Pest insect species cause millions of pounds worth of damage every year, especially in developing parts of the world. These species are often tackled by indiscriminate use of pesticides, much of which is inefficient, with the pesticide washed away before it can be used. Not only is this wasteful, but it leads to pollution and environmental harm. The ability to target pesticides more efficiently would decrease their overall use and increase their efficiency, both of which would have environmental and economical benefits. Similarly, the potential of increasing the lifetime of insect repellents will increase their efficiency and benefit disease control. We can address this issue with a study of functionalised porous material for the delivery of biocompatible molecules. The porous material in questions are metal-organic frameworks. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of porous material, and they are currently attracting considerable attention for applications in gas storage, separations and catalysis. MOFs are constructed from the linking together of metal aggregates into two- and three-dimensional extended structures using bridging organic ligands. Our focus is to take advantage of the properties of MOFs to the storage and controlled release of biologically important molecules. The target biomolecules are insect attractants (and broadly speaking semiochemcials), pesticides and repellents. This project has three areas of focus. Firstly experimentally obtain data on uptake and release of target biomolecules, including synthesis of materials, development of new better performing materials. Secondly model the behaviour of the biomolecules within the porous materials with computational methods, based on experimentally obtained results. Finally, to develop a material scoping technique to quickly access a materials performance, this is a novel application of flow NMR. With the overall aim of providing a novel solution to pest control.

1. Context: Decarbonisation of transportation is a goal to which many companies and countries are moving towards. One method this can be achieved is by the implementation of new fuel sources. One such example is using fuel cells and hydrogen-based fuels to generate electricity. Current fuel cells have issues surrounding efficiency, this can be solved by increasing the surface area of the electrodes by applying nano-structured metals for reactions to occur on. 2. Aim: To develop nanostructured metals which can be grown on electrodes using electrochemical techniques to increase the surface areas. To implement these electrodes into a fuel cell system and study its performance. To test the reactions expected within a fuel cell with these adapted electrodes. 3. Objectives: - To use previously formulated and develop nano-structured metals for application onto electrodes. - To test and apply the nano-structured metals on electrodes with reactions known to take place within fuel cells. - To implement these nano-structured metals onto fuel cell electrodes and test the materials within a working fuel cell system. 4. Potential applications of research: To improve the efficiencies in fuel cells which may lead to their implementation in sustainable vehicles and decarbonisation of the transport systems. 5. Benefit of research: This research will benefit sustainability goals by improving clean energy which corresponds to goal number 7 for the UN sustainable development goals. 6. This research is therefore relevant to the goals of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). 7. The second supervisor, Tom Fletcher, has expertise in fuel cells which will be needed when assembling the electrodes in a fuel cell system and running reactions common in fuel cells.

The liver is an organ with vital functions and dysfunctions of the liver are potentially fatal. Although, the liver is known to be highly regenerative organ, it is still difficult to induce regeneration in dysfunctional liver to treat diseases. To overcome liver disease, it is essential to gain insights into genetic and cellular mechanism underlying liver disease and regeneration. To this end, it is prerequisite to develop animal models for human liver disease and regeneration. Medaka is a new animal model with two unique features. Firstly, we can find liver disease models by randomly destroying their genes. We have found 29 candidates for liver disease using Medaka fish. Secondly, since the body of Medaka embryos are transparent, we can observe cell behavior in the liver in living Medaka fish. Taking advantage of this, we have developed a special technique to discover what kind cell behavior underlies liver diseases and regeneration. We will combine these disease models and the special technique to discover what kind of cellular and genetic mechanisms underlie liver disease and regeneration. Our findings will be useful for generating therapeutic means to cure human liver disease.

Doctoral Training Partnerships: a range of postgraduate training is funded by the Research Councils. For information on current funding routes, see the common terminology at https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/how-we-fund-studentships/. Training grants may be to one organisation or to a consortia of research organisations. This portal will show the lead organisation only.

The motivation for this project is the current lack of consensus about the mechanisms behind the apparent development of ever more complex biological entities over time. Complexity is not a well-defined quantity in the context of animals: there is no single number that can compare the complexity of a wren to an octopus. There are however proxies for complexity which can be measured and compared between species. An example is repeating structures such as vertebral columns or segmented body parts as in a millipede. Measuring quantities such as the differences between repeating units, the number of units and calculating indices derived from these numbers allows comparison of different species and potentially the tracking of the quantities along lineages. This is an excellent starting point for studying the mechanism driving this evolution. The aim of this project is to use mathematical models involving stochastic processes to understand how systems evolve if they have features such as constraints (such as a minimum or maximum length of a limb), driving forces (such as environmental changes or mechanisms causing global directional change in certain features) and passive exploration of the space of all possible changes. The resulting understanding of these systems can be used to identify the processes causing changes to occur to species and by creating models which can be compared to data, it may be possible to determine how much of an effect each of the mechanisms driving change has. The mathematical models can be based on simulations of stochastic processes with the features described above, as well as analytic solutions to the equations describing systems with these features if they can be found. Using indices of complexity based on data such as the vast data available on the vertebral columns of mammals will allow for comparison of the results of such models. Producing models which effectively describe the evolution of measures along lineages will hopefully allow for more informed conclusions to be made about exactly how we have moved between single cells and the ecological diversity we enjoy today. A good enough model may also allow for the prediction of future adaptions which will be made in light of the changes facing the natural world today and could inform us about the relative risks to different species based on changes occurring in their habitat. For example, understanding the way that environmental factors constrain development in populations could provide a way to use boundary conditions to investigate the impact of a time dependent change in environment on different species. To do this, a greater investigation of the relationship between complexity and adaptability would need to be carried out. Understanding how different types of environmental change can be described by boundary conditions would also provide a theory to predict the way different environmental changes could affect populations. Thus, we may be able to envisage which types of species are most at risk of population decline, as well which environmental changes are likely to cause the most problems for species.