Nitrogen-containing compounds, including glycine betaine (GBT), choline and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) are ubiquitous in marine organisms. They are used by marine organisms as compatible solutes in response to changes in environmental conditions, such as increasing salinity, because they do not interfere with cell metabolism. They also have beneficial effects in protecting proteins against denaturation due to chemical or physical damage. In the marine environment, these compounds are frequently released from these organisms directly into seawater due to changing environmental conditions, such as by viral lysis or grazing. The released nitrogenous osmolytes serve as important nutrients for marine microorganisms, which can use them as carbon, nitrogen and energy sources. It is well known that the degradation of these nitrogenous osmolytes contribute to the release of climate-active gases, including volatile methylamines. Methylamines are important sources of aerosols in the marine atmosphere, which help to reflect sunlight and cause a cooling effect on the climate. Our NERC-funded research is starting to understand the microbial metabolism of these compounds and their seasonal cycles in the coastal surface seawater, but our understanding across the world's oceans is limited. Of particular importance to the Earth's climate is the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is an important player in the Earth climate system, and is an ideal region to study ocean-atmosphere connections because of its isolation from continental emissions and the strong circumpolar atmospheric circulation, rendering its air pristine. Opportunities to study the Southern Ocean are rare however, and it remains under sampled even for the most routine measurements compared to the rest of the World's oceans. We have a unique opportunity within the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) to make measurements and collect samples around the entire Southern Ocean, and near Antarctica. Twenty one other international projects will also be conducting research from the same expedition, and six of these projects have excellent links to our research. Unfortunately, there are no plans for after the expedition for the projects to collaborate and integrate data, which is a real missed opportunity. This proposal aims to develop a new international network with six ACE projects and use post-cruise activities to exploit data and knowledge generated to capitalise on our NERC-funded research on nitrogenous osmolytes and to increase its international breadth.

The volcanic plume from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption has caused significant disruption to air transport across Europe. The regulatory response, ensuring aviation safety, depends on dispersion models. The accuracy of the dispersion predictions depend on the intensity of the eruption, on the model representation of the plume dynamics and the physical properties of the ash and gases in the plume. Better characterisation of these processes and properties will require improved understanding of the near-source plume region. This project will bring to bear observations and modelling in order to achieve more accurate and validated dispersion predictions. The investigation will seek to integrate the volcanological and atmospheric science methods in order to initiate a complete system model of the near-field atmospheric processes. This study will integrate new modelling and insights into the dynamics of the volcanic plume and its gravitational equilibration in the stratified atmosphere, effects of meteorological conditions, physical and chemical behaviour of ash particles and gases, physical and chemical in situ measurements, ground-based remote sensing and satellite remote sensing of the plume with very high resolution numerical computational modelling. When integrated with characterisations of the emissions themselves, the research will lead to enhanced predictive capability. The Eyjafjallajökull eruption has now paused. However, all three previous historical eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull were followed by eruptions of the much larger Katla volcano. At least two other volcanic systems in Iceland are 'primed' ready to erupt. This project will ensure that the science and organisational lessons learned from the April/May 2010 response to Eyjafjallajökull are translated fully into preparedness for a further eruption of any other volcano over the coming years. Overall, the project will (a) complete the analysis of atmospheric data from the April/May eruption, (b) prepare for future observations and forecasting and (c) make additional observations if there is another eruption during within the forthcoming few years.

Widespread electronic technologies of the last few decades have been led by perfecting control over response of electrons in materials where interactions between them are essentially weak. This can now be reliably achieved, e.g., in simple metals and semiconductors, by tuning the Fermi surface and the effective electron mass. However, this technology has reached the limit of its potential due to the fundamentally limited range of electronic properties exhibited by such materials. A dramatic breakthrough can be achieved if one establishes reliable control over collective electronic behaviour in systems where strong interactions between electrons give rise to intriguing macroscopic quantum phenomena. Multiferroics, giant magnetoresistance in spintronic materials, electron correlations in polymeric systems, and high-temperature superconductivity are just are a few examples with vast potential for novel applications. A quantum computer, expected to revolutionise the modern world, and well-envisaged in principle, can still not be realised due to the lack of reliably controlled material base. The reason, largely, is that a priori accurate theoretical underpinning of electron correlation physics, which would allow to design desired electronic properties at will, has remained a challenge and is currently missing. In light of very recent developments of new accurate numerical tools for correlated systems, it is extremely timely to use the new methodology to address properties of certain correlated materials of great technological potential, which are currently in the focus of extensive experimental studies. In this project, cutting-edge numerics and advanced analytical techniques will allow us to develop a definitive and quantitative theoretical picture of key effects and mechanisms associated with quantum phase transitions in correlated electron systems, thereby enabling a priori control over the corresponding material properties. Specifically, we propose a comprehensive theoretical study of effects of deformations of the Fermi surface in the correlated regime by changing external parameters and the resulting emergence of new phases with unconventional physical behaviour. Our main goals are to: (i) gain quantitative understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of Fermi surface reconstruction and Lifshitz topological transitions in correlated-electron model systems, especially those with spin orbit coupling, and their relation to instabilities, under changes of chemical composition or magnetic field or application of pressure; (ii) accurately predict properties of specific benchmark materials of great technological importance, which exhibit intriguing behaviour associated with changes of the Fermi surface and are the focus of current experiments, such as strontium ruthenates, strontium iridates, and fermonic superconductors. (iii) make specific proposals for experiments on those materials to test new theories, (iv) ultimately, achieve reliable control over the properties of these classes of correlated materials. This is fundamental research with direct relevance to development of technology since our choice of the benchmark materials covers a wide range of potential applications. Superconducting SrRu2O4 is expected to harbour the Majorana bound states, making it a candidate for realising qubits of topological quantum computers. Strontium iridates feature a delicate interplay between spin-orbit coupling and Mott physics, which can lead to new-generation spintronic devices, while control over properties of superconductors under pressure, will open new avenues for the superconducting industry.

Although there have been positive advances in the treatment of malaria, it remains a serious threat to global health, with 619,000 fatalities occurring worldwide (>90% in Africa) in 2021. These facts, combined with a threat of extended geographical malaria transmission due to climate change and increasing parasitic resistance towards available drugs , underline the importance in discovering new anti-malarial therapeutics with novel modes of action. In addition to drug resistance, significant drug attrition in the discovery phases of antimalarial drug development has occurred within the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV)'s portfolio over the last 5 years. (MMV is a not-for-profit public-private partnership, founded in 1999, with the mission to reduce the burden of malaria by the development of novel antimalarial drugs.) Malaria is a disease that is transmitted by the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito and is caused by a parasite belonging to Plasmodium genus. One of the challenges in drug treatment of this parasite is its complex life cycle which involves development in the mosquito, and two separate stages of development within the liver and red blood cells of the human host. Finding drug molecules that can target the parasite at all three development stages is the holy grail of antimalarial drug discovery since this will enable an highly effective antimalarial "triple-hit" to be exerted. Recently, two enzymes have been characterised known as Plasmepsins IX and X. These enzymes have been shown to be key to the parasite development in mosquito, blood and liver stages; inhibition of these proteins not only prevents the parasite invading human red blood cells but inhibition of plasmepsin X prevents the parasite from escaping the human red blood cell to continue the infection cycle. Recently, a breakthrough was made that showed a class of drug known as a protease inhibitor can inhibit these enzymes. This class of drug, which are chemically related to the HIV protease inhibitor drugs used for over two decades, have excellent parasite killing activity in test-tube experiments in the laboratory. More recently, one of these prototype drugs was shown to cure mice infected with Plasmodium species demonstrating the potential for development of an oral treatment of malaria infected human patients. Given the broad acting nature of these new parasite inhibitors, medicinal chemists have the opportunity to develop a novel drug with potential for malaria treatment, mosquito transmission blocking and for prevention (also known as chemoprophylaxis). A molecule with such properties would be highly valuable in the clinic. The aim of the research is to improve the prototype inhibitor by chemical modification of the scaffold to increase parasite killing activity as well as increasing drug stability within the human body. Ideally the drug treatment should be capable of curing malaria in a single or three daily doses treatment regimen. The project will use computational modelling, chemical synthesis and biological screening, as well as measurement and modelling of the metabolism of modified drugs to predict the drug exposures in humans. The aim is to obtain a molecule for preclinical profiling en route to a clinical trial in human inside 5 years. The programme is a multinational programme involving researchers in the UK (University of Liverpool, Imperial College, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine), Italy (University of Milan) and Switzerland (MMV, University of Geneva).

The rapid growth rate of India's urban areas is a clear sign of its recent economic progress. One third of India's 1.1 billion people live in Indian towns and cities which are growing in varying and complex ways. The rapid demographic growth in and around India's urban areas is changing the physical dimensions of the city, such as its size, shape, density, land uses, layout and building types: a complex mixture of numerous characteristics including infrastructure and transportation. Increased urban development is putting intense pressure on existing urban infrastructure to support residents' quality of life. Rapid urban growth can take the form of high-density urban forms which are associated with poor living conditions, high levels of pollution and high incidence of crime. Urban growth and associated changes in urban form are clearly unsustainable, further exacerbated by (and contributing to) problems including regional displacement of rural populations into urban areas and localized social inequality.While there is growing awareness of these issues in India, gaps exist in urban policies and there is a lack of clarity in mechanisms for implementing development and planning policies at the local level. The main contributory factor of such gaps in policy is the dearth of knowledge and understanding of how the urban environment affects social sustainability, i.e. residents' wellbeing, quality of life and everyday life, in India's cities. There is therefore an urgent need in India for empirical evidence examining socially sustainable urban form to develop evidence-based government strategies and urban development policies. CityForm-India is a proactive research network aimed at addressing this need now. CityForm-India is a network of academics, policy makers and key stakeholders in the field of urban sustainability. The aim of the network is to create and sustain an exchange of international knowledge and expertise on aspects of culture, society, economics, environment, infrastructure, drivers of urban growth and urban policies which are relevant to the provision of socially sustainable living environments for India's urban residents. This research network is led by the multidisciplinary Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD: Sustainable Urban Environments (SUE)) and aims to facilitate the sharing of experience, expertise and knowledge of network members to identify the arising research challenges and opportunities within the context of India's rapidly growing cities. Network members have extensive collective research expertise and experience from a range of disciplines including urban economics, housing policy, urban design, infrastructure, transport, health and wellbeing. Through a series of networking events, knowledge exchange and dissemination activities held in India and the UK, the network will be the foundation of long-term research collaboration between academic and non-academic UK, Indian and international members. Throughout the network, a website will be developed as an important means of communication and dissemination. This will include public access to a discussion forum, webcasts and presentations from events as well as regular emails to network members, newsletters and the provision of secure online space for the sharing of working papers. Through these and other knowledge sharing and dissemination activities, the network members will make a significant contribution to knowledge in the field of socially sustainable urban form culminating in the generation of grant proposals for future empirical research.