03E282E3-DFF0-4794-ADE0-00B1A7BA0ED8Wittos - Mobile Internet Analytics & Predictive Content Over WiFiClosed710397GRD Proof of ConceptThe increasing availability and uptake of smart mobile devices offering broadband
connectivity has raised demand for a smarter in-store experience, specifically a means for
bricks and mortar retailers to connect to and engage with their customers. Whilst analytics of
traditional Internet user behaviour has matured, and a myriad of solutions offering insight and
engagement have evolved, no comparable solutions exist to offer retailers insight into a
customer's online behaviour whilst within their premises.
Wittos has developed a breakthrough new solution that offers real-time actionable intelligence
and awareness of the customer's in-store intentions. This technology forms the core of the
Wittos platform which builds upon a traditional Wireless hotspot offering Internet
connectivity. Wittos combines data gathered from the user's online activity, their physical
location and path through a venue and uses this to match their actions to a behavioural profile
(companion or shopper). This profile can then be matched with products of interest (their
online focus) and acted upon to serve the most relevant content to user or improving their instore
experience by providing real-time intelligence to staff on the floor. This reactive
intelligence offers the retailer a means to increase the customer’s dwell time and increase the
chance that an in-store customer transacts.
This technology will offer traditional retailers a competitive advantage as relevant alternatives
to their purely electronic competitors, a greatly improved in-store customer experience and the
ability to match demand and supply in real-time.2015-03-3012E03F45-B517-4D83-A182-3D142D1A471AInnovate UK2014-01-01INCOME_ACTUAL904617103976CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified03E55638-AD33-4353-BE3E-00A85A5C6DF8Post-Translational Modifications Orchestrate Organ SymmetryClosed2444772StudentshipA major challenge during morphogenesis includes the establishment of symmetry types, such as radial and bilateral symmetry: a developmental commitment which greatly impacts on organ function. In humans, defects in organ-symmetry establishment leads to malformation and diseases, but despite its importance, our knowledge about symmetry foundation in multicellular organisms is very limited. Less intuitively, organ symmetry establishment is fundamental for plant survival too.
Therefore, the aim of this project is to shed light on a new mechanism regulating radial and bilateral symmetry establishment during plant organogenesis, using A.thaliana as a model; investigating how a specific post-translational modifications underpins direct protein interactions between key regulators of plant organ symmetry, which in turn switches on and off gene expression, precisely and quickly, during organ development.2024-09-29198E4A3D-B2DC-45D4-8351-7CCEC4061876BBSRC2020-09-30INCOME_ACTUAL024447726CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified040C2814-53E6-488F-BDA9-01B1A0F63777Random metrics on the CLE carpetClosed2434402StudentshipConformal loop ensembles (CLE) are random collections of loops defined in simply connected domains. They exhibit a fractal structure and arise as conjectured and proved scaling limits of a number of lattice models from Statistical Physics.
Since their introduction, connections between CLE, Schramm-Loewner evolution (SLE) curves, and the Gaussian Free Field (GFF) have been shown and categorized. In this project we consider natural random metrics defined on the set of points not surrounded by CLE loops (the CLE carpet) and investigate their properties. A first goal is to build on the relationship between CLE, SLE, and the GFF to show that geodesics in a natural CLE metric are singular with respect to SLE. This disproves a conjecture from 2014 that was based on empirical results.2023-09-29798CB33D-C79E-4578-83F2-72606407192CEPSRC2020-09-30INCOME_ACTUAL024344026CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified08DC2362-B8F7-4E0B-B1FC-001FB7AF5B94ENGLISH HERITAGE TRUST CONSERVATION AND HERITAGE SCIENCE FACILITY - RANGER'S HOUSE, GREENWICH, LONDONClosedAH/V01241X/1Research GrantThe English Heritage Trust (EHT) cares for the National Heritage Collection of 400 historic sites and 3/4 million associated artefacts.
The Facility
The heritage science and conservation facility at Ranger's House acts as a central hub for core research and conservation activities carried out by EHT. The facility itself comprises five rooms in the apartment adjacent to the publicly accessible house (home to the Wernher Collection), the fine art conservation studio, and an outbuilding used as a store. The facility has grown organically and has reached a point where the scale of work outstrips the capacity of the facility - both due to space and the quality of equipment within.
The Beneficiaries - People and Collections
The English Heritage Conservation Science team has been leading the way in research on the environmental response of objects in historic environments. This work has been critical in allowing for the safe display and storage of the collection in historic buildings. Its novelty lies in the combination of close object/ building examination and analysis, with an epidemiological approach.
We have been able to develop this novel approach because we look after similar objects that are exposed to a range of very different environments. The practical methods we have devised as a result of our research have enabled us to reduce the carbon footprint of conservation activities by 40%. The sector's interest in this work is demonstrated by an impressive 70 publications in competitive forums, the oversubscription to a series of 8 international courses covering management of showcases and an invitation to the 2018 Gordon conference on Scientific Methods in Cultural Heritage Research. We have also supported six PhDs - looking at response of lined canvas paintings, archaeological bone, archaeological glass and outdoor artillery - through the CPD scheme, SEAHA doctoral training scheme, AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Program and the Science and Heritage Programme. This research would not be possible without the Ranger's facility and its equipment, but it has been severely restrained by lack of space and outdated equipment - with constant failures or issues with software compatibility.
The conservation studio at Ranger's House, often guided by scientific advice from the conservation science team, carries out practical treatments and technical analysis of the English Heritage collection of over 1500 easel paintings, many of international significance, and their associated frames. Technical examination advances our understanding of an artist's materials and methodology. Over the last five years our work has resulted in the reattribution of several paintings, notably to Botticelli and Titian, and much associated publicity for English Heritage has followed. Art historical findings relating to paintings by Rembrandt, Titian, Weenix and Beuckelaer have been presented at several national and international conferences and published in postprints and journals. To allow this treatment and research to continue, we need to update equipment in line with technological advances and remedy issues with the studio space, previously adapted from an old coach house
The Project
The amount of research needed, both within the EHT strategy and to support the sector, is not possible within the confines of the existing facility, nor with equipment more than 10 years old and suffering constant failures (and not supported by the manufacturers due to its age).
We will redevelop the interiors of the facility and upgrade the store into a workshop in order to house equipment, and provide space for sample preparation and wood working for fine art conservation. We will also replace the most outdated pieces of equipment, to significantly improve the efficiency for research undertaken in the facility.2021-04-2947E8D760-6F07-4F7F-9D2B-1E1CDDEBBAA4Infrastructure Fund2020-12-08INCOME_ACTUAL622959Exhibition at Kenwood marking the 350th anniversary of Vermeer's death displaying The Guitar Player from Kenwood and a related painting from Philadelphia Museum of Art and discussed their relationship. Comparison aided by technical analysis carried out with IRR and other camera equipment.98922B4F-B617-4E88-96F8-981F77F49AC2Significant press coverage, increased visitor numbers at site for this free exhibition.69a5821752e1c2.87623173Double Vision: Vermeer at KenwoodArtistic/Creative Exhibition2025Exhibition at Apsley house - technical art history presented as part of the exhibition enabled by equipment at Rangers House Studio2382D86A-1A19-4223-9AD8-5B300787F62BVisitor engagement, academic knowledge69a57cf4dca7c7.37816025Wellingtons Dutch MasterpiecesArtistic/Creative Exhibition2025Cardiff UniversityUnited KingdomEIS for PhD95657CAF-7A04-4BF7-A0EF-F354933272B6none yet679a407cb15b36.52711717-1aging of coatings on steelprovision of electrochemical impedance spectroscopyAcademic/University2025-01-01University College LondonUnited KingdomInstitute of ArchaeologyWork on PhD into glass deteriorationF45F0DD8-F91C-4153-8D85-EC8314B6CACCnone as yet63d80e7983bca6.60493723-1analysis of ancient glass samples from EHT collectionTraining and use of dynamic vapour sorption, use of aging chambers to condition silica gelAcademic/University2022-01-01National TrustUnited Kingdomanalysis of earliest cricket ball6948BF25-F90F-4355-B519-A9632955FBEBnone yet679a40109ee472.68273534-1historical research on itemFTIR and Raman analysisCharity/Non Profit2025-01-01Imperial College LondonUnited KingdomPhD clear coatings for steel55993C83-824E-4FD1-A892-3CFFA44A22C4none yet679a4464d8ba59.25462461-1access to Imperial tribology and engineering labs,supervision of PhD, provision of exposure sites, information on metal composition and degradation rate, environmental data, pollution data, previous coatings usedAcademic/University2024-01-01Daresbury LaboratoryUnited KingdomXPS glassF9095DD0-07C5-464C-9D52-519DE2D8DDFAnone yet679a43908fbdf4.95281840-1tunnelling XPS analysisproduction of historic glass samples, exposure at international sitesPrivate2024-01-01National Gallery, LondonUnited KingdomTechnical analysis of Vermeer's The Guitar PlayerC957DE02-24B1-4493-8600-6DA95DF4DE01Free exhibition at Kenwood House, long form general public focused technical article on line, media coverage of the findings, forth coming academic publications.69a5854d46d6b6.65534087-2Collaborative technical examination of Vermeer's Guitar Player, involving on site analysis with equipment from Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery, London.Collaborative technical examination of Vermeer's Guitar Player, the Ranger House studio - IRR and camera equipment.Charity/Non Profit2025-01-01Victoria and Albert MuseumUnited Kingdomacoustic emission analysis of 7th century wooden pillar57044F16-5D3A-44F1-AE8D-5AFC35974C97non as yet, paper accepted for conference67c6b5dbe33560.13699182-1long term monitoring of the pillar, recording and collection of losses, environmental monitoring, building support to hold acoustic emission sensors in place, checking and downloading acoustic emission.deployed acoustic emission analysis kit to wooden pillar, undertaken DVS analysis of fragments from the pillarPublic2025-01-01Polish Academy of SciencesPolandInstitute of Physicsinteraction with IKIFP on paintingsEB29B0BD-AAF5-43F1-B59E-EDCE6E86C132none as yet653103f3a0cd01.59722271-1PhD student prepared the samples, travelled to Lab to run them over a four week period.Ran thirty paint samples on Dynamic Vapour Sorption, interpreted resultsAcademic/University2023-01-01National TrustUnited Kingdominfra red scannign at National Trust Knowle paintings studio72C6E9E5-0500-40E6-B635-50985E429E7BThe collaboration allowed us to build a good working relationship between EH and the relatively new paintings conservation provision at the NT studio.63e0c3b1906776.18648353-1none as yetUndertaking the IRR of the National Trust painting at the Knole House conservation studios enabled EH to establish the practicalities of off-site working with the new equipment in a safe space. The National Trust do not have access to IRR internally and the analysis of the painting, provided a clearer image of an indistinct area of text, potentially important for clarification of the sitter and date of the work.Charity/Non Profit2022-01-01Courtauld Institute of Art (University of London)United KingdomStudent treatment of 6 x paintings at Courtauld Institute of Art769F0317-E314-405D-B095-52AC38B10F25Material improvement to condition of the paintings, technical findings, art historical findings - may result in publicity, publication dependent on findings.69a59b8a383bd1.03581065-1Courtauld students will continue with technical analysis and treatment of the 6 paintings.4 paintings from Wrest Park and 2 paintings from Audley End are being treated by students at the Courtauld Institute of Art. IRR, lighting and camera equipment used to document paintings at Rangers House prior to work which will be undertaken at the CIA.Academic/University2025-01-01Philadelphia Museum of ArtUnited StatesTechnical analysis of Vermeer's The Guitar Player19C0F914-FDA2-4474-AC0C-6A00042469ECFree exhibition at Kenwood House, long form general public focused technical article on line, media coverage of the findings, forth coming academic publications.69a5854d46d6b6.65534087-1Collaborative technical examination of Vermeer's Guitar Player, involving on site analysis with equipment from Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery, London.Collaborative technical examination of Vermeer's Guitar Player, the Ranger House studio - IRR and camera equipment.Charity/Non Profit2025-01-01Birkbeck, University of LondonUnited KingdomDepartment of Biological Scienceswork on PhD in archaeological bone deteriorationA7BA83A1-E510-4429-B773-2DE70CD344B9PhD awarded63d80d8aa67a13.59722698-1Analysis of bone samples from EHT collectionAccess and training in dynamic vapour sorption.Academic/University2021-01-01Cranfield UniversityUnited Kingdomacoustic emission from wood borers1B4B3D9F-EEF1-42B7-B6B9-66254E3E0350none as yet65f432cc2caa09.83428178-1undertaking tests at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, undertaking tests on HMS Victorytesting application of acoustic emission methodology to detect active wood boring insects in wooden timbers located HMS Victory, loan of acoustic emission equipment, training in equipment use, interpretation of signalsAcademic/University2024-01-01Birkbeck, University of LondonUnited KingdomDepartment of Biological Sciencesanalytical collaboration with birkbeck collegeFA1B2780-9E46-417F-8E8B-3F3000B1D21CIdentification of wallpainting efflorescneces as predominantly calcite (TGA) was pivotal in conservation decisions. Quantification of amounts of akaganeite, iron, magnetite adn other corrosion products in observed degradation allowed interpretation of DVS curves measured in facility. The purity of the polymer boxes was determined by DSC along with glass transition temperature to aid in accelerated aging decisions. Interdisciplinary materials science adn conservation research.63ff4b60771ff0.37362576-1provision of lead coated PQCs and logger, thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR analysis, thermomagnetometry and differential scanning calorimetry.provision of showcases to test lead piezo electric quartz crystal (PQC) technology, provision of standard environments for same, provision of samples from Lullingstone wall painting deterioration and archaeological iron deterioration, provision of aged polypropylene and polyethylene storage boxesAcademic/University2022-01-01Tour for donorsParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionRegionalD872BF55-DD6A-45F9-B813-FDFF5945123DGave studio tour to donors, discussing analysis of donated paintings, informing attribution.6797982eb0b3f3.21794797falseSupporters2024materials testing seminarParticipation in an activity, workshop or similarInternational7D66B825-FB1D-460C-BF93-6D3D475B2F6Fseminar discussing approaches to materials testing and pratcical demonstrations679a429a59c571.82554270falseProfessional Practitioners2024National Maritime Museum Conservation Staff visitParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionLocal10D31F20-B314-458C-A00E-93BD08B39EA2Conservation staff from National Maritime Museum visited the conservation studio and conservation science lab to see the CapCo funded improvements and hear more about the team's work and research.656861bd6840a1.72579208falseProfessional Practitioners2023English Heritage Members eventA talk or presentationNational7E4A35AA-F7AB-4532-AA47-0CA2E3272410Visit to Ranger's House for English Heritage members that included presentation of the technical analysis of paintings carried out in the paintings conservation studio during paintings conservation.651bf2ba31bc67.35121261falseSupporters2023article in EH members magazine about new conservation science labA magazine, newsletter or online publicationNational02866EC6-EC49-45FB-BF0C-0CA566749F3Barticle in English Heritage Members magazine, circulation over 3000, several subsequent enquiries related to the article63d80b514e8476.66715520falsePublic/other audiences2022Vermeer long form web articleEngagement focused website, blog or social media channelInternational19F71DE2-016D-4259-9FCB-0904F8D7E428Long form web article discussing technical findings relating to the painting, The Guitar Player by Vermeer from Kenwood House. Findings supported by technical analysis from IRR and other camera equipment.69a58374878d19.07194872falsePublic/other audienceshttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenwood/history-stories-kenwood/guitar_player_vermeer/2025Lely, Self Portrait, treatmentA press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interviewNational4357AE96-D248-404A-8A26-4C034251F600Technical examination and treatment of Self Portrait with Hugh May by Lely was carried out in the Ranger's Studio. Examination using IRR, lighting and camera equipment from grant.
Re-display at Audley End house garnered local press interest.69a5ac5e5f1df1.97035346falsePublic/other audiences2025VIP tourParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionNationalEC74DEAE-6C5A-4D77-9576-B49611A2DFB7Tour of the studio for VIP guest at Chair's reception.679798d4756002.76016049falseProfessional Practitioners2024Tour for visiting professor from KU LeuvenParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionInternational25BFF724-0C9B-444A-9202-6058F2A1CF6FVisiting professor from KU Leuwen had tour of lab and studio facilities, with questiions and discussions on similar research and areas of work.67976fed155e83.41651871falseProfessional Practitioners2024Technical discussion of Bateman Master PaintingA formal working group, expert panel or dialogueNational0C516C9D-FD5A-41EA-AA5A-59A33B5FFE9FInfrared reflectography images discussed and aided technical analysis and new attribution and working practices of the Bateman Master (contemporary of Canaletto) painting651bf205ec3af4.44657554falseProfessional Practitioners2023Filming for Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) careers pages OAT futuresA broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)National8F3F071E-3434-4FB7-9C87-6420EBEC1FC5Conservation Scientist and Paintings Conservator filmed in the conservation science lab and conservation studio for careers videos. These will be put on the OAT futures website for the pupils at Ormiston Academies Trust to view. The trust has over 30,000 pupils in over 40 schools, 32 of which are secondary schools, spread across the country.651bd3cf808760.87832255falseSchoolshttps://oatfutures.co.uk/2023marble hill house revived lecture seriesA broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)National0ACCC22F-A4E8-414F-B422-E572020AA7DElecture on YouTube on infra-red camera results on paintings at Marble Hill House63d8132dad64e4.53574325falsePublic/other audiences2022articl ein EH members magazine about refurbishment of painting studioA magazine, newsletter or online publicationNational6A513D72-5FBD-456C-A7C4-C23804EABA30article in English Heritage members magazine describing refurbishment of paintings studio and some of work undertaken63d80baa930a53.31021587falsePublic/other audiences2022Studio tour for EH Young Producers (Shout out Loud)Participation in an open day or visit at my research institutionNationalEE3DB254-A423-420D-86D3-6EE588221555Studio tour to inspire a group of c.15 young producers, part of the Shout Out Loud programe.
Shout Out Loud enables young people aged 11-25 to explore English Heritage sites, collections and stories, and uncover lesser-known and untold narratives from our past. Through high-quality, creative youth engagement work, young people's perspectives are placed at the heart of English Heritage and their work is shared with audiences on site and online.69a5805c569379.52154054falseOther audiences2025Metropolitan Police Museum staff visitParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionRegionalA67BD316-F3BB-4B6C-9219-3628F1A8CE32Staff from the Metropolitan Police Museum visited the conservation studio and conservation science lab to find out about the work of the Collections Conservation Team and similarities to their own work.651bd0f5794b72.17135258falseProfessional Practitioners2023Lady Jane Grey - podcastA broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)InternationalA1D94637-F056-42FF-A7B8-2FB1F67F83CBParticipation in a podcast highlighting research on the portrait of Lady Jane Grey that went on public display at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire in March 2025.69a5a08161a7a3.23047108falseMedia (as a channel to the public)https://podcasts.apple.com/dm/podcast/the-face-of-lady-jane-grey-with-rachel-turnbull/id1704070565?i=10007000236732025Visit by Arts Council England, Government Indemnity Scheme staffParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionNational981CDB90-6210-4435-AFE5-AFB8351FEB29Arts Council England (ACE), Government Indemnity Scheme (GIS) staff visited Ranger's House, including the lab and studio facilities. Discussion on how the equipment facilitated work and understanding for collections and feeds into environmental control and our annual reports for GIS / ACE.67976bd7f37611.26345322falsePolicymakers/politicians2024workshop on use of oxygen depletion measurements for conservationParticipation in an activity, workshop or similarInternational9ED54673-D931-42C8-91AD-C889B2E5CABF26 participants took part in workshop to show use of oxygen depletion measurements. Over half have made follow up inquiries and purchased the equipment.63d0554736bcd1.99637070falseProfessional Practitioners2022Kenwood volunteers visit to conservation studioParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionRegionalB5DCFD6A-99D3-451B-BA2D-35608A905EE0Tour of the paintings conservation studio for volunteers from Kenwood House, sparked questions and discussion on paintings conservation and Kenwood paintings.651bf0dabc5e89.44866310falsePublic/other audiences2023Intern and student visit to Ranger's labParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionInternational9D169E96-EA9C-48AF-AB01-BB46A6828213Gave lab tour to Intern from Metropolitan Police Heritage Centre (who was completing postgraduate studies at University of Leicester and the internship formed part of studies) and student from City and Guilds of London Art School Conservation course. Gave awareness of conservation and especially conservation science and sparked interest in further study for undergraduate student.67976d8230f779.39042909falsePostgraduate students2024Historic Estate Conservation Committee visit to lab and studioParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionNational3E7823D6-F503-4DC8-BE2F-FF4782D42E47Historic England's Historic Environment Conservation Committee toured the conservation studio and conservation science lab facilities to see the CapCo funded improvements and hear more about the Collections Conservation Team's work.651bd016b6a469.44008534falseProfessional Practitioners2023Tate conservation staff visitParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionNational2BB0FB24-1542-4CDA-BC79-8455B2C8D074Conservation staff from Tate visited the conservation studio and conservation science lab to see the CapCo funded improvements and hear more about the team's work651bd1b0d0e299.16042448falseProfessional Practitioners2023Reynolds exhibitionParticipation in an activity, workshop or similarInternationalDB949B9B-AA7D-4C0F-A36D-638F45172D34Technical analysis of four paintings and conservation treatment of two works including use of Infrared Reflectography and microscopy to investigate Reynolds painting techniques and materials. Information used as part of the exhibition "Spotlight on Reynolds: Lord Iveagh's Favourite Artist at 300", at Kenwood House. Technical analysis included in Bloomberg Connects audio tour of the exhibition, and associated video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JscF6JMDC4Q. National and international press coverage.651c004596ba86.28814866falsePublic/other audienceshttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/kenwood/things-to-do/spotlight-on-reynolds2023Vermeer technical analysis podcastA broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)InternationalCBAC938E-16F8-4195-BE08-2ED3621DB4FBPodcast discussing Vermeer's Guitar Player from Kenwood House.69a586c5543d46.75894085falsePublic/other audienceshttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/vermeer-double-vision/id1156861002?i=10007433909822025Lady Jane Grey - new display of painting after technical examinationA press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interviewInternationalF2A3ADE2-1A2B-48E5-8A43-75C679341DB6The Portrait of Lady Jane Grey underwent technical examination in the studio using IRR, lighting, microscopy and camera equipment. When the painting was returned to display to to the public in March 2025 for the first time in over 100 years, the fascinating art historical and technical findings elicited significant TV, online and print media coverage as well as significant visitor uplift at site.69a5a3f8a6e812.60157591falsePublic/other audienceshttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/search-news/could-this-mysterious-portrait-be-lady-jane-grey/2025visit by ICON internsParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionNational4D64E5EA-09A6-4102-9CE6-0A728E403741Interns from Institute of Conservation scheme visited the science lab and paintings studio63d80f70274563.89089357falseProfessional Practitioners2022The Wedding Party by Jan Steen: A Conservation StoryA broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)International82890781-D5D8-4D56-BDD3-DAF8A8EFDAAEFilm describing the conservation and technical analysis of Jan Steens The Wedding Party, a painting from Apsley House. Elements of both treatment and analysis enabled by IRR, lighting and camera equipment in the Rangers House Studio.69a58892637958.57472293falsePublic/other audienceshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTp1kK4Bvls2025Diana Cecil by Cornelius JohnsonParticipation in an activity, workshop or similarInternational53FE96D7-C001-4F96-8FBB-B2A790C5A108Completed technical analysis and conservation treatment, including use of Infrared Reflectography and microscopy to investigate painting technique and materials. National and international press coverage, as well as social media video https://www.instagram.com/p/C0BgzyOMQmQ/ and painting back on display 30th November 2023656f03ef866543.08315053falsePublic/other audienceshttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/pr-fashion-for-fuller-lips-not-a-modern-phenomenon--english-heritage-reveals-jacobean-ladys-original-beauty/2023articl ein EH members magazine about refurbishment of painting studioA magazine, newsletter or online publicationNationalA4BAAAFD-446B-4D78-92AE-E4F94CB235A2article in English Heritage members magazine describing refurbishment of paintings studio and some of work undertaken63d80c547e0a12.20638219falsePublic/other audiences2022public talkA talk or presentationLocal0A79747A-19E6-4FDE-A8CC-ED30816AF534Public talk Conservation science at English heritage to Sevenoaks U3A science group, sparked questions and discussion afterwards. Two attendees volunteered at English Heritage sites afterwards.63d055f3b9e0d6.97192981falsePublic/other audiences2022ICON staff and trustees visitParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionNational3239981B-C731-4040-B3AF-05C12B6917CBInstitute of Conservation (ICON) staff and trustees visited lab and studio facilities, with questions and discussion.65e1bbc1ef2df4.81312345falseProfessional Practitioners2024Double Vision: Vermeer at KenwoodA press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interviewInternationalEEA62F41-153F-4A7E-8FB2-9DBC7B7E6C7ASignificant and ongoing media coverage (print, online).69a587412080e7.07246523falsePublic/other audiences2025Reynolds research dayA formal working group, expert panel or dialogueNational3857DACA-921F-4E80-B3F1-155032C51B2CTechnical findings of Reynolds paintings analysis including Infrared Reflectography (IRR) imaging and microscopy results discussed with other paintings conservators working on Reynolds paintings.651bf000c4a801.17188217falseProfessional Practitionershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JscF6JMDC4Q2023career taster session for local schoolParticipation in an open day or visit at my research institutionLocal2C1FD2E0-6E33-4438-BC48-27559E67C4438 pupils form Thomas Tallis school attended for visit focussing on STEM careers, which sparked questions and discussion afterwards63d810178acbc6.88219386falseSchools20221000000United KingdomGBPUnited Kingdomen_GBCreating a national integrated mobile and fixed lab for collections, historic buildings and sites2026-07-01Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)AH/Z506242/17CDFB993-5775-4029-9F40-E5227D6FAAE6679a3f084dc1d9.94042761Public2024-07-313999950BelgiumEURAustriade_ATGoGreen2026-11-02European Commission H2020BB29A467-EC69-499B-9D8B-F9FF809AA0016230c4088ad338.99607916Public2022-11-01Research undertaken at the facility has underpinned the definition of Green Conservation developed by the Green consortium of three funded Horizon Europe projects, including GoGreen. This definition is fundamental within the recent Horizon call, HORIZON-MISS-2026-01-CLIMA, for a total of €63,000,000.
The facility has engendered more collaboration with researchers, with 8 major collaborations (and several others), despite COVID restrictions being in force for the early period. The stated priorities have all been advanced. The issues are large and will require significant research and knowledge transfer to initiate change within the sector. Whilst the research has progressed well, embedding the results into sector practise is a slow and time consuming process, due to the low uptake of even dedicated literature. Conference attendance has helped the situation, but the fields inertia is great. The research enabled has generated 24 peer reviewed papers, with significant additional material at publication stage and a further four papers in press. The award of the GoGreen project funding (the proposal was strengthened by our stronger analytical capabilities from CapCo) significantly enhanced our research ability in the areas covered by the project, sustainability and preventive conservation. The award of RIO and RiCHeS funding will dramatically increase our analytical and aging capabilities and capacity to undertake research. The main research areas from the CapCo application were; • Addressing the sector debate regarding RH fluctuations causing damage to objects, significant data produced on furniture response in real environments with acoustic emission (paper in press); impact on egg tempera paintings (DVS); susceptibility of stone and ceramic objects (UV/vis/NIR, environmental chambers) (papers published and methodology reported on Zenodo; requirements of miniature paintings on ivory (DVS, oxygen measurement for air exchange rates, environmental chambers); ivory response (DVS, universal tester, environmental chambers); damage mechanisms of glass and enamel objects (DVS, laser displacement measurement, environmental chambers). Performance of paintings microclimate, glazing and backboarding, performance of print frames (oxygen measurement, environmental chambers)• Investigating mould growth and treatment: DVS analyses of both dust and cardboard storage boxes have allowed understanding of moisture- RH response which drives mould growth. • Preventing damage to archaeological materials: extensive work on archaeological iron and copper alloy (oxygen measurement, DVS), clays in stone (UV/Vis/NIR), stability of archaeological glass (DVS, UV/Vis/NIR). Environmental chambers and DVS used for archaeological bone and glass PhDs. • Testing and developing damage functions: Existing damage functions for copper and silver have been tested and compared to measurements of corrosion rate. New funding delivered (GoGreen project) to provide a post to undertake this work to generate new damage functions for glasses, iron alloys and stone. International exposures underway and materials sourced. Validation of salt laden stone and ceramic response to environment with acoustic emission• Treatments for outdoor objects: Internship of PhD student investigating paint treatments for twentieth century artillery in facility. PhD now awarded. • Exploring storage methods, which are key to survival of stored collections: Investigations into performance and long term stability of storage boxes for archaeological iron and copper alloy, bone and glass. Investigation into performance and long term stability of silica gels (Environmental chambers, DVS, tensile tester). New methods for much more stable storage developed and protocols for storing unstable glass investigated. The performance of portable pollution filtering devices has been investigated (UV/vis/NIR). The RIO grant has significantly extended our abilities to measure and determine the impact of pollution on collections and also RH fluctuations. Research has also facilitated the display of mixed archaeological objects in the new exhibitions at Furness Abbey, Richborough Roman Fort, Lindisfarne Museum and Wroxeter Roman Town. Able to support these projects with extensive testing of objects proposed for display including stability of archaeological iron objects and light stability of two prints (including the Girtin discussed below). Much of the equipment has been used in the 25 external accesses as part of the RiCHES facility set up. The re-opening of Marble Hill House was supported by the trials of air curtains to reduce air impact into the newly designed visitor route with the ultrasonic air velocity equipment. The installation of heat pumps replacing the fossil fuel Osborne Houses heating system was significantly informed by the results for RH fluctuation damage thresholds. The APOLLO infra-red camera is being used as part of the paintings documentation process. Over the last year, 25 paintings have either been fully treated or prepared for loan out in the English Heritage paintings conservation studio and are already back on display or will be going back on display mid-2026 in properties across the country.
All paintings were examined with Infrared Reflectography using the Apollo camera, this work now forming a part of our documentation process alongside standard photography with the new camera equipment. The Apollo camera was also taken to site to look at 6 paintings from Apsley House, now accessible since they were hanging in an exhibition. The equipment travels well and this exercise proved it can be useful across the country. A group of 12 Renaissance paintings from Rangers House were examined using the camera and the results have been shared with visitors including English Heritage's Young Producers group. Both the new camera set up and the IR were used to gather images and data on one of English Heritage's most important paintings, The Guitar Player by Vermeer. This involved an international collaboration with The National Gallery in London and The National Gallery of Art Washington and will be published in full this year. Initial results were shared with the public in a web article. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/guitar_player_vermeer202277F5DC01-847A-46F0-B7D9-45B947AF8B29Cultural6233261ff2ab77.80769525Culture, Heritage, Museums and CollectionsDevelopment of calculations to predict showcase conditioning efficiency relating to humidity control which has informed showcase design (environmental chambers, balance and DVS), presented in 3 publications. Combined with energy use measurements and life cycle assessment this has produced a model for the carbon footprint of showcases in heritage institutions, presented in 2 publications and 2 others under review.
A method to determine the stability and measure the corrosion rate of archaeological iron and copper alloys has been developed (oxygen meters) and published (2 papers). This has allowed significant epidemiological research on English Heritages archaeological metals collection including discovery of a group of objects that deteriorate frighteningly rapidly at very low RH values.
Developed a low cost method to estimate acetic acid in enclosures, replacing expensive instrumental analyses, that have been beyond the resources of many cultural heritage institutions and reported to be a significant limitation in surveys (UV/Vis/NIR, environmental chambers). One publication under peer review.
Studies into the degradation of daguerreotypes of the Darwin family have allowed improvements for their safe display at Down House (environmental chambers), The lessons have been transferred to the field in a paper.
The environmental chambers and DVS have been used extensively in two collaborative PhD projects. A new phenomena in the isotherms of archaeological glass has been discovered, that will have important impacts on its preventive conservation.
The behaviour of furniture and wooden sculpture under fluctuating RH conditions has been studied with the acoustic emission equipment, indicating the safety of some environments and identifying others that need improving. The long term nature of such studies, to account for seasonal variations means publication is just beginning. One paper has been accepted but not yet appeared.Showcase humidity calculations already in use by 15 institutions (conservators, scientists, designers). Acetic acid adopted by 15 conservators and scientists. Oxygen depletion method used by 12 researchers, including in two major research projects and 20 others have been trained. For a small field such as conservation research, this is an exceptionally high take up rate.
Results from daguerreotype glass deterioration is already informing other institutions displays and archaeological glass results will alter display and storage approaches.FB22DB9C-C871-411A-8E2E-69F771A41C2F6233249dec0783.48520029Culture Heritage Museums and Collectionsresults fed into drafting of CEN BS 15999 part 2 and rewriet of CEN BS 15999 part 1Europe389B4331-5CAA-49F9-8E9C-1644D109E09EThe existing standard EN BS 15999 part 1 has been purchased over by over 3000 professionals (EN data) and is much more widely used by individuals with subscription services. Part 2 is due for publication in 2022 and deals with many technical aspects, which have generated a number of papers reporting failures in showcase performance. The two areas have been through robust review and been accepted by the technical committee and will significantly improve RH and pollution performance.6231bdc4124480.09149449Contribution to new or Improved professional practiceThermodynamic modelling of stable climate regions for salts present in porous objects is very valuable and has a significant literature. The presence of gypsum causes issue by generating soluble calcium ions, that interfere with accurate modelling. While ECOS and Runsalt had procedures incorporated to account for this, they have widely been reported as inadequate. A new improved method has been developed and tested with acoustic emission.9127EC97-4510-4C5D-8333-7D5EA055FBCDso far 48 downloads, discussion at meetings indicate interest in use, but hesitance due to previous issues. Validation results are being drafted for publication69a01ce81d3f95.70527309trueimproved method to account for calcium from gypsum to improve accuracy of thermodynamic modelling of stable temperature RH ranges to preserve stone and ceramics with salts present.Data analysis techniquehttps://github.com/BhavShah01/SaltsR2024salt removal by poulticing, removes need to drill a sample from historic worked stone sculptureC701C187-95F5-4692-99B8-C60BDFE137F6none as yet679a4778b01bd5.71545227falseMethods to analyse stone to determine future degradation rate and suitable preservation climateImprovements to research infrastructurehttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/conservation/collections-advice-and-guidance/2023In 2021 the Fine Art Conservator implemented a simple method to measure the carbon footprint of an easel painting conservation treatment, including monitoring energy use, materials, object transport and staff travel. It uses widely available tools and resources, without requiring the help of a specialist sustainability expert. It represents a walk-through of the steps lay persons could take to replicate the study.6956B7B6-E662-46D2-A807-2840D0880408Additional painting conservation treatments have been assessed to determine the carbon footprint. Information has been shared with wider ICON Sustainability Network and led to further research on sustainable packing materials for paintings.656f075035e707.70733678trueHow to Calculate the Carbon Footprint of a Paintings Conservation treatmentImprovements to research infrastructurehttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/siteassets/home/learn/conservation/collections-advice--guidance/how-to-calcluate-the-carbon-footprint-of-a-painting-conservation-treatment_alice-tate-harte_david_thickett.pdf2023carbon calculator for different methods of interventive and preventive conservation for silver collection265C0A58-6EEB-42DA-94F0-CD577137AE0Adownloaded 67 times, used in conservation training Cardiff, University of Catalonia, CCI, UCLA679a459e3fa7a9.27170972trueperformance and sustainability impact of silver conservationImprovements to research infrastructurehttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/conservation/collections-advice-and-guidance/2022multi analytical method to determine stability or otherwise of historic glass objects222B91E8-2BCD-46B9-ABA6-CB27813C5DBFWork using method at Rijksmuseum and Victoria and Albert Museum679a470495b3b7.56920345falseMethods to analyse glass to determine future degradation rateImprovements to research infrastructure2023carbon calculator for different methods of interventive and preventive conservation for copper collections
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/conservation/collections-advice-and-guidance/8348FC7D-46CE-4748-BBC5-B35E6265A2F4none yet679a45d8b0f6f9.05627673trueperformance and sustainability impact of copper conservationImprovements to research infrastructurehttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/conservation/collections-advice-and-guidance/2024Calculates carbon footprint and 8 other sustainability parameters for showcases. RiCHeS purchase of the EcoInvent LCA software and database has significantly improved the sustainability indices data.3E78F789-A65C-4CC1-A21F-6357D6166B38downloaded 401 times, using in conservation training University of Catalonia679a4650d27082.39523643truecarbon footprint and LCA tool for showcasesImprovements to research infrastructurehttps://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/conservation/collections-advice-and-guidance/2022461860EA-CC8D-4579-97A0-9A79DC457CDEUsing Epidemiology to Validate Scientific Results for Complex Situations90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2022-01-0163d052dfeb8b87.985661297E6BE52F-8F20-4A8F-A260-6E724516B3F6Oxygen Depletion Testing of MetalsHeritage90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2021-01-016230bf594c1396.71844921A6FC28E7-122D-4995-BC84-2D26151DB9F2Pollution and Heritage Metals-Effectiveness of Oddy Testing and Mitigation.Materials (Basel, Switzerland)90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2023-01-011996-1944657a05037e59e9.78950080FA48F045-CDB2-45BB-8F0F-AA564FFB0E87Measurement of Sorption Isotherms to Guide Mixed Display of Archaeological Iron, Bone, and Glass.Materials (Basel, Switzerland)90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2024-01-011996-1944679a3d6f37ccb4.45743055825BBB70-86C0-4AED-AED9-1E9135311826Investigating and Preventing Daguerreotype Glass Deterioration90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2022-01-0163d053e4c3b271.45079050CD5BCDD7-DC2A-4C46-B7D1-4394D019C106Practical Use of Damage Functions for Environmental Preventive Conservation and Sustainability-Examples from Naturally Ventilated BuildingsHeritage90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2023-01-0163ff44e74ec3f2.60825495E64594C4-5F44-4CF9-8F90-83B9021CE071Analysis of Salts and Clays for Conservation of Porous Cultural HeritageApplied Sciences90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2023-01-01657a0493369088.29747335D4A82143-86DF-4AE5-9862-CC38FCEF5E66Review of Interpreting Gaseous Pollution Data Regarding Heritage ObjectsHeritage90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2023-01-0165e383da0c14c7.48754159C6714919-4652-46BB-9269-209DFC0FAFA3Sustainability of Managing Archaeological Iron CollectionsHeritage90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2025-01-01699dcb265bc575.05799849CF021541-7D8E-4644-88AB-90D5A898A398Beyond Heritage Science: A ReviewHeritage5e86e30f1ab5028aa5e9597ef0d77c3bKennedy C2024-01-0165f431c29d7796.90727246364D77A1-1907-4055-A84F-8FF19326981DDeveloping steel damage functions to improve sustainabilityddee38779979e703d1b1aca1bf3b7888Melinis A2025-01-01699dcf7e82ede9.89100886BF26BA66-E3F6-437D-BF80-8F3219D9300CManaging Silver Tranish90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2021-01-01653101a988a5c0.51557929A77485A8-891B-4B3B-A630-B8BA48A77089Assessing and predicting sustainability for maintainging silver collections63e204f230453bc3cf81c8a84b87cfbcthickett D2023-01-016530fd82a882e3.32685008D8712069-5A52-4BD3-B461-E9C24FACBB27Long-term provision of stable environments for metals conservation361d237589e2b1651cd5e7365063da4dLankester P2022-01-0163d05344dffe00.027494960C684889-0FFB-4DE5-9D99-315424D66E3ANatural Light Aging of furniture, textile and bone in historic environmentsCultura e Scienza del Colore63e204f230453bc3cf81c8a84b87cfbcthickett D2024-01-01679a3cb3131787.84548857C77CDE92-33EF-4AD6-AF74-96D2E903FCBAAnalysing objects to produce more sustainable conservation environments.90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2023-01-01657a0767264974.99735048048B9136-DC29-4581-94AA-53FC12E489F1In situ analysis of metal corrosion63e204f230453bc3cf81c8a84b87cfbcthickett D2025-01-01699dcf1ce79d96.9197543681E14534-A47A-46D0-A425-36DD5A8B45EBComparative assessment of paint systems for use on heritage artillery at coastal forts in England: experimental design and interim reportConservar Património89314afe407ab0f79cf15f9d0f030d85Smith W2023-01-01679a3a9ac62df6.42437647341E42A0-9F21-4DA3-AFE8-F6F9D49B732AReview of analysis for cultural heritage conservationCurrent Topics in Analytical Chemistry436810896aa21c8f2b79f38009b1994ethickett d2020-01-016230c0cef2c9b4.96246046EE523275-D167-46D4-9F04-2F80CA143CFDAnalysing Objects to Tailor Environmental Preventive ConservationHeritage90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2022-01-0163d05083f27ef1.9758312895EB72AF-7C6A-48B4-81AC-1F099DE12E15Surveying analytical techniques for a comprehensive analysis of airborne particulate samples in museum environmentsTrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry78e9c1e710df451c16c7cd911964955dBrizzi S2024-01-016664523c6ae4b1.87568437422A9AE4-60FC-4F97-A250-7653D4F1A7BFBetter Use of Showcases for Preservation and SustainabilityStudies in Conservation90e385ae1d92b951e8e0650069bd7798Thickett D2022-01-0163d050d851e4a9.756754069AEE5439-9BE7-4F8C-89E1-DECA1B35BD26Predicting Salt Damage on Stone Objects and Controlling Sustainably63e204f230453bc3cf81c8a84b87cfbcthickett D2025-01-01699dd0455799a3.59656247DC8F2C1D-937A-460B-8228-B9BB6A9512D1Calculating the Carbon Footprint of Interventive and Preventive Conservation at English Heritage, UKStudies in Conservationf209b1c00c8e7fb9be98e3dfc3c2cb59Tate-Harte A2024-01-01679a3d143fde88.97214282AH/V01241X/16CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified0A9C4768-C996-4303-91F1-020F34284F78Characterising hydrothermal alteration across the Atlantis Massif: IODP Expedition 357ClosedNE/P000061/1Research GrantThe oceans covers approximately two thirds of the Earth's surface yet the oldest ocean floor is less than 200 million years old because it is continuously created and destroyed through the plate tectonic cycle. The ocean floor is made of volcanic rocks that form at mid ocean ridges, a global chain of under-water volcanoes that stretch for ~60,000km around the oceans, where two tectonic plates are moving away from each other. The rate at which the two tectonic plates move away from each other varies across the oceans. Currently 50% of the global mid ocean ridge system is spreading at slow spreading rates (<40 mm/yr, e.g Mid Atlantic Ridge). From dredging and scientific drilling of the ocean crust and studying ophiolites, pieces of ocean crust that have been emplaced onto the continents, the overall structure of the ocean crust has determined. 'Typical' ocean crust has a layered stratigraphy with erupted lavas overlying intrusive feeder channels and frozen magma chambers (gabbros). However along slow spreading ridges this typical stratigraphy is not always present, and ~ 50% is formed by tectonic extension along detachment faults that bring gabbros and mantle rocks to the seafloor.
Once new ocean crust is formed cold seawater penetrates downwards into the crust along fractures, becomes heated and reacts with the volcanic rocks until the hot hydrothermal fluids becomes buoyant and exit the crust at the seafloor . These reactions modify the chemistry of both the rocks by the formation of new hydrothermal minerals and the hydrothermal fluids, and are therefore an important process to quantify in order to understand global chemical exchange. The new minerals that form are strongly dependent on the initial rock and the temperature of the reacting hydrothermal fluids. At slow spreading ridges, the exposure of gabbroic and mantle rocks at the seafloor results in different chemical reactions, and mantle rocks in particular undergo extensive alteration to serpentinites. Serpentinisation reactions are accompanied by the formation of calcium carbonate minerals in fractures. The formation of calcium carbonate by fluid/rock reactions is currently being investigated as a potential long-term store of carbon dioxide. Understanding hydrothermal circulation in these environments is critical for understanding this process and ultimately exploiting it for the industrial storage of carbon dioxide.
The Atlantis Massif is located on the Mid Atlantic Ridge and is an example of where tectonic extension has exposed gabbroic and mantle rocks at the seafloor. A hydrothermal vent system called the Lost City Hydrothermal Field is present on the southern end of the massif and is driven by serpentinisation reactions. Low temperature (<100degC), high pH hydrothermal fluids vent diffusively at Lost City through carbonate-brucite structures. It is one of only five hydrothermal vents that are known to be hosted on mantle rocks.
In this study, new samples recovered by scientific ocean drilling of the Atlantis Massif during IODP Expedition 357 will be used to investigate the role of hydrothermal circulation in the formation of ocean crust along these long-lived detachment faults. For the first time an age transect of samples across the massif has been recovered allowing insight into how the detachment changes and evolves as it progressively ages. By studying the new hydrothermal minerals that have formed during fluid/rock reaction, and documenting their distribution within the different rock types, the pathways for the hydrothermal fluids can be deciphered. This information will be combined with geochemical analyses of the rocks and hydrothermal minerals to quantify the chemical changes that have occurred during hydrothermal circulation across the Atlantis Massif. This combined approach will allow the contribution of hydrothermal circulation along detachment faults to the broader hydrothermal budget of global geochemical cycles to be determined.This project will make significant scientific advances towards our understanding of the role of hydrothermal circulation during the formation and evolution of the ocean crust. It will expand upon our current knowledge of this key Earth process through the variable slow spreading rate crust that represents much of the modern mid ocean ridge network. This project will primarily benefit the extensive ocean crust community, both those working on modern ocean crust and ophiolites, as outlined in the Academic Beneficiaries section.
Benefits to: IODP
The proposed research will contribute to addressing two of the proposed challenges in the 2013-2023 IODP Science Plan; challenge 9 'how are seafloor spreading and mantle melting linked to ocean crustal architecture' and challenge 10 'what are the mechanisms, magnitude, and history of chemical exchanges between the oceanic crust and seawater?'. This research will contribute to these by characterising and quantifying hydrothermal circulation through the detachment surface of the Atlantis Massif and its contribution to global geochemical cycles. Publication of this research in internationally recognised peer-reviewed journals will highlight the on-going importance of IODP as a world leader in scientific collaboration and high impact science.
Benefits to: Public
This research will contribute to topical global questions about the response of the Earth system to perturbations (global geochemical cycles) and the limits of life. Through the integration of this study with companion studies addressing the mechanisms of serpentinisation because of the intimate link between the two studies, this research will contribute to the topical debate about the long term storage options for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Involvement with University open days and public engagement activities (e.g. Girls into Geoscience) and the publication of the results in journals accessible to the public will ensure this research is exposed to the public.
Benefits to: RA
The research assistant will benefit from training and experience in laboratory procedures in addition to being involved with active research. It will provide an opportunity to extend their skill set and develop their future career prospects.
Benefits to: Industry
The long term storage of carbon in solid mineral form is one of the options available for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide and is currently an area of research of high interest in both academic (e.g. IODP Expedition 357, ICDP Oman Drilling Project) and industrial (e.g CarbFIX) contexts. A necessary step towards the potential industrialisation of this process is understanding the natural system in a range of environments. This research is intimately linked to serpentinisation across the Atlantis Massif and will therefore help inform our understanding of the formation of calcium carbonate minerals in lower crustal and mantle rocks. This research will add to the growing body of research in this field and in the long term will be of use to carbon capture and storage industries.
How does the proposed research generate impact?
This research will inform our understanding of the variation in processes that form the ocean crust. The recent recognition of the extent of the detachment mode of seafloor spreading represents a major step in our understanding of how the Earth surface forms. The results of this study will provide crucial evidence for the interaction of hydrothermal fluids and tectonic processes and quantify for the first time the contribution of focused hydrothermal fluids on global hydrothermal budgets. The intimate link between hydrothermal circulation in the gabbroic and mantle rocks will inform our understanding of the natural storage of carbon in ocean crust, a crucial step in knowledge necessary for the potential industrialisation of this process.2017-05-178A03ED41-E67D-4F4A-B5DD-AAFB272B6471NERC2016-04-18INCOME_ACTUAL27616European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD)European Union (EU)Organising committee MagellanPlus workshop "Investigating the oceanic life cycle of tectonic plates by mission specific drilling"9069048F-A2FE-4E7F-B949-F816316A62B2in progress.622b0aba22eda4.47465593-1I co-wrote the MagellanPlus workshop proposal and was nominated to be PI for this award (successfully funded at 15,000 euros).
I am hosting and organising the workshop at the University of Plymouth UK, further cementing the leading role that UK scientists play in IODP.I am leading the organisation of this workshop, which builds on science themes but also the nature of IODP Exp 357 in the use of mission specific platforms.Charity/Non Profit2021-01-01GiG 2019Participation in an activity, workshop or similarNationalF9E86065-00C4-4044-8140-00D14AB0E878Results from Atlantis Massif featured as part of the Girls in Geoscience workshop "Exploring the rocks beneath the seafloor"5e54edbc7e92f2.92302306falseSchools2019Virtual Girls in Geoscience 2020Participation in an activity, workshop or similarNationalC16DDA37-3EC4-4703-8EEE-D62979FACDC2I particppated as a panel member, with particular emphasis on sea-going fieldwork. My experiences from this Expedition (first with more than 50% female participants) featured in my answers603f80df6f2361.95744907falseSchools2020Girls into GeoscienceParticipation in an activity, workshop or similarNational1355C7B3-B028-4F35-9FE6-96D61D0DF8D4The event includes a mixture of presentations and workshops. This research was featured in a presentation highlighting the variety of opportunities available with an academic career in geoscience, along with highlighting the international projects that UK scientists are involved with.58c696b7e7b9d3.82413922falseSchools2016This 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 20202016E4EAF681-06C3-42A2-B6EB-3EFBC2D71BDASocietal58c695283fde15.85060497EducationInitial results indicate a greater variability in alteration within a particular lithology across the detachment fault than previously expected. Geochemical analyses indicate a high variability in gabbroic alteration at a cm scale. These data will provide an example of alteration under a detachment fault and will be a useful comparison for gabbros altered around normal faults.Results will be presented at the postcruise meeting and I expect my results to be used by other members of the science partyF455E4FC-8F9A-4763-9C6F-31893433F65858c6935bb975e1.32723421Education1026540E-E814-4CF9-8145-CE32A9626D98Magmatism, serpentinization and life: Insights through drilling the Atlantis Massif (IODP Expedition 357)Lithosb6a43c0732cdffa546b4fd4ba25dd5caFrüh-Green G2018-01-010024-49375c753067d95871.65577698709495E8-5E10-4D3D-961D-D820A684419DGeochemistry of serpentinized and multiphase altered Atlantis Massif peridotites (IODP Expedition 357): Petrogenesis and discrimination of melt-rock vs. fluid-rock processesChemical Geology6bad4a6264df2d091be74a6716dccc36Whattam S2022-01-0100092541622b095cc2d802.97682558NE/P000061/1346611FD-47F5-46D6-9813-D4707F62253B100GeosciencesA646062E-6497-4533-8274-47644A7B369C20Earth Resources2334C846-D357-4EF1-B929-0EC4EC1854CB40HydrogeologyF52704F6-1035-4307-9FA9-45BC878F1F1A10Tectonic Processes7F1C4565-EFD3-4BE7-8A4A-B5F39FFD36F330Volcanic Processes0AE039A7-9A84-4943-AA36-001DB5763245Ferroelectrics for Nanoelectronics (FERN)ClosedEP/H023666/1Research GrantThe evolution of silicon technology since the 1960's has focussed on doubling performance and functionality every 18-24 months through miniaturization. Critical dimensions measured in tens of nanometres are now common place and billions of components connected by miles of wiring can be packed onto a wafer no larger than a thumb nail. Today the focus is shifting away from more scaling (called more Moore after the founder of Intel, Gordon Moore) towards increasing functionality through the introduction of mixed technologies on silicon (called more than Moore). This project investigates the incorporation of ultra thin ferroelectric materials into silicon nanoelectronics and two of its many applications.Capacitance is the rate of change of charge with voltage. It is the defining property of capacitors which are necessary in many electronic systems but are relatively large. Ferroelectrics can shrink capacitors by three orders of magnitude, because their electric permittivity is so high. More than that, their capacitance can be made to vary depending on the applied voltage so very small and tunable capacitors can be made, which can find applications in hand held electronics products in order to reduce power consumption. If they could be integrated onto a silicon microchip there would be further space savings. Thin layers are expected to produce even higher capacitance. However there is evidence that capacitance starts to reduce below 50 nm as dead layers are said to form near the interface with electrodes, but this may be an interface effect which can be lessened through engineering. Recently there has been experimental evidence that effective negative capacitance can be seen in ultra-thin ferroelectric films. If such material can be incorporated into a transistor then it would be able to reduce the voltage needed to switch a transistor between its on and off states (the sub-threshold slope). This would transform silicon technology, allowing a new generation of more powerful single core processors. Modern computers have dual or multi-core processors. A single core processor would generate too much heat but is still desirable for many applications. Capacitance places a lower limit on the sub-threshold slope. The consequence is that transistors need a larger applied voltage to be on and/or will leak current and so can never be fully switch off. This leads to increased power loss and heating as more transistors are crammed onto the same area of silicon, which limits component density. Integrating a ferroelectric film with negative capacitance into the gate of a transistor would reduce the overall capacitance and thus the sub-threshold swing. The need to understand and produce high quality ferroelectric ultra-thin films is imperative for each of these applications. Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) at Newcastle and Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) at Imperial College will be used to deposit thin films of the ferroelectric materials barium titanate (BTO) and barium strontium titanate (BST). Both allow deposition thicknesses with atomic level precision. Extensive characterisation is needed to assess quality of these ferroelectric films. First principles computer simulation will be used to gain a better understanding of the films and to direct experiments. The deposition and thermal parameter space will be mapped to identify best ferroelectric properties for given constraints laid down by the silicon fabrication. Transistors will be made incorporating the best ferroelectric films to confirm the reduction in sub-threshold slope. Ferroelectric capacitors integrated onto silicon will be demonstrated, quantifying the capacitance increase per unit area and examining the fabrication constraints needed to maintain high transistor performance. This will also help identify integration issues, which also include equipment contamination and the development of ferroelectric etches.The RAs and PG student trained will have the opportunity to develop excellent analytical, research and communications skills. Such people have previously gone on to work as permanent academic staff, in industry, in finance and in government research labs. The project will offer other RA's and PG students an opportunity to benefit from working on closely related topics in the area of thin film ferroelectrics and it is anticipated that this will boost the activity to benefit all. UK companies spanning the supply chain for high performance integrated circuits will gain competitive advantage. The primary benefits will be proof of concept for new types of semiconductor devices using ferroelectric thin films and the reduction of risk for development and manufacture of products using these devices. Materials companies benefit from expertise within this consortium and IP generated. Knowledge gained will accelerate their progress in producing high quality films for many applications. They can license the recipes for deposition of ferroelectric thin films adding value to their deposition system. They will benefit from the collaboration, especially characterisation and device data which will reassure customers. Mixing silicon with ferroelectrics for high permittivity voltage controlled capacitors will have the benefit of allowing single chip solutions where previously several components may be necessary. Using ferroelectric films to reduce transistor sub-threshold slope is high risk but has the potential for enormous benefits. The exponential increase in microchip leakage power and heating, as critical dimensions reduce and transistor count increases has halted single core processor evolution in favour of multiple core processors in order to have effective thermal management. A reduction in power consumption by integrated circuits must be of global benefit to the environment, since almost every appliance uses some silicon technology. Beneficiaries will include not only the semiconductor manufacturers, circuit designers and product manufacturers, but all of us who use their products. Ferroelectrics are also piezoelectric and pyroelectric and so a range of intelligent sensor/actuator systems might be envisaged. While the UK does not at present have state of the art silicon manufacturing, it is likely that in future UK based companies will partner with overseas semiconductor foundries for the supply of part-processed wafers (the transistors and some interconnect metallisation) which can be completed integrating a variety of mixed technologies (such as thin film ferroelectrics for tunable capacitors) to create IP intensive products of high added value. This may be particularly appropriate for partnering within the EU where it can make economic sense to share expensive semiconductor foundries. Publication of research in high quality journals and at leading international conferences is crucial and will continue. The industrial steering group will be a means of two-way communication and engagement between this academic project and the commercial sector. National electronics networks like Si Futures, UKDF and EU networks like Sinano will be accessed. Press releases to the trade press will also be used to announce the project and to publicise breaking news as it develops. The research will feature on web pages of the two universities. The quarterly management meetings will have a standing item on potential impact of research. Promising strands of research will be pursued and our steering group members will be approached for additional guidance. Patents will be sought where possible prior to publication of the research. Both PIs have previous experience of knowledge transfer to industry. Both universities have excellent media staff to help with communication.2013-11-30798CB33D-C79E-4578-83F2-72606407192CEPSRC2010-05-31INCOME_ACTUAL528498Negative 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 technologyB66A1E74-B611-4810-B4F1-BEE7FA1A4006Cultural5457674b20dfc4.71339318ElectronicsWe demonstrated experimentally negative capacitance using ferroelectric materialsour papers are commonly cited and there is worldwide interest to achieve steep sub-threshold MOSFETs using ferroelectric negative capacitanceC0FDAB1A-78E6-4570-805F-B42374665982r_521210249977641d6cElectronicsEnergy80BC09C9-9BF1-4273-8694-D6505A0D4FF4Leakage current asymmetry and resistive switching behavior of SrTiO3Applied Physics Lettersfeac839cf6a4aee7de53db71616eed78Mojarad S2012-01-01m_54538498751367c95c9FAD1DEC-CAE3-4443-9618-F528FE735C10Thermopower of LaFe 13-x Si x alloysEPL (Europhysics Letters)f09ad771b7c325be10100cb9f463cc0fHannemann U2012-01-01doi_55f95e95e8743dfd68BD22E0-1435-49AD-884E-B5A530338916A comprehensive study on the leakage current mechanisms of Pt/SrTiO3/Pt capacitorJournal of Applied Physicsfeac839cf6a4aee7de53db71616eed78Mojarad S2012-01-01doi_53d03803802ab79dE540B29F-FFDB-445A-8C1E-F8ED763EDC7FOxygen vacancy migration in compressively strained SrTiO3Journal of Applied Physics23288bd9cd6a3d985580de295d68da23Al-Hamadany R2013-01-01doi_53d038038c27f938B5A08AEC-A238-4D2E-B801-22703926F507Ferroelectric properties in thin film barium titanate grown using pulsed laser depositionJournal of Applied Physics85813e14f3497b39b47b495e9282e3e2Appleby D2014-01-015457692b0124d8.38804738C56FE093-2CB2-4875-9AEB-EC24E8658056Anomalous resistive switching phenomenonJournal of Applied Physicsfeac839cf6a4aee7de53db71616eed78Mojarad S2012-01-01doi_53d038038b0397f108A6A27F-5EFF-4165-AF2F-F00C3DB959B4Experimental observation of negative capacitance in ferroelectrics at room temperature.Nano letters0d618dd3344d16b70d37df53444b9d8dAppleby DJ2014-01-011530-69845457692b29fd98.9519529064F1D60D-E18C-49A5-96BF-7A7A7A960161Effect of deposition conditions and post deposition anneal on reactively sputtered titanium nitride thin filmsThin Solid Filmscaac808b0061fcb1f2d914aacdba4defPonon N2015-01-01doi_55faa0aa040470ccEP/H023666/11908FDF5-1C61-4F33-B47F-3E91675C88AA50Info. & commun. Technol.50CC55CC-BE0D-4167-BD99-285D6BCC369B25Materials processing177C04BB-BFD4-4D65-BA9D-15A50728B8CA25Materials sciences2B23EFD7-00EA-4FCA-8685-A8B4B94BF97650Electronic Devices & Subsys.BEA752D6-11B4-4E5F-937C-2DD41104E22925Materials Characterisation50CC55CC-BE0D-4167-BD99-285D6BCC369B25Materials processing0C552636-8921-4940-9DAB-01530F14011ASafe and Sound - secure and sustainable Cloud3D servicesClosed750553VouchersSafe and Sound will enable Hao2.eu to research and develop good practise standards and approaches to deliver secure and sustainable Cloud3D services which proactively anticipate and support the needs of vulnerable groups such as people with autism and learning disabilities.2014-01-3112E03F45-B517-4D83-A182-3D142D1A471AInnovate UK2013-07-31INCOME_ACTUAL50007505536CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified0C7B57E9-2B50-4E12-863B-01EFA021D066Undestanding microbial communities through in situ environmental 'omic data synthesisClosedNE/L011956/1FellowshipThe purpose of this research is to integrate different sources of 'omics data in environmental science for microbial community analysis. The computational based comparative analysis of DNA sequences may provide information about genome structure, gene function, metabolic and regulatory pathways and how microbial genomes evolve. However, to fully delineate microbial activity and its response to environmental factors, it is necessary to include all levels of gene products, mRNA, protein, metabolites, as well as their interactions. I propose to use large-scale whole genome metagenomic sequencing for assessment of taxonomic and functional diversity of microbial communities. The data generated by metagenomic experiments are both enormous and inherently noisy, containing fragmented DNA sequences representing as many as thousands of microbial species. After using pre-filtering steps, including removal of redundant, low quality sequences, the short DNA sequences are assembled together into longer contigs of overlapping reads, and these contigs may then be scaffolded into full genomes in a bottom-up approach. Having obtained the assembled contigs, the obvious next step is to use publically available databases to annotate the coding regions in these contigs. This will tell us WHAT functionality is available and provide information on WHO is there, the metagenomic sequences are binned, i.e., by associating a particular sequence with an organism. This can be done by either searching for phylogenetic markers or by looking for similar sequences in existing public databases. The end result is the community profile of different samples in terms of organismal abundances within each sample. Whilst metagenomic analysis gives a profile of the microbial community at a specific place or time, and their potential functional, it does not reveal which genes are actually being transcribed. I thus propose to integrate sequencing-based metatranscriptomics in which total RNA (a proxy for gene activity) is extracted from microbial community, converted to cDNA and sequenced without the need for cloning. This will provide information on the regulation and expression profiles of complex communities by enabling quantitative measurements of dynamic expression of RNA molecules and their variation between different states reflecting the genes that are being actively expressed at any given time. However, the story is still far from complete, as we do not have direct evidence of the metabolism within a cell. To give a more complete picture of living organisms, I will integrate metabolomics which will provide unique chemical fingerprints that are a function of specific cellular activity. In particular, the focus will be on identifying habitat-specific endogenous and exogenous metabolites along distinct geochemical conditions. These metabolites will be detected using two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. They will be related to the expression levels from transcriptomes using information on metabolic pathways readily available from annotating metagenomic sequences. In this way we will integrate all three sources of information, mapping the metatranscriptome onto the assembled annotated metagenomes and reconciling the reconstructed metabolic pathways with observations on metabolite concentrations and fluxes. From this we will be able to predict the metabolic function of the entire community not simply who is there.The removal of complex organic contaminants from soils will be one of the major environmental challenges facing the United Kingdom over the coming decades and recommendations based on this proposal will be of use to stakeholders especially, the remediation consultants, industry regulators i.e. SEPA and local councils. Brownfield development is an important part of the societal shift towards sustainability. Many contaminated brownfield sites sit unused for decades because the cost of cleaning them is more than the land would be worth after redevelopment. This research will impact on our ability to achieve sustainable reclaim of environmental capital and will allow adaptive re-usability.
The Earth Microbiome Project has generated an enormous collection of data with the intention of producing a global Gene Atlas describing protein space, environmental metabolic models, and characterizing a global environmental parameter space for microbial communities. This global environmental sample database is an ambitious initiative that is community-driven. The tools developed in this fellowship will exploit this vast amount of information to provide useful insights on the Earth's microbiome and to catalogue all the microbes that live on earth. This will be of great benefit to mankind as whole, these microbes are performing vital functions, and to environmental researchers.
Methanogenesis is a key process in the carbon cycle, methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, therefore understanding its metabolism at a community level is of fundamental importance if we are to incorporate microbial processes into models of climate change. Methane is an important greenhouse gas yet its production could play a part in the transition to a low carbon economy. Water treatment is the fourth most energy intensive sector in the UK and consumes approximately 1% of the UK's electricity. Reducing the energy required to treat wastewater would therefore have major benefits both by reducing costs and carbon dioxide emissions. Anaerobic digestion (AD) reactors have the potential to provide these benefits. They do not require the same energetically costly aeration as aerobic methods and through the action of methanogens produce biogas. Better understanding of methanogenesis could lead to more efficient AD reactors.2019-10-318A03ED41-E67D-4F4A-B5DD-AAFB272B6471NERC2014-11-01INCOME_ACTUAL425506The analytical tools led to the exploration and in turn development of a CD-TREAT diet for treatment of Crohn's Disease https://www.medpagetoday.com/gastroenterology/inflammatoryboweldisease/76931and was published in Gastroenterology 2019291AA87F-7DB9-448F-BA15-C158EA426C85SocietalEconomic56db53d617c9b4.68617352Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Environment,Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical BiotechnologyI established my Environmental'Omics lab in School of Engineering, University of Glasgow in November 2014 which specialises in developing novel pipelines for analysing genomic data in an environmental context. My lab is centered around my fellowship and focuses on microbial ecology at both mesoscopic and macroscopic scales by integrating 'omics data (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metabolomics, and metaproteomics) for microbial community analysis.
Software (http://userweb.eng.gla.ac.uk/umer.ijaz/#bioinformatics): Under this grant I am developing software tools and methodologies to integrate different sources of omics data, namely, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metabolomics, and metaproteomics. Here are the list of major software I have contributed to during my fellowship:
RvLab (R virtual Laboratory for ecological community analysis)
Software:https://portal.lifewatchgreece.eu/
Reference: A. Oulas et al. Biodiversity Data Journal, 4, e8357, 2016.(doi:10.3897/BDJ.4.e8357)
CONCOCT (A software for binning metagenomic contigs with coverage and composition)
Software: https://github.com/BinPro/CONCOCT
Reference:J. Alneberg et al. Nature Methods, 11(11):144-1146, 2014. (doi:10.1038/NMETH.3103) (PMID:25218180)
TAXAassign (A bash based pipeline for generating taxonomic profiles using NCBI's Taxonomy)
Software: http://www.github.com/umerijaz/taxaassign
Reference: J. Alneberg et al. Nature Methods, 11(11):144-1146, 2014. (doi:10.1038/NMETH.3103) (PMID:25218180)
NMGS (A software for fitting the Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity with Hierarchical Dirichlet Proces)
Software: https://github.com/microbiome/NMGS
Reference: K. Harris et al. Proceedings of the IEEE, 105(3):516-529, 2017 (doi:10.1109/JPROC.2015.2428213)
seqenv (A pipeline capable of annotating genetic sequences with Environmental Ontology)
Software: https://bitbucket.org/seqenv/seqenv/src
Reference: L. Sinclair & U. Z. Ijaz et al. PeerJ, e2690, 2016. (doi: 10.7717/peerj.2690)
microbiomeSeq (An R package for microbial community analysis in an environmental context)
Software: https://github.com/umerijaz/microbiomeSeq
Tutorial/Demo: http://userweb.eng.gla.ac.uk/umer.ijaz/projects/microbiomeSeq_Tutorial.html
SeqEnv-Ext (A taxa-centric extension to seqenv pipeline, which consisted of two parts, each providing environmental annotations under different context, with first part providing taxon abundance on a per term basis while the second part lists environmental term abundance under a per taxon context. A separately developed program that required the use of the original seqenv pipeline, this enabled two different methods of viewing environmental annotations, which significantly augments the analysis capability of the pipeline.
Software: http://hie-pub.westernsydney.edu.au/0610b020-39fb-11e7-b55d-525400daae48/
Reference: A. Z. Ijaz, T. Jeffries, U. Z. Ijaz et al. PeerJ, 5:e3827, 2017. (doi:10.7717/peerj.3827)
pyTag (A tool for identification and analyses of ontological terms in application area specific literature surveys)
Software: https://github.com/KociOrges/pytag
NanoAmpli-Seq (A workflow for amplicon sequencing from mixed microbial communities on the nanopore sequencing platform)
Code: https://github.com/umerijaz/nanopore
Reference:
S. T. Calus, U. Z. Ijaz, and A. Pinto. bioRxiv 244517, 2018 (doi: 10.1101/244517)
Orion Cluster: Without any institutional or dedicated technical support, I have single-handedly built and managed an HPC facility in Engineering called Orion Cluster (http://userweb.eng.gla.ac.uk/umer.ijaz/#orion). I bought first server in 2012 through the Unilever grant and since then I have religiously pursued my collaborators for in-kind contributions, as well as allocating small equipment budget on every grant I am applying. Five years later, I have spent ~£114K on 13 servers with more equipment to be purchased in two months time through recently allocated £22K (on SAIC) grant. Orion Cluster stands at an operational capacity of 368 cores, ~450TB disk space, and will serve >70 PGR/T and staff (60 existing and regular users and hence the reason why I have an increasing supervision workload). This facility now sits at the heart of all major research groups I am involved with and is envy of many others. One of the reason why I have managed to attract funding and collaborators is through development of bespoke workflows (originating from my research) that I regularly updates and share on my website (http://userweb.eng.gla.ac.uk/umer.ijaz/#bioinformatics; http://www.tinyurl.com/JCBioinformatics; and http://www.tinyurl.com/JCBioinformatics2) as well as providing a single place for >400 bioinformatics tools. My cluster and bioinformatics tutorials are of strategic importance
Expansion to other technologies/hardware and award generation (http://userweb.eng.gla.ac.uk/umer.ijaz/#research_Grants): The developed tools/software methodologies and the research being conducted under my NERC fellowship was instrumental in getting further funding from numerous research councils. This includes recent expansion to population genomics and epidemiology (Scottish Infection Research Network/Chief Scientist Office Project entitled "Molecular epidemiology of Clostridium difficile in Scotland: developing novel, clinically applicable research methods to combine genomic analysis with health informatics"). For the past one year, I am trying to put my engineering experience to good use, by expanding my research to include: Raman spectroscopy enabled microfluidics (NERC NE/P003826/1 grant entitled "Stable Isotope Probing with Resonance Raman Cell Sorting to profile influence of ocean acidification on microbial carbon fixation"); hardware system integrating liquid handling, incubation and sensing with an embodied genetic algorithm, which directs evolutionary optimisation of microbial growth (with Professor William T Sloan, University of Glasgow; EPSRC Global Challenges Research Fund EP/P029329/1); and development of artificial intestinal Salmon gut system through bioreactors (BBSRC BB/P001203/1 grant entitled "A microbial basis for Atlantic Salmon energetics").
Supervision (http://userweb.eng.gla.ac.uk/umer.ijaz/#supervisions): I have been directly involved with the supervision of 13 PhD students and 2 PDRAs (with more to be recruited). Two PGR students (Caitlin Jukes, and Asha Rani) have recently defended their viva successfully. All of my supervisions involve utilisation of tools developed under my NERC grant.
Repute: I have gained considerable repute at both national and international levels. I am collaborating widely with academics located in Manchester, Warwick, Dundee, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Norwich, Reading, London, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Norway, Ireland, Austria, Thailand, Czech republic, Australia, Germany, France, and Netherlands. As a consequence I have been invited to visit/speak at numerous institutes including: Faculty of Science, Ceské Budejovice; Helenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece; Centre for Microbial Ecology and Technology, Ghent, Belgium; Edinburgh Amplicon Sequencing Group; Earhlam Institute (formerly TGAC); Unilever R&D laboratories (Colworth/Port Sunlight); London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and Health Informatics Centre Dundee. My research leadership potential was recognized by NERC who funded me to attend a £23,100 advanced leadership course in Cambridge.Please see the section on "What have you discovered or developed through the research funded on this grant"B0C9E924-423A-498C-8D8C-B8779E08088A56db4f3db020b5.66717896Agriculture Food and DrinkDigital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software)EducationHealthcarehttp://userweb.eng.gla.ac.uk/umer.ijazAmplicon sequencing on Illumina sequencing platforms leverages their deep sequencing and multiplexing capacity, but is limited in genetic resolution due to short read lengths. While Oxford Nanopore or Pacific Biosciences platforms overcome this limitation, their application has been limited due to higher error rates or smaller data output. In this study, we introduce an amplicon sequencing workflow, i.e., NanoAmpli-Seq, that builds on Intramolecular-ligated Nanopore Consensus Sequencing (INC-Seq) approach and demonstrate its application for full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing. NanoAmpli-Seq includes vital improvements to the aforementioned protocol that reduces sample-processing time while significantly improving sequence accuracy. The developed protocol includes chopSeq software for fragmentation and read orientation correction of INC-Seq consensus reads while nanoClust algorithm was designed for read partitioning-based de novo clustering and within cluster consensus calling to obtain full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences. The datafiles and protocols provided here represent the intermediate files during data processing and associated detailed workflow.D7E6EF02-FF6B-4FB3-98CB-1FE6B6B7E67FB0282B32CAAtrueSupporting data for "NanoAmpli-Seq: A workflow for amplicon sequencing for mixed microbial communities on the nanopore sequencing platform."Database/Collection of data2018This article presents metagenomic-assembled genomes (MAGs) of prokaryotic organisms originating from chicken caeca. The samples originate from broiler chickens, one group was infected with Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) and one uninfected control group. There were four birds per group. Both groups were raised on commercially available antibiotic free feed under a semi-controlled setup. The binning step of the samples identified 130 MAGs with50% completion, and10% contamination. The data presented includes sequences in FASTA format, tables of functional annotation of genes, and data from two different approaches for phylogenetic tree construction using these MAGs. Major geochemical cycles at community level including carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen cycles are also presented.08E7A941-2D56-4AA9-9015-13E7DDCABC0365a5a993843e80.18637899true<b>Dataset of 130 metagenome-assembled genomes of healthy and diseased broiler chicken caeca from Pakistan</b>Database/Collection of datahttps://figshare.com/articles/dataset/_b_Dataset_of_130_metagenome-assembled_genomes_of_healthy_and_diseased_broiler_chicken_ceca_from_Pakistan_b_/24901878202445146765-34D8-4C12-B53E-81C19B4DBDFBDietary Triggers of Gut Inflammation Following Exclusive Enteral Nutrition in Children with Crohn's Disease: A Pilot Study7d782475214c1e77b1f4c44845973befGkikas K2021-01-0160fecb64cbf18794A9475-1FBC-4606-A90C-83C8ACC3EA59Binning metagenomic contigs by coverage and composition.Nature methodsde8d1caf81e365c3e9ff09579de0a6e2Alneberg J2014-01-011548-70915536c93bf386f3.6336115031A09631-E395-4B7C-B3CA-654B2527D181Carboxylic acids production and electrosynthetic microbial community evolution under different CO2 feeding regimens.Bioelectrochemistry (Amsterdam, Netherlands)1651a8c8389e19c3747e331370f69a76Dessì P2021-01-011567-5394602717ddc10780AC111FF-060D-4FC7-80FC-094FDA9E9206Additional file 2 of A comprehensive benchmarking study of protocols and sequencing platforms for 16S rRNA community profiling8e1eeaf0112eb212b235f054c78094ffDâ??Amore R2016-01-0167526b0aa52a76.777670891EE66F0E-757E-4946-841F-08E986C0F42ATerminal restriction fragment length polymorphism is an "old school" reliable technique for swift microbial community screening in anaerobic digestion.Scientific reports39207eeeb3e0ec22ec112980ea9a6788De Vrieze J2018-01-012045-23225c5aba21094629.971870372030AE6B-D420-4823-920F-1963CF3E9FB7Exploration of marine bacterioplankton community assembly mechanisms during chemical dispersant and surfactant-assisted oil biodegradation.Ecology and evolution61ac1dc6db0e8a5735887de507ea5c31Nikolova C2021-01-012045-7758613fdc5364162E4ABFE6F-2603-4246-AC99-D6AEC9733977The Effects of 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A2020-01-0165e8e7e002ff86.653416967C6502F9-A2C6-4980-A7AA-90C3D7BDD66C16S rRNA sequencing reveals likely beneficial core microbes within faecal samples of the EU protected slug Geomalacus maculosus.Scientific reports53b66e3fe5923aa8e9a27654748caecbReich I2018-01-012045-23225c5aba19c52272.62585242EA1E13D8-BDC9-4962-997F-800B1917ACE9Additional file 10 of Response and oil degradation activities of a northeast Atlantic bacterial community to biogenic and synthetic surfactants61ac1dc6db0e8a5735887de507ea5c31Nikolova C2021-01-0165e8e693566d36.7397576138F31B27-1A0A-409A-B6B3-E549E2930BEACold adaptation and replicable microbial community development during long-term low-temperature anaerobic digestion treatment of synthetic sewage.FEMS microbiology ecology17af8dd4a59a944e9d8515761540a353Keating C2018-01-010168-64965c5aba304aabd0.3786823257D893E3-E6B1-4BA3-A4E5-E03EA9371D1FO-05: Metagenomic analysis of the gut microbiome during a course of Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN) provides novel insights on mechanism of EEN actionJournal of Crohn's and Colitis41592addbe7ed7bd4bb66e0747bf25b4Gerasimidis K2014-01-015536c93c4d8038.83847990B0D6073A-2284-48DC-BDE2-C67C3DE7FF0DA comprehensive benchmarking study of protocols and sequencing platforms for 16S rRNA community profiling.BMC genomicse90ec32912b02872478bb9b712f90b59D'Amore R2016-01-011471-216456db4d97da70a3.60422067C216F28C-740E-4E15-A690-A8545C99899AP380 Changes in faecal microbiome and metabolome are more pronounced in Crohn's disease patients who adhered to the CD-TREAT diet and responded by calprotectin.Journal of Crohn's and Colitisd7345234614416bb9bd579b4d96b81e4Svolos V2023-01-0163dc07a5a370fF1C78C9A-57C7-4320-B098-09DD03DFC4CANanoAmpli-Seq: a workflow for amplicon sequencing for mixed microbial communities on the nanopore sequencing platform.GigaScienceaa355ef57171cdd24102ce23d9d70ee4Calus ST2018-01-012047-217X5c65634a1cb966.941822128142B4B2-2915-402F-B1D7-ACCAE4F07892Additional file 1 of Community recovery dynamics in yellow perch microbiome after gradual and constant metallic perturbationsebf4406f047e3e8937b4f5853015c88dCheaib B2020-01-0165e8e89361f5d4.462614727A80B8DF-91EE-4203-A7F4-F908CEC7EED7Additional file 5 of Response and oil degradation activities of a northeast Atlantic bacterial community to biogenic and synthetic surfactants61ac1dc6db0e8a5735887de507ea5c31Nikolova C2021-01-0165e8e68628fd61.34340211EB8EB359-EA69-4F81-BBE8-131446C11EF5Extensive Modulation of the Fecal Metagenome in Children With Crohn's Disease During Exclusive Enteral Nutrition.The American journal of gastroenterology17620d321d3b329acfee3c0bd6e3632cQuince C2015-01-010002-9270563c7295ee0b11.498435769B9526AD-4346-48E6-9608-C784B67BC681Additional file 8 of A comprehensive benchmarking study of protocols and sequencing platforms for 16S rRNA community profiling8e1eeaf0112eb212b235f054c78094ffDâ??Amore R2016-01-0167526c44a62817.40966070D1FEFE65-EEE8-4561-A994-E35521031239Additional file 9 of Impact of industrial production system parameters on chicken microbiomes: mechanisms to improve performance and reduce Campylobacter33ac40eabdbbe3c78670b76114ce3d1aMcKenna A2020-01-0165e8e7a56ee648.901764624C23F34F-6DAF-4411-A996-A7FBAD9E4AD0The reduction of faecal calprotectin during exclusive enteral nutrition is lost rapidly after food re-introduction.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics4146c13ab42c36eb8f95381540ba3073Logan M2019-01-010269-28135dae5e46b11c40.83343954BB79F297-28EF-408F-8BDA-AAED7BEF66B2SalmoSim: the development of a three-compartment in vitro simulator of the Atlantic Salmon GI tract and associated microbial communitiesbd8899b572ba2cff70a3204d25097102Kazlauskaite R2021-01-01602ae84ba620a9F9ABD2C-66F5-44CC-BDDB-D648E88840F8Comparison of the human gastric microbiota in hypochlorhydric states arising as a result of Helicobacter pylori -induced atrophic gastritis, autoimmune atrophic gastritis and proton pump inhibitor useee380db2dd0572ff1f27c88b0e07f243Parsons B2017-01-01602718da27d476C7CB76B-A908-43F3-95BD-E8D25681C047Disease Resistance correlates with Core Microbiome Diversity in Cottonbc32f3a8cc40351683169581b006a88dAqueel R2023-01-0164eae7d69667fE6E0A3B7-43CC-48FA-B6F8-D82D3A0BF95BTerminal restriction fragment length polymorphism is an "old school" reliable technique for swift microbial community screening in anaerobic digestion39207eeeb3e0ec22ec112980ea9a6788De Vrieze J2018-01-0165e8eb2524d5e6.39333812E1AF01E0-52F4-41B7-B794-CF501489D881Gut metabolome and microbiota signatures predict response to treatment with exclusive enteral nutrition in a prospective study in children with active Crohn's disease.The American journal of clinical nutrition5ca7b1bb586940a4e6b03c3eb9275dbaNichols B2024-01-010002-9165662262e4ea55a0.77127777E3EA9BBD-9A78-4BB4-BCD8-4F8B8E2F2449Additional file 1 of A comprehensive benchmarking study of protocols and sequencing platforms for 16S rRNA community profiling8e1eeaf0112eb212b235f054c78094ffDâ??Amore R2016-01-0167526b0586b757.36545527DCF5297D-BC5A-4D8E-B0C3-8488BA7F6BDFTemporal changes in the gut microbiota in farmed Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) outweigh the response to diet supplementation with macroalgae.Animal microbiome17af8dd4a59a944e9d8515761540a353Keating C2021-01-012524-4671602717af47e718A4ADDDD-323E-4732-A650-DB0F90B754BCAnalysis of 61 exclusive enteral nutrition formulas used in the management of active Crohn's disease-new insights into dietary disease triggers.Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics4146c13ab42c36eb8f95381540ba3073Logan M2020-01-010269-28136023de9f43a1e5.7385288299AA2FA6-BA4C-45C4-9504-2F6213E7F2B6Comparison of the human gastric microbiota in hypochlorhydric states arising as a result of Helicobacter pylori-induced atrophic gastritis, autoimmune atrophic gastritis and proton pump inhibitor use.PLoS pathogens3c4e16cbb7c88f019e8c81e723a76c35Parsons BN2017-01-011553-73665a2fc818ce9a19.46096306E77BABC9-4AA5-479D-B004-7F2C6677173CCotton Microbiome Profiling and Cotton Leaf Curl Disease (CLCuD) Suppression through Microbial Consortia associated with Gossypium arboreumbc32f3a8cc40351683169581b006a88dAqueel R2023-01-0164aff45b5b260F7BC3888-9472-43C8-A6D6-9A74D1C6A4AEA Distinct, Flocculent, Acidogenic Microbial Community Accompanies Methanogenic Granules in Anaerobic Digesters.Microbiology spectrumebcb32334e2f74144f1d0934387a51abMills S2021-01-012165-0497618e19c7866c443280197-382A-4360-BC50-3BA72E0B3075A prospective study on linking diarrheagenic E. coli with stunted childhood growth in relation to gut microbiome.Scientific reports7f2f30a3b1d435bc063bb9a7cfd90b75Aziz I2023-01-012045-232264490f2ecaad4259D98CD-EA1C-4169-A071-52E15B64E5F2Impact of industrial production system parameters on chicken microbiomes: mechanisms to improve performance and reduce Campylobacter33ac40eabdbbe3c78670b76114ce3d1aMcKenna A2020-01-01602717e100d2fBF16F523-7FC5-443F-8ADA-2ADC3F0FE49BLinking microbial community structure and function during the acidified anaerobic digestion of grassf0daad434060fd5eb8027acc38087e5dJoyce A2018-01-0167526bf8671ab8.1223914380400AF8-5265-44F6-90A0-30C600A088CFEmerging investigators series: microbial communities in full-scale drinking water distribution systems - a meta-analysisEnvironmental Science: Water Research & Technology3bf3bace9d94ea130939e341c0f5b065Bautista-de los Santos Q2016-01-01589482acd19003.3320716764E9A372-202D-4B94-8182-E23D1D484BF1Neutral Processes Dominate Microbial Community Assembly in Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar.Applied and environmental microbiology04325d9feab8d669c8595336fc064408Heys C2020-01-010099-22406023de96cd0869.92599135C1B0D273-750A-425F-80C1-885CCE03B9A3Linking microbial community structure and function during the acidified anaerobic digestion of grassf0daad434060fd5eb8027acc38087e5dJoyce A2018-01-0167526bc84797c7.5036992883EC3227-D8D3-4758-8EDD-AB2FC450D39DFecal Enterobacteriales enrichment is associated with increased in vivo intestinal permeability in humans.Physiological reports687a9ee4731147702ef3139511110ff0Pedersen C2018-01-012051-817X5b6591c4e6eca4.14868861BD4944F6-01FC-42A0-AB4F-053058BBDD3AAdditional file 12 of A comprehensive benchmarking study of protocols and sequencing platforms for 16S rRNA community profiling8e1eeaf0112eb212b235f054c78094ffDâ??Amore R2016-01-0167526bebaab2e8.83492259C210EAD2-8FA8-40E9-8EE5-3FECFB280A40Additional file 3 of Impact of industrial production system parameters on chicken microbiomes: mechanisms to improve performance and reduce Campylobacter33ac40eabdbbe3c78670b76114ce3d1aMcKenna A2020-01-0165e8e7b56c5da7.49970909D694E6E2-9DA5-4D75-ADE4-DC5F5F01B00BAdditional file 10 of Impact of industrial production system parameters on chicken microbiomes: mechanisms to improve performance and reduce Campylobacter33ac40eabdbbe3c78670b76114ce3d1aMcKenna A2020-01-0165e8e7dc04b709.63263041F5FA34EA-AA04-4727-B032-4CFFDB1A831AAdditional file 6 of A comprehensive benchmarking study of protocols and sequencing platforms for 16S rRNA community profiling8e1eeaf0112eb212b235f054c78094ffDâ??Amore R2016-01-0167526be6b5c1e5.575729746ED02182-696E-4D46-B54E-079E5A9E96DBThe effect of DNA extraction methodology on gut microbiota research applications.BMC research notes41592addbe7ed7bd4bb66e0747bf25b4Gerasimidis K2016-01-011756-0500589482ac630306.24314046NE/L011956/1F673FD2B-013B-47E5-9E62-03BAB1E7348E10Environmental engineering4CCA4C04-0C28-41BE-8869-FA6391A7F00520Microbial sciences29F3DF16-3094-4F79-BC69-8D05FB55182670Omic sciences & technologies513702B4-7C48-41F2-A1A0-8B4E8BEDCABC10Assess/Remediate ContaminationC6A85141-ED79-4266-86E5-F6D25217C97F40Environmental GenomicsAF3F5E7C-7FB6-4588-9174-6018BA2A231B20Environmental Microbiology7E61B40B-93E5-4D69-8C89-426ED7E0D2B420Metabolomics / Metabonomics937A9F23-021A-4604-8979-A28E0E04F82510Transcriptomics0C8BB41D-B4B5-4A91-B6AA-00D48582C5AEReal-time prediction of cellular states in 3D lattice light sheet microscopyClosed2430216StudentshipProgramme overview:
This MRC-funded doctoral training partnership (DTP) brings together cutting-edge molecular and analytical sciences with innovative computational approaches in data analysis to enable students to address hypothesis-led biomedical research questions. This is a 4-year programme whose first year involves a series of taught modules and two laboratory-based research projects that lead to an MSc in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research. The first two terms consist of a selection of taught modules that allow students to gain a solid grounding in multidisciplinary science. Students also attend a series of masterclasses led by academic and industry experts in areas of molecular, cellular and tissue dynamics, microbiology and infection, applied biomedical technologies and artificial intelligence and data science. During the third and summer terms students conduct two eleven-week research projects in labs of their choice.
Project overview:
Lattice light sheet microscopy (LLSM) is a new technology to visualise fast cellular processes at the time scale of 1 second, in 3D. LLSM is very low through-put however, limiting its use for studying rare events, such as cell divisions. In close collaboration with industrial partner Intelligent Imaging Innovations Ltd. (3i), suppliers of LLSM, we will develop an integrated imaging pipeline to classify and anticipate physiologically meaningful events during the cell cycle using state of the art machine learning.
The main goal is to 1) enable automated control of the image acquisition and increase its throughput, and 2) make it possible to analyse statistically significant numbers of well-defined cellular events and their progression from an early stage, which often go unnoticed by even the most expert human experimenter. Enabling detailed spatio-temporal analysis of the 3D imaging data will help to better understand the timing and control of different stages of cell division and recognise more subtle defects in cell division which can affect development or diseases such as cancer where divisions occur uncontrolled.
This is an interdisciplinary project at the interface of cell biology, computer science and engineering, enabling fundamental science to improve human health through world-class biomedical research. Health focus is enabling biological research into genetic risk and disease mechanisms, aiming at new strategies for early diagnosis and treatment.
The specific training the student will receive is geared towards quantitative and interdisciplinary skills and understanding of whole organism physiology in addition to that of single cells in the main project. The training in advanced machine learning and computing addresses the demand for team scientists and technology specialists and will help to build new software technologies and imaging instruments that will become available to the biomedical community in the future.2024-12-30C008C651-F5B0-4859-A334-5F574AB6B57CMRC2020-10-04INCOME_ACTUAL024302166CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified0CABBA18-5FC8-4B1F-BE98-00848D0342B4ERDERA - EUROPEAN RARE DISEASES RESEARCH ALLIANCEActive10159543EU-FundedThe European Rare Diseases Research Alliance (ERDERA) aims to improve the health and well-being of the 30 million people living with a rare disease in Europe, by making Europe a world leader in Rare Disease (RD) research and innovation, to support concrete health benefits to rare disease patients, through better prevention, diagnosis and treatment. This Partnership will deliver a RD ecosystem that builds on the successes of previous programmes by supporting robust patient need-led research, developing new diagnostic methods and pathways, spearheading the digital transformational change connecting the dots between care, patient data and research, while ensuring strong alignment of strategies in RD research across countries and regions. Structuring goal-oriented public-private collaborations targeted at interventions all along the R&D value chain will ensure that the journey from knowledge to patient impact is expedited, thereby optimising EU innovation potential in RD. To support its ambition and missions ERDERA has been designed as a comprehensive and integrated ecosystem of which structure can be compared to an institute encompassing three main parts: (i) funding, (ii) internal (in house) Clinical Research Network that implements research activities targeting clinical trial readiness of RDs and accelerating diagnosis and translation of research discovery into improved patient care, and (iii) related supporting services (Data, Expertise, Education and Training) as well as an acceleration hub that serve external and internal RD community, all supported by all-embracing coordination and strategy and foundational (inter)national alignment.2027-08-30240CEBFD-1052-4EAC-88DF-D88A163D61C8Horizon Europe Guarantee2024-08-31INCOME_ACTUAL265671101595436CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified0CB9A4A7-4DC8-45F0-9A0C-01AC782A2E0EUsing Artificial Intelligence to Understand Zeolite CatalystsClosed2594586StudentshipElectron microscopy provides a unique tool for studying the local structure of materials at the atomic scale. However, a major challenge lies in correlating bulk measurements of properties with highly selective structural data. One approach is to take advantage of fast electron detectors to acquire large data sets of millions of images and to develop automated analysis tools based on deep learning to analyse these. The overall aim of this project is to study defect structures in zeolites involved in heterogeneous catalysis. This project will use recent developments in fast direct electron detectors for transmission electron microscopy for low dose imaging and neural networks trained for pattern recognition of specific defect structures. The potential impact of these studies is a better understanding of catalytic processes of interest to the industrial sponsor and an improved understanding of the relationships between catalytic performance and local structure.
Initially the project will use new detectors operating at kHz frame rates to record large datasets containing many TEM images of defect structures. In parallel the project will develop the use of machine learning based on convolution neural networks to build image analysis tools suitable for analysing large data sets containing millions of images. A convolutional neural network will be trained using simulated data of known defect structures for various electron dose budgets and other imaging conditions. This will then be used to analyse the experimental data to gain meaningful statistics on defect types. The research proposed relies heavily on unique instrumentation available at the electron Physical Sciences Imaging Centre. Specifically, a new high speed direct electron detector operating at a frame rate in excess of 2KHz in 12 bit counting mode will be used to acquire low dose data. Within all of the above aims and objectives it will be necessary to ensure that the methods developed are robust to low dose data acquisition as zeolites are known to be radiation sensitive and to ensure that electron beam induced effects are minimised. Initially pure zeolites will be studied but the project will also be extended to study metal loaded zeolites and comparisons between defects in these systems and the pure materials will provide insights into the mechanisms and structural consequences of metal loading. Finally catalytic data will be measured at the industrial sponsors laboratories to attempt to correlate catalytic performance with the nature and densities of defects present across a range of loaded and unloaded samples
The project falls within the EPSRC energy, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and physical sciences research areas
The project is funded by Johnson Matthey plc through the iCase initiative.2025-09-29798CB33D-C79E-4578-83F2-72606407192CEPSRC2021-09-30INCOME_ACTUAL025945866CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified0CF15F24-E99E-4496-83E0-0191A65E11DBPredicting Biological Carbon in the Ocean Globally (PRECOG)ActiveMR/Y016629/1FellowshipEmissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from our society are rapidly warming our climate to currently 1.1 degrees C warmer than in preindustrial times. Global governments have pledged to reduce emissions to stabilise our warming climate at 1.5 degrees requiring us to reduce emissions of CO2 to a point where they no longer accumulate in the atmosphere: Net Zero. A crucial consideration in this effort are natural reservoirs of carbon on the Earth's surface such as permafrost and soils that store large amounts of carbon away from the atmosphere, but which are vulnerable to environmental change. The destabilisation of these reservoirs over time, releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere, presents a challenge to stabilising climate upon reaching Net Zero. Therefore, predicting how these natural carbon reservoirs will change in the future is a crucially important task.
The Biological Carbon Pump is one of these natural reservoirs of carbon in our Earth System. It stores carbon in the ocean by plankton (microscopic plants) taking up CO2 as they grow in the surface ocean. The sinking remains of these plankton carry the carbon into the deep ocean locking it away for hundreds to thousands of years. This carbon pool is equivalent in size to the anthropogenically-driven increase in atmospheric CO2 over the 20th century. The Biological Carbon Pump is widely expected to be sensitive to environmental change and could therefore release CO2 in the future. However, we have limited knowledge of what those changes might be and why because we don't have the necessary outputs from the state-of-the-art future projections by Earth System Models that underpin the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that inform social, economic and political decisions about Climate Change.
PREdicting biological Carbon in the Ocean Globally (PRECOG) will build a team of experts at the University of Liverpool to comprehensively explore the future of the Biological Carbon Pump using state-of-the-art Earth System Model projections. PRECOG will strategically align with an international network of researchers and industry partners to build a new knowledge framework that will inform future IPCC reports and mitigation strategies.
PRECOG will:
1) Derive new standard quantitative measures of the Biological Carbon Pump in a future changing ocean.
2) Quantify how and why the Biological Carbon Pump changes in state-of-the-art future projections that underpin the IPCC reports.
3) Determine the long-term impact of the Biological Carbon Pump beyond the year 2100 using new Earth System Model simulations.
4) Predict which future projections of the Biological Carbon Pump are most likely and how this might impact schemes to artificially enhance carbon storage by combining future projections with new compilations of observations.
PRECOG has a strong focus on connecting scientific outcomes to societally relevant outcomes. The research team will maintain a strong and active link with IPCC activities through its international network with the aim of raising the profile of Biological Carbon Pump research. PRECOG will also work with industry partners interested in techniques that will enhance the carbon storage of the Biological Carbon Pump to help mitigate rising CO2 such as kelp farming and seeding the ocean with iron. PRECOG will provide the state-of-the-art estimates for the best locations to undertake these activities and disseminate these findings through its industrial partners.
In summary, the Biological Carbon Pump is a vulnerable natural carbon pool in the ocean that can influence atmospheric CO2 in response to environmental change. The future of this carbon pool is however poorly known. This Future Leaders Fellowship, PRECOG, will establish a team of experts to explore the Biological Carbon Pump in state-of-the-art IPCC projections to find out what the likely future changes are and translate this is into a societally relevant agenda.2028-10-3150B4BB1A-2D10-4C8C-A35D-1ED2DB0ABB51UKRI FLF2024-11-01INCOME_ACTUAL1346258Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS)ItalyAtlantECOA3FC397F-9850-49C5-B5F6-EA83CECB0134A manuscript titled "Carbon sequestration service in the Atlantic Ocean: an assessment from coastal to ocean ecosystems" currently being revised for Earth-Science Reviews. This collaboration is multi-disciplinary combining ocean sciences with policy-based blue carbon ecosystems research69aea6af661171.89904241-1Provided intellectual framework that integrated the Biological Carbon Pump within a Blue Carbon Ecosystems framework.I provided analysis detailing the Biological Carbon Pump in the Atlantic from IPCC model projectionsPublic2025-01-01World Climate Research ProgrammeSwitzerlandCMIP7 Earth System Data Request96273E30-9E1C-49AC-ACC5-C165C7A418A1Manuscript in revision at Geoscientific Model Development ("CMIP7 Data Request: Earth System Priorities and Opportunities") within the special issue on CMIP7 scientific objectives, experimental design, and organization69aea7b86b7d43.42730510-1Provided the data request frameworkEngaged with the broader ocean biogeochemistry scientific community to develop a list of desired model outputs that can be integrated into the next phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP7)Academic/University2025-01-01National Oceanography CentreUnited KingdomAtlantECOAC682B76-E5C5-4D14-9E11-498667AFEBAEA manuscript titled "Carbon sequestration service in the Atlantic Ocean: an assessment from coastal to ocean ecosystems" currently being revised for Earth-Science Reviews. This collaboration is multi-disciplinary combining ocean sciences with policy-based blue carbon ecosystems research69aea6af661171.89904241-2Provided intellectual framework that integrated the Biological Carbon Pump within a Blue Carbon Ecosystems framework.I provided analysis detailing the Biological Carbon Pump in the Atlantic from IPCC model projectionsAcademic/University2025-01-01The research has influenced the next round of international climate model projections that underpin the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports. Specifically, we have engaged with the wider scientific community to develop specific model outputs required to quantify the future changes in biological carbon storage from the Biological Carbon Pump.We have specified new climate model outputs that will enable future researchers to quantify future changes in the Biological Carbon Pump in more detail than previously possible.596E181B-211F-4638-AF81-45D3B91BD14669aeab2dab9e25.95798995EnvironmentThis *.rar file contains the model output from seasonal variability experiments using the NPZD-DOP GEOMAR biogeochemical model (Kriest et al., 2010) coupled with the MITgcm 2.8deg ocean circulation via the transport matrix method (Khatiwala et al., 2005; Khatiwala, 2007, 2018).
These model outputs are presented and discussed in the Preprint "Seasonality in carbon flux attenuation explains spatial variability in transfer efficiency", available on EarthArXiv (de Melo Viríssimo et al., 2023). The manuscript describes the experiments performed, the parameter values used and the modifications done to the original model. For this matter, we also refer you to de Melo Viríssimo et al. (2022).
All files uploaded were generated from simulations run by the authors, except: the grid file, the salinity field, and the temperature field, which came with the model; and the density fields, who were computed from the MITgcm 2.8deg transport matrix by Rafaelle Bernadello, using a TEOS-10 matlab routine (http://www.teos-10.org/).
For specific information about each file uploaded, please refer to the README file. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
References:
Kriest et al. (2010): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2010.05.002
Khatiwala et al. (2005): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2004.04.002
Khatiwala (2007): https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GB002923
Khatiwala (2018): https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1246300
de Melo Viríssimo et al. (2022): https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB007101
de Melo Viríssimo et al. (2023): https://doi.org/10.31223/X5966J64FD948D-0BA2-49D5-B683-9C0BBD1EDF4667c7b0eeaf3017.59908161trueModel output used in the manuscript "Seasonality in carbon flux attenuation explains spatial variability in transfer efficiency"Database/Collection of datahttps://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.75141292023Marine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a significant carbon reservoir that impacts climate but remains poorly quantified. The absence of a comprehensive DOC climatology impedes model validation, estimation of the current DOC inventory, and comprehension of DOC's role in the carbon cycle and climate. To tackle this issue, we employed boosted regression trees to link a compilation of DOC observations with various environmental climatologies, extrapolating these relationships across the entire ocean to generate annual layer-wise DOC climatologies with associated uncertainties. The prediction performance was satisfactory, with R² values ranging from 0.6 to 0.8 across all layers. In the bathypelagic layer, DOC was primarily predicted by dissolved oxygen, while nutrients were the main predictors in other layers. We estimate the total oceanic DOC inventory to be approximately 690 PgC. Our findings demonstrate that machine learning is a powerful tool for developing climatologies from limited observations.
Files description
annual_climatologies.csv - lon: longitude - lat: latitude - surf_doc_avg: average DOC prediction in the surface layer (0 - 10 m) - surf_doc_sd: standard deviation of DOC prediction in the surface layer (0 - 10 m) - epi_doc_avg: average DOC prediction in the epipelagic layer (10 - 200 m) - epi_doc_sd: standard deviation of DOC prediction in the epipelagic layer (10 - 200 m) - meso_doc_avg: average DOC prediction in the mesopelagic layer (200 - 1000 m) - meso_doc_sd: standard deviation of DOC prediction in the mesopelagic layer (200 - 1000 m) - bathy_doc_avg: average DOC prediction in the bathypelagic layer (> 1000 m) - bathy_doc_sd: standard deviation of DOC prediction in the bathypelagic layer (> 1000 m)
seasonal_climatologies.csv - lon: longitude - lat: latitude - season: meteorological season in the northern hemisphere as 1 = DJF, 2 = MAM, 3 = JJA, 4 = SON - surf_doc_avg: average DOC prediction in the surface layer (0 - 10 m) - surf_doc_sd: standard deviation of DOC prediction in the surface layer (0 - 10 m)9CA16334-3ADA-41E4-97B4-21F8CC6B1F4B67c7b0ee0bf596.49347898trueA machine learning-based dissolved organic carbon climatologyDatabase/Collection of datahttps://www.seanoe.org/data/00900/101170/20246F2427C5-BA23-4C7F-9C6C-DA00394E9548NutGEnIE 1.0: nutrient cycle extensions to the cGEnIE Earth system model to examine the long-term influence of nutrients on oceanic primary productionGeoscientific Model Development7be910bddebfbcf0c05c3db0b46ac7cfStappard D2025-01-0168de7973cebe3A6CE7FD1-7D83-4FE4-838F-C253F94B417ECMIP7 Data Request: Earth System Priorities and Opportunitiesda5365aed0ddcc31e07ef751b6d45ce2McPartland M2025-01-016877ad65c3add3E1B409A-1C8D-409E-97EC-D95081785623A Machine Learning-Based Dissolved Organic Carbon ClimatologyGeophysical Research Lettersb222e5dd6a4f4cc88181f499dde1de8dPanaïotis T2025-01-0167ecc1be9260eB2E46A31-E395-4C6C-A08F-77EAE2262ADBLong-term impacts of mixotrophy on ocean carbon storage: insights from a 10 000 year global model simulationBiogeosciencesbbfa41b334d859bb7d8deae24529cd30Puglia M2026-01-016969d8fb2edeaMR/Y016629/16CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified00CDCA79-8C71-453A-AA24-0181FDBB9BC6How do cells shape and interpret PIP3 signals?ClosedBB/I003916/1Research GrantMulti-cellular organisms rely on a large array of different transmitter substances to allow certain cells to control the behavior of others. The more sophisticated the organism the more complex the cell to cell communication. In mammals this language probably involves hundreds of fundamentally different types of transmitter. Clearly such systems need a large collection of specialized receptor molecules that can detect the individual presence of any particular transmitter. Further, these receptors, typically found on the outer surface of the cell's limiting membrane, have to signal their specific stimulation by passing a molecular message into the cells interior, effectively informing the cell that the receptor has been activated. Clearly, if a cell has many different types of receptors on its surface the molecular signal generated inside the cell by each different receptor (often called an intracellular message) must identify and distinguish which specific receptor has been stimulated. Otherwise the cell could not discriminate between the transmitters present on the outside of the cell and could not respond correctly. Hence, mammalian cells have vastly complex intracellular signalling mechanisms continuously informing the cell of what is happening in other parts of the organism or its environment. One such intracellular signalling molecule or 'message' is PIP3. It is a phospholipid molecule found on the inside surface of the cell's limiting membrane. Levels of PIP3 rise rapidly on activation of a large number of receptors. This is surprising given the problems the cell faces in knowing precisely which receptor has been activated when it detects an intracellular signal. This grant application is to understand how it is possible that rises in PIP3 can encode specific messages from so many different receptors. We have performed some experiments that have, in fact, shown that PIP3 in cells is not a single type of molecule. At least four tiny variants of PIP3 can be detected, called molecular species of PIP3. Interestingly, we find that these different molecular species of PIP3 do not respond equivalently to different ways of activating the cells we work with. We and others have also found that the different receptors can make the levels of PIP3 rise for different times and to different maximum levels. We propose that these small differences are very important inside the cell for discriminating whether a certain receptor has been stimulated. This is a 'clever' economy or efficiency on the part of the cell and allows it to use similar mechanisms to perform many different jobs. Although on the surface these might appear trivial details in the business of understanding biology, it has recently been discovered that many different cancers are caused by mutations in genes that regulate PIP3 levels in cells. Mutations that by chance cause the production of PIP3 to be increased without any need for receptor stimulation make cancers much more likely to occur. Mutations that by chance stop the enzymes that normally break down PIP3 from working also make cancer more likely to occur. As a result it is clear that understanding how PIP3 is made and then interpreted by cells is crucial for us to better understand how cancer occurs and how to treat it. Many companies are already trying to design drugs that will reduce PIP3 levels to fight cancer. This work will help us understand how to make better drugs of that type.This proposal is a collaboration between biochemistry groups at BI and mathematical biologists at the EBI to achieve a detailed and quantitative understanding of a major mammalian signal transduction pathway, the PI3K network. Several PI3K isoforms exist in cells that can be selectively engaged by a variety of cell surface receptors to generate the membrane phospholipid PIP3. PIP3 is the initial signal, which is then transduced by 10-50 effector proteins into the regulation of complex cell responses, such as cell growth and movement. Our strategy is to focus on collecting robust, high quality data sets in a panel of isogenic, non-transformed breast cell lines (MCF10a) in which key endogenous components of the pathway can be manipulated and to embed iteration between experiment and modelling to arrive at a more satisfactory explanation of: 1) the key factors which shape the magnitude and spatiotemporal properties of PIP3 signals in response to hormonal stimulation (EGF, insulin, LPA) and oncogenic mutation; 2) The way in which different PIP3 effectors interpret these PIP3 signals and 3) the relative importance of individual PIP3 effectors in delivering regulation of chemokinesis, growth and global transcription. We plan to use homologous gene targetting, siRNA suppression and pharmacological inhibition of pathway components and measure the impact of these perturbations, in several relevant cellular contexts, on i) the levels of PIP3 and other phosphoinositides measured by a novel, quantitative mass spectrometry assay that allows systematic analysis of fatty acid composition; ii) the activity and spatial distribution of several PIP3 effectors (in some cases via knock-in of endogenous GFP-fusion proteins); iii) chemokinesis, markers of growth and global transcription (using next generation sequencing). Models will be built at several levels in the pathway and integrated to allow a deeper understanding of this network and guide more effective therapeutic intervention1) Identify the beneficiaries of this work. See the section 'the beneficiaries'. To restate, ignoring our proximal research community, they would include, within the life-time of the grant; (a) an international and broad group of commercial and academic researchers, (b) the BBSRC, our host Institutions (Babraham and EBI), (c) the post-doc researchers on the grant through the training they receive and (d) our IPA partner Astra Zeneca. In addition, in the longer term, (e) the health care sector, patients and the UK's economic competitiveness. 2) How would they benefit? a) From the technologies and approaches we propose to apply in this application. Most signficantly the lipidomics strategies we have developed to enable sensitive, medium through-put analyses of the different molecular species of PIP3. This advance enables the development of potentially direct read-outs of the effectiveness of PI3K inhibitors in a clinical setting, through the opportunity to take frozen cell or tissue samples and sensitively and quantitatively analyse their PIP3 content. Until now companies have relied on surrogate read-outs of PI3K activity that have a variety of technical and intellectual weaknesses. This approach will also change the phosphoinositide research community, historically there has ben a huge pausity of data in the field through the technical or financial challenges in capturing this type of data. This has severly limited attempts to model this pathway. b) See beneficiaries section. The BBSRC would gain from delivery of their objectives in their recently formulated strategic plan, specifically in the Bioscience for Health priority. As an IPA application, this project has evidence of its commercial relevance as 'basic research underpinning the pharmaceutical sector'. Its use of modelling is in line with the BBSRCs drive to change the culture of modern biology towards being more mathematically based. c) Both the EBI and BI have internationally competitive research environments where the post-docs would learn within a project that has both direct commercial relevance, substantial contact time with a major pharmaceutical company and a multi-disciplinary approach. d) Will benefit from accelerated access to a internationally competitive grouping working in a field in which AZ have direct interest in their inflammation and oncology programmes and from having first option on any IP that might emerge from the project. More specifically they will gain direct leverage from results with the cell lines and inhibitors we have chosen to focus upon; both are used within their own, internal, research programmes. They will also gain early insights into the lipidomics approach we have developed and how they might use it to solve long-standing problems with bio-markers of activity in the PI3K pathway in whole animal or clinical studies. e) These could be longer terms outcomes resulting from improved focus on the most appropriate PI3K targets and hence the best PI3K-selectivity profile of potential drugs in specific therapeutic setting and the development of more relevant and useful bio-markers. As our IPA partners oncology programme is based in the UK (Alderly Edge, Macclesfield) the above should give competitive advantage to UK business. 3) How would we ensure the above potential benefits are realised a) Presentations at international science meetings, publications, good data sharing practice, seminars at companies b) Through the projects funding and execution c) Regular meetings between EBI and BI labs and with AZ researchers (see work plan) d) Through (c) and see Case for support e) The IPA status of this application and the success of past research collaborations (£300K) with AZ are based on our approach to, and conduct within, collaborations with industry. AZ have confidence we will put effort into transferring knowledge and skill and that it will give them competitive advantage in getting good therapeutics into the market-place.2015-10-04198E4A3D-B2DC-45D4-8351-7CCEC4061876BBSRC2011-05-30INCOME_ACTUAL1086512Akita UniversityJapanDepartment of Pathology and Immunology, Akita University School of MedicineSasaki_ mass spec and prostate51CC0BF1-484E-428C-8F92-26AA98E68CDDNorton et al (2016) Adv Biol Regul. 60:36-45. doi: 10.1016/j.jbior.2015.10.005
Ferguson et al (2007) Nat Cell Biol. 9(1):86-91. Malek M, Kielkowska A, Chessa T, Anderson KE, Barneda D, Pir P..... Stephens LR, (2017). PTEN Regulates PI(3,4)PSignaling Downstream of Class I PI3K.. Molecular cell, 68 (3), pp. 566-580.e1058b5b5498fbad4.10061619-1Intellectual input, reagents, mass spectrometric methods, personnelIntellectual input, reagents, mass spectrometric methods, personnelAcademic/UniversityUniversity College LondonUnited KingdomDivision of BiosciencesNick Luscombe1FC3F871-2A64-4A0A-8B89-C6D5BF063AD9Publications, a number are on-going. Multi-disciplinary, biochemistry, computer modelling, bioinformatics, biological chemistry/mass spec development.546373be5e37e1.52808872-1Training in bioinformatic techniquesWe provided data, knowledge and experienceAcademic/University2012-01-01AstraZenecaUnited KingdomAZ/Cosulich08283856-88AC-414F-BB72-B395EBEC969FPapers and models (still in development), much work is currently being written-up.546485a40f8d63.36861866-1Insights in to commercial directions and interests in this area.We are measuring and modelling agonist and onco-mutant driven changes in PIP3 signalling and then using selective inhibitors and RNAi to understand how the PIP3 signalling network operatesPrivate2009-01-01University of TorontoCanadaSergio_Grinstein_SopB8F822375-C320-4754-A28E-A075D5DF7F04Manuscript currently in Press at Nature Cell Biology622209a4e34a73.10799339-2They lead the project, providing the intellectual framework and the vast majority of the data.We used our mass spectrometry methods to define a new phosphoinositide reaction mechanism for the Salmonella effector protein SopBAcademic/University2021-01-01University of TorontoCanadaSergio_Grinstein_SopB0E7E9BAE-0180-4CBA-B824-39712FE8832BManuscript currently in Press at Nature Cell Biology622209a4e34a73.10799339-1They lead the project, providing the intellectual framework and the vast majority of the data.We used our mass spectrometry methods to define a new phosphoinositide reaction mechanism for the Salmonella effector protein SopBAcademic/University2021-01-01Work experience for year 12 school studentsParticipation in an activity, workshop or similarLocal9E32F5F1-8C4D-4CDF-A965-1E605A4B0F2FWork shadowing for a yr 12 school student to understand biomedical research
Student applied and got an offer on a biomedical degree course54624afb870e31.83032049falseSchools2014Cambridge Science FestivalParticipation in an activity, workshop or similarRegional0D750B2C-83E0-41C1-AF64-414BF924F3BAExhibit at Cambridge Science Festival was attended by all age groups with extensive interaction and discussion56d8ce6350d1e8.87454856falsePublic/other audiences2015Training other researchers in use of lipidomics techniques.Participation in an activity, workshop or similarInternational0B6953ED-AB8A-49F5-B6F5-E9D5B92AC344Researchers visit BI for 1-5days typically to observe, discuss or trouble shoot lipidomics techniques. PhD students, PIs, technicians and commercial staff have been involved. Researchers from Japan, France and UK.56c1b05185e4f0.04081206falseProfessional Practitioners2012,2013,2014,2015Invited lecturer to international meetings (average 2-3 per year)A talk or presentationInternational3D0F03A1-DCE9-49B2-A6E5-9E5A91308682promoted discussions, collaborations
scientific collaborations, joint grants and publications546215ce564be0.43637759falseProfessional PractitionersPre-2006,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019Public engagement ageing meetingParticipation in an activity, workshop or similarRegional05E8DA43-32AD-465A-94B4-9F7B0053E457A meeting held at Cambridge Guildhall with brief presentations from a panel of mixed scientific backgrounds followed by Q&A and group discussions; also practical demonstrations of how reaction times, hearing, etc changes with age56d8cee11d7279.62768293falsePublic/other audiences2012To 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.2014CBCE23F9-66F6-4C46-90FE-F7B8DFA1ED8DEconomic56bb02289579c5.29857628Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical BiotechnologyWe have developed a new method to measure PI(3,4)P2 a critical intracellualr signal. We have shown PI(3,4)P2 is degraded by an enzyme that is a key inhibitor of tumour progression and when the tumour suppressor is removed, and a potentially affected person becomes much likely to get cancer, this is in part because the levels of PI(3,4)P2 signal in cells becomes dangerously high. We have developed tools to analyse large complex changes in mRNA accumulation in response to genetic and pharmacological manipulation of PI3K activity. We have clarified mechanisms of PI3K regulation that are relevant to therapeutic strategy in cancer trails and treatment.Our basic-biology results have already changed companies strategies in targeting specific cancer types with specific PI3K inhibitors.9FE4B714-C043-4451-BEF8-EB7C1C53EEB45463702eb55f51.13006653HealthcareTo accompany article published in Molecular cell2C0B562B-AA52-4F4D-B962-448E1A216E7D65dde63762b4a4.87758778truePTEN regulates PI(3,4)P2 signalling downstream of Class I PI3KDatabase/Collection of datahttps://data.mendeley.com/datasets/tnj6m88k6w/12017In collaboration with Jonathan Clark in the Biological Chemistry Facility at the Babraham Institute we have developed novel mass spectrometry approaches for measuring different molecular species of phosphoinositides in cells and tissues. This work has utilised chemical derivatisation coupled to LC-MS and involved the synthesis of several isotope-enriched internal standards.1D5CA7F7-5A1F-49DD-90D4-4A8CE0BA263EThe main impacts have been numerous publications (>30 as of 2021), collaborations and clinical trials of PI3K inhibitors.622203963dc4b7.38742910trueMass_spectrometry_analysis_of_phosphoinositidesTechnology assay or reagenthttps://www.babraham.ac.uk/science-services/biological-chemistry/jonathan-clark201113FD5B3A-E092-4FEE-BF06-9E0127E78D5FLysophosphatidylinositol-acyltransferase-1 (LPIAT1) is required to maintain physiological levels of PtdIns and PtdInsP(2) in the mouse.PloS oneb69f958d0a381f3030849518250d3521Anderson KE2013-01-011932-62035463715eed0fc3.36320995C48924E6-D9FC-4A08-B8AC-0426B8428E16Perturbations of PIP3 signalling trigger a global remodelling of mRNA landscape and reveal a transcriptional feedback loop.Nucleic acids research51585f72da0559dba579b0473aa0f917Kiselev VY2015-01-010305-104856b0cdd91ead15.09218035ECAD4357-1D91-4F48-9744-06C21EB34696Investigating the effect of arachidonate supplementation on the phosphoinositide content of MCF10a breast epithelial cells.Advances in biological regulationb69f958d0a381f3030849518250d3521Anderson KE2016-01-012212-492656b0cdd9b2d104.684859688B347142-2661-48D0-9A00-759DF403676CProfiling of phosphoinositide molecular species in human and mouse platelets identifies new species increasing following stimulation.Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular and cell biology of lipids81f01c0fef8f0f705aa63e4abb959f27Mujalli A2018-01-011388-19815c7d421b71a352.746719255E26AAE4-B69F-4CD0-B0F4-27CCB296E210Emerging evidence of signalling roles for PI(3,4)P2 in Class I and II PI3K-regulated pathways.Biochemical Society transactions9d3df4506683f973bcc340d59b4b4a5eHawkins PT2016-01-010300-512758b439901d0341.87001628E047BA9D-80D9-4E25-994D-47E6AA5FDDB3Gß? is a direct regulator of endogenous p101/p110? and p84/p110? PI3K? complexes in mouse neutrophils.Science signalingae569daa6ccaf41d0010a7fe61afd363Rynkiewicz NK2020-01-011945-08775fb8f7363be6f0.5824395841D1DBF8-3877-4976-BB9E-3AE531BD4F4AQuantification of PtdInsP3 molecular species in cells and tissues by mass spectrometry.Nature methodsedc5f7c0e58dfe61e7f81d9f8d2b7544Clark J2011-01-011548-70915463715d78f491.68822835B5C0D323-083F-4B34-9862-93424EE7F00BA new approach to measuring phosphoinositides in cells by mass spectrometry.Advances in biological regulationbc631ac334819daffd5622aa3c7c24a6Kielkowska A2014-01-012212-49265463715f8e64a2.1867592002E73EDB-F8ED-4671-BD69-13E4B185A009PTEN Regulates PI(3,4)P2 Signaling Downstream of Class I PI3K.Molecular cell32166a1af7e300ccef30545562aeb163Malek M2017-01-011097-27655a8af658dee1a5.0160371829F211CB-BB87-4245-B147-ABF5F0110BB2BMX acts downstream of PI3K to promote colorectal cancer cell survival and pathway inhibition sensitizes to the BH3 mimetic ABT-737.Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.)15b2aa803b28c58fa133b58ee608eaaePotter DS2014-01-011476-558656bb048eb1ca51.75181505F554802A-778D-42F4-8A4E-A2AEBB3EC69APIP-ing Lipids on Membranes: PTEN Takes the Cake.Molecular cell3f910d0addbd5b7d25d64a230f01a74cRavi A2017-01-011097-276567520f44d96161.58607893BC466B7B-9147-462C-9BFA-3B1B49010195Frontline Science: TNF-a and GM-CSF1 priming augments the role of SOS1/2 in driving activation of Ras, PI3K-?, and neutrophil proinflammatory responses.Journal of leukocyte biology7f84660b423d6c09271cb9f398505849Suire S2019-01-010741-54005c7d43ac1cf6e4.11278104516A2870-379E-42D4-8F85-D72473A68CD7Inactivation of the Class II PI3K-C2ß Potentiates Insulin Signaling and Sensitivity.Cell reports83ed02408872fd806a388ba2a32fb91cAlliouachene S2015-01-0156b0cdd8ca10e9.807055223335FB3F-30E4-472F-ADB2-4387D19CCB0ASignaling via class IA Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3K) in human, breast-derived cell lines.PloS one335ea1a5172fc6d0d647e3c40642d987Juvin V2013-01-011932-62035463715fc2e9c6.132497423A174F87-8ED2-4718-B5FF-1E36E12FA9FCQuantitation of class IA PI3Ks in mice reveals p110-free-p85s and isoform-selective subunit associations and recruitment to receptors.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2c1b247a4f72aa031fc0966736f27c27Tsolakos N2018-01-010027-84245c470237728630.88665696BB/I003916/12D9083F0-05FA-4726-9EB2-3FCC293CAAF925Biomolecules & biochemistry999F0B31-F127-410A-A520-963B336BECE725Cell biology29F3DF16-3094-4F79-BC69-8D05FB55182613Omic sciences & technologies945E0A55-10CB-4E91-BCCB-7CB22CFE223212Tools, technologies & methodsEF22E4A7-F12A-4859-8A95-E0179E3570EC12Biological membranes6D0F40FF-D03E-4429-A764-185BC521A84013Catalysis & enzymology2A0F6391-E88A-4396-9D63-25A68EEDA63513Communication & signallingCA10DA58-174F-4FE6-B61B-8EEBFB8192E212Receptors812BD191-6D4F-4F72-852D-0F63AD58ABD812Research approaches937A9F23-021A-4604-8979-A28E0E04F82513Transcriptomics018ACD8A-DE0F-4F6C-82FF-00EFDE30F246Characterising the performance of low loading electrodes for hydrogen technologiesActive2928626StudentshipThis project is associated with deep understanding of the operation and performance of electrodes for electrochemical devices used in electrolysers, flow batteries, and fuel cells. These devices will allow the efficient capture of renewable electricity and storage/interconversion as hydrogen (see Royal Society report "Large-scale electricity storage"). Deployment of electrochemical hydrogen systems is growing at a tremendous pace, but in order to achieve the well defined KPIs we need: a 10-fold reduction in catalyst requirements; significant improvements in performance; and increased longevity. The purpose of this experimental iCASE is the improved performance of these electrodes whilst reducing the catalyst requirements (and thus cost), coupled to improved understanding and ability to model the performance of these systems. Such improvements can only be achieved through a deeper understanding of performance of the electrochemical interface at which reactants, electrons and ions must be efficiently transported to the catalytic interface. These systems are crucial for the UK and world to reach their net-zero aspirations by 2050. The topic cuts across a number of themes in the UKRI including the Energy and decarbonisation theme (Solutions to reach net zero), the Manufacturing the future theme and the Physical Sciences theme. The project is extremely well aligned with the UK's 2022 NMS strategy for which 'the measurement infrastructure needed to support the hydrogen economy as it develops' is a government priority2028-09-29798CB33D-C79E-4578-83F2-72606407192CEPSRC2024-09-30INCOME_ACTUAL029286266CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified019B1FA4-0C7C-4F52-8470-021FF27CDCB1Replacing non-recyclable black plastic: Development of the first fully compostable, oven-proof, long shelf-life tray for ‘ready-meal’ and modified atmosphere packagingClosed105242Feasibility Studies"**AMBITION**
Our aim is to reduce and replace the use of black non-recyclable plastic for modified atmosphere packaging for ready-meals and ambient food items with development of a natural, fully compostable alternative packaging technology.
Over 1.3 billion black plastic trays are used in the UK each year (~10 billion globally- [Greenpeace][0]) however low recycling rates (45% plastic recycling rate UK; 9% globally-Defra;2018) and the inability of IR recycling plant sensors to the colour black mean that 99% of black plastic food trays end up in landfill, or even worse in the ocean.
Although work is being done to increase the recyclability of black plastic, high recycling costs coupled with low recycling rates mean that what is needed is move away from plastic all together, towards natural, sustainable alternative materials.
**FOCUS**
Working with a strong consortia of sustainable packaging and manufacturing experts, the project focuses on design and development of a fully compostable (6 weeks), heat-resistant (up to 240oc), microwavable and freezable food tray with unique biopolymer coating using seaweed algae and corn starch to provide up to 21 days atmospheric protection for ready-meal and ambient raw meat/fish market.
Made solely out our natural materials, the tray will be designed and tested using a number of FSA (UK), EU and FDA (US) approved protocols to ensure it meets the required oxygen transfer, water vapour transfer, temperature, disease and thickness requirements of each food safety agency and target food producer customers
**SIGNIFICANCE**
Despite an increased focus on reducing plastic waste and significant consumer and supplier demand, the technical challenges associated with replacing black plastic with natural alternatives for modified atmosphere food packaging have not been solved. Our strong biopolymer barrier technology therefore represents a step-change in the industry, still dominated by black plastic.Furthermore as a fully-compostable solution, it is both significantly cheaper and easier to dispose of than recycled plastic alternatives.
In line with UK GOVs 'Plastic Pact' 2025 commitment, all our materials are naturally-sourced and therefore have the potential to reduce the UK's reliance on plastics in this area significantly -- opening up a £32m turnover opportunity for us by Y5\. We have already been in advanced discussions with Iceland and Kerry Foods regarding early adoption of the technology when developed and see this as having global potential -- environmental friendly and significantly cheaper than developing new plastic recycling infrastructure.
[0]: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/why-cant-black-plastic-be-recycled_uk_5b18f4e1e4b0734a993b00d0?utm_hp_ref=uk-lifestyle"2020-08-3012E03F45-B517-4D83-A182-3D142D1A471AInnovate UK2019-03-01INCOME_ACTUAL3477391052426CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified01E6F588-13F6-461E-AEB0-00B2FCEAAFD5MUSHFORM: Transforming Spent Mushroom Substrate into High-Performance, Chemical-Free Pulp Moulded PackagingClosed10181283Collaborative R&DImagine if the containers holding your supermarket mushrooms were made from the waste generated growing those same mushrooms. That circular vision is exactly what MUSHFORM aims to prove.
**The Double Problem We're Solving**
UK mushroom farms produce over 100,000 tonnes of delicious mushrooms annually---but create over 500,000 cubic metres of "spent substrate" waste, costing growers £3-15M annually to manage. Meanwhile, food packaging manufacturers import wood pulp, blast it with harsh chemicals (caustic soda, chlorine bleach), consume massive energy (3,500-4,500 kWh per tonne), then add plastic coatings to create containers that never truly biodegrade.
Two industries. Two problems. One circular UK solution.
**Nature's Hidden Gift**
Here's the breakthrough: mushrooms are nature's master decomposers. As they grow, their fungi release powerful enzymes that break down tough plant materials---essentially doing 70% of the pulping work that paper mills achieve with toxic chemicals. After harvest, the spent substrate has already been biologically "pre-processed."
Think of mushrooms as unpaid factory workers, preparing packaging material while producing food.
**The Technology**
Led by Yr Ardd Fadarch Eryri Cyf. t/a Madarch Cymru, working with Bangor University's pilot facility (managed by professional project specialists), we'll test whether three types of spent mushroom substrate can be transformed into sturdy food packaging using only mechanical processing---no chemicals, no bleaching, no plastic coatings. Just steam, pressure, and precision engineering.
**The Products**
Picture supermarket eggs in trays made from mushroom waste. Takeaway containers that started life supporting shiitake cultivation. Protective packaging that could literally return to mushroom farms as compost. Products---egg cartons, food trays, corner protectors---are home-compostable in 12 weeks, cost less than imports, eliminate chemicals, and convert growers' disposal costs into revenue, closing the perfect loop: waste from food production becomes food packaging.
**Why This Matters---Supporting UK Communities**
Mushroom growers transform £3-15M annual disposal costs into revenue. Packaging manufacturers access over 500,000m³ of pre-processed, domestic feedstock. By Year 5:35 rural jobs created across UK mushroom-producing regions, £1.2M tax revenue generated, supporting economic development in agricultural communities.
Consumers get packaging with genuine environmental credentials---not "industrially compostable" but actually biodegradable in your garden or back in mushroom production.
This is the circular economy in its purest form: one food sector's waste becomes another's feedstock, processed domestically, used domestically, composted domestically, then returned to UK farms. No imports. No chemicals. No waste.
Welcome to packaging that completes the cycle it began in from soil, through mushrooms, carrying food, then back to soil---or back to mushrooms.2026-03-3012E03F45-B517-4D83-A182-3D142D1A471AInnovate UK2026-02-01INCOME_ACTUAL25000101812836CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified02103DD9-A889-4067-B44E-006A617A8BDFEye in the SkyClosed10037439Collaborative R&DAbstracts 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.2023-01-3112E03F45-B517-4D83-A182-3D142D1A471AInnovate UK2022-07-31INCOME_ACTUAL0100374396CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified0248EF3F-DD65-4561-BD94-020C64D6F13DVANTAGE - An intelligent payload that enables UAVs to autonomously land on maritime vessels, ultimately addressing Urban Air Mobility requirements.Closed10008315BEIS-Funded ProgrammesTo develop an intelligent payload that visually identifies landing pads, at day and night, and enables UAVs to perform autonomous landings on fixed or moving platforms, focusing initially on maritime applications. This technology will become part of an integrated suite of autonomous functions ultimately addressing the requirements of Urban Air Mobility,2023-09-29B51DB087-2804-4E46-8896-F5FC40D5A4FDATI2022-03-31INCOME_ACTUAL210000100083156CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified02563003-C0B6-42B2-BBC9-01F8D289E65EDevelopment of molecular imprinting with liquid chromatographt-massClosed1677978StudentshipDevelopment of molecular imprinting with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry HD-SRM for the sensitive and selective detection of proteins2019-09-29198E4A3D-B2DC-45D4-8351-7CCEC4061876BBSRC2015-09-30INCOME_ACTUAL0250United KingdomGBPUnited Kingdomen_GBJohn Beynon Travel and Conference Fund2016-09-01British Mass Spectrometry SocietyB436B4D0-2984-4156-920A-2AF967FFE0385c8292ea5aa071.04432429Charity/Non Profit2016-08-31500CanadaUSDEcuadores_ECHuman Proteome Organisation (HUPO) World Congress 2018 Travel Stipend2018-09-01Human Proteome Organization1C22DD89-D63C-4BC6-8B13-ADC160A5A0A15c829082a9f756.50057518Charity/Non Profit2018-08-31300United KingdomGBPUnited Kingdomen_GBJohn Beynon Travel and Conference Fund2018-09-01British Mass Spectrometry Society356936A9-B99C-46C7-9007-ECF766196B255c8291ab41ea67.63563298Charity/Non Profit2018-08-31250United KingdomGBPUnited Kingdomen_GBJohn Beynon Travel and Conference Fund2017-09-01British Mass Spectrometry Society60A71A7E-8E1E-44F7-A6E4-CDA96A9FEC865c829276b4fe16.71008967Charity/Non Profit2017-08-3198CD3CB1-3EE6-421C-A733-25973F90A078The measurement of KRAS G12 mutants using multiplexed selected reaction monitoring and ion mobility mass spectrometry.Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCMf0b853c384b19d76e8c09068e63f8af3Norman RL2020-01-010951-41985e45186db0b557.4718198016779786CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified026F60B3-68D9-43A8-8985-02225F14B1E2Regulation of the immune response: the role of integrin alphavbeta8 and TGF-beta in immune homeostasis and response to pathogens.ClosedBB/G001103/1Research GrantThe immune system functions to detect and destroy harmful pathogens that enter the body. Upon infection, the immune system is rapidly activated, to ensure the threat is dealt with as quickly as possible. However, in healthy individuals it is vital that the immune system is kept in a resting state to prevent tissues of the body from being attacked; a process that results in debilitating autoimmune disease. A vital area of research is concerned with understanding the pathways and molecules that control the balance between a resting and active immune system. We have recently identified a vital pathway which prevents the immune system from attacking tissues of the body. When a protein molecule called integrin alphavbeta8 is not present on the dendritic cells of the immune system, severe autoimmune disease occurs. The work proposed here aims to study this pathway in more detail, looking at which specific types of cell in the immune system are important, and to determine what happens to this pathway during active immune responses to infection. Such work will provide important insights into how animals and humans successfully deal with infection, and how the immune system is tightly regulated to prevent autoimmune disease.The immune system has evolved to protect the body from infection by quickly detecting and destroying harmful pathogens. However, in normal circumstances, it is vital that the immune system is kept in a resting state, to prevent harmful immune responses directed against self-tissues, leading to autoimmune disease. An important molecule in the regulation of immunity is the cytokine transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta). TGF-beta is an important anti-inflammatory cytokine, as shown by the TGF-beta1 knockout mouse, which dies from multi-organ autoimmune disease due to unregulated immune responses. TGF-beta is synthesized and secreted from cells as part of a latent protein complex, and needs to be activated to exert effects on TGF-beta receptor-expressing cells. Therefore, increasing our knowledge of how TGF-beta is activated in vivo will be vital in understanding how TGF-beta regulates the immune system. Our recent studies have uncovered a novel role for the integrin alphavbeta8 in activating TGF-beta in the adaptive immune system. Mice lacking integrin alphavbeta8 on antigen-presenting dendritic cells develop severe autoimmune disease, characterised by unregulated T-cell activation and severe colitis. This disease results from a reduced ability of dendritic cells to activate TGF-beta via integrin alphavbeta8. However, many crucial biological questions remain. Which types of dendritic cell are involved in this pathway? What is the role of this pathway at times of immune challenge? What happens to this pathway once the immune system has successfully eradicated an infection? This project will utilise conditional knockout mouse models to enhance our understanding of an important pathway in regulation of the immune system. Specifically, we will investigate the role of integrin-mediated TGF-beta activation in control of immune responses. This work will provide new insights into how the adaptive immune system is regulated at rest and in response to infection.2011-10-04198E4A3D-B2DC-45D4-8351-7CCEC4061876BBSRC2008-10-05INCOME_ACTUAL412416571000United KingdomGBPUnited Kingdomen_GBTGF-beta activation by gut dendritic cells: identifying a critical pathway in regulations of chronic parasitic infection2014-10-01Medical Research Council (MRC)G10017538CAD3A0B-D2DE-4B19-A25D-086FFEA6B7F6545d5f7f824d27.96068318Public2011-09-30The aim of the research proposal was to determine important molecular mechanisms that control immune responses in the intestine. Specifically, we aimed to determine novel pathways by which an important type of immune cell in the intestine, the dendritic cell, regulates immune responses to promote a healthy gut. During the course of the proposal, we produced two major findings.
Our first finding was that a specialised type of dendritic cell is key in dampening the immune system in the intestine. Specifically, by expression of a molecule called integrin alphav beta8, these specialised dendritic cells activate an important molecule called TGF-beta, which in turn promotes the development of a cell called a regulatory T-cell. These regulatory T-cells are vital in the maintenance of health in the intestine. We have published this work in a high profile journal (Worthington JJ et al (2011), Gastroenterology, 141(5): 1802-1812), and have recently initiated studies in humans to determine whether such pathways exist and whether they are altered in inflammatory bowel disease.
Our second finding was that the integrin avß8-dendritic cell-TGFß pathway is key in regulating responses to infection. Specifically, mice lacking this pathway were completely protected from infection with the intestinal worm parasite Trichuris muris. The preliminary findings formed the basis for a successful grant application to the MRC, looking into the molecular mechanisms by which lack of the integrin ß8-DC-TGFß pathway was important in promoting chronic parasite infection in the gut.We are now taking our findings into human subjects, to determine whether similar pathways are present in the human intestine during health and inflammation. Such work will validate the potential role of the integrin avß8-TGFß pathway in the immune system in promoting a healthy gut.
Additionally, it is hypothesised that targeting integrin avß8 during the development of chronic parasite infection in the intestine may be successful in promoting parasite clearance. More work is required to test the validity of this hypothesis.A709FCA4-F3C7-43A3-B5EF-95AE7965DA43545d593fcec410.34231045HealthcarePharmaceuticals and Medical BiotechnologyAC0654CB-E839-4B75-8ACD-DD828FA9E533Expression of avß8 integrin on dendritic cells regulates Th17 cell development and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in mice.The Journal of clinical investigation56bfcbf8eb7861b66f082a714897e4a2Melton AC2010-01-010021-9738545d5c93ebad97.747799783B505C9F-3A0A-4CDA-BB53-95E07F97EE5FIRF8 Transcription-Factor-Dependent Classical Dendritic Cells Are Essential for Intestinal T Cell Homeostasis.Immunityf51be2622a4de08e8ee5affea07d6484Luda KM2016-01-011074-76135899802c182b99.2515403823A90142-A907-4E00-AD91-E3523C013E54Intestinal dendritic cells specialize to activate transforming growth factor-ß and induce Foxp3+ regulatory T cells via integrin avß8.Gastroenterology13e6ad07fe78dedf23700da86f0c3823Worthington JJ2011-01-010016-5085545d5b9e86d2a6.02186649712D89CD-C1EA-4D2E-BEDB-9C0EF0E5EF57Inflammatory cues enhance TGFß activation by distinct subsets of human intestinal dendritic cells via integrin avß8.Mucosal immunology16782fb4dcf17e36c22e83a66e6b7d0dFenton TM2017-01-011933-02195899802bad30a1.068176945B2837CF-22CF-4F03-9656-CEBCA8B5C72BTGFß: a sleeping giant awoken by integrins.Trends in biochemical sciences13e6ad07fe78dedf23700da86f0c3823Worthington JJ2011-01-010968-0004545d5cb8e42ba7.23407994B1351F86-0FE7-476F-AA21-9CC2B7A7E604A Thymic Epithelial Stem Cell Pool Persists throughout Ontogeny and Is Modulated by TGF-ß.Cell reports0746095af5e2316ea2371049a84632fcUcar O2016-01-015899802bd5a9b4.96759211BB/G001103/159D39F6A-DEE0-4E48-8676-4C8374EF3C2872Animal science999F0B31-F127-410A-A520-963B336BECE728Cell biologyC8B14F2C-DED6-416E-BF1A-76A83148877014Cells2A0F6391-E88A-4396-9D63-25A68EEDA63514Communication & signalling92E358AA-AB7D-48F5-B189-8EC678DFF53972Immunology027CDB72-517A-4A0D-AE08-00FDFAE8F76CEstablishing a test methodology for PFAS-free barrier materials for the hydrogen economyClosed10158010Grant for R&DThis project addresses the technical challenges associated with accurately measuring hydrogen permeation in rubber materials used in key industries such as energy and automotive. As the UK government advances ambitious hydrogen production goals and global hydrogen demand continues to rise, the establishment of reliable, standardised testing methodologies for hydrogen permeation is critical to ensuring safety, performance, and long-term durability in hydrogen applications.
Currently, rubber components in hydrogen systems are evaluated using testing standards from the oil & gas sector, predominantly suited for high-pressure conditions. However, there remains a substantial gap in measurement methodologies where variations in temperature and pressure significantly affect the behaviour of hydrogen permeation and diffusion.
The primary focus of this project is therefore the development of robust and standardised test methods capable of quantifying hydrogen permeation under diverse temperature and pressure gradients. These methods will specifically target existing PFAS-free rubber materials, such as EPDM, HNBR, VMQ, and fluoropolymers developed using non-fluoro surfactant technologies and reinforced with graphene and other 2D nanomaterials.
This methodology development will leverage the extensive expertise and experience of The University of Manchester. Additionally, the collaborative framework provided by the A4I program will facilitate industry-wide adoption and impact, aligning closely with the UK's hydrogen strategy and broader decarbonisation objectives. Ultimately, the project aims to deliver a reliable, standardised permeation testing protocol, significantly enhancing material selection processes and contributing to the advancement of sustainable, high-performance rubber solutions in the transition to a low-carbon economy.2026-01-3112E03F45-B517-4D83-A182-3D142D1A471AInnovate UK2025-06-30INCOME_ACTUAL10084101580106CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified027FCA23-6711-407E-A392-020B8329DDABThe role of commensal organisms as pro-infectious agents in Staphylococcus aureus infection dynamics.ClosedMR/R001111/1Research GrantStaphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen that causes significant death and disease around the world. The problem is exacerbated by the spread of antibiotic resistant strains such as Methicillin Resistant S. aureus (MRSA). MRSA is generally a hospital-associated infection but recently community acquired MRSA has increased in the apparent absence of antibiotic selection. Thus there is a constant need to develop new control regimes for S. aureus, as this organism has begun to show resistance even to new antibiotics such as linezolid and no vaccine is available. To win this battle we must not only produce new treatments and preventative measures but also to understand the complexities of how S. aureus causes disease and thus how interventions can be best utilised, to reduce the disease burden and to minimise the development and spread of resistance to antibiotics. How do humans get infected with S. aureus? We have made the astonishing discovery that relatively harmless skin organisms and even their component cell walls are able to cause significant exacerbation of S. aureus infection, allowing disease to occur with a hugely reduced infectious dose. The most common route of human infection is via a wound and of course this will occur with whatever material gets in, including S. aureus. We have named the material that can augment S. aureus infection as "pro-infectious agents". We have opened a window on natural infection and in doing so provide novel avenues for trying to understand disease and how we may prevent it. The current application takes an interdisciplinary approach to understand how infection is initiated, the nature of material and organisms that can act as pro-infectious agents, how infection progresses and how such knowledge may be utilized to prevent and/or cure disease. Our background work and that proposed necessitates an integrated team led by a microbiologist and a clinician with research expertise in innate immunity. This combined expertise, coupled with important partners around the world, provides a proven network to underpin our ambitious proposal.
Our work is underpinned by the use of animal models of infection, as this complex process cannot be recapitulated in vitro without understanding of what happens in vivo. We have uniquely developed the vertebrate zebrafish embryo as a model of S. aureus systemic disease. This provides a high-throughput, genetically tractable system where host:pathogen interaction can be observed in a living host. The importance of this model is that it has not only provided important insights into pathogenesis but has also informed our use of a mammalian system thus replacing many mouse experiments directly, reducing the numbers of mammals used and refining our approach. We will use a combination of animal models, together with in vitro analysis to determine the breadth of material that can augment S. aureus infection and the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this effect. Infection will then be mapped from initiation to endpoint in order to identify bottlenecks as sites for the development on novel intervention strategies. We will use a variety of approaches including state-of-the-art intravital microscopy in all models to determine the pathway of infection.
The application provides an integrated package that will further our understanding of disease mechanisms and how this information may be used to inform clinical practice.S. aureus is able to cause a wide range of diseases, with no vaccine available and antibiotic resistance common. It is therefore crucial to understand how S. aureus infection is initiated and progresses in order to identify novel clinical interventions. We have made the exciting discovery that skin commensal organisms, and even their isolated cell walls, can augment S. aureus infection. We have called the augmenting material "pro-infectious agents" and have shown its addition to result in a massive decrease in the inoculum of S. aureus required to cause serious disease. These findings are extremely pertinent to human infection, as this will always occur from within a polymicrobial milieu. It is important now to capitalize on our initial results to understand the breadth and basis of the augmentation phenomenon and how this might be exploited in the development of new approaches to tackle S. aureus.
The project will take an interdisciplinary approach, with global partners, using a combination of in vivo and in vitro analyses. We will investigate the molecular basis of pro-infectious agents in terms of those organisms and components able to augment S. aureus disease, coupled with an elucidation of the host response to pro-infectious agents from the molecular, through cellular to the whole host level. This will be set within a determination of the progression of S. aureus infection to understand how disease is established as a complex interaction between host and pathogen and how this dynamic is altered by the presence of pro-infectious agents. Finally, we will examine how our discovery of pro-infectious agents can be utilized in the design of a vaccine and other immunological interventions. Such ambitious goals, from fundamental understanding to translation, can only be achieved via an integrated team of investigators and partners, providing molecular understanding of host:pathogen interaction with important ramifications for human disease.The proposed project will develop an integrated, interdisciplinary platform to study S. aureus disease and the effect of prophylactic and treatment regimes. There will be a variety of impacts over a range of timescales and arenas.
- Academia (expected timescale year 1 onwards): will benefit from the information gained during the project, communicated both orally and via publication. Also given the unique use of the zebrafish embryo model of S. aureus pathogenesis, Sheffield will become a hub for collaboration and training. Transgenic zebrafish lines generated in this project will have diverse utility for other applications. The innovative multidisciplinary approaches we are taking will be a model for others working on related problems.
- Industry (expected timescale year 2 onwards): will benefit as potential users of the data concerning the use of antibiotics and the establishment of pathogen population dynamics during infection to test existing or develop new control regimes, such as vaccination. Direct links to Biotech companies such as Absynth and pharmaceutical companies such as GSK are in place to facilitate direct translation of key findings.
- National Health Service (expected timescale year 2 onwards): The cost to the NHS of healthcare associated infections (of which MRSA is the most significant) has been estimated by the HPA to be £1billion a year in England alone. This is predominantly in terms of delayed discharge, with associated knock-on effects of full hospitals, cancelled operations and lack of beds for non-emergency admissions. If we were able to identify new ways to treat or prevent MRSA, this would have a major impact on the NHS.
- Government bodies (expected timescale year 2 onwards): will benefit from the information on the role of microflora in disease augmentation as it will inform decisions as to decontamination of wound sites.
- Local communities (expected timescale year 2 onwards): via outreach activities will benefit from greater knowledge of this scientific area and engagement with scientific advances made locally.
- Society more broadly (expected timescale year 2 onwards): will benefit if the findings of this project translate to a reduction in the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, or new strategies for the treatment of infectious disease.
- UK PLC (expected timescale year 2 onwards): will benefit through the development of commercial activities, and added value to both biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the economic burden of MRSA infection in the UK can be counted in the billions of pounds, from missed work and additional costs following hospital discharge. Small reductions in spread of antibiotic resistance could have large impacts on the productivity of the UK workforce.
- Undergraduate/postgraduate/post docs (expected timescale year 1 onwards): will benefit through development of skills in cell biology, microscopy, in vivo studies etc. cascaded down through teaching interactions within the lab.
- Media (expected timescale year 1 onwards): will benefit through the applicants' participation in radio and newspapers interviews.2021-06-29C008C651-F5B0-4859-A334-5F574AB6B57CMRC2018-01-01INCOME_ACTUAL703187University of CalgaryCanadaThe Calgary Stroke ProgramCalgary PartnershipD37B19F2-5A72-41FC-BBDC-567B7E9904F5Boldock, E., Surewaard, B.G.J., Shamarina, D., Na, M., Fei, Y., Ali, A., Williams, A., Pollitt, E.J.G., Szkuta, P., Morris, P., Prajsnar, T.K., McCoy, K.D., Jin, T., Dockrell, D.H., van Strijp, J.A.G., Kubes, P., Renshaw, S.A. & Foster, S.J. (2018) Human skin commensals augment Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis. Nature Microbiology doi: 10.1038/s41564-018-0198-3.5c618136179588.97817984-1Testing of novel approaches to understand bacterial pathogenesis. In particular, the use of intravital microscopyWe developed the background data and hypothesesAcademic/University2016-01-01Cheltenham Science Festival 2018Participation in an activity, workshop or similarNational57DD3FC6-9C64-4F15-A27D-FF2C838DDFA6Hands on exhibit and stand in the area of microbiology, microscopy and antimicrobial resistance5c61827fc48641.99105787falseSchools2018Staphylococcus aureus is a human commensal organism and opportunist pathogen, causing potentially fatal disease. The presence of non-pathogenic microflora or their components, at the point of infection, dramatically increases S. aureus pathogenicity, a process termed augmentation. Augmentation is associated with macrophage interaction but by a hitherto unknown mechanism. Here, we demonstrate a breadth of cross-kingdom microorganisms can augment S. aureus disease and that pathogenesis of Enterococcus faecalis can also be augmented. Co-administration of augmenting material also forms an efficacious vaccine model for S. aureus. In vitro, augmenting material protects S. aureus directly from reactive oxygen species (ROS), which correlates with in vivo studies where augmentation restores full virulence to the ROS-susceptible, attenuated mutant katA ahpC. At the cellular level, augmentation increases bacterial survival within macrophages via amelioration of ROS, leading to proliferation and escape. We have defined the molecular basis for augmentation that represents an important aspect of the initiation of infection.
Animal work in the UK was performed in accordance with the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. At the University of Sheffield, work was completed under project licences P3BFD6DB9 and PPL 40/3699 for murine work, or P1A4A7A5E for zebrafish work, with ethical approval from the University of Sheffield Local Ethical Review Panel. At Imperial College London, work was conducted under licence P4C824899 with approval from the Imperial ethical review board. At INRAE, animal work was approved by the local ethics committee (COMETHEA or "Comité d'Ethique en Expérimentation Animale", Centre de Recherche Ile de France - Jouy en Josas - Antony) under the registration numbers 15_08, and by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research APAFIS #480-2015041518048149v1, where all animal experiments were performed in accordance with European directive 2010/63/EU. Animal experiments in Calgary were approved by the University of Calgary Animal Care Committee and were in compliance with the Canadian Council for Animal Care Guidelines (protocol nr. AC16-0148). MDMs were derived, with informed consent, from the blood of healthy volunteers, in accordance with guidelines from the South Sheffield Research Ethics Committee (07/Q2305/7).008377A0-DEB2-4913-8015-064CA6BABDB065dfa4072f7e27.63532206trueCommensal bacteria augment Staphylococcus aureus infection by inactivation of phagocyte-derived reactive oxygen speciesDatabase/Collection of datahttps://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Commensal_bacteria_augment_Staphylococcus_aureus_infection_by_inactivation_of_phagocyte-derived_reactive_oxygen_species/151347092021Macroautophagy/autophagy functions to degrade cellular components and intracellular pathogens. Autophagy receptors, including SQSTM1/p62, target intracellular pathogens. Staphylococcus aureus is a significant pathogen of humans, especially in immunocompromise. S. aureus may use neutrophils as a proliferative niche, but their intracellular fate following phagocytosis has not been analyzed in vivo. In vitro, SQSTM1 can colocalize with intracellular Staphylococcus aureus, but whether SQSTM1 is beneficial or detrimental in host defense against S. aureus in vivo is unknown. Here we determine the fate and location of S. aureus within neutrophils throughout zebrafish infection. We show Lc3 and Sqstm1 recruitment to phagocytosed S. aureus is altered depending on the bacterial location within the neutrophil and that Lc3 marking of bacterial phagosomes within neutrophils may precede bacterial degradation. Finally, we show Sqstm1 is important for controlling cytosolic bacteria, demonstrating for the first time a key role of Sqstm1 in autophagic control of S. aureus in neutrophils. AR: autophagy receptor; CFU: colony-forming unit; CHT: caudal hematopoietic tissue; GFP: green fluorescent protein; hpf: hours post-fertilization; hpi: hours post-infection; LWT: london wild-type: lyz: lysozyme; Map1lc3/Lc3: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3; RFP: red fluorescent protein; Sqstm1/p62: sequestosome 1; Tg: transgenic; TSA: tyramide signal amplification; UBD: ubiquitin binding domain.95A0DF9E-C70E-4845-B9EE-01BA14297DA565df9f8d414d01.60695457trueNeutrophils use selective autophagy receptor Sqstm1/p62 to target <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> for degradation <i>in vivo</i> in zebrafishDatabase/Collection of datahttps://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Neutrophils_use_selective_autophagy_receptor_Sqstm1_p62_to_target_i_Staphylococcus_aureus_i_for_degradation_i_in_vivo_i_in_zebrafish/12851360/12020Staphylococcus aureus is a human commensal organism and opportunist pathogen, causing potentially fatal disease. The presence of non-pathogenic microflora or their components, at the point of infection, dramatically increases S. aureus pathogenicity, a process termed augmentation. Augmentation is associated with macrophage interaction but by a hitherto unknown mechanism. Here, we demonstrate a breadth of cross-kingdom microorganisms can augment S. aureus disease and that pathogenesis of Enterococcus faecalis can also be augmented. Co-administration of augmenting material also forms an efficacious vaccine model for S. aureus. In vitro, augmenting material protects S. aureus directly from reactive oxygen species (ROS), which correlates with in vivo studies where augmentation restores full virulence to the ROS-susceptible, attenuated mutant katA ahpC. At the cellular level, augmentation increases bacterial survival within macrophages via amelioration of ROS, leading to proliferation and escape. We have defined the molecular basis for augmentation that represents an important aspect of the initiation of infection.
Animal work in the UK was performed in accordance with the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. At the University of Sheffield, work was completed under project licences P3BFD6DB9 and PPL 40/3699 for murine work, or P1A4A7A5E for zebrafish work, with ethical approval from the University of Sheffield Local Ethical Review Panel. At Imperial College London, work was conducted under licence P4C824899 with approval from the Imperial ethical review board. At INRAE, animal work was approved by the local ethics committee (COMETHEA or "Comité d'Ethique en Expérimentation Animale", Centre de Recherche Ile de France - Jouy en Josas - Antony) under the registration numbers 15_08, and by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research APAFIS #480-2015041518048149v1, where all animal experiments were performed in accordance with European directive 2010/63/EU. Animal experiments in Calgary were approved by the University of Calgary Animal Care Committee and were in compliance with the Canadian Council for Animal Care Guidelines (protocol nr. AC16-0148). MDMs were derived, with informed consent, from the blood of healthy volunteers, in accordance with guidelines from the South Sheffield Research Ethics Committee (07/Q2305/7).8D2440BA-8EC3-48A2-8B56-FA1B44A6115365dfa43a09d050.62768875trueCommensal bacteria augment Staphylococcus aureus infection by inactivation of phagocyte-derived reactive oxygen speciesDatabase/Collection of datahttps://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Commensal_bacteria_augment_Staphylococcus_aureus_infection_by_inactivation_of_phagocyte-derived_reactive_oxygen_species/15134709/12021This is the raw data supporting the findings (both main text and supplementary) for our manuscript "Staphylococcus aureus cell wall structure and dynamics during host-pathogen interaction". Each excel file contains the raw data for each figure. Murine work was carried out according to UK law in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, under Project License P3BFD6DB9 (Staphylococcus aureus and other pathogens, pathogenesis to therapy, University of Sheffield Review Board).273E7F4D-2E85-4300-B54A-74C5B588781E61ebee16a0c0c4.40755595trueStaphylococcus aureus cell wall structure and dynamics during host-pathogen interactionDatabase/Collection of datahttps://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Staphylococcus_aureus_cell_wall_structure_and_dynamics_during_host-pathogen_interaction/137464692021This is the raw data supporting the findings (both main text and supplementary) for our manuscript "Clonal population expansion of Staphylococcus aureus during infection can occur due to escape from a finite number of intraphagocyte niches". Each excel file contains the raw data for each figure.163A3DB9-12C1-4589-AA6A-F45F1A14799C63ed5140093da4.56260141trueClonal population expansion of Staphylococcus aureus during infection can occur due to escape from a finite number of intraphagocyte nichesDatabase/Collection of datahttps://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Clonal_population_expansion_of_Staphylococcus_aureus_during_infection_can_occur_due_to_escape_from_a_finite_number_of_intraphagocyte_niches/185510812023Macroautophagy/autophagy functions to degrade cellular components and intracellular pathogens. Autophagy receptors, including SQSTM1/p62, target intracellular pathogens. Staphylococcus aureus is a significant pathogen of humans, especially in immunocompromise. S. aureus may use neutrophils as a proliferative niche, but their intracellular fate following phagocytosis has not been analyzed in vivo. In vitro, SQSTM1 can colocalize with intracellular Staphylococcus aureus, but whether SQSTM1 is beneficial or detrimental in host defense against S. aureus in vivo is unknown. Here we determine the fate and location of S. aureus within neutrophils throughout zebrafish infection. We show Lc3 and Sqstm1 recruitment to phagocytosed S. aureus is altered depending on the bacterial location within the neutrophil and that Lc3 marking of bacterial phagosomes within neutrophils may precede bacterial degradation. Finally, we show Sqstm1 is important for controlling cytosolic bacteria, demonstrating for the first time a key role of Sqstm1 in autophagic control of S. aureus in neutrophils. AR: autophagy receptor; CFU: colony-forming unit; CHT: caudal hematopoietic tissue; GFP: green fluorescent protein; hpf: hours post-fertilization; hpi: hours post-infection; LWT: london wild-type: lyz: lysozyme; Map1lc3/Lc3: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3; RFP: red fluorescent protein; Sqstm1/p62: sequestosome 1; Tg: transgenic; TSA: tyramide signal amplification; UBD: ubiquitin binding domain.529B525A-222B-4976-974F-39DAD85170C465df9f8c939100.44019563trueNeutrophils use selective autophagy receptor Sqstm1/p62 to target <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> for degradation <i>in vivo</i> in zebrafishDatabase/Collection of datahttps://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Neutrophils_use_selective_autophagy_receptor_Sqstm1_p62_to_target_i_Staphylococcus_aureus_i_for_degradation_i_in_vivo_i_in_zebrafish/128513602020This is the raw data supporting the findings (both main text and supplementary) for our manuscript "Clonal population expansion of Staphylococcus aureus during infection can occur due to escape from a finite number of intraphagocyte niches". Each excel file contains the raw data for each figure.DC514E7C-BE40-4613-BA71-5857B92BEA1465f4c13803ad76.53378984trueClonal population expansion of Staphylococcus aureus during infection can occur due to escape from a finite number of intraphagocyte nichesDatabase/Collection of datahttps://figshare.shef.ac.uk/articles/dataset/Clonal_population_expansion_of_Staphylococcus_aureus_during_infection_can_occur_due_to_escape_from_a_finite_number_of_intraphagocyte_niches/18551081/120238A059076-830E-47FB-AFF8-E67926C5B93EStaphylococcus aureus cell wall structure and dynamics during host-pathogen interaction.PLoS pathogens71f47816609b3b09ea897307e94ac64fSutton JAF2021-01-011553-736661f7056098a6f1.721846653B39AD39-7B87-4BBD-9CF4-81D74642B5B2The Role of Macrophages in Staphylococcus aureus Infection.Frontiers in immunologye5e5a2af2acfd4bf9bff68ccf2d49f88Pidwill GR2020-01-011664-32246014f227b3f057.90992844624D8F92-0741-4586-9C35-9BEA66D83196Human skin commensals augment Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesisNature Microbiologya489d56a05ef53914f775cf3ad41cfc6Boldock E2018-01-012058-52765b9bc2dfed7633.78541406F40CC3EB-3733-4BE3-BCC1-9D9CC1B493D3Neutrophils use selective autophagy receptor Sqstm1/p62 to target Staphylococcus aureus for degradation in vivo in zebrafish.Autophagye8b8b70d41204ef67f5afc08219a57f4Gibson JF2021-01-011554-86275f8a0df426a5f2.03078697B5CBB3B2-0EC3-4C45-B2DC-20638D533106Neutrophils use selective autophagy receptor p62/SQSTM1 to target Staphylococcus aureus for degradation in vivo in zebrafish6d0058b9873c2884fe0fb044f03c6b70Gibson J2019-01-0165bb8296101831.5660160523E611C8-6016-4014-B437-76107E22141CClonal population expansion of Staphylococcus aureus occurs due to escape from a finite number of intraphagocyte niches.Scientific reportse5e5a2af2acfd4bf9bff68ccf2d49f88Pidwill GR2023-01-012045-232263ec2738764249.30577067F2B681E3-AD6D-4B07-973E-4EA44F23A596Commensal bacteria augment Staphylococcus aureus infection by inactivation of phagocyte-derived reactive oxygen species.PLoS pathogense8b8b70d41204ef67f5afc08219a57f4Gibson JF2021-01-011553-736661f97c61515d71.4303464355577553-DBA0-43B6-B057-898AEEAF6F352601. Identification of Staphylococcus aureus Genetic Factors Associatiated with the Subversion of Macrophage Phagosomal AcidificationOpen Forum Infectious Diseases9819be6ab36d0e3a67623b97cea4fd62Morris P2019-01-0167ab6c79159f02.250346754FF41528-6FC7-41BD-AF8A-0552AC99D3BETetracycline and Oxacillin Act Synergistically on Biofilms and Display Increased Efficacy In Vivo Against Staphylococcus aureus.Current microbiology7a94b2ff9076a8fa3e596e8da25091dbTooke AK2024-01-010343-865167400206739663.40553289FD88AF45-102E-4156-84F8-5E8A9FD02D9FResident risks.Nature microbiology5e2d45794933216b91d672e9e397b613Spoto M2018-01-012058-5276675243265a45a3.476691189D12B4A4-0BCD-45DE-9D23-8E93B595CA2FDemonstration of the role of cell wall homeostasis in Staphylococcus aureus growth and the action of bactericidal antibiotics.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America9289d41c2d59bb76d0611b6cfef2d9d0Salamaga B2021-01-010027-842461fc6f31da42b2.99125838MR/R001111/16CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified02D113B2-C9DC-486E-953C-016B03A07CB9Evaluation and Demonstration of Gravity GradiometersClosedEP/R020353/1Research GrantQinetiQ Ltd, Imperial College and the University of Oxford will jointly investigate the use of novel gravity gradiometers to detect buried objects such as pipes, tunnels and sinkholes. We will model the gravitational field of a range of buried targets, and investigate methods to mitigate noise and clutter. We will determine what type of objects are detectable, at what range, and develop some outline Concepts of Operation. We will investigate the applicability of a range of sensors, both high performance "cold atom fountains" and lower-cost MEMS-based devices, configured as gravity gradiometers, and compare them to the performance of commercially available sensors. We will build a single-axis gravity gradiometer based on two existing gravimeters, and use this to validate our models with through short field trials to demonstrate the detection of a buried object.Economic benefits:
Four million holes are dug in British roads every year, 300,000 of them in London alone. 36% of London traffic delays caused by roadworks, with a total cost to London business is not far short of £1 billion. This is likely to be replicated in cities across the country. According to some estimates, half the holes dug by the water industry are in the wrong place. The ability to sense a buried pipe before starting to dig would greatly reduce unnecessary disruption.
A major benefit of this research will be to inform the National Quantum Programme of expected targets and detection ranges using gravity gradiometers based on the published performance of a range of gravity sensors, including ones being developed by the National Quantum Programme. This information is likely to help guide the parties involved in the development of their devices.
Social impacts:
The UK does not have a sovereign capability in full-tensor gravity gradiometry. The classical-technology Lockheed Martin FTG instrument is ITAR-controlled, and can only be used for a very strictly controlled set of applications. This work would pave the way towards a sovereign capability which could be used for both commercial and military applications without ITAR restrictions.
Environmental impacts:
Stand-off detection of buried objects will have a positive environmental impact, as it will allow remote sensing as opposed to physical investigation and inspection.
Earth and planetary science: though deployment of gradiometers in Earth orbit is being pursued separately with Thales-Alenia UK, some of the technical challenges will require similar approaches. We would therefore anticipate cross benefits from this project to Earth and planetary gravity measurements using compact gradiometers. Such measurements aim to quantify on Earth the effects of climate change through ice-sheet loss and aquifer degradation.
Regional impacts:
Remote detection of dense smuggled material at borders/ports would potentially not only increase security but also reduce delays, supporting the freer movement of goods.2019-02-28798CB33D-C79E-4578-83F2-72606407192CEPSRC2017-11-01INCOME_ACTUAL40242QinetiqUnited KingdomDevelopment of Terrestrial GradiometerED20F4FF-CCF5-43A0-AA8F-4E6017B33F7EProposals still in preparation58c52f6fe00229.64575348-2Development of MEMs device (Imperial)
Development of Gradiometer System (Qintetiq)Development of gradiometer based upon Imperial MEMs device
Development of support electronicsPrivate2017-01-01Imperial College LondonUnited KingdomDepartment of ComputingDevelopment of Terrestrial Gradiometer8F014DFB-5440-4C14-93A6-8AFCD36BEBA9Proposals still in preparation58c52f6fe00229.64575348-1Development of MEMs device (Imperial)
Development of Gradiometer System (Qintetiq)Development of gradiometer based upon Imperial MEMs device
Development of support electronicsAcademic/University2017-01-0127537628United KingdomGBPUnited Kingdomen_GBUK National Quantum Technology Hub in Sensing and Timing2024-11-02Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)EP/T001046/16FA6A765-865B-4F05-82BB-C5E19EA331B865eefed3d4a838.70323518Public2019-12-01F40B5353-226D-420C-ADC8-B1563235CC9FStanding on Apollo's Shoulders: A Microseismometer for the MoonThe Planetary Science Journal0e5a2727438c34889f549446115c5ae3Nunn C2021-01-016409c4a647cec8.00525017EP/R020353/16CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified02F3633C-D09A-40F6-A13C-008DE4798432PATT Linked Grant for observational astrophysics at QUB: 2016 - 2018ClosedST/P001041/1Research GrantOur proposal seeks to renew the PATT Linked Grant at Queen's University Belfast. This award will cover our travel and subsistence costs to both STFC and non-STFC observing facilities. The major topics of observational astrophysics research to be covered by the PATT Linked Grant include:
- investigations of supernovae and the end stages of stellar evolution;
- high temporal, spatial and spectral resolution observations of the solar atmosphere and those of other cool stars;
- studies of solar system bodies, including comets and asteroids;
- astrochemistry, including that of interstellar and circumstellar clouds;
- detection and characterisation of exoplanets.2018-09-29522546B4-4798-4E89-9B88-39938E261897STFC2016-09-30INCOME_ACTUAL47572ST/P001041/17CF2A56C-7A5D-4BF9-A57C-4B95903A836340Astronomy - observationF30322EE-FC8D-4040-BD0E-75A7AB75414E45Planetary scienceFEA1C96C-8692-4C1A-91A4-515CE66B437E15Solar & terrestrial physicsF414E2BD-8FD0-4FA8-8583-A35DA204B04730Extra Solar Planets27700A7F-8AB6-49A6-A1CB-1FCF7CFDD4BE10Galactic & Interstellar Astron244B5D88-3080-4492-BF67-FE7A88CB600715Solar BodiesEB8AD421-C36C-4F6B-939E-FA3750345E6D15Solar StudiesEDE79CED-440A-4CF9-94CD-D1CA1DD49BF830Stellar Astronomy031FB79F-1911-4B17-B82C-014F3A875912Does temperature drive enhanced carbon cycling in Holocene lake sediments?Active2922995StudentshipThis project will use annually laminated (varved) lake sediments to reconstruct Holocene sub-decadal summer temperature and carbon cycling. These records can evaluate: (a) different driver-response mechanisms at different timescales; (b) new temperature (including seasonal bias) and carbon cycling proxies; (c) whether past warmer periods enhanced carbon cycling in lakes.2028-03-308A03ED41-E67D-4F4A-B5DD-AAFB272B6471NERC2024-09-30INCOME_ACTUAL029229956CFA1E1F-F25C-4C23-8FE1-C47AE53E333EUnclassified