In a magneto-optical trap (MOT), a combination of precisely-tuned laser light and a magnetic field is used to cool atoms to temperatures below 1 milli-Kelvin and trap them for minutes at a time. For over 25 years the MOT has been at the heart of all applications that use ultracold atoms. These include state-of-the-art instruments such as atomic clocks, magnetometers, gravimeters and accelerometers, measurements of constants, and a wide range of studies into the properties and behaviour of matter in the quantum regime. The potential applications of ultracold molecules go even further. They can be used as sensitive field sensors, and for making extremely precise measurements that test our most fundamental models of physics. Because molecules interact more strongly than atoms they can be used to study how quantum matter behaves when every particle is interacting with every other. This is important for understanding and designing new materials and chemical processes. Ultracold molecules can also be used to study fundamental processes in chemistry at the quantum level, and to make components of a quantum processor. To realize these applications, we first need to learn how to make a MOT for molecules. This is more difficult than for atoms because the laser light tends to set molecules rotating and vibrating, heating them up instead of cooling them down. Our previous work has shown how to overcome these difficulties, and we are now ready to make the MOT, which is the main subject of this proposal. We will focus on calcium fluoride (CaF) molecules. These will be slowed to rest and then captured in the MOT where multiple laser frequencies will be used to cool and trap them. Our simulations show that the CaF will cool to about 1 milli-Kelvin. This is an excellent starting point for many applications, but still not cold enough for others. To reach even colder temperatures, the CaF will be mixed with Rb atoms which are easy to cool to micro-Kelvin temperatures. We will investigate the collisions between these two species in a magnetic field and in a microwave field. Under optimum conditions, the CaF will thermalize with the Rb, allowing us to reduce their temperature to about 1 micro-Kelvin.

Infidelity is common among many taxa with prevailing social monogamy, but we still do not know what shapes variation in and drives the evolution of, extra-pair behaviour. Males are expected to reap fitness benefits from siring extra-pair offspring because extra-pair fathers do not expend resources on costly parental care. This is, however, not the case for females who raise the resulting extra-pair young, posing the question of why females take part in extra-pair mating. A hypothesis that recently gained traction is that the social environment might play an important role, yet this is crucially understudied. I will aim to test whether the social context is linked to extra-pair behaviour, in House Sparrow at two closed study systems: a wild population on Lundy island, Devon, UK, and another captive population held in aviaries at Silwood park, Imperial College London. Social behaviour (in this case, social associations with member of a breeding pair, an extra-pair mate or a potential extra pair mate) will be identified through observed individually colour marked birds, and passive radio frequency identification (RFID) at feeding stations. From this data I will then construct social networks which, in their most basic form, connect nodes (individual birds) to one and other based on the binary state of associated, or not associated (i.e. through contact or presence in the same space at the same time). The identification of extra-pair fertilisation will be inferred from the genetic parentage of nestlings, where the breeding pair have been identified. This project will reap the benefits from long-term data in the wild, where precise fitness data and a genetic pedigree allow fitness costs and benefits to be measured, and quantitative genetic analyses. This project will seek to address the following questions; 1) Is there a specific socio-behavioural phenotype more closely associated with female EPP? (i.e. bold, shy, etc.) 2) Are the off-spring of successful EPF attempts more likely to engage in EPP? (i.e. through the inheritance of X behavioural phenotype from parents) 3) To what extent do social cues from others within a population (those where EPP Is high, or absent) affect the occurrence of EPP as a meta-trait? (influenced by others within the population) Given the long-standing conundrum of female extra-pair behaviour, this project has the potential forward this field significantly. Methodologically, using social network analysis to test hypotheses in evolutionary biology is not straightforward, because data points are relational and thus not independent. This studentship will explore recent suggestions of randomization for social network analysis in behavioural ecology and develop respective tools for quantitative genetic analyses.

The corrosion of metallic alloys is ubiquitous and managing the risk and cost of prevention, detection and mitigation is a serious issue in many industries. The electrochemistry of corrosion is well established and in some conditions it is possible to predict average corrosion rate and corrosion product formed. The molecular level details of the processes however remain obscure. The buried liquid-solid interface cannot be probed at the molecular level experimentally. We therefore do not know the transport mechanisms and reaction sites. We also do not know the fundamental reaction and charge transfer steps or their rates. As a result the current postulated reaction mechanisms, that underpin the rational design and choice of inhibition strategies for instance, are not validated beyond the reproduction of quantities like the average corrosion rate. In this project first principles thermodynamics, based on hybrid exchange density functional theory, will be used to determine the phase stability, morphology, surface phases and reaction sites of iron oxide. The adsoption and reaction at these sites or aqueous species will be studied in order to document reaction mechanisms that occur during corrosion.

During early development errors in cell division causes the daughter cells to have either fewer or extra numbers of chromosomes. This condition is called aneuploidy and is highly detrimental to embryogenesis. During development, aneuploid cells are normally removed from the embryo by the quality control mechanisms that ensure tissue fitness. When this is not possible aneuploidy causes miscarriage. However, in spite of aneuploidy being the leading cause of spontaneous pregnancy loss in humans, we still know surprisingly little about the consequences of chromosomal abnormalities during embryonic development. In this proposal we aim to identify what happens to aneuploid cells during early mammalian development. For this we will do three things: First, we will analyse which are the most important properties of aneuploid cells during early embryo development. To achieve this, we will use the mouse embryo as our model system as its early development recapitulates many features of human development. Using this system, we will artificially induce aneuploidy in cells and embryos and analyse what types of stress pathways are activated in these cells. Once the specific stress pathways that are induced by aneuploidy are identified, these will manipulated to test if activation reproduces the adverse effects of aneuploidy. We will also test if inhibiting these stresses prevents aneuploid cell elimination in the embryo. The second thing that we will do to study what happens to aneuploid cells during development is to analyse what signals are activated by aneuploidy induced stress and cause the death of aneuploid cells and embryos. Our previous work has identified the mTOR pathway, that is a key regulator of cell growth, as important for the elimination of abnormal cells during embryonic development. Here we will test the importance of the mTOR pathway for the elimination of aneuploid cells by asking how its repression prevents aneuploid cell propagation. The third thing that we will do to study aneuploidy during embryogenesis is to analyse exactly when aneuploid cells are eliminated during embryo development. For this we will study the levels of aneuploidy at different stages of mouse embryogenesis. Together we anticipate that our studies will provide a comprehensive overview of what the fate of aneuploidy is in the embryo and what are the adverse effects of aneuploidy.

Alcohol misuse, especially dependent alcohol use, costs UK society around #20bn/yr and the NHS #1.7bn/yr. In the UK it is estimated that there are 1.1 million people dependent on alcohol. Typically treatment consists of psychosocial approaches however medication is increasingly recognised to play an important role to support any changes or progress made. Increasing knowledge about how alcohol or addiction can affect the brain?s chemistry has led to new medications becoming available. One particular chemical system in the brain, dopamine has been known for a long time to be involved in mediating ?alcohol-liking? but is also involved in ?alcohol-seeking? in those that have become dependent on alcohol (i.e. alcoholic). Within the dopaminergic system, the dopamine D3 receptor (DRD3), has been recently shown in animal models to play a role in cue or stress induced relapse and in addition chronic alcohol exposure can increase DRD3 levels. Therefore blocking the DRD3 is likely to be of clinical benefit in reducing the commonly cited reasons for relapsing ? seeing a cue or reminder of their drinking or stress. The aim of this proposal is to measure for the first time DRD3 levels in the living human brain. We are using a specialised brain imaging technique called positron emission tomography (PET) which involves using a tracer (called 11C-PHNO) which labels the DRD3 receptor throughout the brain including in key areas involved in addiction. Since this tracer also labels another type of dopamine receptor (DRD2) a second scan will take place after blocking all DRD3 with a drug, called a DRD3 antagonist. The difference between the two scans will represent DRD3 levels in the brain. Since the DRD3 appears important in mediating cue-induced relapse we will also measure activity in the brain using another brain imaging technique, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), as the person is looking at alcohol-related cues as well as when they are anticipating a different type of ?reward?, money. We will then be able to investigate the relationship between DRD3 levels and brain activity during these experiences. We are only able to conduct this study now due to the availability of the PET tracer and DRD3 antagonist. This study will give us important information about DRD3 to help understand its role in human alcoholism. Building on this, further studies will investigate the DRD3 system in other addictions eg opiate, gambling to inform future therapeutic approaches.