The predictions of quantum mechanics, the theory that governs all matter at a microscopic level, are often fascinating and sometimes mystifying. At the heart of this theory are two fundamental concepts. The first, wave-particle duality, implies that particles, such as electrons in an atom, can behave like waves and that light waves can behave like particles. The second, entanglement, is the concept that once two (or more) particles have interacted, they cannot be treated as independent entities no matter how far apart they are. These inherently quantum properties can lead to phenomena that defy our classical intuition. Superconductivity, the flow of charge through a material without resistance, is an excellent example. Currently, there is world-wide interest in harnessing the unique properties of quantum mechanics to develop a new-wave of technological devices that have the potential to surpass even the best classical counterparts, just as a superconductor outperforms copper. We can expect such quantum technologies to deliver more powerful methods of computation, completely secure communication, enhanced metrology and sensors with unparalleled sensitivity. Many different physical platforms are being developed for quantum technologies, including trapped ions, ultracold atoms, superconducting devices and photons. Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, with no single system providing the ideal architecture. A solution to this problem is to construct a hybrid platform combining two (or more) unique quantum systems in such a way as to profit from their individual advantages whilst simultaneously mitigating their disadvantages. In this context, we propose to combine ultracold polar molecules and highly-excited Rydberg atoms in a flexible platform using optical tweezer arrays. This innovative approach aims to leverage the richness associated with the long-lived rotational states of molecules by interfacing them with strongly interacting Rydberg atoms to realise a hybrid quantum system ideally suited to investigate problems in quantum science and technology. Our platform promises new capabilities and a wealth of future research directions including (a) The non-destructive detection and readout of the internal rotational state of a polar molecule for applications in quantum simulation. (b) The creation of a new class of ultracold molecules, Giant Polyatomic Rydberg Molecules, providing a testbed for studying fundamental electron molecule scattering in the quantum regime. (c) The implementation of fast molecule-molecule quantum gates mediated by a Rydberg atom for applications in quantum information processing. (d) The realisation of effective spin-spin interactions between molecules in an optical lattice mediated by Rydberg atoms for studies of quantum magnetism. Our vision is underpinned by the existence of strong long-range charge-dipole interactions between a diatomic polar molecule and a Rydberg atom. The goal of this two-year research project is to measure and learn to control these interactions using single atoms and molecules confined in tightly confining optical traps, known as optical tweezers. This will provide a springboard to the longer-term objectives of our research vision.

Prostate Cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer in men in the UK. It is also the second cause of cancer death after lung cancer. It represents around 13% of all cases of cancer and accounts for 7% of all UK cancer deaths. The incidence of PCa increases with age, affecting mainly men over 50 years of age. Prostate carcinoma is often suspected when the serum Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) is elevated or an abnormal digital rectal examination is noted. However, PSA screening leads to a substantial number of unnecessary biopsies in patients with no or indolent cancer, who do not need immediate treatment. Despite the low specificity of PSA testing and the uncertainty after negative systematic biopsies, these techniques remain the standard for PCa diagnosis. Current research is investigating whether modern imaging techniques can identify the site of the tumour. There are two main streams that are showing promising preliminary results: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Elastography techniques. MRI is showing promising results, particularly when using a multi-parametric approach (mpMRI), but its high cost and limited availability hold back its wider use, particularly in resource-poor parts of the world. Prostate Elastography is an emerging imaging modality, which consists of the evaluation of prostate stiffness. Analogous to the cellular processes of wound repair, it is generally believed that normal tissue stroma responds in an effort to repair damage due to carcinoma cell invasion. It has been concluded that the stromal reaction is also characterized by elevated collagen deposition. Since increasing collagen deposition leads to an increase in the tumour rigidity, this suggests that quantitative stiffness estimations may prove to be an effective biomarker for assessing PCa grade and identification of more aggressive cancers. With regards to treatment options, radical surgery and whole-gland therapies remain controversial for treatment of localised prostate cancer due to the possibility of genitourinary and rectal side-effects as a consequence of damaging contiguous tissues. Focal therapies, such as High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), Vascular Targeted Photodynamic Therapy, Radiofrequency Ablation and Cryotherapy are emerging as suitable methods for treating localised unifocal and multifocal cancer lesions in the prostate while reducing side-effects. However, their successful application would be benefited greatly by an intraoperative monitoring system. Despite the promising future, the final target is still usually the whole or half volume of the gland, mainly due to the uncertainty of the exact location and contour of the tumour and the treated area. In such focal ablation therapies, tissue stiffness undergoes a dramatic increase due to coagulative necrosis. This encourages further investigation of elastography as a method for monitoring thermal ablation in the prostate. The aim of this study is to develop a system and prove the feasibility of using a Transurethral-Shear Wave Elastography (TU-SWE) approach for diagnosis and ablation monitoring of PCa. The applicants have demonstrated the proof-of-concept for the method using a scaled version of a novel disposable probe and the image reconstruction software. The next stage of the work will see the production of a TU-SWE medical prototype probe with its electronic control system following the same fabrication processes established for the proof-of-concept laboratory prototype. Improvement of the software for image reconstruction will include extending the model of wave propagation to a realistic 3D geometry and using machine learning to enhance the image resolution with data from a parallel clinical study. This diagnostic and treatment monitoring tool will thus lead to earlier detection of prostate cancers and more efficacious and therefore cost-effective cancer treatments, saving the NHS time, resources and money.

"Contesting Migration" tackles a crucial social and humanitarian contemporary challenge, that of forced displacement, affecting 80 million people. The crossing of international borders by refugees who flee has, in the last decade, become more intense, more difficult, more organised, and more deadly and has spurred wholesale policy changes globally and in Europe in the forms of the Global Compact on Refugees and the European Migration Pact. These grand policy shifts have largely been elicited by emergencies in specific refugee reception sites. In the Mediterranean, Lesvos, Ceuta and Lampedusa have attracted much attention during this time. These sites distil but also magnify the broader socio-political dynamics that refugee flows set in motion, primarily between pro- and anti-refugee actors. The project studies the governance of migration through the lens of refugee reception sites with a focus on political contestation. We focus on the following four questions: RQ1: What pro- and anti-migrant campaigns are mobilized at reception sites, how do they unfold and how do they influence each other? We have selected three well known locations, which have received significant media and research attention, and three lesser-researched reception sites, in each of three Mediterranean countries: respectively, Ceuta and Melilla in Spain, Lampedusa and Trieste in Italy, and Lesvos and Evros in Greece. RQ2: In what ways are these contestations amplified in public debate and local governance across the different sites? RQ3: How do mobilization dynamics relate to wider migration politics? RQ4: What does the cross-disciplinary combination of ethnographic depth and comparative rigor offer to the analysis of pro- and anti-migrant actors? Three forms of action are of particular concern to the project (WP2): (i) conventional, comprising initiatives like activist litigation and electoral mobilization; (ii) contentious, comprising a spectrum of activities from search and rescue operations, counter-forensics, beach patrols, and protests; (iii) cultural-artistic, comprising exhibitions, performances, staged events, and use of heritage materials. We examine these three forms in both their distinctiveness and interrelation, taking into account cross-cutting issues like gender. Our focus is on the political processes that unfold across themes and categories to amplify the effect of actions and determine the success of mobilization. The case studies are compared (WP3) in terms of: (a) institutional environment (e.g. European migration apparatuses, policing practices, location on migration routes); (b) profile of pro- and anti-migrant actors present (e.g. link to state and other institutional actors and place in local society); (c) social context (e.g. historical and political relevance of migration, the role of borders in daily life, and existing forms of diversity). Towards these comparisons, we employ participant and non-participant observations, a range of semi-structured interviews, and onsite collection and analysis of documents relating to policy, law, media and art. We also adopt a collaborative approach on field engagement through partnerships with institutions, and on the production of public outputs. We work with universities and experts at the sites through field research activities and exchange field visits. We also collaborate in designing and organising engagement activities, selecting actors and stakeholders who can offer input and reflection regarding the project's policy and public outputs. "Contesting Migration" will produce a policy report and a film, alongside academic outputs. These will be prepared following group discussions with actors in the field and virtually. The rigorous comparative methodology we adopt allows us to piece together the multiple micro-stories that illuminate the often abstract view of migration dynamics and the complex political processes they entail in a meaningfully impactful way.

Despite tremendous technological and financial effort in Japan to deal with the effects of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident many challenges remain. The Government of Japan's Committee on Countermeasures for Contaminated Water Treatment considered existing and proposed measures and technologies "to remove" contaminated water, "to keep out" the inflow of water into the sources of contamination and to "prevent leakage" of contaminated water into the environment. They concluded in a December 2013 report that it was difficult to take effective measures using only existing general knowledge and the committee asked for technical information to be further gathered from both domestic and overseas experts in the following six topics: (1) Storage of contaminated water, (2) Treatment of contaminated water, (3) Removal of radioactive materials from the seawater in the harbour, (4) Control of contaminated water within buildings, (5) Site management to restrict groundwater flowing into the site, and (6) Understanding groundwater flow including the behaviour of radionuclides. In this work efforts will be made to tackle aspects of topics 3, 4 and 5. The most problematic radionuclides at the FDNPP are Sr-90, Cs-134 & Cs-137 because they form highly soluble salts and have environmental behaviour similar to the common (excess) groundwater ions Ca2+ and K+, respectively, hence they are mobile, bioavailable and of immediate concern. Initial work at the FDNPP focused on removal of Cs at the plant and in storage vessels, this project aims to also cover the clean-up of Sr-90 and Co-60. This joint UK/Japan (University of Birmingham, Japanese Atomic Energy Agency, Kyushu University, College of Engineering at Shibaura Institute of Technology) proposal will build on the work of an established internationally leading collaboration for the development, characterisation and testing of three novel systems for immobilisation of radionuclides. The novelty of the first set of materials is that they are designed to be removable by magnetic separation rather than traditional gravity fed fixed bed column system where effluent needs to be pumped into the system. This gives engineering flexibility and scope for use in the field; for example they could be positioned deposited in contaminated water and then magnetically collected along with attached radionuclides. The novelty of the second set of materials are that they are being designed to be made by halophilic organisms, i.e. those that live in high salt concentration environments such as seawater, and could therefore be produced and used in decontamination of harbour seawater or saline groundwater near the FDNPP. The novelty and importance of the final set of materials is a design so that they can be poured or injected into the ground to form porous barriers that will trap the targeted radionuclides and prevent their further migration. All three sets of materials will be characterised using advanced instrumentation so that the mechanism of radionuclide entrapment and the stability of incorporation is fully understood. These materials will not only assist in the clean-up at the FDNPP but will also be available for the abatement of any future accidents and may have a role to play in UK decommissioning activities and legacy waste clean-up. Within this project the goal is to evaluate the scope of the three sets of materials to provide key data and a platform to underpin further development and process implementation in conjunction with Japanese Chemical and Civil Engineers.

Volcanic eruptions are an ever-present threat to society with typically between five and forty volcanoes in active eruption around the world on any given day (Smithsonian Institution). Whilst volcanic eruptions are not rare phenomena, there are still limitations with respect to forecasting future eruptive activity and understanding how magma evolves both before, during and at the conclusion of eruptive episodes. Typically syn-eruptive processes are studied using geophysical observations of earthquakes and ground deformation, which only yields information on the shallower portions of the magmatic plumbing systems. Then, following eruption cessation, petrologists can study the erupted rocks and crystal cargo to understand the deeper processes that affected the initiation, longevity and conclusion of volcanic activity. However, the advances in rapid sample processing techniques and petrological data collection, coupled with the ongoing eruption of Cumbre Vieja on La Palma presents a time-sensitive opportunity to synthesise these classically syn-eruptive (observational) and post-eruptive (petrological) approaches. Thus we propose to combine rapid near-real-time petrological data on the magmatic plumbing system of La Palma with the monitoring work already being undertaken by INVOLCAN (the local volcano monitoring agency). In this project we will undertake systematic sampling of the eruptive materials from Cumbre Vieja, undertake rapid analysis of the bulk rock samples and crystal cargo, and interpret any changes in magma compositions and timescales. These data will be compared with real-time monitoring data collected by INVOLCAN, and help to forecast how the eruption may evolve over time. A key output of this (aside from the detailed knowledge of the Cumbre Vieja magmatic system) is the development and refinement of a series of protocols for rapid collection of petrological data, and integration with pre-existing monitoring data. This will allow effective integration of petrological data with classic monitoring techniques, to develop future eruption forecasting tools.