Symptomless pathogen spread in host tissues is a crucial stage in the development of diseases, including most plant diseases. Better understanding of this symptomless spread is essential to devise effective measures for control of such diseases, whether it be through host resistance or application of fungicide sprays. Phoma stem canker is the most important disease of oilseed rape in the world, including the UK. Whilst the pathogen initially infects the leaves, it then grows symptomlessly down their petioles (stalks) to reach plant stems, where the damaging phase of epidemics occurs. Recent evidence suggests that field (quantitative) resistance to the pathogen operates during the symptomless phase of the disease and that treatment of crops with fungicides when infections are symptomless is crucial to effective disease control. The recent development at Rothamsted of pathogen strains expressing the jellyfish green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods to quantify the biomass of the pathogen in symptomless tissues provides a unique opportunity to investigate the symptomless phase of this disease. Furthermore, these methods can be used on host material recently produced by INRA (Rennes, France) that provides greater genetic resolution of the chromosomal regions containing genes contributing to quantitative resistance. This work, supported as an IPA application by DuPont, who have interests in both crop breeding and fungicides, will aim to answer two questions. 1. Is oilseed rape resistance restricting symptomless growth of the phoma stem canker pathogen down the leaf stalk and into the plant stem the key component of field resistance to the disease? 2. Are current fungicides effective against the pathogen (Leptosphaeria maculans) only if applied before the pathogen causes stem symptoms? This will involve four tasks. Task 1 will address question 1 by comparing results obtained in controlled environment (CE) experiments (GFP, qPCR) on resistance to symptomless spread of the pathogen in leaf stalks with data from field experiments (qPCR, stem canker severity assessed by sampling stems before harvest). Task 2 will address question 1 by comparing results obtained in controlled environment (CE) experiments (GFP, qPCR) on resistance to symptomless spread of the pathogen in plant stems with data from field experiments. Thus it should be possible to determine whether the main component of quantitative resistance occurs during growth down the leaf stalk or during colonisation of stem tissues. Task 3 will investigate the genetic control of resistance to symptomless growth of the pathogen in leaf stalks and plant stems, exploiting results of field and controlled environment experiments in relation to existing and new genetic mapping information. Task 4 will address question 2 by examining interactions between fungicide and genetic resistance effects on symptomless pathogen growth in leaf stalks and plant stems. It will involve CE experiments (GFP) with resistant and susceptible lines. Fungicide applications will be made at different times in relation to inoculation (determined by results of task 2) and the effects on symptomless growth in a number of genetically different host lines observed. CE experiments will be complemented by field experiments with a range of fungicide timings. Results of these experiments will be used to identify and characterise the quantitative resistance to L.maculans, so that it can be easily exploited in resistance breeding programmes. They will also enable timing of fungicide applications to be optimised.

Metal thin films are used in a wide variety of technologies, such as solar cells and printed circuit boards for electronics. Inkjet printing has emerged as a practical and low-cost route for manufacturing electrical contacts in these applications. However existing manufacturing technologies use inks that often require a final heat treatment to consolidate or 'sinter' the film. If this last step can be eliminated, by depositing fully dense films, then the inkjet manufacturing process could be applied to temperature sensitive substrates like plastics or vulnerable semiconductor materials. The purpose of this project is to develop 'sinter-free' inkjet manufacturing processes, by taking ink precursors developed for other thin film processes, and exploiting them to use the significant benefits of inkjet process technology e.g. the direct writing of interconnects or wires. If successful, the project will represent a step-change in the manufacturing methods for this type of film.

Graphene has many record properties. It is transparent like (or better than) plastic, but conducts heat and electricity better than any metal, it is an elastic thin film, behaves as an impermeable membrane, and it is chemically inert and stable. Thus it is ideal for the production of next generation transparent conductors. Thin and flexible graphene-based electronic components may be obtained and modularly integrated, and thin portable devices may be assembled and distributed. Graphene can withstand dramatic mechanical deformation, for instance it can be folded without breaking. Foldable devices can be imagined, together with a wealth of new form factors, with innovative concepts of integration and distribution. At present, the realisation of an electronic device (such as, e.g., a mobile phone) requires the assembly of a variety of components obtained by many technologies. Graphene, by including different properties within the same material, can offer the opportunity to build a comprehensive technological platform for the realisation of almost any device component, including transistors, batteries, optoelectronic components, photovoltaic cells, (photo)detectors, ultrafast lasers, bio- and physicochemical sensors, etc. Such a change in the paradigm of device manufacturing would revolutionise the global industry. UK will have the chance to re-acquire a prominent position within the global Information and Communication Technology industry, by exploiting the synergy of excellent researchers and manufacturers. Our vision is to take graphene from a state of raw potential to a point where it can revolutionise flexible, wearable and transparent (opto)electronics, with a manifold return for UK, in innovation and exploitation. Graphene has benefits both in terms of cost-advantage, and uniqueness of attributes and performance. It will enable cheap, energy autonomous and disposable devices and communication systems, integrated in transparent and flexible surfaces, with application to smart homes, industrial processes, environmental monitoring, personal healthcare and more. This will lead to ultimate device wearability, new user interfaces and novel interaction paradigms, with new opportunities in communication, gaming, media, social networking, sport and wellness. By enabling flexible (opto)electronics, graphene will allow the exploitation of the existing knowledge base and infrastructure of companies working on organic electronics (organic LEDs, conductive polymers, printable electronics), and a unique synergistic framework for collecting and underpinning many distributed technical competences. The strategic focus of the proposed Cambridge Graphene Centre will be in activities built around the central challenge of flexible and energy efficient (opto)electronics, for which graphene is a unique enabling platform. This will allow us to 1) grow and produce graphene by chemical vapour deposition and liquid phase exfoliation on large scale; 2) prepare and test inks, up to a controlled and closely monitored pilot line. The target is several litres per week of optimized solutions and inks, ready to be provided to present and future partners for testing in their plants; 3) design, test and produce a variety of flexible, antennas, detectors and RF devices based on graphene and related materials, covering all present and future wavelength ranges; 4) prototype and test flexible batteries and supercapacitors and package them for implementation in realistic devices. Our present and future industrial partners will be able to conduct pilot-phase research and device prototyping in this facility, before moving to larger scale testing in realistic industrial settings. Spin-off companies will be incubated, and start-ups will be able to contract their more fundamental work to this facility.

Technologies, and our economy in general, usually advance either by incremental steps (e.g. scaling the size and number of transistors on a chip) or by quantum leaps (transition from vacuum tubes to semiconductor technologies). Disruptive technologies behind such revolutions are usually characterised by universal, versatile applications, which change many aspects of our life simultaneously, penetrating every corner of our existence. To become disruptive, a new technology needs to offer not incremental, but dramatic, orders of magnitude improvements. Moreover, the more universal the technology, the better chances it has for broad base success. This can be summarized by the "Lemma of New Technology", proposed by Herbert Kroemer: "The principal applications of any sufficiently new and innovative technology always have been - and will continue to be - applications created by that technology". Graphene is the first of a new class of materials with huge potential for applications, including tens of other two-dimensional crystals, hetero-structures based on these crystals, and their hybrids with metallic and semiconducting quantum dots and other nanomaterials. A key step to advance the commercial viability of graphene is to harness the emerging capability in graphene technology - including novel applications and production technologies. Graphene has many record properties. It is transparent like (or better than) plastic, but conducts heat and electricity better than any metal, it is an elastic thin film, behaves as an impermeable membrane, and it is chemically inert and stable. Thus, it is ideal for the production of next generation transparent conductors. Thin and flexible graphene-based electronic components may be obtained and modularly integrated, and thin portable devices may be easily assembled and distributed. Graphene can withstand dramatic mechanical deformation, for instance it can be folded without breaking. Foldable devices can be imagined, together with a wealth of new form factors, with innovative concepts of integration and distribution. By enabling flexible (opto)electronics, graphene will allow the exploitation of the existing knowledge base and infrastructure of companies working on organic electronics (organic LEDs, conductive polymers, printable electronics), and a unique synergistic framework for collecting and underpinning many distributed technical competences. At present, the realisation of an electronic device (such as, e.g., a mobile phone) requires the assembly of a variety of components obtained by many technologies. Graphene, by including different properties within the same material, may offer the opportunity to build a comprehensive technological platform for the realisation of almost any device component, including transistors, batteries, optoelectronic components, photovoltaic cells, (photo)detectors, ultrafast lasers, bio- and physico-chemical sensors, etc. UK will have the chance to re-acquire a prominent position within the global industry, by exploiting the synergy of excellent researchers and manufacturers. Skilled people are the most important ingredient for the successful implementation of this vision. The proposed CDT will strengthen the essential cross-disciplinary collaborations, develop new research activities and increase impact. The large investments that public and private bodies in UK, EU and worldwide are devoting to graphene technologies call for trained and qualified people. The huge demand requires a specific programme to train PhD students in technology of graphene and related materials, with a strong focus on the cutting-edge engineering and industrial applications. Our CDT will be an important step to meet this demand, providing a set of transferable skills and wide know-how, not limited to the material, but spanning the state of the art in flexible and wearable electronics, photonics, energy storage, RF systems, etc.

To realise the transformational impact of digital technologies on aspects of community life, cultural experiences, future society, and the economy, the RCA proposes to host a DE Network+ focused on digital interventions that would create 'the conditions to make change' towards a sustainable post-industrial society - where the 'product' is the experience, where experiences promote human wellbeing and personal resilience, where the digital interventions are sustainable and promote societal resilience. To achieve a sustainable society, citizens require agency to control the impact they have on the natural environment. Therefore, an Ecological Citizens (EC) Network+ sustainable digital society would use digital technology to: Decouple the use of materials resources from economic development; add value to products through experiences and services; give citizens agency to take care of their environment (relating to waste reduction and reuse, energy generation); give citizens agency to design their own experiences involving products, which promote wellbeing, learning, self-advancement; enable experiences that empower citizens to do, to make, to repair, to learn, to create, to connect, to communicate, to interact, to understand, to share, to enjoy. This Network+ foresees the next move in technological interventions is in creating and implementing "the conditions to make change", i.e. the experiences and interactions, and digitally networked societal actors that enable sustainable transitions for societies and communities. To enact this vision, this proposal focuses on a model of 'distributed everything' - knowledge and know-how, design, materials flows, fabrication and hacking, energy generation - as the fundamental societal transformations that are needed to achieve sustainability require a re-examination of how knowledge is produced and used. Co-production of research is a key mechanism for improving the knowledge required for the fundamental societal transformations needed to achieve sustainability [1], and is central to the approach of the EC Network+. With leading partners, we will inform a truly sustainable 'digital society', built within communities, ensuring legacies through ambassadors, and setting agendas for future transdisciplinary research teams. The EC Network+ will provide a scaffolding to spawn new projects about sustainability at a range of scales (Village, Town, City). This collaborative trans-disciplinary approach is essential for tackling our unprecedented environmental challenges. The network will be built through activities including pump priming, collaborative residentials, learning webinars, strategic roundtables, media and communications, reports, podcasts, and a micro funding scheme. The academic consortium covers the core areas of computer science, sustainable engineering, human-centred design and citizen science. Led by the Royal College of Art (RCA), this proposal builds on Dr Phillips' My Naturewatch, a DIY wildlife camera project that engaged 3 million+ people with UK based wildlife, the circular economy work of the RCA's Materials Science Centre (Prof Baurley), the sustainable engineering and physical computing expertise of the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology at Wrexham Glyndwr University (Prof Shepley), and expertise in citizen science and policy of the Stockholm Environment Institute at The University of York (Dr West).