Lancaster University

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

A critical component of sustainable agriculture is the need to maintain productivity while maximising other critical ecosystem services, notably carbon capture and storage. Quantifying the major pathways of carbon through agri-ecosystems requires data on ecosystem respiration, and gross and net primary production, which are core inputs and outputs of carbon in ecosystems. To gain much needed mechanistic insight into processes underpinning these fluxes, stable isotopes of carbon (13C) can be used as a tracer, mainly for short-term intensive measurements. While the technologies for measuring these fluxes are established, they remain challenging to measure on-farm because the UK agricultural landscape is hugely variable: the UK has large climatic gradients, complex geology and soils and highly variable farming systems. Added to this, measurements in the ‘real-world’ require technologies that have an autonomous power supply for most locations. A final challenge concerns the need for CO2 flux chambers to be deployable across a range of vegetation types and ages, from small stature plants early in the growing season to mature tall cereal crops or grasslands at peak growth.   To address these challenges, we will create a platform that integrates a network of the latest large-volume automated CO2 flux chambers with real-time 13CO2 isotopic gas analysers to create a system for quantifying major fluxes of carbon, and labelling plants with 13CO2 and measuring subsequent fluxes from soils and plants. The platform will provide critical data for evaluation of processes contributing to soil health, carbon storage and function in agri-ecosystems. The mobility and use of the latest chamber technologies permits application to a range of agricultural systems including key arable and horticultural crops, grazed grasslands and agroforestry systems, across the UK.   Our initial project will test how different long-term grassland management regimes (from extensive low input systems to intensive systems with high density grazing and fertiliser inputs) influence carbon fluxes, and the seasonal fluxes of recent plant photosynthate from plants to soils.   The platform will comprise real-time isotopic analysers (x2), automated chambers (x32), a free-standing low-energy power supply, and environmental sensors all provided by a single supplier.  The platform aligns to a range of existing projects and equipment in related areas funded by BBSRC, NERC and Wolfson by our Co-Leads, to ensure access by a broad community of scientists, excellent added-value and the ability to tackle a wider range of challenges than otherwise possible. Moreover, the proposal benefits from £100k cash contribution by Lancaster University and use of Lancaster’s Hazelrigg Environmental Research facility.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

Literacy skills are vital to a modern economy, yet many children fail to learn to read effectively by the time they leave school, with an increasing gap in attainment between the lowest and highest reading skills since COVID-19, at an estimated annual cost to the UK economy of £20 billion. Learning to read is slow, varies substantially in pace between children, and requires substantial classroom time to support. It is thus a key area where unlocking the potential of AI to assist in optimising the process can benefit educational outcomes. However, there are four challenges facing us before this can be achieved, which we will meet in our READ-IT project. First, individualised data on children learning to read are required in order to develop AI-inspired models, and these data do not exist. Second, we need to develop models that are able to process relatively sparse data produced during individual children’s early reading. Third, we need to understand how these models simulate and predict human behaviour, such that their use in educational settings is responsible and ethical in guiding children’s reading. Fourth, we need to incorporate these model predictions into tools that are useful, accessible, and useable by teachers in the classroom supporting their children. There are four stages to this project, each relating to these challenges. First, we will understand individual children’s reading development by tracking, for the first time, 80 primary school children’s word-by-word, week-by-week reading over two years of early literacy training in the classroom. Second, we will model these data in order to predict children’s individualised reading development. We will apply cognitive-inspired neural-network (CI-NN) models of reading, as well as long-short term (LSTM) and large language models (LLM) to determine whether predictive models with or without knowledge of the language are able to better simulate individual children’s reading development. Third, we will analyse the models to ensure responsible use of predictive models, by determining the causal properties of predictions from the LSTM and LLM approaches, coupled with explainable-deep-neural-networks and interpretable-by-design deep learning algorithms. Fourth, we will design tools that will support children’s reading development, by individualised tuning of reading materials that scaffold the child’s reading skills at that point in their learning, developing interfaces that are useable by teachers in classroom settings. By the end of this project, we will have individualised data and predictive models of children’s reading development. We will have a set of analytical methods such that we can uncover the causal properties of deep-learning and LLM models used to predict individual behaviour. We will have educational-technology tools that can apply in the classroom, co-created with teachers, charitable organisations, and children’s book publishers. The applications of bespoke reading support for individual children has the potential to transform children’s literacy in early schooling, empowering teachers with the knowledge they need to address areas of weakness in individual children’s reading, potentially closing the attainment gap in children's skills in school, and ultimately benefiting the UK economy.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-07

We aim to open up the environment by assessing and exploring the experiences of UK university undergraduate and postgraduate taught students who self-identify as from a minority ethnic group and are studying Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences (GEES) disciplines. The diversity crisis within GEES disciplines and subsequent natural environment-related careers is well known (Dowey et al., 2021) yet we have made only limited progress in closing this divide. This research will focus specifically on understanding the experiences of those who identify as from a minority ethnic group at undergraduate and postgraduate taught level who are studying GEES disciplines and aim to (1) understand these student’s perceptions of future natural environment-related careers including perceived opportunities and barriers, and (2) create an actionable plan to foster inclusivity.   Led by a research team from Lancaster University (LU) and the British Geological Survey (BGS), the project will gather data through surveys, focus groups, and career-oriented initiatives. The primary objectives include collecting survey data from students across UK universities to understand their motivations for choosing GEES subjects, the challenges they face (e.g., inclusive fieldwork practices, curriculum content), and their perceptions of career prospects in natural environment- based fields. Additionally, the research team will conduct focus group work and interviews with those who self-identified as a minority ethnic student and are studying GEES based subjects, at LU to gather qualitative data on their experiences. The team will also organise a Career Venture Day at the BGS for these students, offering exposure to a range of career pathways within the geoscience field. The survey, focus groups, and interviews will address key questions, including why the students chose GEES disciplines, the challenges they face within their programs, their knowledge of natural environment career pathways, and the factors that would support them in pursuing natural environment-based careers. It will also consider the intersectionality of their experiences, acknowledging that students from different ethnic backgrounds have varying lived experiences that influence their educational and career trajectories. Ultimately, we will create an action plan for change, share our findings, and plan how to scale up, to enable future inclusive careers in the natural environment.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-06

Digital healthcare technologies underpin a spectrum of personalised medical devices such as glucose monitoring insulin delivery systems that are fundamental to supporting NHS aspirations for digitally-enabled healthcare proposed by the NHS long-term plan and reinforced more recently by the NHS plan for digital health and social care. This justifies the Government’s strategy for a cyber resilient health and social care system, making this Connectivity Award essential and extremely timely in supporting Government ambitions for the future sustainability of the NHS. As highlighted by recent research, current cyber security vulnerabilities of personal digital medical devices:   pose an existential threat to digital medical devices (and connected systems) used within the NHS,  compromise realization of EPSRC’s three challenge and priority areas, and  prevent effective delivery of the NHS plan for digital health and social care.  This Award will support the PI to build on their extensive health domain expertise in digital medical device research by learning new skills and techniques in cyber security . The School of Computing and Communications at Lancaster University (Host), provides the foundation for all research training and development, supplemented by external project partners. The focus of this Award will be protection from direct malicious cyber-attacks on personal digital medical devices – a largely neglected area of research. Two key Aims of the pilot project are: Understanding the cyber-clinical risk, range and nature of cyber security vulnerabilities for a defined spectrum of digital medical devices and using these portals to develop novel cyber-physical technologies and strategies to prevent/mitigate cyber-attacks.  Understand the life cycle of a spectrum of digital medical devices including cyber-clinical risk profiles, cyber security vulnerabilities and key stakeholder requirements. This will enable development of a novel framework of understanding underpinning an innovative cyber security design and development route for new digital medical devices.  The embedded pilot project will focus on data manipulation attacks, initially using a defined range of Class I and IIa medical devices as proof-of-concept for novel technology development and to establish workflow, with progression to the highest clinical risk level (Class III) device. The focus will be on diabetes-related devices to align with the PI’s expertise and clinical network. To address aim 2, based on the knowledge, skills and techniques developed as part of this award and working with all key stakeholders, the PI will have continued engagement with cross-sector project partners to understand cyber-clinical risk management, technical aspects of cyber vulnerabilities, current device design and development routes and stakeholder requirements. To help engage more widely with industrial partners, this Award benefits from Lancaster University being lead academic partner in multiple business engagement and co-working incubators including the Digital Security Hub (DiSH) in Greater Manchester, co-located with the public offices of GCHQ, and ‘North West Cyber Security Connect for Commercialisation’ (NW CyberCom), partnering with investors, entrepreneurs, government and businesses to transform cutting-edge innovations into new products and services. This Connectivity Award will benefit from Lancaster University’s £19m strategic investment in ‘Security and Protection Science’, including new campus facilities with state-of-the-art ‘Data Cyber Quarter’, supporting new partnership opportunities with cyber industry. This Award will develop cross-disciplinary knowledge, capability and cross-sector network capacity, laying the foundations for supporting the PI’s ambition for leading a UK centre of excellence for research and translation in cyber security of digital medical devices.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-06

Makerspaces are shared making, creating and learning spaces where people bring their ideas and creativity and turn them into innovative experiences, products and ways of working. This enables open innovation, knowledge sharing and peer to peer learning (Capdevila, 2013). Whilst many of these spaces have arisen from grassroots networks, through a shared interest in developing a space for solo and collaborative work (Schrock, 2014), others are more formal organisations, such as FabLabs and Techshops. Regardless of their origins, they share many of the same principles and approaches to hands-on learning, what Honey and Kanter (2013) define as 'design-make-play learning methodologies'. However, as The Horizon 2020 Make-It project (Menichinelli and Molina, 2018) recognised, the maker movement is not a fixed entity, and is instead an expanding field, constantly in flux. The potential of these spaces is well established, having been the focus of previous research projects, such as the Future Makerspaces in Redistributed Manufacturing and Mapping Creative Hubs in England/Scotland. However, the shifting nature of the field and its provisions mean that there is not a successfully established UK wide network connecting these spaces. In turn, this means that every new makerspace begins from a standing start, unable to easily learn from other spaces regarding available funding, equipment lists, community project ideas, and business strategies. In 2016 The British Council led an EU funded project to create the European Creative Hubs Network (ECHN), which is now thriving with over 250-member organisations. However, having now left the EU, UK makerspaces no longer qualify for much of the funding and support that is on offer, which the British Council has highlighted as a major concern for creative spaces regarding their future (Dunbar, 2020). The aim of this project is to enable and encourage knowledge exchange across a UK specific network of makerspaces to support the growth and long-term success of existing spaces and the development of new spaces. The key objectives are to engage with makerspaces across the UK to produce toolkits that provide advice and guidance for UK makerspaces. Through engaging with existing makerspaces, we will not only create the network but will also collect information and collate data which will be developed into one set of makerspace toolkits. These toolkits will provide advice and guidance on (but not limited to); how to setup and develop a makerspace, best practice for measuring the impact of makerspaces and their initiatives on their local community, what funding is available in the UK, and how to successfully collaborate with Further and Higher Education institutes. Makerspaces support arts and humanities initiatives to thrive in local communities, by engaging local creatives, entrepreneurs, students and graduates, and creative industry partners. By providing support and guidance for the creation of new makerspaces, more people will be able to engage with digital design and fabrication equipment, strengthening local creative industries. This will help to strengthen the already blossoming creative communities that have developed around these spaces by promoting knowledge exchange across the UK.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-05

Ecosystems worldwide are experiencing rapid shifts in vegetation in response to climate change. One of the most pervasive, but poorly studied, vegetation shifts is occurring in alpine regions of the world, where climate change is taking place at almost double the rate of the northern hemisphere average. In combination with changes in land use, this is leading to the rapid and widespread upward expansion of woody ericaceous shrubs into alpine grasslands, with potential far-reaching, but poorly understood, consequences for the functioning of these fragile high-altitude ecosystems. A pressing uncertainty concerns the potential for ericaceous shrubs to transform processes of soil (C) cycling in alpine grasslands, with implications for soil C storage and persistence. The need to address this uncertainty couldn't be more urgent given that alpine grassland soils represent a major global C store, and because even small changes in their soil C storage capacity could have major implications for C-cycle feedbacks to climate change. Tackling this challenge requires a step change in our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning shrub-driven transformations of soil organic matter (SOM) and its persistence, a critical ecosystem property determining the response of soil C to global change. We posit that the widespread and rapid upward expansion of ericaceous shrubs and their root-associated ericoid mycorrhizal fungi into alpine grassland triggers distinct rhizosphere pathways that lead to the suppression of SOM decomposition and formation of persistent SOM, thereby stabilising the soil C pool and reducing soil C loss under future climate change. We also expect these pathways of soil C gain and stabilisation to outweigh opposing rhizosphere pathways that cause soil C loss, thereby leading to net C gain. We plan to test our novel hypotheses using a powerful combination of landscape, plot, and laboratory studies with advanced stable-isotope, genomics, and biochemical approaches to interrogate the relative roles of contrasting rhizosphere-driven pathways of SOM decomposition and stabilisation of C in alpine grassland. Moreover, we build on our past NERC funded research in alpine grasslands, including a long-term experimental platform in the Austrian Alps, and we draw on novel concepts and discoveries concerning the pathways by which rhizosphere-driven processes regulate the persistence of soil C. Our study will break new ground by identifying novel mechanisms by which rapid and widespread ericaceous shrub expansion alters the balance of rhizosphere pathways that regulate soil C gain and loss in alpine grasslands, ultimately determining soil C storage and C-cycle feedbacks. But also, it will push the frontiers of understanding the role of rhizosphere-driven processes as regulators of soil C storage and persistence, which is a fast moving, but poorly understood area of science of central importance to the global C balance and mitigation of climate change.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-04

The manufacturing sector is currently going through a digital transformation to create smart factories, with the potential to bring higher productivity, resilience and efficiency. One technology that is key to improving the factory performance is a Digital Twin. A digital twin is a digital representation of the factory, which keeps up-to-date by mirroring what happens in the real factory. If the digital twin is based on a computer simulation model, it could be used to predict how the system will operate in the short-term (predicting multiple performance indicators such as throughput and inventory levels). This is turn would allow the digital twin to be used as a decision support tool, offering potential short-term actions to improve system performance. Whilst the technological developments are being made towards a digital twin, there are still a number of barriers that prevent digital twins being implemented by many manufacturers. This research aims to reduce some of these barriers, particularly some of the statistical issues associated with their development and maintenance. The first issue relates to determining whether the digital twin is accurate enough for its predictions and suggested solutions to be trusted. Due to high levels of uncertainty and the ever changing nature of the manufacturing system, this is not a straightforward problem. Our research will develop a method that allows errors in the digital twin predictions to be detected. If errors are found, it is important that a digital twin be calibrated to ensure its predictions are in line with the real system. One way to do this is to change the input parameters of the simulation model. These are usually estimated from factory data, but for many manufacturers, the data required is not available in sufficient quantities to give good estimates. The second research goal is to develop a calibration methodology to edit the input parameters to align the digital twin and the factory. The third research goal is to develop a way of determining which combination of actions should be taken to solve short term problems, such as machine failure. In this case, there are often a set of actions that could be taken (replace a tool, reallocate the workforce, reschedule the work order), sometimes in combination with other actions. The digital twin could be used to predict how each combination of actions will perform, and thus select which is best. However, testing all combinations could take too long, so this research will develop a method to effectively use the digital twin to find the best solution to a problem. To increase the utility of the digital twin, all the validation, calibration and optimisation must be done quickly. Otherwise the digital twin will quickly become out of date and its solutions will come too late to be useful. However, running the simulation many times will take considerable computing time. The final goal of the research is to make use of parallel computing to speed up all the processes developed in the first three goals.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-04

Imagine a world where machines learn not through energy-hungry programmed algorithms, but by forging connections and adapting like the human brain. A world where artificial intelligence systems can seamlessly integrate vast and complex data streams, make intuitive decisions, and continually evolve their understanding of the world around them. In the MemOD project, we aim to establish a new class of highly ordered, ultrathin and efficient materials which will help make this world a reality. The challenge is that modern computers require data to be transferred between a central processing unit (CPU) and memory, in order to perform a computation. This data transfer is known as the von Neumann bottleneck, and not only limits the speed of computation, but is also highly energy-inefficient. For a direct comparison between human and machine, we can consider the ancient strategy game, Go. AlphaGo, a brain-inspired computer owned by Google, eventually defeated the Korean Go world champion a few years ago. However, while AlphaGo consumes almost a megawatt of power, the Korean champion needed a mere 20 watts and the energy to make a cup of tea. The solution is to perform computation in memory, thereby reducing the machine's energy cost. This is accomplished by utilising memristors, which are low-power devices, able to simulate the synapses in our brain, bypassing the inefficient von Neumann bottleneck. Memristors are electrical elements whose resistance can be programmed. They store this state even if the device loses power. A stable, tuneable, efficient memristor is the holy grail of AI deployment. Although tantalisingly close, such a memristor has yet to be realised, because in traditional oxide-based inorganic devices, memristive states are due to the formation of conductive filaments between the device electrodes and unfortunately, this process is random, resulting in device variability and signal degradation over time. These deficiencies are why the global memristor market is currently only $200 million per annum. However, this market is predicted to reach $2.5 billion by 2028, on the assumption that these problems can be solved, for example, through the development of molecular memristor technology. The MemOD project will utilise ordered films of organometallic molecules as the building blocks of a new class of memristors which are not limited by this random mechanism, to overcome these deficiencies. We will design and synthesise novel organometallic molecules that we will build up into highly ordered self-assembled thin multilayers using sequential deposition, to enable precise control over composition and properties, thereby decreasing the random nature of memristive switching. Furthermore, as demonstrated by the applicants, we will utilise quantum interference effects taking place within organometallic molecules to increasing the on/off ratio and other figures of merit. The resulting organometallic memristors will be wired into devices via chemical anchor groups, which offer accurate control of the contact to device-compatible electrodes fabricated from CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) materials, resulting in lower variability, and will be contacted by a graphene layer on top. The applicants have the ideal combination of world-leading expertise spanning molecular modelling, design, synthesis, characterisation and device integration. They have a proven track record of innovation and successful collaboration (46 joint papers, with >2,300 citation as of 09/23) and are uniquely placed to deliver this ambitious project.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-03

Aim The key aim of our work is to develop and evaluate Artificial Intelligence (AI) based decision support systems to promote low carbon buildings in the process of design, construction and operation. We will achieve this by describing novel AI-augmented workflows and tools for designers, focusing on their application to support low carbon decision making at key stages of the building design process. The Problem The built environment has a vital role to play in responding to the climate emergency - addressing carbon is a critical and urgent focus. Buildings are currently responsible for 39% of global energy related carbon emissions: 28% from operational emissions and the remaining 11% from embodied carbon materials and construction (World Green Building Council, WGBC, 2019). The built environment has been identified as a key sector to achieve the UK government's vision for a technology-driven transition to decarbonise the economy and reach net zero by 2050. AI-based processes have significant potential to accelerate the achievement of climate neutrality in the built environment, by leveraging alternative low carbon design solutions at key stages of designer decision making. (Yang et al., 2022). We will explore the problem by evaluating the integration of AI processes with the existing design workflows of the host organisation Grimshaw Architects, an internationally recognised sustainable design practice, using a wide range of new and retrofit eco-focused projects as test cases. Secondment Objectives Objective 1 | Evaluate the use of Grimshaw Architects' existing building information and performance data to establish an optimised dataset collection and classification system for low carbon AI model training. (WP1). Objective 2 | Disseminate AI-augmented low carbon best practice design workflows and tools across networks of architectural education, practice, and industry via establishment of the AI Low Carbon Building Network (AILCB) (WP2). Objective 3 | Reduce carbon expenditure by authoring novel AI-based low carbon design decision support software tools integrated with Building Information Modelling software (BIM) across five key stages of building design, construction, and use. (WP3). Objective 4 | Produce an AI for Low Carbon Building policy brief to establish clear recommendations for building designers, contractors and users on dataset capture, model training, ethical considerations, and the use of AI tools for carbon reduction. (WP4). Applications and Benefits Outcomes will be tested across a variety of project types and disseminated via engagement events to communicate the research and deliver scalability and wide application for the benefit of carbon reduction in practice, to: Set benchmarks in the industry for standardisation, classification, segmentation, and optimisation of building design information into datasets for low carbon AI-model training. (Objective.1) Support interdisciplinary networks and learning between academia, practice and industry through engagement events and the establishment of the AI Low Carbon Building Network (AILCB) (Objective.2) Reduce carbon expenditure across the UK construction sector through the sharing of novel low carbon AI-based decision support tools (Objective.3) Add value to the UK architecture sector through the support and upskilling of present and future architectural practitioners in the use of AI for low carbon design by describing novel best practice workflows via the AI for Low Carbon Building Policy Brief (Objective.4) The project will create a significant launchpad from which we can position future collaborative work at the forefront of global AI-based low carbon design in the construction sector.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-03

Climate change is critically impacting ecosystems and human societies globally and in the UK, threatening biodiversity, food security and economic stability. Temperature rises, and the lengthening of extreme heat episodes, pose a new and often understated threat not only to human life, but to animal life on land and in the sea. Climatic shifts lead to mismatched lifecycles between predators and preys, arrival of new plant, fungal, and animal invasive species, including new predators and parasites, but also exposure to temperatures endemic species are not adapted to. This critically threatens biodiversity, sadly exemplified by the decline in pollinator diversity. However, nature shows us that animal populations, even ectotherms that cannot regulate their body temperature, typically tolerate a range of temperatures, and that within a single species, different populations may develop adaptations to extreme temperatures, usually over tens to hundreds of generations. Characterising the natural genetic variability that has allowed wild animals to adapt to warmer temperatures can thus teach us about the physiological mechanisms of heat resilience. However, animals are metaorganisms, meaning that they co-exist with communities of symbiotic microbes, most of them in their gut, called the gut microbiota. This has profound influences on animal health and behaviour. For instance, the gut microbiota influences appetite, taste, mood, mate selection, sleep, and its dysregulation can trigger autoimmune or neurodegenerative diseases, infections, metabolic syndrome, mood disorders or promote cancers. Therefore, it is not only animal genetics that need studying, but their interaction with the communities of microbes that live within. In particular, the connection between gut microbes and the brain is a major modulator of animal health, called the gut-brain axis (GBA), which has garnered much attention over the past decade. We know it is involved in many health processes throughout animal lifespan, including thermoregulation and resistance to heat, but this knowledge is fragmented. Hence, we critically lack the big picture that would allow us to 'hack' the GBA to improve animal resilience to heat. How would we do that? We need to know about animal genetics and their gut microbiota composition, and study how they work together under environmental challenges (high temperature here) to impact animal physiology. Then we may develop pre- and pro-biotics that work well with an animal's genetic make-up and improve their health, or even boost their resistance to heat. This could be key for future-proofing our fisheries, poultry farms, and to protect pollinators critical for fruit and vegetable supplies. Here, we gathered a team of experts from different universities and fields of research (microbiologists, evolutionary biologists, geneticists, cell biologists, biochemists, statisticians, bioinformaticians) to study the genetic and gut microbiota make-ups of wild bees, fish and worms living at different temperatures (warm and cool). This will allow us to identify microbes and animal genes (particularly in the brain) that are involved in animal adaptation to heat. We will then test whether the associations of animal genes and gut microbiota compositions we identified can improve thermotolerance in lab animals and study their effects on their metabolism, physiology, and brain activity. By studying three distant animal species, we will learn what mechanisms of thermotolerance are conserved and might be 'hacked' (with pre-/pro-biotics or drugs) to promote heat resilience in other species, possibly even in humans.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-03

The CyberFocus project has been co-designed to galvanise the North West (NW) cyber ecosystem by forging trusted interconnections that instil confidence in research-led impact partnerships to propel national prosperity and protection. The project is led by Lancaster University in collaboration with six regional HEI partners, three of which are NCSC recognised Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research, to generate impact from a relevant research portfolio of £75.4M over the last 5 years. It is a critical time for NW with the arrival of GCHQ in Manchester and National Cyber Force (NCF) in Lancashire which creates unprecedented opportunity to maximise the socio-economic potential of a high growth, innovative sector central to the UKs response to increasing geopolitical uncertainty. The NW cyber ecosystem has been independently assessed and found to have: ~300 unique cyber security companies present (largest cluster outside London/SE): 23% are large, 12% medium, 24% small, and 41% micro. 54% of cluster businesses are cyber security focused and the remainder 'diversified', offering wider products or services. ~12,000 FTEs currently working in cyber security generating £760M in annual GVA. A high level of absorptive capacity as evidenced by the NW region's position as 2nd to London and the South East in raising external cyber investment, The project has been co-created to unlock the estimated potential regional growth to 30,000 FTEs and c.£2.7Bn GVA by 2035. Civic partners are central to the project's success and have been woven into the project's fabric from inception. Their close project engagement ensures regional aspirations are met and impact generation is regionally "sticky" whilst in line with regional values and culture. Project co-design workshops included representation from UKRI, civic, government and industrial partners. They identified the distinct opportunity for cross-cluster collaboration given how well positioned the cyber ecosystem is to other regional specialisms in aerospace, defence, nuclear, and manufacturing. They further highlighted the regional opportunity to generate innovative cyber products in collaboration with the region's high quality research institutions. However, the workshops identified the key challenges of; risk aversion within the cyber supply chain to innovation adoption that could lead to cyber security failures, innovation demand signalling difficultly due to the secrecy around cyber, highly competitive skills and talent pipelines for cyber and innovation expertise, which is compounded by a lack of cross sectoral collaboration. The CyberFocus project embodies the co-created approaches to catalyse the existing impact and innovation culture and realise collective regional cyber aspirations, resulting in enthusiastic support from 18 civic, government and industrial partners with £877k of in-kind match funding The project is structured around five work packages that will: Identify regional innovation Challenges and Impediment to adoption, Facilitate Trusted, Confident Impact Partnerships, Enhance Regional Cyber Capacity and Capability, Develop Regional Innovation Skills and Knowledge, and Foster Cyber Public Engagement and Policy Impact. The project anticipates significant socio-economic impacts, including job creation, economic growth, and increased national and global awareness by achieve the following outcomes: Elevating Cyber Supply Chain Trust and Confidence, Growing Sustainable Cyber and Innovation Expertise, Enhancing Cross Cluster Coordination and Interconnections. CyberFocus provides a timely opportunity to deliver a common, strategic focus in support of regional aspirations, and generate a wide range of impacts at a scale not previously possible through previous and current projects. Without CyberFocus, the socio-economic potential from strategic government levelling-up investments may go unrealised.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-02

My primary research interest is in symplectic geometry; I am especially drawn to problems in Floer theory with interdisciplinary applications. The present research proposal has three separate lines of enquiry, all connected by symplectic aspects of singularity theory as a common theme. Singularities are ubiquitous in mathematics and physics, often appearing as limiting configurations of smooth objects. For example, imagine a bowling ball on a trampoline, and then that the ball's weight slowly increased. Assuming the mat never tore, the endpoint of this process would be a singularity -- the mat would be infinitely sharply curved at the bottom. Such a situation is closely related to certain singularities in general relativity, which we know as black holes. Since singularities are unavoidable, it is necessary to develop tools in a variety of contexts in order to best understand a theory as a whole. In the above situation, for example, it would not be possible to claim that we understand general relativity without understanding black holes. We focus on singularities in the context of symplectic and algebraic geometry, where there are classically two `obvious' approaches to their study. Firstly, one could work topologically, looking for something smooth which is `close to' the singular space. The symplectic geometry of which smooth spaces are nearby (if any) and how singularities form as these spaces degenerate can then be used to understand the singularity itself. The second method comes from algebraic geometry, where one simply cuts out the singular point and glues back in something smooth. One can then investigate the singularity in question by understanding the different ways in which this can be done. In conjunction, these two operations are extremely useful; however, it is not clear whether they provide complete, the same, complementary or overlapping information. In Project (A), we will study the symplectic geometry of smoothings of certain threefold singularities -- called compound du Val -- and compare them with the algebraic geometry of the same singularity. Roughly speaking, the goal is to show that, in these cases, the symplectic and algebro-geometric approaches do, in fact, contain the same information. In Project (B), we will study cusp singularities, which are an important class of surface singularities arising in pairs, and appearing in the boundary of moduli spaces of surfaces of general type. Roughly speaking, our goal is to show that the number of distinct ways which one can symplectically smooth a cusp is predicted by the algebraic geometry of its dual. Heuristically, this can be thought of as showing that the algebraic and symplectic approaches to studying cusp singularities contain complementary information. Project (C) is of a distinctly different flavour to the previous two projects, and is in the field of quantum singularity theory. This seeks to understand singularities and the symmetries of their defining equations directly, without any smoothing or resolving; however, the premise of this project is still in comparing the symplectic and algebraic approaches. Roughly speaking, we will aim to show that the structure of a certain analytically defined invariant of a class of curve singularities is tightly connected with the algebraic geometry of the same curve singularities. This is a non-trivial prediction, since, as we saw above, different approaches to studying the same singularity may or may not be expected to be related.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-02

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 · 2025-02

Urban environments are home to the majority of people on the planet and so ensuring these systems provide healthy, productive and resilient environments is critical. Green infrastructure - which we define as a network of multi-functional green space and other green features - is a key component of urban systems and the main reservoirs of much urban biodiversity. But how do we manage green infrastructure to maximise the benefits these features bring to humans and wider ecosystem functioning? Here we focus on gaining a better predictive understanding of diversity associated with green infrastructure can be optimised to enhance ecosystem services. Biodiversity is widely recognised to be a key driver of multiple ecosystem functions (i.e. ecosystem multifunctionality), underpinning the provision of numerous ecosystem services for humanity, as well as undesirable disservices. Manipulation of biodiversity therefore has considerable potential to significantly improve how we construct and manage engineered and urban ecosystems. A major gap in knowledge hampering our ability to harness the benefits of biodiversity in urban areas is understanding how attributes particular to green infrastructure in urban environments affect biodiversity-ecosystem multifunctionality relationships. This knowledge is important for the design and management of urban green infrastructure to maximise ecosystem service provision in wider urban landscapes. Moreover, the mechanisms by which landscape form and biodiversity influence ecosystem services and mitigate against disservices operate at different scales, and we lack understanding of how these mechanisms operate and scale in urban landscapes. A further gap in knowledge is how the diversity of urban forms interact with the diversity of neighbouring peri-urban and rural forms to affect ecosystem services and disservices in urban landscapes. Here we address these gaps in knowledge to understand how biodiversity can be used to enhance ecosystem multifunctionality in urban landscapes at contrasting scales. We focus on ecosystem services of carbon capture, cycling and storage, urban cooling, and water holding capacity, and disservices of greenhouse gas emissions, pathogen prevalence, and tick-borne pathogens; these services and disservices are intrinsically linked to green infrastructure and there is an established mechanistic basis for a link to biodiversity. We will integrate knowledge of biodiversity-ecosystem multifunctionality relationships into a modelling framework that will be used to create a web-based planning tool to determine how planning scenarios affect urban ecosystem multifunctionality. Our findings will contribute to the development of enabling mechanisms, with a focus on urban land use and green infrastructure planning, to enhance the contribution made by local scale green infrastructure interventions to wider landscape scale processes and the resilience of urban ecosystems.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-02

The overall goal of SOIL-HEAL is to realise the potential of symbiotic soil fungi for sustainable agriculture, thereby addressing a key aim of the EJP Soil call to foster holistic and sustainable agricultural soil management practices. Most plants have coevolved with soil fungi to form root-fungal ("mycorrhizal") symbioses that are critical for regulating numerous ecosystem functions and services in natural and agricultural settings. An important feature of mycorrhizal fungi is their ability to form 'networks', which (in the broad sense) comprise three distinct elements: extra-radical mycelium, common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs), where a fungus links two or more plants, and community-level 'interaction networks' between and among mycorrhizal plant and fungal species. Despite the potential huge importance of mycorrhizal symbioses in agriculture, our understanding of the ubiquity and function of mycorrhizal fungal networks and their contribution to resilience of agri-ecosystems is remarkably poor. This is especially true under 'real-world' field conditions and in response to common management interventions used by farmers and land managers. To realise the potential of AM fungi for sustainable agriculture, SOIL-HEAL seeks to advance our mechanistic understanding of all three elements of fungal networks by determining: i) the properties of interaction networks of plants and fungi; ii) the production and turnover of extra-radical mycelium; iii) the relationships between fungal networks and key ecosystem functions, such as greenhouse gas production; iv) how management interventions influence the extent and function of fungal networks; v) whether fungal networks enhance the resilience of agri-ecosystems to climate extremes, especially drought, which is expected to increase in frequency and intensity with climate change.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-02

Plants need to take up phosphorus from soil to grow. To do this, it has been assumed for decades that plants can only access mineral (inorganic) forms of phosphorus from soil, and indeed these mineral forms are the basis of most fertilisers. Inorganic phosphorus is largely created in soil through microbial conversion of organic forms, which usually comprise the main pool of phosphorus in soils. This so-called 'mineralisation' process is also assumed to be largely undertaken by free-living soil microorganisms. However, our recent discoveries from NERC-funded research suggest that trees that form intimate relationships with soil fungi (called ectomycorrhizal fungi) on their roots can acquire phosphorus from both organic and inorganic forms. These findings raise questions of global importance that challenge our entrenched understanding of the terrestrial phosphorus cycle: 1. Can plants, via their symbiotic root-associated ectomycorrhizal fungi, acquire organic forms of phosphorus directly, i.e. keeping the chemical intact, thus 'short-circuiting' the conventional mineralisation pathway? 2. Can ectomycorrhizal fungi accelerate mineralisation of organic phosphorus? 3. What happens when the demand for phosphorus increases, for example because of nitrogen pollution from the atmosphere? The potential to acquire organic forms of phosphorus would give plants that form associations with ectomycorrhizal fungi access to otherwise inaccessible pools of nutrients in soil. These mechanisms of phosphorus acquisition may also provide explanations as to why plants that form different types of associations on their roots can coexist. The findings may also explain how plant communities may respond to increasing phosphorus limitation of ecosystems that is occurring as a consequence of atmospheric nitrogen pollution. We are now able to address these questions through recent developments in the synthesis of isotopically-labelled organic forms of phosphorus. In this proposal, we will therefore synthesise a suite of ecologically-relevant organic forms of phosphorus that have a radioactive tag attached to them to enable us to visualise and measure the movement and breakdown of these chemicals. We will test the hypotheses that i) ectomycorrhizal fungi acquire organic forms directly and transfer these nutrients to plants, ii) ectomycorrhizal plants acquire phosphorus from organic forms by accelerating their mineralisation, and iii) these processes are stimulated in systems that are strongly limited by phosphorus as a consequence of sustained inputs of nitrogen. Our work will have major impact on understanding biogeochemical cycles in woodlands and forests that are dominated by ectomycorrhizal trees, and how niche partitioning of phosphorus may explain coexistence of mycorrhizal types.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-02

This fellowship seeks to address some of the most significant data challenges we face across many fields in science, and it will do that by combining insights from astrophysics and earth observation, using both public engagement via citizen science, and machine learning/AI aspects of data science, as the unifying threads which make this a coherent and innovative programme. Astrophysics is at the beginning of a data flood, a proliferation of data from upcoming large sky surveys, one of which will survey the sky repeatedly -- every few nights -- for the next decade. This is a data advance when comparing the deepest data "stack" to our current next best thing. When considering the changing sky, it is a monumental leap forward in the volume, variety, and velocity of data we will have access to. If we can accurately classify this data, we can make equally major advances in our understanding of the science itself. But first, we need to know if, for example, a galaxy contains a buried, feeding supermassive black hole; or whether a new point of light in the sky is a supernova, and what kind. The available data following a crisis such as a natural disaster may be a flood, or a trickle, but either way, responders and decision makers need to know where roads are blocked, where buildings are damaged, and where survivors may be sheltering. Often the best data for this task come from satellites, which can survey a large area of the planet at a resolution adequate for the needs of decision makers and first responders. These "stakeholders" are often most interested in change detection, of a type that bears significant resemblance to astronomers eager to determine what type of distant, transient phenomenon was just observed. The imaging data is technically similar, and some of the algorithms used in one discipline can cross over to the other. This fellowship has so far capitalised on several areas of symbiosis between astrophysics and earth observation, including those facilitated by the use of citizen science and machine learning as analysis tools. For example, the project has found that the algorithms used to combine the inputs of multiple human data labellers can be applied to combine the predictions of various AI algorithms. Each algorithm may have its strengths and its limitations: by measuring those tendencies and weighting them accordingly, we can make better overall predictions with both humans and machines (or both, together). The extension of this project will continue to develop tools for efficient and accurate data classification. This includes labelling data that arrives rapidly but may also be sparse and of varying quality, which is highly relevant to both disciplines. The project will contribute to improved humanitarian aid outcomes in future deployments, advance our knowledge of the evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes, and facilitate significantly more accurate and uniform measurements of the type of exploding star that serves as a "standard candle", allowing us to more accurately measure the accelerating expansion of the Universe.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-02

Our food security is at risk. Within the next 30 years, the human population is expected to reach nearly 10 billion, requiring a doubling of crop production. However, the current trajectory of crop yield improvements will not meet these needs, making new agricultural innovations paramount to ensure future food security. Improving photosynthetic efficiency is a promising, yet largely untapped route to enhance crop yields. Our dominant crops (e.g., rice, wheat) use C3 photosynthesis, such that any improvement to this system would substantially impact food security. Under warm, arid, and bright environments, C3 plants suffer from an energetically-costly metabolic process called photorespiration. Photorespiration is a major factor limiting productivity in C3 plants and it will only get worse with the warm temperatures accompanying climate change. If we could find a way to eliminate photorespiration therefore, we could more than double rates of photosynthesis under climate change. However, eliminating photorespiration all together would impact other plant metabolic functions. Therefore, the ideal scenario would be to find a way to maintain photorespiration but minimise its carbon losses. Engineering C2 photosynthesis into C3 crops is the clear solution. C2 photosynthesis is a simple CO2 concentrating mechanism that captures, concentrates, and re-assimilates CO2 released by photorespiration. It is, in short, a natural CO2 recycling mechanism. Although only recently discovered in the early 1980s, the C2 mode of photosynthesis has repeatedly evolved across diverse plant lineages, including four crop families (Poaceae, Brassicaceae, Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae). This FLF has established the world's first research program specifically dedicated to engineering the rare C2 mode of photosynthesis into important C3 food and bioenergy crops to sustainably improve yield and environmental resilience. The renewal phase will be dedicate to fine-tuning our C2 engineering approach, focusing on the important oil crop Camelina sativa. Together, this robust research program is developing an impactful, yet feasible, C2 engineering strategy via four work packages: Work Package 1. Enhance the photosynthetic capacity of the Camelina BS Work Package 2. Confine GDC expression to the BS in Camelina sativa GDC Work Package 3. Engineer full C2 trait in Camelina sativa. Work Package 4. Characterise C2 Camelina lines under controlled environment conditions Together, the proposed innovative research program aims to increase Camelina yields and stability under our future unstable climates by building upon the novel crop improvement program started during the initial FLF phase.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-01

By demonstrating, communicating and empowering the value of Design Research, this programme ultimately seeks to strengthen the UK's global leadership in the responsible development of transformative technologies like AI and IoT. The goal is to ensure these powerful technologies are leveraged to drive positive economic and social impact while proactively addressing critical ethical challenges around privacy, trust, and fairness. Design Research brings together the creative problem-solving mindset of design, with the analytical rigour of academic research and social science. The UK has been a leader in establishing this unique way of looking at the world, and this Fellowship seeks to empower the world's leading Design Researchers by clarifying and communicating the value of this way of understanding today's challenges and opportunities. The Fellowship will promote the groundbreaking documentary film about Design Research, Permission to Muck About. The film will bring Design Research to new audiences, and stimulate rich new conversations to help communicate the value of design. The Fellowship will launch the Design Research Observatory, a unique curated collection of the world's best examples of Design Research. Finally the Fellowship the bring together several applied and impact-focused projects that are demonstrating how to put Design Research into action in the wild.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-01

According to the United Nations, over half of the world's population lives in urban areas, and projections indicate that by 2050, approximately 68% of the global population will be urbanised. Rapid urbanisation is perceived as increasing the vulnerability of urban centres to climate change impacts. It has, for instance, increased climate injustice through the concentration of people in low-lying coastal zones at risk from sea-level rise, severe weather events, and constraints on freshwater. In Brazil, where approximately 85% of the population lives in urban areas (IBGE, 2022), data from the National Confederation of Municipalities [Confederação Nacional de Municípios (CNM)] show that 93% of Brazilian cities were affected by climatic events from 2013 to 2022, and 4.2 million people had to leave their homes in 47% of Brazil's municipalities. Although Brazil is revising and implementing a new climate strategy, concrete actions to address urban climate uncertainties are sparse and limited (Barbi, 2016). This scenario gets even worse in Brazil's semi-arid northeast (SANEB), where climate change has increased the compounding and overlapping vulnerabilities of previously neglected and marginalised communities. Mossoró, SANEB's capital and a mid-sized city with approximately 264,577 residents (IBGE, 2022), is an excellent example of this, as it experiences intense sunlight, high temperatures, and a rainfall pattern characterised by scarcity, irregularity, and concentrated precipitation over three months. . This leads to frequent heatwaves and flash floods, which disproportionately affect the vulnerable population living in precarious housing and low-lying areas. To achieve Sustainable Development Goals (particularly SDG 11), creating inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities is urgently needed to support climate change mitigation and adaptation. Local governments and communities affected assume a central role in climate action planning. However, depending on the tools and strategies implemented, it risks exacerbating already deep social, economic, and political divisions in cities if it is not co-created, co-produced, and co-managed. To avoid climate vulnerabilities being tackled in a fragmented manner by conventional adaptation approaches, there is thus increasing urgency for researchers, planners, and policymakers to adopt participatory and intersectional frames that tackle these climate injustices while simultaneously striving to expand capacity to build transformative, sustainable futures. This proposal builds on emerging findings and collaborations established between Lancaster University (LU) and Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte (UERN) during the "Accumulation by segregation and dispossession project" funded by LU's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), while engaging policymakers and the public in climate change discussions in Mossoro, Brazil. The project adopts a transdisciplinary, pro-poor, and intersectional approach, utilising participatory appraisal methods, to explore how marginalised communities in the city of Mossoro understand and are impacted by climate injustice. The project will expand on a long-standing collaboration with a non-academic partner, Fridays for Future Mossoro, stakeholders, and an impacted community to co-produce knowledge and seek to inform policy at a time when Brazil's National Climate Plan 2024-2035 is being developed and cities across the country are gaining visibility. Brazil will also host the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 30) in November 2025. This event provides momentum for collaboration and the development of future projects arising from this pilot experience. Ultimately, the collaboration aims to benefit a historically neglected region within Brazil by addressing climate-related challenges and inspiring actions across the region and similar contexts globally.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) are required for a diversity of applications across many fields spanning clean energy, environmental remediation, and healthcare. Examples include: green hydrogen producing electrolysers and low temperature fuel cells; carbon dioxide electrolysis into high value chemicals; salinity gradient power; hydrogen peroxide generation; redox flow batteries; actuators; batteries and supercapacitors; electrodialysis and diffusion dialysis for the recovery, extraction, and separation of inorganics including heavy metals ions and acid and bases; chromatography materials for protein purification; biomaterials for tissue engineering; and fouling resistant membranes for microfiltration. The Lancaster University team will develop a novel table-top facility using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) to routinely and non-destructively quantify the different states of water (bound, bulk, and free) in IEMs in environments with both relative humidity (RH) and temperature control. Previously, water states and contents have only been measured in uncontrolled environments using either pulse field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance experiments or with destructive techniques like differential scanning calorimetry. The developed THz-TDS system will be used to gain a more extensive TRL1-2 level fundamental understanding of how the states of water vary in IEMs with different composition characteristics. These IEMs will be either commercial types (including those provided by a project partner) or those fabricated at the University of Surrey (see below). Underpinning preliminary work at Lancaster University has shown that THz-TDS derived water state information can be collected at different RHs, but this was only possible at ambient temperatures. A more comprehensive development of a system, that can collect such data with both RH and temperature control, is required. Commercial ion-exchange membrane developers and users, including project partners, have indicated that they would like to see this knowledge deficiency rectified, where routinely collected water-state data is available over a wider range of conditions. Radiation grafting is a useful method for bulk functionalisation of polymers with defined characteristics (films, powders, fibres). The University of Surrey will supply a range of small-scale (10 × 10 cm) samples of radiation-grafted cation- and anion-exchange membranes with a diversity of: (1) ion-exchange capacities; (2) chemistries; (3) thicknesses, and (4) nano-morphologies (distribution and size of crystallites). This will aid the generation of new fundamental scientific knowledge related to how IEM characteristics affect their water contents and states. In the latter stages, the Surrey team will then conduct TRL3 scale-up work on down-selected radiation-grafted IEMs, an effort that will be supported by the developed Lancaster University-based THz-TDS capability. For initial translation to impact, the scaled-up RG-IEMs will be those that have the right balance of properties for application in peroxide generating cells, an interest of our aerospace partner. It is well known that the in situ performances of IEMs (in numerous electrochemical systems) is as much a function of water contents (and mobility) as they are of ion-conductivity. Hence it will be important to elucidate the homogeneity of the distribution of water states across different areas of scaled-up (30+ × 30+ cm) batches of IEM, as well as the consistency of water states across multiple repeat batches. It is currently unknown if homogeneous ion-exchange capacities actually lead to homogeneous water states.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-01

Women's involvement in the Criminal Justice System (CJS) can impact negatively on their relationships with their children. A proportion of mothers appear in both the CJS and the Family Justice System (FJS). As a result of family court proceedings, children may be placed with family members, with foster carers, or may be adopted. The disruption of mother-child relationships is associated with repeat offending and can be harmful for children. However, an absence of evidence based on large-scale quantitative datasets, means we cannot answer vital questions about the scale of this disruption and caregiver outcomes for children. Recent policy developments in England and Wales aim to preserve mother-child relationships with the aim of reducing female offending and repeat involvement in the criminal courts. However, policy makers are hampered by a lack of baseline evidence about mother-child relationships, against which they can measure progress. By focusing on female defendants in the Magistrates' and Crown Court, who also appear in the family justice system (public and private law cases), the COMFT study will link data to advance knowledge about caregiver outcomes for children, when mothers face trial. The study will be completed by a highly experienced and established team of data scientists, statisticians, and specialists in criminal and family justice. Based at Lancaster University, Swansea University and the University of Central Lancashire, the team will use the SAIL Databank at Swansea University, to safely access anonymised data and provide completely new cross-justice insights. The study titled "Child Outcomes for Mothers Facing Trial (COMFT)" has been made possible because the SAIL Databank has acquired new crime datasets produced as part of a related ADR UK study "Data First" - led by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Family Court records are already held by the SAIL Databank. The Data First programme has unlocked valuable records which have been anonymised for research purposes. The MoJ is the project partner, and this will ensure effective sharing of expertise throughout. The Children and Family Court Advisory Service (Cafcass) and Cafcass Cymru are also essential partners. The study will last two years. Stage 1, comprises the linking of women's records across criminal and family justice, and the production of analytic tables to enable analysis of mother-child journeys and outcomes. The team will also describe (document) these data and convene workshops, to help other researchers use the SAIL Gateway for related research. Stage 2 of the study comprises two sub-studies that will capture the demographic profiles of mothers, and maternal pathways between the two sectors of justice, including repeat involvement. The sub-studies will also describe the type of family court proceedings (public and private law) in which children appear, and caregiver outcomes for children. A unique feature of this study, is that it has been designed with mothers with lived experience(s) who will form an advisory group (COMFT-Together). Mothers will help to shape the project and translate findings into policy solutions that are helpful to mothers and children. The leading national charity Birth Companions will support this group and are partnered with the team throughout. The study will provide a much clearer understanding of whether justice systems preserve or disrupt relationships between mothers and children, and help to identify opportunities for prevention. It will benefit policymakers tasked with delivering female offender policies, frontline practitioners, as well as children and families.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2025 · 2025-01

This grant supports the IRIS Federation deliver its compute to its science activities by placing hardware at GridPP sites

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

Lancaster University has recently invested substantially in world class laboratories and research facilities to better position themselves as a leader in multidisciplinary research. To enhance that investment and further extend our research capability, following an internal shortlisting process, we have identified Core Equipment to be procured that will be used by multiple users across the campus and our wider external network, including early career researchers, and also key upgrades as invest to save opportunities. In line with this we will: 1. Procure a dynamic mechanical analyser to analyse the transient properties of complex materials in scientifically and industrially relevant ranges of environmental conditions; 2. Procure an isothermal titration calorimeter to measure the thermodynamic properties of components in solution; 3. Procure an aerial surveying drone, and a laser scanner (LiDAR) for photogrammetry and digital twinning at large scales; 4. Upgrade the Cryostream on the single-crystal X-ray diffractometer (SCXRD) to extend its life and functionality; 5. Procure a three-axis closed-loop positioner and controller to extend capability and capacity to an existing scanning probe microscope (SPM). This equipment has been selected to enable multidisciplinary, cross-faculty research and address industry requirements in the Northwest, and so benefit the greatest number of groups. It is expected that the equipment will have immediate and long-term benefits, especially to early career researchers, and enable world class research.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

Food Insecurity (FI) involves insufficient access to enough safe and nutritious food for a healthy life. The importance of FI will grow in coming decades, driven by factors such as the climate crisis, conflict and unrest, and challenges to the global food supply chain. Evidence on the long-term impacts of FI in Global Majority countries-where many of these pressing phenomena are most acutely felt- is extremely limited, particularly for older children and adolescents. What evidence does exist in this area frequently does not consider how FI may be experienced differently by various individuals within the same household. This project is an extension of ongoing work to address these critical gaps in the evidence on FI. In this extension, leading my research team and working in close collaboration with key stakeholders in this space, I will continue to provide research leadership to produce impactful, much-needed evidence on how FI matters early in the lifecourse; evidencing its impacts in an under-researched context; and fundamentally changing the way FI is conceptualised and measured in academic and non-academic practice. We have already analysed existing survey data for India, Ethiopia, and Peru, and have collected semi-structured interview data with multiple children, adolescents, and adults in 87 households in India. We will soon collect further data from a subset of these same households, and will collect a third round of data in this extension. Analysing these data and collaborating with key stakeholders, this extension will build from the strong foundation of evidence we have been building to achieve the following: 1.Provide new evidence on FI in India: Much of the existing evidence on FI comes from Global Minority countries (the US, UK, and Canada in particular), but sociocultural contexts, social policies, and food systems vary substantially between countries; findings from Global Minority countries are not universally transferable. In this project extension, we will continue to develop a robust raft of evidence on FI in India. We will focus in particular on the experiences of children and adolescents and on inequalities within households in order to address gaps in existing evidence. 2.Identify how households manage FI: Although FI primarily impacts low-income households, not all low-income households experience FI. Further evidence is needed to understand what actions households take (e.g. seeking financial support from social networks, accessing government programs) help some families to manage or avoid FI. Attention will also be given to who in the household is involved in these decisions, and how different household members are affected by different strategies for managing FI. 3.Conceptualise and measure FI as a multilevel phenomenon: Previous work focused on the measurement of poverty showed that thinking about and measuring poverty as an individual- rather than household-level phenomenon alters our understanding of poverty; household-level measures substantially mask the feminization of poverty (that is, the disproportionate risk of poverty experienced by women) by underestimating poverty among women. Similarly, thinking of and measuring FI as a household level phenomenon misses important inequalities in who experiences FI, and how. We will work to change the way FI is conceptualised and measured in order to better-understand such intrahousehold dynamics. This extension will draw on our relationships with stakeholders to ensure our reach extends beyond academia. We will continue to engage stakeholders in knowledge exchange, publish policy briefs, respond to Parliamentary calls for evidence, and provide regular updates through our website and newsletters. Additionally, we will host an online project workshop to discuss findings with our stakeholders, receive critical feedback, draft policy briefs, discuss steps for future research., and answer public questions through live social media engagement.