This proposal seeks to further develop Statistical Tools for Reaction Efficacy AssessMent (STREAM). The goal is to build small ligand sets to screen for statistical training of correlations, identify the parameters that are most likely to describe selectivity trends for particular catalysts, and develop a virtual screening deck that allows for rapid identification of improved performers. For this proposal we will evaluate peptide-based catalysts and N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) on various mechanistically distinct catalytic processes, to predict and understand reaction performance. The proposed STREAM methodology not only allows for effective prediction, and thus the design of better performing catalysts, but also is a contemporary approach to mechanistic study. These modern tools are general and applicable in principle to any chemical system, thus, directly relevant to each research group developing asymmetric or site-selective reactions. The experienced researcher proposes to undertake the outgoing phase within Professor Matthew Sigman’s research laboratory (University of Utah, USA) and undertake the incoming phase within Professor Frank Glorius’ research laboratory (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität – Münster, Germany); both proposed supervisors are experts in the mechanistic study of asymmetric catalysis (with complementary skill sets) and highly prominent figures in the field of catalyst design.

High-field strength elements (HFSE: Ti, Zr, Nb, Ta, Hf) and rare earth elements (REE: La to Lu, +Sc, Y) have become critical resources to the industry, being labeled the ‘keys to green technologies’. Their rarity does not stem from their low abundance in the Earth’s crust but rather from difficulties in separating them from each other and China’s monopoly on their supply chain. Strikingly, little is known about the geological processes leading to their economic concentration in different environments. Especially, how high-temperature fluids can extract rare metals from magmas and reconcentrate them up to economic levels is poorly understood. The proposed research will investigate this question combining innovative experimental technics. High-pressure high-temperature experiments will be conducted at the Institute for Mineralogy at the University of Münster (WWU) and different synchrotron facilities (ESRF, Grenoble; PETRA, Hamburg) to determine the solubility, speciation and fluid-melt partitioning of the HFSE and REE. The experimental results are expected to constitute a necessary theoretical framework for the exploration and sustainable mining of these critical metal resources. The applicant has 9 years experience of experimental petrology, with particular expertise in the in situ study of high P-T fluids with synchrotron radiation and Raman spectroscopy. Especially, she has been working on the role of fluids in the formation of various ore deposits over the last 4 years (at the Australian National University and the University of Bristol). The WWU would benefit from the applicant’s previous research experience in in situ technics, X-ray and Raman spectroscopies and in the field of economic geology. In return, the applicant will receive crucial support to develop her research and especially benefit from the comprehensive experimental and analytical environment at WWU, which is one of Europe’s leading research institutes in Petrology and Geochemistry.

This project will explore the changing nature of European sport in the interwar period from a transnational perspective, combining cultural, political and social history. Based on the German, French, Italian and British cases but with reference to other countries, this innovative work will permit the writing of a standard work to fill a major gap in the subject which has been dominated by national histories. The interwar years were a critical period for the development of sport in Europe: the traditional ‘amateur ideal’ gave way to athletes who embodied new national and social causes. The flourishing development of physical culture (German Turnen and games, Swedish/Danish gymnastics, ‘English’ sports…) was marked by the powerful politicising of sport as well as the expansion of the press and broadcast media, which influenced people and governments to an unprecedented degree. The ideal of the ‘New Man’ best exemplified this change. This research will bring to the fore the similarities that have been obscured as well as striking national differences. In taking Europe as a point of departure, this work will focus on three areas. (1) Hygiene: how the post-war body was to be (re)educated: (1.1) national health campaigns and (1.2) new school curricula. (2) The politics of sport: as expressed through (2.1) the nature and extent of institutionalisation and (2.2) the growing importance of ‘mega events’, especially the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. (3) The increasing specialisation of sport: (3.1) how amateurism came under threat from professionalism and (3.2) how scientific research into physical culture was expanded. The researcher brings all the necessary qualities and maturity to realise this highly ambitious project. She will be hosted in a major German university by a world-leading professor recognised for his scientific excellence and dynamism in the field. The project’s sources are held in various European libraries and institutions already known to the researcher.