CARDIFF UNIVERSITY

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

The goal of this partnership is to create new catalysts for chemical reactions that are sustainable and help produce important chemicals and intermediates. Catalysts are essential substances that make chemical reactions happen more efficiently, and they are fundamental to many of the key processes that support our modern society. Without effective catalysts, many of the products and processes that we rely on would not be possible. At present, the chemical industry primarily uses fossil carbon sources like natural gas, oil, and coal. However, this approach is not sustainable in the long term, and it contributes to climate change and other environmental problems. As a result, researchers are looking for new ways to make chemicals that rely on green and sustainable carbon sources. Acetylene is one such molecule that has the potential to be an essential intermediate for a sustainable chemical industry. Acetylene chemistry was well developed over a century ago, but it was displaced as a central chemical intermediate by readily available ethene derived from oil. As a result, acetylene chemistry is currently an underexplored field. However, it is possible to produce acetylene from methane, which from biogas is a renewable source of carbon. Therefore, acetylene could become a crucial central intermediate for a new green chemical industry. We aim to design and understand catalysts based on Au, Pt, and AuPt that will act as a new class of catalysts to produce key chemicals and intermediates from acetylene. The partnership will bring together world-leading and complementary catalysis expertise, with the Cardiff Catalysis Institute (CCI collaborating with the UK Catalysis Hub (Harwell), the Max Planck Institute fur Kohlenforschung (KOFO, Mulheim), the Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica (ITQ), and the Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max Planck Society (FHI, Berlin). A key benefit of this partnership is the additionality that it provides. By pooling expertise and resources, researchers can tackle grand challenge problems more effectively. The collaborative project brings together centres with unique and crucial expertise, such as the high-pressure facilities for acetylene catalysis at MPI KOFO, the fundamental surface science and advanced characterization techniques available at Harwell and FHI, the advanced computational methodologies of the FHI and the synthetic expertise concerning nanoparticles of ITQ. This partnership will enable UK researchers to access this expertise and cutting-edge facilities to tackle the complex challenge of making and characterizing new catalysts. The research will focus on gaining a fundamental understanding of what controls the activity of these catalysts in specific reactions, such as acetylene hydrochlorination and acetylene hydrogenation. Supported Au and Pt catalysts display a range of morphologies and often have individual atoms/cations, clusters, and nanoparticles. In some reactions, it is the well-dispersed Au+ cations that are active, while in others, nanoparticles are active. The research will seek to gain a deeper understanding of what controls the activity in these reactions and use this knowledge to design new and improved catalysts. To achieve these goals, we will use in situ/operando techniques and complementary capabilities available through the partnership to study these new catalysts. The team of experts assembled has worked together previously in various combinations, which will facilitate effective collaboration and communication. The ultimate goal of this partnership is to create new catalysts that will enable the sustainable production of important chemicals and intermediates, contributing to the development of a more sustainable and environmentally friendly chemical industry.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

Epithelial tissues line our inner organs and act as protective barriers to the external environment. Cells are the building blocks of our tissues and in an epithelium, cells tightly connect to each other to form the impenetrable barrier. Epithelial cells also use cell-cell connections to communicate and monitor each other. This ensures that dying cells are removed and replaced with new cells at the appropriate time, and in a controlled manner. Any deviation from this process would result in a leaky barrier and would increase the risk of disease. As we age, our cells often acquire genetic mutations, some of which are harmful because they reduce the ability of a cell to work properly and respond to cues from the tissue. How do tissues respond to the presence of genetically mutant cells? To address this question, we use innovative experimental systems that allow us to randomly switch on a genetic mutation in a minority of epithelial cells in an otherwise healthy tissue. We label genetically mutant cells with a fluorescent tag so we can follow where mutant cells are in the tissue over time using microscopy. We focus on adult pancreas tissues because the genetic mutation expressed in cells is directly linked to pancreatic cancer and we currently know very little about how pancreas tissues stay healthy in adulthood. We discovered that adult pancreas tissues expel the genetically mutant cells and proper cell-cell connections with normal cells are essential for this to occur. Our research also revealed that some genetically mutant cells are never eliminated and instead remain in the tissue, where they slowly develop into the early stages of cancer. We recently recorded what genes are expressed in genetically mutant cells that are never eliminated and found that these cells switch on genes that control cell survival, tissue injury responses and stem cells. These data suggest that 'never eliminated' cells take on the characteristics of an injured or stem-like cell to avoid being eliminated. However, research shows that every epithelial cell in the pancreas has the potential to become a stem cell to repair a damaged or injured tissue. This raises the question as to what controls why some of the mutant cells are retained while others are eliminated. In this project, we will test the possibility that cell elimination outcomes (that is whether a genetically mutant cell is eliminated or not) are predictable and depend on where a mutant cell sits in the tissue. We will use new technologies to image genetically mutant cells in pancreas tissues before and after cell elimination has occurred and simultaneously measure changes in genes expressed in both mutant and normal cells. This will allow us to identify the communication signals between normal and mutant cells before and after cell elimination and determine whether the same signals operate across different parts of the tissue. By taking this approach, we will also ask whether a mutant cell is using signals from the local tissue architecture to avoid being eliminated. We will also experimentally test whether switching to a become more like a stem cell allows mutant cells to avoid cell elimination signals and remain in tissues. An improved understanding of the mechanisms controlling tissue health will lay the foundation for future studies to assess how these mechanisms decline with age and in disease.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-12

Starry night skies have inspired artists and scientists alike throughout human history. Despite considerable scientific study, with records dating back as far as the Ancient Egyptians, it wasn't until the early 19th century that humans began to learn about the incredibly complex processes that underpin how stars form and evolve. Over a century of research later, we have only just scratched the surface. Our research project is Following the Flow Of Gas in Galaxies (FFOGG) - a study which aims to understand how spiral galaxies perform as star formation engines. This study spans many orders of magnitudes in scales and densities, from local properties of the clouds' that stars form in, to the large-scale galactic environment in which those clouds are embedded. We use high-resolution observations of the Milky Way and nearby spiral galaxies and link them to dedicated numerical simulations of those same galaxies with sophisticated interstellar medium physics. As such, our scientific results will underpin the role galaxies play in the formation and evolution of stars. We propose creating an interactive workshop series for under-served lower secondary school children (ages 11-14) in South East Wales to disseminate the cutting edge research findings of the FFOGG project. Our workshops will be structured as follows. About 80% of the workshop time will be allocated to the topic of star formation, explained using 3D films. These films are generated from our 2D simulation videos by applying an adaption of a stereoscopic effect called "anaglyph" which combines cyan and red filtered versions of a 2D image, to produce a 3D image, when viewed with dual cyan/ red lensed glasses. Using this setup we will tell the story of star formation by visiting a nearby spiral galaxy, then zooming through the galaxy and visiting various 3D recreations of astronomical objects associated with star formation (stars, nebulas, planets). The remaining 20% of workshop time will be dedicated to explaining how the 3D film works (wavelengths/filtering of light). As part of our 'hand-on' approach the students will make their own personal cyan and red lens glasses from coloured acetate sheets and card frames. Students will be encouraged to take their glasses home, where they can rewatch the 3D film on our website (not STFC funded) with friends and family - extending the reach of the project and further increasing science capital.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

Community-led planning practice, which prioritises participation, partnership, and consensus-building, holds significant importance as it embodies the democratisation of planning systems. However, existing literature on community engagement predominantly draws from the experiences of Western democratic countries, neglecting the nuanced contexts of East Asian nations and those countries which have pursued modernisation programmes of urban planning and governance structure for decades. Furthermore, limited attention has been given to understanding the implementation of these community-led initiatives within East Asian cities amidst the backdrop of financialisation and evolving urban economic dynamics. This raises questions about the adaptability of states and governments in providing reformist models responsive to changing community needs. The findings from my PhD research have demonstrated that Taiwan's developmental state has transitioned into the democratic era, characterised by an increasingly neoliberal and financialised planning system. This shift has significantly impacted the perception of communities, which have become increasingly property-oriented, justified by investment values. However, financialised redevelopment projects have encountered resistance from communities, resulting in conflicts and confrontations during the planning negotiation process. This has led to stalled progress due to the lack of consensus between communities, government, and developers. In order to better contextualise the situation there is a need for comparative analysis between Eastern and Western planning and policy approaches. Building upon these concerns, this fellowship will help achieve the following objectives: 1. Communicate the financialisation of planning systems in developmental-state contexts such as Taiwan, highlighting its similarities and variations with existing debates over growth-oriented planning development models elsewhere, and compare with the case of policy and planning in Wales. The research will underscore the dominance of economic growth narratives in planning decision-making, which often neglects public provisions such as social housing and green spaces. 2. Highlight the risks of 'infinite justice' stemming from economic-driven planning ideologies and narratives. The research will illuminate how communities, particularly those facing gentrification with less social and economic advantage, face challenges of land speculation and the displacement. 3. Disseminate findings on the financialisation of policymaking and planning practices in Taiwan and Wales and its broader impacts on people and place, along with recommendations on how a more inclusive planning agenda could be fostered. 4. Rethink growth-oriented planning practices and explore the development of post/de-growth planning agendas.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-11

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 2024 · 2024-10

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) commonly occur in biology with ~650,000 contributing to processes critical to human life. From cancer to dementia, their dysregulation contributes to many disease states. PPIs occur when one protein interacts with another resulting in functional changes that have repercussions on the cell. Their importance means PPIs are studied across the different bioscience fields and many tools developed to investigate them. Fluorescence-based methods allow researchers to study these innately dynamic processes in a proteins' natural environment, the cell, in real time leading to many new insights. Genetically-encoded probes called fluorescent proteins have proved pivotal to investigating PPIs in the cell but the underlying fluorescent methods are currently limited to monitoring interactions between two different proteins; self-association of the same proteins cannot be easily measured. This is major issue as many PPIs, arguably the majority, involve the self-association of identical proteins. Thus, researchers cannot investigate this vital piece of the PPI story within a protein's natural cellular context. The aim of this project is to develop new genetically encoded tools to allow researchers to monitor protein self-association (homo-oligomerisation) for use in the cell. Building on recent work in the Jones lab, we plan to generate new fluorescent protein variants optimised for use in the cell to functionally respond when fused to a self-associating protein target. We will demonstrate their usefulness with the gene regulation complex NF-kappaB, which is responsible for controlling many important cellular processes including immune response, replication and cell death; its dysregulation is linked to many diseases including autoimmune disease and cancer. NF-kappaB is also an archetypical protein complex undergoing dynamic exchange between identical and different protein components thus making it an excellent model implementation system and providing new insights into this important biological complex. The potential applications of our genetically encoded homo-oligomerisation monitoring tools are vast, allowing researchers across the breadth of biology to access new knowledge on how PPIs dictate biological processes. Importantly, it will be compatible with existing fluorescence microscopy approaches so will not need associated equipment development and can be quickly implemented by the research community. Our probes can also feed into existing approaches for monitoring PPIs in cells allowing dynamic events such as exchange between protein components (e.g. self-associating versus mixed PPIs) and more complex systems (e.g. combination of self and mixed PPIs) that routinely form protein complexes.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-10

Severe mental illness dramatically impacts the wellbeing of affected individuals and their families and are a leading cause of disability worldwide. In the UK alone, around 13.5 million people are affected by mental illness each year, which places a significant burden on the economy through direct (health care) and indirect (lost work and productivity) costs. Current treatments for severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, have limited efficacy. To improve patient outcomes, there is an urgent need to develop more effective treatments in psychiatry, as well as approaches to target treatments to individuals who are most likely to benefit from them. While the exact causes of severe mental illness are unknown, a wide body of research has demonstrated an important role for genetic factors. For example, common and rare genetic variants spread across many different genes have been identified as risk factors for schizophrenia. However, no individual genetic cause is by itself necessary or sufficient for the development of schizophrenia. Moreover, different combinations of risk factors are observed in individuals with the same psychiatric diagnosis, and some genetic factors are shared across different mental health conditions. This complexity has made it challenging to translate genomic discoveries in conditions such as schizophrenia to improvements in patient care. During the renewal phase of my Fellowship, I will leverage new genomic resources to enhance our understanding of the genetic basis of severe mental illness. I will focus on two key research areas that build directly on findings from the first phase of my Fellowship. The first aims to identify genetic links to specific clinical features and treatment outcomes in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression. This research is needed because symptoms vary widely among individuals with a particular mental illness, and individuals with the same disorder do not always respond to the same treatments. By understanding how genetic factors contribute to this variation, we can uncover the biological causes of these symptoms, which in turn, may lead to the development of more effective treatments. Moreover, discovering genetic factors that influence treatment outcomes can inform approaches aiming to identify patient groups more likely to benefit from specific treatments. Finally, I will examine whether genetic variants that are already known to increase risk for schizophrenia have effects on other medical outcomes, such as diabetes, hypertension or renal failure, which will help clinicians in planning and managing the care of people with these mutations. The second area of research aims to address gaps in our understanding about the utility of DNA sequencing for detecting clinically relevant mutations in individuals with severe mental illness. Confirming a genetic contribution to a patient's condition can be beneficial, particularly in terms of genetic counselling. To better understand the role of genetic testing in mental illness, it is important to determine the proportion of patients carrying a clinically relevant mutation. I will conduct the largest sequencing study to date examining the rates of clinically relevant mutations in severe mental illness. I will also investigate whether individuals with a severe mental illness and a co-occurring medical condition, like developmental delay, are more likely to carry clinically relevant mutations. This information will help identify which patient groups should be prioritised for genetic testing. The long-term goal of my Fellowship is to advance precision medicine in psychiatry. I will work with selected partners from industry and the NHS to accelerate this process and ensure that my findings contribute to improvements in clinical care for individuals with severe mental illness.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Cosmology offers a unique way to investigate open questions in fundamental physics, e.g. understanding 1) the nature of dark matter, a type of matter that interacts only gravitationally; 2) the physics of massive neutrinos in the formation of galaxies ; 3) the theory of gravity and the nature of dark energy, the mechanism that drives the present accelerated expansion of the Universe; 4) the mechanism that drove inflation, the phase in the primordial universe when the seeds to start galaxy formation were formed. Such goals can be achieved through the observations of the large-scale structures (LSS) in galaxy surveys, and of the temperature and polarization anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), the relic light from the Big Bang. Galaxy surveys probe cosmology via measurements of the clustering of galaxies, and via the distortion of their shape induced by the presence of matter in between the galaxies themselves and the observer via gravitational lensing. Conversely, CMB informs us on the global particle and energy content of the universe and carries the most direct imprint of inflation (primordial B-mode polarization). The LSS leave imprints on the CMB photons as they travel towards us via gravitational bending of their trajectories (CMB lensing) or via the transfer of energy between their hot gas and the CMB photons (SZ effect). As such, the CMB is also a probe of the LSS itself. In my project I will analyze (jointly and separately) the data of two major upcoming experiments in cosmology: the ground-based CMB polarization experiment Simons Observatory (SO), operating in the mm bands, and the ESA Euclid satellite that will map galaxies photometrically and spectroscopically in the visible and infrared bands. The complementary view of the mass distribution across half the sky enabled by the Euclid (galaxy lensing, galaxy clustering) and SO main probes (CMB anisotropies, CMB lensing, SZ effect) will allow us to investigate all the fundamental open questions in cosmology and the processes governing the formation of galaxies in a more accurate way than it was ever possible. The high sensitivity polarization measurements of SO will also open a new window for the study of our Galaxy. My fellowship program will cover three main topics: Data analysis. I will devise new methods to reconstruct CMB lensing maps that are insensitive to systematics and apply them to SO data to obtain the most accurate and robust lensing map in the field. Cosmological exploitation. I will use this map and its cross-correlation with Euclid probes to set the best constraints on neutrinos, dark energy, primordial non-Gaussianities. I will also use Euclid galaxy distribution to enhance the signature of inflation on CMB B-mode polarization via external delensing. Astrophysics from CMB contaminants. I will use the signature of astrophysical emissions in SO data (SZ effect, cosmic infrared background, galactic CO line emission) to improve our knowledge of galactic magnetic fields, star formation and feedback processes in galaxy formation using SO data alone or in combination with Euclid probes. With SO and Euclid starting observations by the end of 2023, this science case perfectly aligns with the timing of the fellowship and with the roadmap of the UK cosmology community. It has the potential to deliver multiple "firsts" and will pave the way for the analysis of experiments in the 2030s (e.g., CMB-S4, Litebird).

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

My PhD examines 14 transnational case study families in Wales and Finland. I present challenging insights into the families' experiences in managing many languages and explore language transmission solutions. My study includes data from children, which is a novel approach in the Family Language Policy (FLP) field (see e.g., Bui et al. 2022, Lee 2018 Wilson 2020). The doctoral study breaks new ground by investigating two officially bilingual, superdiverse areas: Helsinki and Cardiff. I examine the wellbeing of multilingual families; a topic that has only attracted research interest in the last decade. I also focus on multilingual rather than bilingual families. Most FLP studies are individual case studies, but my research is a multiple case study offering a variety of language communities rather than just one community. In addition, my research presents all three FLP prototypes (Smith-Christmas 2016): minority language speakers, and foreign heritage language speakers in a diasporic context, whereby I look at contexts with one immigrant parent as well as families where both parents are immigrants. Crucially, my research shows that intergenerational language transmission, or passing on languages to the next generation, is often challenging for transnational families. Maintaining or developing a foreign (often heritage) language needs considerable effort from parents and children because of the natural sociolinguistic forces which make the children favour the stronger community languages. The transmission is considered easier for the official languages of a country because parents can choose from a wide selection of schools, hobbies, childminders, and community groups in a target language; these promote language transmission. Therefore, there is a strong link between the demographic strength of a language and how challenging parents perceive language transmission to be. My doctoral research reveals that often the challenges arise from the parental expectations regarding the language development of the children not being met, from strict parental strategies, from communication barriers, or from the children's resistance to speaking a language. At this point in my career, the fellowship will provide the time, space, and support to finish publishing these findings from my PhD. The fellowship will support me to expand my networks and achieve three main aims, essential to my career. First, it will enable me to establish a strong publication track record. I will publish my research as a monograph, two articles, and a workbook for parents. I will continue writing blog posts and online articles in English and Finnish for science communication websites. My publications will interest academic and non-academic readers because of the evidence they present regarding multilingual families' realities. Second, the fellowship allows me to disseminate my research to wider audiences through a variety of impact and engagement activities. These activities include conference presentations; guest lectures in Finland and the UK; workshops for parents; and producing a podcast series popularising my research topic. Finally, I will be able to carry out further limited research among the 14 original case study families. The proposed research will expand the less investigated topics listed above. I have kept in touch with the families with a view to conduct further study. I observed a significant change in terms of ideologies, strategies, and views as the children grew older. There is little longitudinal research particularly taking in the teenage years, which is why continuing my multiple case study post-PhD is a valuable opportunity.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

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 2024 · 2024-09

"Semiconductors" are synonymous with "Silicon chips". After all Silicon supported computing technologies in the 20th century. But Silicon is reaching fundamental limits and already many of the technologies we take for granted are only possible because of Compound Semiconductors (CS). These include: the internet, smart phones and energy-efficient LED lighting! CSs are also at the heart of most of the new technologies envisaged, including 6G wireless, ultra-high speed optical fibre connectivity, LIDAR for autonomous vehicles, high voltage switching for electric vehicles, the IoT and high-capacity data storage. CSs also offer huge opportunities for energy efficiency and net zero. The CS Hub will contribute to "Engineering Net Zero", through products, such as energy-efficient electronics, and by introducing new environmentally-friendly manufacturing processes; to "Quantum Technologies", by creating practical implementations that can be manufactured at scale; to the "Physical and Mathematical Sciences Powerhouse" and "Frontiers in Engineering and Technology", through e.g. cutting-edge materials science and manufacturing-process innovation. CS materials are grown atom-by-atom on slices of crystalline material, known as substrates, which provide mechanical support for the resulting "wafer" during the next stage of fabrication. CSs are often made on relatively small substrates. Manufacturers have had to combine functions by assembling discrete devices but this is expensive. New approaches to integration in epitaxy and fabrication are required along with wafer-size scale-up for the new applications. Applications such as in quantum technology (QT) are pushing requirements for more accurate and highly reproducible manufacturing-processes. With such improvements CS will underpin the UK quantum industry and enable impact for the existing QT investments. We will create designs that are more tolerant to typical variations that occur during manufacturing; develop manufacturing processes that are more uniform and repeatable; create techniques to characterise performance part-way through manufacturing, create techniques to combine materials (e.g. CS grown atom-by-atom on Silicon) and combine functions on chip. We will study and implement ways to make CS manufacturing more environmentally friendly. We will make it easier to compare the environmental foot-print of different CS research and manufacturing-processes by making available relevant, high quality data in the form of accessible libraries of the resource and energy usage of the feedstocks and processes used in CS manufacturing. We aim to change the mind-set of UK academics. Our vision is that researchers think about the translation of their research from the beginning of the innovation process and about the requirements that next generation product manufacturers will face. As a critical factor in all future manufacturing, we aim to embed the philosophy of resource efficiency of the research itself, resource efficiency of the manufacturing process, as well as of the application it supports. We aim to repatriate and connect CS manufacturing supply chains to re-shore production and facilitate innovation, enabling development of holistic solutions. We will address the current staffing shortages of the CS industry by: providing leadership in improving career structure and enhancing training for Hub research and technical staff; putting in place the very best ED&I practice to create the most positive and inclusive working environment and promulgating this across the industry; inspiring the next generation of the CS workforce as well as spreading the news about the fantastic career opportunities currently available. By working closely with industry partners on all these aspects we will attract and retain staff in this critical UK manufacturing industry.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

The 'Influence, Manipulation, and Information Threats as Adversarial Techniques: Events, Evolution and Effects' (IMITATE3) programme is designed to deliver robust, innovative insights and evidence about how foreign state information operations seek to shape public perceptions and political decision-making. Set against a backdrop of regular dramatic exposés of attempts to use rumours, propaganda, conspiracies and manipulated information to disinform, distort and deceive, it will address a compelling and urgent social problem. In terms of its operationalization, IMITATE3 is organized around three main task areas each comprising multiple work packages. Task Area 1 will focus on how state-linked information manipulation and interference efforts are constructed and communicated, in terms of the methodologies and techniques deployed by adversaries. Reflecting on the particular moment when this work will be conducted, the team will rapidly mobilize to capture key lessons and insights from the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and from major democratic events that will occur in 2024. This will produce contemporary evidence and insights into the state-of-the-art in terms of how state-linked influence efforts are being organized and conducted. Task Area 2 will investigate the various interventions and counter-measures used to detect, disrupt and degrade hostile information operations and disinformation campaigns. There is not a robust, consolidated evidence-base on what works to manage and mitigate information threats. IMITATE3 will play a key role in addressing this gap in our understanding. Task Area 3 is where the programme will make a significant contribution to knowledge. Decision-makers require robust and meaningful indicators of impact and effect, to arbitrate between risks and threats warranting a response and those that can be left alone. There is a consensus that a framework like this has been missing from the information threats space. As such, IMITATE3 will invest effort to devise and test an approach that moves beyond the 'reach' and 'engagement' type metrics, derived from social marketing practice that have dominated to date. Conceptually, this will pivot around and seek to develop the idea of an 'influence footprint' to assess tactical and strategic impacts of a defined hostile operation. The work on delivering these three task areas will be underpinned by the multi-method and cross-platform collection, analysis and interpretation of digital, qualitative and quantitative data. This will involve extensive social media and internet data, analysed via both 'big data' and 'small data' lenses. Additionally, interviews with professionals and citizens, and a large-scale social survey will be conducted. The empirical elements of the project will focus on countries selected for their regional diversity, exposure to varying kinds and intensities of foreign state-led information threats, and status as targets of different state adversaries.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Around half of the patients who do fertility treatment end it without the children they desire. This often results in strong, long-lasting feelings of grief, sadness, and loss, poor mental health and well-being. Patients often talk about feeling unprepared, abandoned by their clinics, and left alone during this difficult time when they most need support. Even though fertility guidelines and regulators say clinics should support patients when treatment does not work, there is critical lack of know-how and resources. My doctorate research looked at patients' views and needs about the support they should receive when treatment does not work. I developed two types of support: a face-to-face support programme - named Beyond Fertility to help patients cope with ending treatment without a child and online resources for clinics and patients to help clinics support their patients in preparing for the possibility of facing this undesired outcome. These latter were developed with feedback from patients, patient advocates, and healthcare professionals and are freely available online in four languages (www.myjourney.pt/clinics, www.myjourney.pt/patients). My work has already sparked discussions and interest around this topic. The possibility of treatment not working tends to be avoided at clinics (and research), with focus being on fostering hope and achieving pregnancy. My work argues this does not align with what patients want and stresses the clinical duty to support patients for the treatment end. My work showed 9 in 10 patients want to be prepared for the possibility that treatment may not work even before starting treatment as routine practice. Healthcare professionals claim this support is crucial but do not know how and when to introduce this topic to their patients. They showed to be unaware that patients want this support and reported concerns about patients not being prepared to talk about this, expressing negative reactions they could not manage in the consultation, or judging their medical performance negatively. I carried out five studies that provide the knowledge base to nudge a change in clinics and better equip healthcare professionals on what, when, and how to provide this care towards the treatment end. During my fellowship, I aim to publish and share this work widely and initiate small changes in the clinical practice. This includes reaching patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, educators, and fertility government officials who can help change clinic practices. I plan to do this by speaking at leading scientific conferences, educational initiatives, and public events and using media channels (news, blogs, social media). I will work with fertility organisations (patient charities, scientific societies) at the (inter)national level to make my support resources freely accessible on their websites, inform the curriculum of educational courses to train healthcare professionals, get testimonies from healthcare professionals in providing this care, and work with the UK fertility government regulator to advise on the provision of this care to clinics. I will use my fellowship to plan for my career. I will work with two leading research teams at De Montfort University and University of Southampton to broaden this approach to care for the general population. That is, support people of reproductive age navigating if and how they want to have children, including preparing them for possible obstacles. During this time, I will receive training in using research to make changes in the real world and in good research and academic practices.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Context WISERD is an international institute that brings together people from different academic disciplines, citizens, local communities, practitioners, civil society organisations and policy makers to co-produce research that is of the highest quality and has long-term social and economic impact. WISERD’s research grant capture amount for 2023 was £8.26m and since 2014 its total research grant capture is £35.9m from a wide range of major funders. Our research has furthered understandings of how civil society is affected by, responds, and contributes to, forms of civic exclusion and expansion, civic gain, and loss.  WISERD’s mature research infrastructure and the breadth of its research impact demonstrates the potential for researchers and civil society organisations to work together and play a key role in civil repair. The challenge Our transition research programme will address the ways in which participatory democracy, collaborative governance and citizen science can address urgent collective problems including social justice, a just transition, fair work, local economic inequality, and marginalised communities. To do this we will expand our open community social science platform (WISERD Data Lab) based on principles of co-production. This is an ambitious programme of work that will maximise the impact of existing research, expand our research infrastructure, undertake further research projects based on the collection of new data, and the exploitation and linking of existing data. We will extend our contribution to research capacity with a focus on developing Research Leadership skills. Aims and Objectives Our aim is: To undertake impact activities and new research that focuses on the ways in which forms of participatory democracy, collaborative governance and citizen science can address urgent collective problems. The objectives are to: Undertake theoretically informed, policy relevant, impactful, interdisciplinary research in Wales, the UK and internationally focusing on: How transformations in the public sphere affect social justice, environmental justice, community connectivity, health and well-being and economic inequality. Co-constructing a place based and public facing data lab underpinned by principles of open social science to enable citizens, communities, and policy actors to address key challenges. 2. Expand our international and civil society research networks dedicated to understanding transformations in the public sphere and their impact on people and places. 3. Work with partners to provide applied social science evidence to promote civil repair. 4. Work with partners (including NCRM and WGSSS) to be a world class centre for training and capacity building and developing future social science research leaders. 5. Expand WISERD data infrastructure to enable interdisciplinary, mixed-method, and comparative approaches based on co-production and citizen science. Potential applications and benefits This transition research will add value and link to other existing research investments within WISERD including ESRC LPIP, AHRC, NIRC, Welsh Government, Charitable and European grants and provide a platform for further large grant applications to a range of funding organisations to ensure WISERDs continuing relevance, research innovation and impact. We have a clear plan to maximise the use of research resources to deliver wider socio-economic benefits including: (i)         Advances in knowledge that contribute to policy and practices that enable communities and citizens to fully participate in decisions about policies. (ii)        Deepening of public and policy engagement with citizen science. (iii)       Enabling local communities and citizens to mobilize assets and resources, at different scales, in response to different social, economic, political, and environmental challenges.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Science and technology constantly strive to develop sustainable materials and processes. Biology is an extremely rich source of solutions to similar problems that bacteria, fungi, animals and plants face, such as adhesion, specific recognition, tensile strength and resistance to impact. These solutions are often the result of interactions happening at the micro- and nano-scale between proteins that work together to form hierarchical structures. Although these natural building blocks have been shaped by evolution, proteins have been successfully repurposed for new tasks by researchers. However, this is not always possible, as proteins are often intrinsically related to the biological system where they come from by evolutionary and environmental constraints that are hard to underpin. Indeed, despite decades of efforts and numerous advancements, synthetic silk is still far away from the properties of silk produced by spiders. Therefore, it is important to start considering, in a truly synthetic-biology approach, the use of custom proteins that, from the beginning, offer favourable characteristics for large scale production and processing. While, for specific recognition and catalysis, we are still mostly reliant on existing proteins and their modification, it is now possible to design and produce novel protein structures. This process requires a high level of expertise, substantial funding and time, which effectively limit the application of these methods outside a restricted circle of experts. The goal of this project is to develop a computational and experimental platform for rapid and reliable design of custom protein structures, whether that is a new vaccine, a layer in an ultra-light composite material for airplanes, or a miniaturized electronic component. A platform of this kind would allow cell biologists, material scientists and electric engineers to consider tailored biological tools to tackle scientific problems and develop novel specific solutions. In a way, this is similar to how people take pictures and print them, focusing on the content without having to know how digital cameras and laser printers work. This is possible by using a set of predefined protein building blocks with known structures, properties and interactions with each other. Large custom structures and their properties emerge from the combination of these building blocks, and they can be rapidly predicted, indicating which design is a viable solution for a specific problem. While developing this platform, I will partner with experts in other fields where these concepts can be applied. In collaboration with aerospace engineers, we will design protein nanomaterials with defined mechanical properties, able to withstand impact and improve the durability of composite materials. With cell biologists, we will develop proteins able to interact with the cytoskeleton that determine cell shape and motility, and understand how mechanical forces generated internally affect cell behaviour. In collaboration with the NIHR Bristol Blood and Transplant Research Unit (BTRU), we will design structures able to display multiple cellular signals to improve growth of tissues from patient stem cells, making regenerative medicine approaches available to everybody at a fraction of the cost.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Promoting the restoration and development of green and blue-infrastructure (GBI) in cities is vital for protecting ecosystem services and human well-being amid rapid urbanisation [1]. This project aims to explore the role of blue-infrastructure in contemporary cities, focusing on urban heat mitigation and sustainable water conservation and management. Specifically, we will evaluate how specific forms of blue-infrastructure can contribute to climate mitigation in the hot-arid areas of Jodhpur, located in the Thar desert region of Rajasthan, India. The blue infrastructure in question in Jodhpur is stepwells, ancient water collection and storage systems that evolved over centuries and peaked in the sixteenth century for harvesting and storing groundwater [2]. Due to the region's high aridity and specific ecological conditions, these water features were constructed with sub-surface and low-lying steps to minimise evaporation. Stepwells are a cultural response to the region's arid climate, where the scarcity of rain, has led to water being treated as sacred and worshipped. Existing literature reports a significant gap in research related to blue-infrastructure and nature-based-solutions (NBS) in India [3]. In response, this research considers how historic blue-infrastructures with socio-cultural significance, can act as effective climate mitigation strategies, while fostering social and cultural sustainability. To address this knowledge gap, our proposal outlines several key objectives: 1. Assessing the effectiveness of stepwells in developing climate change mitigation policies by quantifying their contribution to heat resilience and microclimate moderation. 2. Exploring their potential for water conservation, including rainwater harvesting and storage, groundwater recharge, and support for biodiversity and ecosystems. 3. Examining their contributions to cultural ecosystem services by studying the local communities' engagement with them and their potential to foster water governance, cultural revival, and sustainable urban design. 4. Evaluating the suitability of these blue infrastructures for contemporary cities. To achieve our objectives, we will use a socio-technical approach combining scientific methods (microclimate measurements and modeling), social-science techniques (interviews and focus groups), and humanities approaches (heritage aspects of the blue-infrastructures). The study will have two parts. The first part will examine the heat mitigation potentials of stepwells by investigating their impacts on the surrounding thermal conditions through microclimate monitoring, field observations, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The second part will assess how stepwells aid in water governance and management, involving semi-structured interviews and focus groups with stakeholders. Additionally, we will conduct digital mapping of stepwells using archival resources to promote sustainable urban design and explore co-benefits such as rainwater harvesting and storage, groundwater recharge, biodiversity and ecosystem support, and community engagement and cultural revival. This research will generate valuable insights into how conserving the tangible-built heritage can inform climate change mitigation and governance policies. These findings will be useful at both local and global levels, promoting sustainability from both environmental and socio-cultural perspectives. The methodological framework developed through this study can serve as a proof of concept to determine how historic and archaeological blue-infrastructure such as fountains, water features, pools, ponds and meadows can effectively provide microscale cooling within neighborhoods and add the socio-cultural vitality to urban areas globally. [1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2022.104399. [2] https://doi.org/10.1007/s12371-024-00919-z. [3] https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95564-9.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-09

Carbon dioxide utilisation is a promising strategy for reducing greenhouse gas and mitigating climate change. The proposed research intends to prepare copper carbonate catalysts using the supercritical carbon dioxide-assisted precipitation method and evaluate their catalytic performance in the partial oxidation of lignocellulosic biomass under a carbon dioxide atmosphere. An optimisation study will be performed to determine the reaction conditions that resulted in the highest catalytic activity and the highest product selectivity. Mechanistic studies will be carried out to understand the reaction mechanisms. These investigations provide an insight into the formation of transition metal carbonates and their influence on chemical kinetics and product distribution. This project will be divided into three parts: (1) Investigating the effect of the preparation approach on catalyst formation and performance, (2) Determining the effect of transition metal types on catalyst properties and activity, and (3) Evaluating the effect of introducing noble metals on the catalytic performance of transition metal carbonates. The research methodology combines catalyst preparation, material characterisation, catalyst testing, and mechanistic studies that utilise a wide range of laboratory instrumental techniques. Particularly, transition metal carbonate catalysts will be synthesised using environmental-friendly supercritical carbon dioxide antisolvent (SAS) precipitation. The outcome of this research will produce an effective catalyst that can realise the use of carbon dioxide as a mild oxidant in an important selective oxidation reaction. In addition to generating billions of euros of revenue to the agricultural industry, the resulting catalytic process is estimated to reduce more than two hundred million tonnes of carbon emissions. The project will help the EU and UK to meet their net-zero emission goal by 2050, while strengthening their leading position in the green technology race.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-08

StoryPharm will deliver an international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral programme of doctoral training recruiting 15 fellows, who will become highly skilled cultural historians specialising in premodern intellectual and healthcare worlds (Greco-Roman, Sasanian, Byzantine, Western Medieval, and Islamic). Acquiring interdisciplinary knowledge in Classics, Medieval Studies, Narrative Medicine, Health Humanities, and Medievalism, along with transferable skills, the fellows will be able to use, develop, and deploy cutting-edge approaches to storytelling and its ethical ramifications for scientific, professional, business, healthcare, and social purposes. The consortium of StoryPharm will comprise 5 universities across Europe (UCY, UNI BA, LU, CU, & UNI SA). It will also have 7 associated partners including non-academic and non-profit institutions, businesses, and health and pharmaceutical actors. StoryPharm's research objectives and training programme, including secondments in both academic and non-academic environments, will expose the fellows to a variety of research, training, and work settings. By integrating interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary methodologies and engaging leading experts from various fields, StoryPharm will deliver an innovative PhD programme that will go beyond the standard PhD curriculum in the Humanities. The combination of academic and hands-on training associated with exposure to diverse settings will produce a critical mass of young specialists with exceptional career prospects in academia, industry, and the healthcare sector. These specialists will be ideally positioned to (1) achieve ground-breaking research results; (2) meet current trends and needs in the job market; (3) work towards establishing a human-centred medical system; and (4) create better and more resilient societies. StoryPharm will establish the field of premodern Health Humanities and address the need for a dialogic and empathetic approach in the healthcare sector.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-08

SMART-H is the first step towards establishing SMART (e.g., resilient, sustainable, and green) Health-care facilities in Malawi and ensure continuity of operations of critical services before, during and after disasters and health crises to promote better community health and provide better services for patients and staff. A novel roadmap for stakeholders will be implemented to assess the adequacy of existing healthcare facilities and establish the selection criteria to identify those facilities eligible for mitigation strategies. It will provide an informed pathway on how government, business and society should intervene to prepare medical facilities to meet global standards and respond to disruptive events. The novel concept of this research consists of creating an integrated analysis framework to i) assess multi-hazards by probabilistic analyses, ii) identify medical baselines (e.g., health-care building types with similar structural and architectural features) on a variety of parameters collected through field investigations, iii) develop dynamic structural and thermal models to assess the physical and energy performance, and estimate direct and indirect losses and health and wellbeing of people associated with disasters driven by climate change for prioritising vulnerable baselines, iv) recommend mitigation strategies and optimize them using life-cycle approaches to reduce CO2 and improve energy efficiency, and v) produce cost-benefit analyses to plan mitigation investments for reducing future impact from multi-hazard-risks and health crises. This work will deliver a dataset, which will encourage stakeholders to take risk-informed and inclusive decisions at local, regional, and national level and promote medical facility renovations. The results will demonstrate that multi-disciplinary research is crucial to prioritise the extent and nature of repair of medical facilities. Depending on the policymakers' primary concerns different pathways should be considered to improve multi-hazard preparedness and response to health emergencies and disasters. To maximise the impact of the proposed research, a workshop in Malawi will be delivered to illustrate the potential of the proposed strategies amongst policy makers and industries operating in health emergency planning and response. This will create additional drive across sectors for financial initiatives and alternatives for inclusive healthcare. Dissemination of the research will be through publications in high profile journals and key conferences in this field.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-08

In response to the challenges of environmental deterioration and resource scarcity, the energy and chemical industry is focusing on eco-sustainable catalysis to achieve diversified feedstocks, environmentally friendly processes, and high-value chemicals. These objectives require green utilization of raw materials to produce commodity and speciality chemicals. Epoxides, as crucial high-value organic chemical intermediates, are widely applied in various fields such as medicine, food, automotive, agriculture, and construction. However, long-chain liquid alkene epoxidation processes rely on conventional organic peroxy acids, chlorohydrin, or Halcon methods. These processes suffer from drawbacks such as significant environmental pollution, intricate processing requirements, or the generation of numerous by-products, all of which contradict the principles of green chemistry and atomic economy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop green, straightforward, and highly selective epoxidation processes for long-chain liquid alkenes. Herein, we propose a sustainable pathway for the liquid-phase epoxidation of bulky alkenes using in-situ generated H2O2. The process involves Pd-based bimetallic sites for in-situ H2O2 synthesis and Ti sites in titanosilicalites for alkene epoxidation. Constructing Pd-based bimetallic sites on titanosilicalites allows for the effective coupling of H2O2 generation and alkene epoxidation. The structure-performance relationship will be established between catalytic reactivity and well-defined structure by multi-characterizations (e.g., in-situ X-ray absorption and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy), as well as elucidate the intrinsic mechanism of bifunctional catalysts through advanced multi-technologies (experimental research, DFT calculation, and microkinetic model). These results align with the "Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability" and are expected to fulfil the zero-pollution ambition of the European Commission.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-07

'Green health' and wellness may sound like 21st-century ideas; but medieval people believed strongly that having access to gardens and plants was an essential part of taking care of themselves and others. My research plan, to explore the gardens, plants, and green space of buildings like castles and monasteries and records left by medieval people as well as plants living in the landscape today, can trace the ways in which the 'green' environment was used to maintain health. This project will bring different areas of research together to understand, how, why and in what ways medieval people used plants and gardens to stay healthy. Medieval Green Lives will investigate the ways people maintained their health across aristocratic, ordinary and religious communities in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England during the later medieval period (1100 - 1600 AD). I want to look at the roles of gardens in medieval health care by examining how these spaces were used in monasteries, castles and ordinary homes. I will review these alongside the written records of garden design and plant sharing, as well as living plants. Bringing together different parts of social and scientific archaeology, history and botany, this project examines 40 case-study sites from the Atlantic Isles (of Ireland and Britain); whose shared historic past is indicated by common buildings, plants and documents, each of which retained distinct regional differences. Interestingly, humans needing care is widely perceived as a necessary part of life - yet it's rarely explored in stories of the past. However, evidence of this is readily available: people's lives (actions, relationships and experiences) can be accessed through surviving material from this time e.g. artefacts, buildings and historic documents. Like today, people in the past entered into relationships with other people, places, plants and things. Here, these actions are understood as practices - ways of doing things that mean something. I want to access this 'doing' in its material and spatial form to fully understand what a healthy life might have been like. Focussing on 'the traces of things people did' with plants and gardens, I will seek to offer a new way of thinking about health in ordinary, religious and lay households e.g. why particular plants were included in gardens, why some gardens were enclosed with masonry or how medieval people liked to look at beautiful flowers as part of their healthy regimen. Some of these plants survive in our landscapes today, though surprisingly, these plants from the medieval period (green heritage) are ignored or forgotten at heritage sites across the UK and Europe. Often it is the conservation of medieval buildings or the stories of famous past people that are prioritised, not the outdoors element of the lifestyle. At many sites, walls are cleared of vegetation and lawns are perfectly manicured. This is completely at odds with how these places may have looked, smelled or felt in the medieval period. This ordering reduces biodiversity which is now more than ever important to challenging climate change. The plants that do survive are under-appreciated in terms of their contribution to biodiversity as well as their genetic importance to their own species. Highlighting the value of these surviving plants known as relicts is an important part of protecting green heritage. Engaging with different organisations including Cadw, Museum Wales, Heritage Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland we will demonstrate through detailed survey how medieval heritage sites are and can become 'beacons for biodiversity' which responds to our own understandings of the health benefits of green space and its touristic value. If greater care and attention is given to relict plants and green spaces, heritage sites can become spaces of refuge for flora and fauna as well as 21st century people who need access to green space for their own wellbeing, just like medieval people already knew.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-07

The built heritage of Wales and the wider UK is a multifunctional collection of structures, many of which have moved beyond their original purpose to a present in which they must perform for communities and collections on a local and national scale. Whether a renowned visitor attraction or a modest private home, historic buildings are environments in which the wellbeing of people and things are safeguarded. How effectively are they performing in this role? Set against a landscape of sky-high energy prices, ambitious net-zero carbon targets and rapidly evolving heating technologies, can heritage and conservation sciences guide owners, tenants and managers of historic buildings in their decision-making? Can we benefit from understanding traditional building methods and retrofit principles to improve lived experiences of housing today? In a changing climate, what leeway do we have to broaden our long-held acceptable environmental parameters for preservation of heritage artefact collections? Led by Cardiff University experts from the School of History, Archaeology and Religion and the Centre for Sustainable Building Conservation in the Welsh School of Architecture, PERFFORM puts built heritage under the microscope. Using heritage science to understand how buildings work, it examines the impact of their internal environments on human lifeways, past and present. It activates conservation science to correlate those environments with decay of buildings and collections to offer guidance for their preservation.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-07

Light microscopy is an indispensable tool that is driving progress in cell biology. Different optical microscopy methods are currently available, and continuous effort is devoted to developing new techniques with improved capabilities. Complementing fluorescence microscopy, methods able to overcome the need for fluorescent probes, which are prone to photobleaching and associated phototoxicity, are in high demand. In this context, a unique multimodal microscope has been developed at Cardiff University, featuring label-free chemically-specific detection of endogenous biomolecules, alongside imaging non-fluorescing biocompatible nano-probes inside living cells, with unprecedented background-free contrast and photostability. At the heart of this unique multimodal microscope is a femtosecond laser source which was installed in 2011 and is coming to the end of life. Hence, we are applying for a replacement, with the latest up-to-date version of this source. Notably, the microscope is being used by a broad research community, through collaborations with academia and industry in the UK and overseas, supporting UKRI (BBSRC, MRC, EPSRC) and EU projects. At Cardiff University the system benefits multiple users across many Schools (Biosciences, Medicine, Pharmacy, Physics and Engineering). Example of studies being supported by the microscope include i) engineering "super-scattering" Raman proteins for next-generation vibrational microscopy, ii) understanding the accumulation of micro/nanoplastics pollution in aquaculture fish tissues, iii) investigating the spatial and chemical differences between more aggressive and less aggressive brain cancer (glioblastoma) cells, iv) unravelling membrane protein-lipid interactions, with focus on ATP-gated ion channels as well as pore-forming toxins, and v) developing novel correlative light-electron microscopy workflows with unprecedented accuracy. The microscope will continue to be embedded and managed within the Bioimaging Hub facility at Cardiff University where it will be available to the wider research community, using an established access model which supports and attracts both internal and external users, including industry. The system is a unique technology worldwide, with a history of generating high impact research outputs. It is crucial that this enabling technology is maintained, through the laser replacement requested here, boosting its huge potential to drive forward discovery science beyond state of the art.

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

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

UKRI Gateway to Research · FY 2024 · 2024-06

"Semiconductors" are synonymous with "Silicon Chips". After all Silicon supported computing technologies in the 20th century. But Silicon is reaching fundamental limits and already many of the technologies we now take for granted are only possible because of Compound Semiconductors (CS). These include The Internet, Smart Phones, GPS and Energy efficient LED lighting! CSs are also at the heart of most of the new technologies expected in the next few years including 6G wireless, ultra-high speed optical fibre connectivity, LIDAR for autonomous vehicles, high voltage switching for electric vehicles, the IoT and high capacity data storage. CSs also offer huge opportunities for energy efficiency and net zero. CSs are often made in small quantities and using bespoke techniques and manufacturers have had to put together functions by assembling discrete devices. But this is expensive and for many of the new applications scale-up and integration, along the lines of the Silicon Chip, are needed CDT research will involve the science of large scale CS manufacturing, manufacturing integrated CS on Silicon and applying the manufacturing approaches of Silicon to CS; it will generate novel integrated functionality and all with an emphasis on finding environmentally sustainable manufacturing methods. CIVIC PRIORITY: This CDT is a fundamental part of the strategic development of the CS Cluster centred in South Wales, and in linking it to activity across the UK. It is part of a wider training strategy including apprenticeships, MScs and CPD, to train and upskill the entire workforce. The latest skills requirements have been identified by partner companies and through working with Welsh Government, CSconnected and the CS Applications Catapult The partners support the CDT financially and with their time. This is because the limiting factor to rapid cluster growth is skilled people. The expected PhD level jobs increase for the existing cluster companies alone would mop up all the students trained by this CDT. We provide a £2k stipend top-up to maximise recruitment from all backgrounds. However, the CDT does more - clusters are about cross-fertilisation of people and ideas and the CDT combines academics from 4 universities with leading and complementary expertise in CS. We form teams of two academics from different universities, one industry supervisor and the PhD student to create and carry out each PhD. The CDT also ensures the whole cohort regularly works together to exchange new knowledge and ideas and maintain breadth for each student. The UK and Welsh administrations see CS as an opportunity to boost the economy with high technology jobs and the UK government uses the CDT as part of its pitch to overseas companies to locate here. APPROACH and OUTCOMES: a 1+3 program where Year 1 (Y1) is based in Cardiff, with provision via taught lectures and transferable skills training, hands on and in-depth practical training and workshops led by University and Industry Partner staff. Following requests from Y2-4 students the industry workshops are presented in hybrid format so all Y2-4 students can further benefit from this program and where we now cycle presenters, companies and specific topics over 3 years. A dedicated training clean room allows rapid practical progress in a supportive environment, learning from doing, experts and the rest of the cohort and then an industry facing cleanroom, co-located with industry staff and manufacturing scale equipment, where students learn the future CS manufacturing skills. This maximises exchange of ideas, techniques and approach and the potential for exploitation. Both students and industry partners have praised the practical skills this produces. Y2-Y4 consist of an in depth PhD project, co-created with industry and hosted at one of the 4 universities, and specialised whole cohort training and events, including energy audit, research ethics and innovative outreach