heart’s shape during the syndrome. The condition accounts for 3% of acute coronary syndrome presentations and is highly prevalent in women (90% of TCM diagnoses), particularly post-menopause. Natural history, management, and outcomes are still incompletely understood. The Challenge Patients with TCM are reported to experience emotional reactions, seeking to understand the root causes of such a dramatic clinical event. The pilot workshop led by Biglino engaged eight female patients in creative activities, revealing unmet needs for psychosocial support, alternative treatments, and patient-centred resources. The workshop underscored the importance of addressing cultural, emotional, and gender-specific dimensions, thus inspiring this project’s broadened art-based approach. Aims and Objectives The project has three core aims: Term Repositioning and Gender Sensitivities: examining the term takotsubo and its cultural meanings, particularly its gendered connotations. Lomi’s research investigates the meaning of takotsubo in relation to the female reproductive system, as the term is commonly used in Japanese art and literature to refer, in a derogatory way, to the uterus and vagina. A critical genealogy of this term, in relation to the western notion of hysteria, will illuminate cultural and cross-cultural perceptions of female physiology and shape therapeutic understandings. Patient Involvement: enhancing patient experience is central to the project. Our team includes five artists who will use storytelling, ceramics, 3D modelling and VR, to help patients explore different ways of representing and making sense of hearts affected by TCM, stimulating them to engage with their condition in individually-meaningful ways.  Developing New Learning Tools: insights from this case study will inform interdisciplinary educational resources for clinicians, integrating medical and cultural perspectives. Developed in collaboration with Cardiomyopathy UK (CUK) and the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH), these resources aim to foster a holistic approach to patient care.  Potential Applications and Benefits By addressing gaps in current healthcare practices, the project not only enhances patient engagement but also contributes to broader discussions on culturally informed medical care and the integration of humanities in health research. The outcomes of the project will provide a basis from which to inform future practice, adaptable to other forms of heart disease.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

The aim of this six-month programme is to set the foundation of a longer-term collaboration between the UK and Japan on power electronics for Electric Vehicles (EV). Building on the strong relationship between the REWIRE IKC, led by the University of Bristol, and Nagoya University, drawing in other Japanese and UK academia and industries in as needed. Achieving net zero in EV technologies depends on significantly improving the efficiency of high voltage power electronics. As electrification expands, traditional silicon devices are being replaced by more advanced materials like the Wide BandGap (WBG) gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC), which offer better performance. In this project, we will be exploring the next generation of materials, Ultra-Wide BandGap (UWBG) semiconductors, such as Aluminium Gallium Nitride (AlGaN), which show even greater promise for high-efficiency power conversion. We will produce demonstrator AlGaN devices and integrate them into converters. However, like many other UWBG materials poor thermal conductivity limits their potential. We intend to overcome this issue by integration with diamond, which has excellent heat-handling properties. These new hybrid devices will be designed to deliver long-lifetimes, high-voltage performance and high efficiency ideal for future EV power systems.

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

In this project, we will establish ambitious new strategies for the stereoselective synthesis of highly functionalised fluorinated motifs from unactivated and readily available alkynes.   The selective incorporation of fluorine into complex organic molecules has been an essential factor in the growth of many fields and applications, ranging from crystal engineering, materials, polymers, agriculture, and medicinal chemistry. For example, the incorporation of fluorine into pharmaceuticals can enhance their activity, rationalising why 34% of commercial pharmaceuticals contain at least one fluorine atom.   The progression of many fields of research is directly linked to the ability of synthetic chemists to construct complex molecules, and the selective addition of fluorine at very precise positions is an important part of this. Despite general progress in the synthesis of fluorinated moieties, there are still significant challenges in preparing them in regio-, diastereo- and enantio-selective ways. Preparing fluorinated motifs with exquisite control of this selectivity is essential for tuning the activity and function of the molecule. For example, fluorination is used by medicinal chemists to modulate the pKa of basic groups to improve the interaction with enzymatic active sites. Hence there remains an urgent requirement to invent new strategies for selective synthesis of fluorinated motifs, especially fluorinated alkyl motifs, which are especially under-developed.   The aim of this research project is to fluoro-functionalise alkynes, which are one of the most versatile functional groups, to generate complex fluoroalkenes and alkyl fluorides with exquisite regio-, diastereo- and enantioselectivity. We will employ designer reagents to mediate this suite of transformations, and exploit state-of-the-art, machine learning (“digital chemistry”) algorithms to aid their optimisation.   Specific objectives include: The generation of conditions to activate alkynes Stereoselective synthesis of monofluoroalkenes Synthesis of gem-difluorides Enantioselective alkyne fluorofunctionalisation   Our novel and timely approach will provide far-reaching applications towards highly-substituted organofluorine motifs, and robust stereo-selective alkyne multi-functionalisation methods. These methods and techniques will aid synthetic chemists to readily design and implement function into molecules, and pave the way for scientific advancements and technological breakthroughs.   This fundamental research, which underpins many fields of research and development, will provide broad ranging benefits. These include to, a) the chemical industry by providing pharmaceutical and agrochemical companies with innovative ways to make new products and training a highly skilled PDRA for the work force, as well as to, b) academia by supporting and growing the excellent international reputation of synthesis in the UK, and to, c) society by contributing to the growth of a technology-first economy and to the development of new medicines and products that will improve the quality of life for all.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Step changes in electrical machine (e-machine) performance are central to the success of future More-Electric and All-Electric transport initiatives and play a vital role in meeting the UK's Net Zero Emission target by 2050. E-machine technology roadmaps from the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) and Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) seek continuous power-density of between 9 and 25 kW/kg by 2035, in stark contrast to the 2-5 kW/kg available today. E-machine power-density is ultimately limited by the ability to dissipate internally generated losses, which manifest as heat, and the temperature rating of the electrical insulation system. The electrical conductors, referred to as windings, are often the dominant loss source and are conventionally formed from electrically insulated copper or aluminium conductors. Such conductors are manufactured using a drawing and insulation technique, which aside from improvements in materials, has seen little change in the past century. Exploring alternative manufacturing methods could allow reduction in losses, enhanced heat extraction and facilitate increased temperature ratings, ushering the necessary step changes in power-density and e-machine performance. Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a process in which material is selectively bonded layer by layer to ultimately form a 3D part, enabling complex parts to be produced which may not be feasible using conventional methods. The design freedom offered by AM provides much sought-after opportunities to simultaneously reduce winding losses and packaging volume, improve thermal management and enable the use of high-temperature electrical insulation coatings. The design of such windings requires the development of new multi-physics design tools accounting for electromagnetic, thermo- and fluid- dynamics, mechanical and Design for AM (DfAM) aspects. It is important to have an understanding of the AM process, including the resulting material properties of parts and limitations on feature sizes and geometry in order to fully exploit the design freedoms whilst ensuring manufacturing feasibility. Establishing how to use build-supports and post-processes to improve component surface quality and facilitate application of electrical insulation coatings is another important aspect. To this end, I conducted initial studies in collaboration with academic and industrial partners focusing on shaped profile windings which have demonstrated the potential benefits of metal AM in e-machines and the drastic expansion of design possibilities to be explored. In the first period of this 4 + 3 year fellowship I established The Electrical Machine Works, an ambitious and comprehensive research programme reminiscent of a Skunk Works project which draws together UK industry and academic expertise in AM, material science and multi-physics e-machine design to form an internationally leading platform in this important emerging field. The fellowship and associated platform, The Electrical Machine Works, facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration with both industry and academia, catalysing high quality academic outputs disseminated through appropriate conference and journal publications, and the generation of Intellectual Property (IP), helping to keep the UK competitive in Power Electronics Machines and Drives (PEMD) and at the forefront of this area. The 3 year renewal period will be critical in allowing me dedicated time to narrow the activity delivered in the first 4 years and deliver a programme focused on high-potential winding technologies in order to develop deep understanding of their design, manufacturing, scalability for industry adoption, and real-world performance. This will make meaningful strides toward exceeding the APC and ATI power-density targets which will have a direct impact on our ability to decarbonise transport.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Milk and dairy products were introduced relatively recently to the human diet but have had a profound impact on our biology since, with 1 in 3 adults worldwide now being able to digest lactose. Milk production in the past has been assessed through the archaeological study of domesticated animal skeletal elements and the reconstruction of herd management strategies using animal kill-off profiles. Milk use and processing has been inferred through the study of dietary lipids trapped in the ceramic walls of pots during cooking. These methods have provided crucial insights into milk production and use in the past. However, assessing milk consumption in prehistoric populations remains challenging. This project aims to use the calcium isotope signal contained in human skeletal remains to quantify milk consumption at the individual level and explore the links between milk consumption and ecological, nutritional, cultural and genetic factors in the early farming communities of Europe and Southwestern Asia. To achieve this, we will first calibrate the relationship between the calcium isotope composition of diet and consumer tissues using calcium-containing foodstuffs, modern humans from a birth cohort longitudinal study (ALSPAC, known as Children's of the 90s study) and an animal model (pigs). We will then use this calibration to quantify milk consumption in past populations via the analysis of ancient human skeletal remains. We will target populations from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) to investigate the dietary shift immediately following animal domestication. Post-PPN populations will also be studied to understand milk consumption at sites where perishable containers may have been used for milk processing and thus where the analyses of dietary lipids preserved in pottery vessels may have underestimated milk use. Finally, we will target genotyped archaeological individuals from Europe and Southwestern Asia to test the link between the presence of lactase persistence alleles and milk consumption. This project will aim to test, using a model comparison framework, the link between milk consumption and ecological, nutritional, cultural and genetic factors. This project is highly interdisciplinary, with environmental chemistry, archaeology, genetics, and epidemiology at its heart. This research will provide a novel proxy for milk consumption in ancient populations that is complementary to lipid residue analyses of pottery sherds, thus expanding the compendium of diet-informative isotopes. The project will reveal - for the first time - the individual-level correspondence between prehistoric milk consumption and lactase persistence, and so provide an 'as it is happening' perspective on the evolution of the most advantageous monogenic human trait to have evolved in the last 10,000 years. Our study of modern populations from the ALSPAC study will increase our understanding of calcium homeostasis in human populations, opening the way to studies on Ca-related health issues, e.g. artery calcification and osteoporosis.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Whales are a diverse group of aquatic mammals that fill a wide range of important roles within marine communities. One surprising behaviour they exhibit is the remarkable ability to travel huge distances across the world every year in their annual migrations. They migrate from polar regions, where food is plentiful, to regions nearer the tropics where they can raise their young away from predators. Long-distance migration in whales is ecologically important because they transfer huge quantities of nutrients from the food they eat at the poles, which they then release in breeding regions through defecation or by dying. For example, a fallen whale body on the seabed provides the basis for an entire marine ecosystem. While fully-aquatic whales evolved over 40 million years ago, it is unclear when in their long evolutionary history migration began. It has been hypothesized that global climatic change, such as formation of the polar ice caps may have provided the environmental impetus for whale migration, but the link between behaviour, ecology, and evolution is poorly understood. This research will investigate long-distance migration in modern whales, then apply this knowledge to understanding how and when migratory behaviours evolved in ancient whales. We aim to investigate both the functional changes in morphology that enable long-distance migration and the environmental factors that drove the onset of these epic journeys. First, we will investigate how whale body shape has adapted to facilitate long-distance swimming in modern whales. We will ask: are migratory whales biomechanically optimized for swimming long distances? We will do this by measuring body shape variation in whales, and using computer models to estimate the fluid dynamics of whale swimming. Next, we will examine the environmental drivers that underlie whale migration and predict when they arose in earth history. We will ask: How do the environmental conditions in whale breeding and feeding grounds differ? And, when do these particular environments appear in the geological record? To do this, we will combine data from whale sightings around the world with environmental data, and state-of-the-art reconstructions of oceanic conditions throughout the Cenozoic. Finally, we will reconstruct the evolutionary history of both anatomical adaptations and ecology associated with migration. We will ask: When in whale evolution do we see the combination of swimming adaptations and ecological niches that indicate migratory behaviour? To do this, we will compare morphological and ecological features broadly across the phylogenetic tree of whales, reconstructing the most likely evolutionary sequence of events. This project proposes a unique combination of approaches to address an important evolutionary question. This will not only provide new insights into whales, their ecology, evolution, and behaviour; it will shed light on the deep-time origins of a process which is key to oceanic ecosystem function, and provide a case-study for the combination of anatomical and ecological evidence in studies of extinct species. By better understanding the relationship between whale migration and environmental change through time, we lay the groundwork for understanding the impact of anthropogenic changes on the future conservation risks of these iconic ocean giants.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

There is a pressing need to accelerate research and development within the life science industry, decreasing the time taken to bring new medicines to patients, while reducing the environmental impact of pharmaceutical production. This must be achieved within the wider societal drive towards Net Zero. There are three classes or ‘scopes’ of CO2 emission that manufacturers need to take into account on the path to Net Zero: Scope 1, direct emissions; Scope 2, indirect emissions from purchased energy and Scope 3, indirect emissions that occur in the upstream and downstream activities of an organisation. As part of their ‘Ambition Net Zero’, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (AZ) have reduced Scope 1&2 emissions by 68% since 2015, however, the more challenging Scope 3 emissions account for >95% and they are committed to reducing these by 90% by 2045. New, more sustainable approaches to the production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) – the active components in medicines – has been identified as the key area for reductions in emissions. ‘Catalysis’ is one of the 12 ‘principles of green chemistry’ due to the reduced environmental impact it bestows compared with non-catalysed transformations and palladium catalysed transformation are widely exploited in the production of APIs. Unfortunately, palladium is not only expensive (currently £24,000/kg), but has an exceptionally high carbon footprint. The extraction of 1kg of palladium produces nearly 4 tonnes of CO2 and requires ~200,000L of water. In the proposed drEAMcat Prosperity Partnership we will target its replacement with far more sustainable ‘Earth abundant metals’ (EAMs). EAMs such as copper, cobalt, nickel and iron are overwhelmingly cheaper and less environmentally damaging than palladium. For instance, iron ore costs around 8p/kg and its extraction liberates only 1.5 kg CO2 per kg. While this is easy to say, in practice it is very challenging to achieve. EAMs behave very differently to palladium. Coercing them into acting in a similar manner requires the development of a deep understanding of the ‘mechanisms’ of reaction: the way in which the fundamental chemical transformations occur. Mechanistic investigations can be laboriously slow, often taking many years to complete. To achieve the goal of replacing palladium with EAMs, drEAMcat will unite leading experts at AZ, the University of Bristol and Labman, a leading developer of automated laboratory tools. Using a combined approach of high-throughput experimentation and digital chemistry we aim to reduce the timescale of the mechanistic studies from years to weeks or days, allowing rapid implementation of EAM-catalysed processes. Reduced emissions is not the only benefit with EAM catalysis. The very fact that EAMs behave differently to palladium allows the development of new catalytic transformations that simply aren’t accessible with this metal. This will lead to further significant impacts. Firstly, it will enable alternative routes to API’s, shortening development and production times, leading to extensive cost savings and reduced waste. Secondly, it will open-up new realms of ‘chemical space’, facilitating the discovery and launch of new medicines in a faster and more efficient manner. The reduction in environmental harm, combined with shortening the time between drug discovery and transformative patient outcomes, will not only impact directly on AZ’s business, but on the wider life science sector, society and the economy in the UK and beyond.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Support for the Bristol experimental particle physics group's wide ranging research, including exploitation of LHC data with CMS and LHCb, searching for dark matter with LZ and rare muon decays with Mu3e, preparing the next generation of particle physics experiments (including DUNE and LHC upgrades), and designing possible future experiments such as electron-positron colliders and high-intensity fixed target experiments. Activities also include R&D for detector development and knowledge exchange.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-09

Pervasively connected devices/Internet of Things (IoT) are rapidly transforming our world. From autonomous vehicles and wearable medical monitors to agricultural sensors and industrial automation, these applications rely on billions of small, low-power devices working together seamlessly. However, as this network of IoT devices expands, so do the associated security risks. How can we be sure an IoT device is genuine and not a malicious copy? And how can we protect the sensitive data transmitted by these IoT devices, especially when many are too resource-constrained to run conventional encryption? SUBNET is a collaborative research project that addresses these challenges with a secure-by-design, physical-level solution. Rather than adding software-based security after deployment, SUBNET will build trust and privacy directly into the physical design of the IoT device. At the heart of the project is an innovative adoption of hardware-embedded backscatter technology, which allows ultra-low-power devices to reflect wireless signals controlled by IoT devices. This will enable two layers of security: (1) Device Authentication. Each device will reflect signals in a pattern that acts like a hardware fingerprint. As a result, the IoT gateway verifies whether an IoT device is genuine, without relying on traditional communication or heavy processing. (2) Data Privacy. The backscattered signal will also carry an encryption key used to decode transmitted IoT data. This adds a second line of defence by making it extremely difficult for eavesdroppers to intercept or interpret the transmitted data. Led by early career researchers (ECRs) at the University of Bristol in partnership with a reputed researcher at Georgia Tech in the US, SUBNET offers a practical, energy-efficient path to securing the next generation of connected and resource-constrained IoT devices, which is a critical step toward safe, trustworthy digital infrastructure for healthcare, smart cities, and beyond.