Findings appeared in the journal STATECO, which is an influential development statistics journal for Francophoe West Africa; this has led to further inquiries from UN staff about the possibility of doing a PhD with me at Cardiff University.Policy & public servicesEducation2021The experience from this award is supporting me to work on a potential new start up company from the Institute of Cancer Research.EconomicHealthcare2025This has had by facilitating knowledge and skills transfer between countries. Specifically, Dr Yanzhou Zhou returned to China and continued to publish in the area.CulturalOther2010The findings of this award led to the publication: British Standard Publically Available Specification: 198 Specification for Managing Environmental Conditions for Cultural CollectionsCulturalEconomicPolicy & public servicesEducation,Energy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections2012Preliminary findings from the project were presented at a conference convened by the Local Government Association (LGA) to share findings with a broader group of local authority stakeholders to further elaborate the evidence and test its findings. These included representatives from Public Health England (PHE), LGA, elected council members and members of public health teams. Findings from this project also informed a seminar organised by University College London (UCL) Public Policy and the UCL Centre for Behaviour Change in conjunction with NICE to discuss behaviour change and implementation support at a national level - chiefly how recommendations in evidence based guidelines could be supported by guidance on implementation. The seminar was attended by implementation researchers from across the UK and representatives from PHE and NHS. Findings from this project on barriers and facilitators to public health guideline implementation were useful in framing discussion on possible structure and content of guidance on implementation.Policy & public servicesCommunities and Social Services/Policy,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice20141. Political parties in Northern Ireland have requested the datasets and according to the Policy Director of one (in a written testimonial available on request and used for the REF2021 impact case study of PI Tonge and CI Shirlow) his party has "used our election surveys to shape agendas, declaring that they "impacted significantly upon our party in understanding who votes [for the party] and why highlighted the most important issues we need to address; and helped us tailor policy development and key election messages". 2. The media published our findings (e.g. led the coverage over several pages in Northern Ireland's largest circulation newspaper) and they have been extensively debated via broadcast, press and social media. The Principal Investigator has undertaken interviews (more than 1,000) with the following - in a far-from-exhaustive list: BBC News; BBC World Service; BBC Radio 4 Today and PM programmes; BBC2 Newsnight; BBC Radio 5 Live; ITN/ITV; RTE; The Guardian; The Times; New York Times; ABC Australia; German, Spanish, Belgian and Argentinian media outlets. The PI has acted as 'studio expert' for BBC NI's television coverage of recent elections and the return of Stormont. 3. The Alliance Party, Northern Ireland's largest non-unionist and non-nationalist party, agreed to a survey of its members to be undertaken by the PI, building on some of the aspects of the growth of the centre ground which featured in the election results and data findings. This formed part of a separate 'Beyond Unionism and Nationalism' ESRC project award, completed in 2023. 4. The research has been used in oral and written evidence to parliamentary committees in the UK and Ireland and citations in their reports e.g. the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Report , 'The effectiveness of the institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement' (2023) (cited several times re proposals for institutional reform); the Northern Ireland Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill Committee (oral presentation to the committee based upon written evidence, 30 June 2021); the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) (oral presentation to the committee based upon written evidence on 'An examination of the Good Friday Agreement; Strand 1) 13 July 2021. The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee asked for an oral briefing covering post-GFA electoral and other developments and this was provided in November 2024. 5. The Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland asked the PI to write a training programme for all Labour Party members (400,000+) on the Good Friday Agreement and its contemporary application. This resulted in four online broadcasts and the creation of an online training pack accessible to all members. 6. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office requested a briefing to senior civil servants from FCDO, NIO, and Windsor Framework team on the research findings, undertaken in Feb 2024 and dialogue is ongoing. 7. The research has led to numerous public lectures/discussions/debates. These include lectures and roundtables at the John Hewitt Summer School in Armagh (2023), the Linen Hall Library in Belfast (2023); Imagine Belfast Festival (2023 and 2024); Stonyhurst Society (2022 and 2023).CulturalSocietalEconomicPolicy & public servicesCommunities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice2022This research, along with participation in IODP Expedition 357, was featured in an event designed to encourage girls to pursue a career in geosciences (Girls into Geoscience, 3-4th July 2016, Plymouth University). This included a presentation to the registered participants (approx 100 students and teachers) highlighting my role in the expedition, the science being addressed and the opportunities available with international programs such as IODP. Feedback from the event highlighted that this contribution was very well received by the audience. Results and experiences of this research related to IODP Exp 357 was again featured in my participation as panel member at Virtual Girls in Geoscience 2020SocietalEducation2016To determine the isoform of PI3Ks that are best targetted in different forms of cancer. Previous dogma and much pharmaceutical investment had being based on the concept that in tumours lacking the tumour suppressor PTEN PI3Kbeta was selectively augmented and the primary therapeutic target. Part of our study showed this is untrue. This has changed biotech PI3K targetting strategy and funding. We have shown that a well known tumour suppressor (an inhibitor of tumour progression) is a PI(3,4)P2 phosphatase in addtion to its other known roles, this has important implications for cancer progression and understanding how different mutations in cancer interact and can influence therapeutic strategy. Further work flowing from this award went to show that PTEN, a human tumour suppressor and PIP3-3-phosphatase is also a PI(3,4)P2 3-phosphatase and this is important for its cellular functions and this has led to new strategies to inhibit and modulate PI3K pathway activity.EconomicHealthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology2014We have started to collaborate with sugar producers (including in the UK and abroad) to transform some of their waste streams using the technology developed within this award. Some industrial funding (fully funded PhD studentship 3.5 years) has been generated yet. If preliminary results are promising, this would have a great impact, including economic, for the valorisation of waste, but also for the production of sustainable polymers from biomass. Recently (2021), we have started to work with the UK forest industry to valorise some abundant wood-sugars into advanced materials and chemicals.EconomicAgriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Environment2017Exploiting the potential of biological principles, particularly in animal navigation, could be an important step for the engineering design of autonomous systems. I have had meetings with representatives from the Office of Naval Research with a view to exploring this further. A further, follow up project (funded by Leverhulme) aims to explore novel drag reducing properties in millstream loach. My collaborator has set up a spin-out company, via which we intend to produce engineered models based on the drag reducing features that we expect to identify in the loaches. The company will act as a conduit in between our research findings and the public/commercial domain. My research has been used by National Geographic on a program about animal intelligence (2015). A 10 minute segment discusses our research on electrosensing in weakly electric fish. I have also discussed our work at various outreach events to school, and at science festivals, in order to engage the public with our work and with science in general.SocietalEconomicAerospace, Defence and Marine,Education,Environment,Other2014the top tips (as presented in key findings) have been taken forward and used by network participants in future workCulturalSocietalCommunities and Social Services/Policy,Environment2010Negative capacitance has been demonstrated experimentally. This has been used by other researchers and has encouraged further research as this is a demonstrated proof of concept. Other findings contribute to the body of knowledge relating to integration of new materials with silicon based technologyCulturalElectronics0Implemented by a digital marketing agency: this work is ongoing via my EPSRC Fellowship grant: EPM00158X/1EconomicOther2009The findings from the grant have had an impact on the commercial sector. Birgit Leitinger has engaged with industry. In particular, she has been contacted by several pharmaceutical companies who are establishing drug development programmes against unwanted DDR signaling. She has consulted for Merck-Serono (Germany) and Astex Pharmeceuticals in 2012 and was approached by Boehringer Ingelheim (USA), Hoffmann La-Roche (Switzerland) and Servier (France) in 2014 about possible collaborations. She has further consulted for Ono Pharma UK Ltd (in 2015 and 2019), Tizona Therapeutics, USA (in 2015), Parthenon Therapeutics, USA (in 2022) and Gain Therapeutics (in 2023). In addition, she engaged in the planning of a collaborative project with Servier, France. Unfortunately, due to company-internal re-organisation, this collaborative project could not be started. Her most recent engagement with industry was in June 2020 when she was invited to give a talk for Galapagos NV, Mechelen, Belgium (this was a remote talk via Zoom). The findings from this grant have an impact on potential drug discovery (see also answer under Key Findings). The applicants had preliminary meetings with Apollo Therapeutics about this topic.EconomicHealthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology2012Research carried out on writing tablets from Nimrud using the equipment attracted international press attention after their publication: https://archaeology.org/news/2025/04/14/study-reveals-secrets-of-neo-assyrian-beeswax-writing-tablets/ https://greekreporter.com/2025/04/11/neo-assyrian-writing-boards-similarities-greek-roman-practices/ https://arkeonews.net/neo-assyrian-writing-boards-the-role-of-beeswax-orpiment-and-carbon-black-in-7th-century-bc-writing-techniques/ https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2025/04/secrets-of-neo-assyrian-writing-tablets-uncovered-beeswax-and-toxic-pigments/ The findings are findable and available for public use through the Museums online catalogue. They also directly influence collection care practice for these objects.CulturalCulture, Heritage, Museums and Collections2025Various UK and overseas polymer chemistry academics are now using PISA (S. Perrier, R. K. O'Reilly, T. P. Davis, A. B. Lowe, etc.). A number of industrials have sponsored Prof Armes for projects using PISA (Lubrizol, Scott Bader, AkzoNobel, Ashland, GEO Specialty Chemicals, DSM).0The findings in the project have indirectly led to a technique for remotely measuring heart sounds (as a continuation of this project). This idea was then the basis for a spin-out company, Light Hearted AI that is led by Lucrezia Cester who completed her OPhD in the research group. The RA hired on this grant is currently providing consultancy to the spin out company.EconomicHealthcare2021Research undertaken that examined the potential malign use of neuroscience are being taken forward mainly in considerations of the Biosecurity Education of life (and associated) scientists. Taking the work of this project forward, Malcolm Dando is currently involved in a project financed by Canada and the UK to produce a multi-author textbook dealing with the question of dual-use (biosecurity outside of the laboratory) for life science students as well as practitioners. The textbook has been available free on the web in multiple languages since the autumn of 2015. The results from the project were also presented at a meeting of an EU funded project on biosecurity for culture collections in December 2014. Members of the EU project had already produced a code of conduct and Dando presented the ideas gained on the project in regard to how education might best be developed to sustain the effective implementation of the code. The presentation was followed by an extended lively discussion of the implications for the educational process they wished to design and implement. The research undertaken on the shifting concerns about genetic engineering and biological warfare have used to help people in the arms control community understand the historical context within which arms control takes place. Three user related talks were given by Balmer (including the Dstl and the Biological Weapons Convention) and a policy briefing will be published in the next Yearbook of Biosecurity Education. Following from user engagement activities, the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) has agreed to fund the material costs, production and installation costs for an exhibition on based on the work of Dr Gould and Rappert. NMF will host the exhibition for six months in the second half of 2016 and early 2017. Rappert and Gould will undertake consultative activities to generate ideas for the content and design of the exhibition. It will be interactive and encourage and enable visitors to explore documents and materials relating to the CBW programme we have assembled to date. They are also planning to develop on-line interactive archive based in part on the ESRC project that will serves as a resources for science and medical organisations and individual practitioners (for instance, as part of ethics provisions required for Continuing Professional Development courses) as well as activists, analysts, and functionaries in the fields of transitional justice, visual art and archives. After Evan's presentation at the Biological Weapons Convention Meeting of Experts, he had an extended conversation with a member of the US delegation about the rollout of the US DURC policy. His set of recommendations for where funding organizations might next focus their money on biosecurity work was highlighted as a key outcome of the US National Science Foundation workshop on 'Where next for social science engagement in synthetic biology', and will be published in the Journal of Responsible Innovation. His work integrating with the synthetic biology community has directly led to a new research project studying and contributing to an early career leadership training programme for broader community involved in synthetic biology (including regulators, NGOs, think tanks, scientists, and members of industry). This global programme will be run in the America in 2015, Britain in 2016, and an Asian country in 2017. He has provided substantive comments on the Wellcome Trust's Dual-Use Research of Concern policy. Evans' ongoing work with the international Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) student competition has contributed to substantial changes in the way teams approach and integrate the broader aspects of their research projects. He is also working with iGEM headquarters to further assess and strengthen their screening system for genetic sequences that may pose security concerns. Evans has continued to assist in the design and operation of the International Genetically Engineered Machines competition's Security and Policy & Practices committees. He helped to redraft the requirements for teams to achieve awards, and how the team's projects were assessed for security concerns. Evans has also been working closely with CRISPR gene drive researchers to build, while still at the conceptual stage of development, broad practical engagement methodologies for bringing in a range of expertise to decide whether gene drive applications (the purposeful genetic modification of entire wild populations using minimal resources) should go ahead, and if they did, who should determine what the risks and benefits are. This has so far taken the form of a workshop held at MIT on 16 December 2015 for 35 people to discuss the specific application of a gene drive to immunize wild mouse populations on islands from getting Lyme disease (and thus preventing it in humans). Evans has been invited to co-author a paper (with Megan Palmer) for the Journal of Responsible Innovation special issue on the policy and security implications of gene drives, and will be presenting the paper during a US National Science Foundation workshop on this topic in February 2016. Evans also help run a Leadership Excellence Accelerator Program (LEAP) workshop with Megan Palmer at Asilomar from 14-19 June 2015. LEAP is a year-long development program for early- to mid-career leaders in government, industry, academia, and NGOs with an interest in synthetic biology. It seeks to provide fellows with mentorship, practical skills and a sustaining network to help them guide a socially responsible future for synthetic biology. In addition to being an advisor to the LEAP management, during this workshop, Evans conducted scenario-planning on how the projects that the participants were designing might come up against security regulations and concerns. He was also a reviewer for all action plans.SocietalSecurity and Diplomacy2013Our findings are beginning to impact beyond academia in the public and third/voluntary sectors. Our preliminary findings have been presented to policymakers from the Department for Education and to policymakers from the Welsh Government as well. A briefing document was also sent to ministers and civil servants. Catherine Pape, National Speech, Language and Communication Co-ordinator said: "Welsh Government's Speech, Language and Communication (SLC) strategy is outlined in the 'Talk with Me' delivery plan. The plan was published in November 2020, and as we work on the objectives within the plan, we are also striving to respond to the pandemic in the most effective way for children across Wales. The work of Dr. Gonzalez-Gomez and her team has been extremely valuable in helping us to respond according to evidence. We have been able to use the results of the research to show how lockdown has contributed to a widening of the gap between richer and poorer families, and to direct recovery funds accordingly. The research has helped to show the critical role of childcare as a protective factor, and this adds to the argument in support of keeping childcare open, particularly for the most vulnerable. Dr Gonzalez-Gomez spoke at a webinar in the Autumn which was attended by 240 practitioners from across the SLC workforce in Wales, as well as at the Clinical Excellence Network for Speech and Language Therapists working in Early Years Public Health. This has enabled practitioners to hear directly about the research when the results were hot off the press, and as such the results have been used to inform practice. One example is a plan to work with colleagues from Occupational and Physio therapy teams, to consider how we might incorporate indoor exercise into early SLC interventions, due to indoor exercise being found to be associated with good SLC skills in the study. We look forward to continuing to work with Dr Gonzalez-Gomez and her team as more results are analysed, and will be using these results as we consider the actions within 'Talk with Me' as well as the recovery from the pandemic." Furthermore, we have shared our preliminary findings with members of the third/voluntary sectors. For example, we have been in contact with National Literacy Trust and our preliminary findings have been very well received: Kirsty Cunnington, Programme Manager, Early Years at National Literacy Trust said: "These infographics will be of great use, I will definitely share with colleagues. They are brilliant for us to be able to use to underpin our current programmatic offer of Early Words Together Outdoors with book gifting, which we're managing to run in a few children's centres in targeted areas with parents and children coming together in the outside space..." Based, on our preliminary findings showing that babies and toddlers from disadvantaged backgrounds missed out on outside play during the Spring 2020 lockdown, our team decided to raise money to provide outdoor weather gear for babies and toddlers. Our research team raised £1,335, this helped 119 toddlers to enjoy the outdoors whatever the weather. The rain-sets, provided at discount by Wet Wednesdays, have been distributed by volunteers from Home-Start Oxford to families struggling this winter. Katharine Barber, CEO of Home-Start Oxford said: "We are thrilled by the generosity of Alex, the research team and friends, who were determined to make sure their findings led to real change for local families. Many of the parents we support were already struggling with isolation and loneliness before the pandemic, and we have seen this hugely increase. The wet weather suits will enable parents to get out with their young children and meet people in a socially-distanced way, whatever the weather, as well as helping ensure that their young children have the play opportunities that are so vital to their development." Jonathon Blackburn, from the DfE said: 'The Department for Education (DfE) is closely assessing how the pandemic has impacted on families and children and the implications for Government policy during and after the pandemic. The Social Distancing and Development Study has been an important source of evidence on how social distancing has interacted with known risk and protective factors for early years child development. Tracking a cohort of families during the pandemic is yielding crucial evidence on the extent of any developmental losses and risks to widening of the early years disadvantage gap. Alongside other studies and evidence, the findings are and will aid the Government to develop policies and programmes in response' o Building on the results of this project, we won two ESRC Impact Acceleration Kick-Starting Impact Awards. As part of these awards, we shared the results of our research with parents in three workshops (N=118). As a result of this workshop, 71% of parents reported an increase in confidence to support their child's development and 80% of parents said that they plan to change some of the things that they do with their child. o The results were also shared with practitioners in two workshops (N=127). As a result of these workshops, 64% of practitioners reported an increase in their confidence to help parents support their child's development and 87% of practitioners mentioned that they plan to change things that they do or talk about with parents. o In co-creation with parents and practitioners, we developed three activity packs (1100 packs in total) which are being distributed to families by charity partners and local nurseries. Each pack includes tangible resources and ten different activity ideas to use these resources with an emphasis on simple, fun, play-focused ways for parents to engage with their toddlers. Here is some of the feedback that we have gotten from parents: "We had lots of fun pulling the tape off the table. My son kept saying again and more. I got to spend some more quality time with my son." "It was nice to have ready-made activities to do together. It was helpful that it made me focus on this child specifically, and I put time aside to do this with her when there were no other children or distractions around so that we had each other's full attention. I enjoyed that a lot, and think I will try and make sure that happens more often." "Fantastic! Simple and easy yet imaginative. Loved playing and feeling it was supporting his learning, thank you!" "I found the explanations of why an activity was good for development (e.g. animal sounds good for language development, concentrating on an activity good for focusing) helpful than factuality about other activities we could do." Now our activity packs will be used by vulnerable families in Argentina who have children at risk of developmental delay as part of an intervention. This work is being done in collaboration with the Inter-American bank for Development and the Hospital Aleman in Buenos Aires.SocietalPolicy & public servicesCommunities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other2021The research, originally treated in a theoretical way, turned out to have many practical applications. Recently we applied it to get a better understanding of the clustered statistics of storms, rainfall statistics, and flooding events, leading to new collaborative and interdisciplinary interaction within the Flood MEMORY project, where we could successfully apply the superstatistics concept. This may generate impact in the future, for better flood risk management and the well-being of society.SocietalEnvironment,Healthcare,Transport2013