A Consolidated Grant Proposal for Astrophysics and Solar System Research at the University of Leicester, 2013-2016

We will carry out world-class research programmes in astrophysics, solar system science and space science through the exploitation of data from space missions and ground based telescopes, as well as the development of new theories and the numerical simulation of processes in these areas, together with the development of new instrumental techniques and detectors for future missions and telescopes. The research programme is based around 4 research groups, who conduct their own research projects but also have a strong ethos of collaboration on topics of mutual interest.
Our research seeks to understand basic processes that occur in our solar system, our local galaxy and in other galaxies and answer questions which are of great interest in the wider community. For example in our solar system research we wish to understand the space environments around the planets, as these vary strongly between the planets depending on their magnetisation, the nature of the atmosphere, the presence of moons, and the planetary rotation rate. We will also seek to understand how the atmospheres of the planets are influenced by external processes, particularly the expanding solar atmosphere as it moves away from the sun, also known as the solar wind. Through our work on cometary dust grains we will gain knowledge about how our solar system has formed, and through analyses of martian meteorites gain knowledge about habitability on Mars.
Our Astrophysics research is no less exciting. Here we will search for new planets orbiting nearby stars which may mimic the planets that are present in our own solar system or indeed be very different, such as hot Neptunes, or Super Earths. This study will include the investigation of these new planetary atmospheres. We will also investigate some of the processes that occur in the most extreme of environments in our Universe by undertaking high energy astrophysics research focusing on extreme phenomena ranging from Galactic black hole binaries, through to active galactic nuclei (AGN) onto gamma-ray bursts. These studies will include the feedback processes that link AGN and their host galaxy evolution. Further we will maintain and enhance a programme in stellar astronomy with emphasis on the astrophysics of dwarf stars.
We will also simulate using high performance computers these systems which in turn will provide information which can help our observations and vice versa. Through these simulations we will create theories and models of how these extreme systems behave and determine whether the Physics of these systems is different from that we understand in our own solar system. We will also use these simulations to search for the processes which create "dark matter", an unusually exotic type of matter.
Finally we will also conduct laboratory experiments where we will develop new ways in which we can observe these systems from afar by developing new instruments for the next generation of space missions. This work is essential to ensure that we can develop our understanding further. It is also the case that from these experiments come other "spin-off" activities which can lead to benefits elsewhere other than Astrophysics and Space Science.
The Department also has a thriving and active programme of engagement with the wider community, particularly school age children who are thrilled by the research that is undertaken in the Department. Finally we also propose to maintain a very strong commitment to knowledge transfer Academic beneficiaries.

The STFC-domain research groups in the Department of Physics and Astronomy cover a very diverse set of research themes and methods, which translate into a variety of committed approaches to the Impact Agenda. All four groups involved in this Consolidated Grant proposal contribute to the training of a highly-skilled workforce at PhD level. All four actively communicate the results of their research to the wider community through public talks, presentations and displays at large scale events, such as Science festivals and television events, and press releases.

Industrial collaboration is deeply embedded in the Departmental culture; the longest continuous industrial link within the present Consolidated Grant proposal (with Photonis, the microchannel plate optic manufacturer, based in Brive, France) dates back to 1969. Research crossing the Physical Sciences/Life Sciences interface has had a Departmental focus since the establishment, fifteen years ago, of the Bioimaging Unit, housed since 2003 in dedicated laboratory facilities in the Space Research Centre's Michael Atiyah Building.

While the Radio and Space Plasma Physics (working with oil exploration companies) and the Theoretical Astrophysics group (working with a computer gaming company) have supported successful knowledge exchange (KE) projects, its strong portfolio of involvements in major space missions and the underpinning laboratory investigations of sensors and optics have made the Space Science and Instrumentation (SSI) group the principal focus for KE within the University of Leicester. Leicester hosts one of the first three STFC Innovation Fellows (Maskell), who helps support a broad range of activities, including;

(i) three spin-out companies - Bioastral, Gamma Technologies and Spectral-ID -which are transferring detector technologies from space- or ground-based astronomy to, respectively, the energy-resolved detection of biological fluorescence, cancer surgery and the detection of counterfeits.

(ii) research grants from both from STFC Innovation funding streams and from non-STFC funders (regional entities, industry, EU FP7, ESA, BBSRC, MRC and AHRC and TSB) which originate from, and return support to, a core programme in space instrumentation

(iii) the business-facing unit "Space IDEAS Hub", funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), whose main goal is to bring the expertise of the Space Research Centre to the assistance of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the English East Midlands region.

(iv) formal bilateral links with both regional (the Leicester-based specialist engineering SME Magna Parva Ltd) and national (EADS Astrium) companies in the space arena. Magna Parva, partnering with Leicester on space projects, has more than doubled in size in the past five years.

Based on this strong track record in Knowledge Exchange, and a substantial infrastructure for the exploitation of its basic research, the Department is fully engaged with the UK national agenda through its membership, since December 2011, of the Harwell International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC). We are part of the academic community participating in the formative discussions regarding the future shape of the industry-led TSB Space Applications "Catapult", announced by the Minister for Science and Innovation in early January 2012. Further afield, the Department provides the Co-Chair (Ambrosi) for the Technology Working Group of the EU-wide NEREUS organisation of Regions with interests in space data and technologies. We propose to continue this development over the period of our Consolidated Grant. Our track record indicates that we will successfully develop further our links with Industry to ensure continued exchange of knowledge.