Increasing evidence has linked agrochemical exposure to significant declines in pollinator populations, prompting heightened concerns and legislative actions. However, recent studies demonstrate that even legally-applied pesticides continue to adversely affect social bees. A critical challenge in addressing this issue is the co-exposure of pollinators to multiple agrochemicals. In agricultural environments, pollinators are typically exposed to complex mixtures of agrochemicals, rather than the single products upon which risk assessment has been based. This is a problem because recent work has highlighted that agrochemicals often interact synergistically, such that their combined effects are significantly greater than anticipated, and that such synergistic interactions are both larger and more common than expected. Finding a means to identify synergy during the licensing process is difficult because synergistic interactions are hard to predict based on biochemical properties, and because the number of potential mixtures that may be encountered in the real world is too large to allow for untargeted testing of mixtures. I propose a means to overcome this barrier, through transcriptomic profiling of exposure to single products to detect key indicators of synergy for social bees. Gene expression can detect key overriding impacts of individual agrochemicals on bee physiology, and comparison of profiles could potentially predict synergistic partners. Building upon my background in insect transcriptomics and the expertise in agrochemical stress within my proposed research group, I will combine large-scale transcriptomic resources with a comprehensive pre-existing database of synergistic agrochemical pairs to explore the key general shared features of synergistic pairs, such as shared metabolic targets. In doing so, I will identify potential biomarker genes to provide a more sensitive, short-term experimental method for bioassays in pesticide environmental risk assessment.

By 2025 more than 49 billion Internet of Things (IoTs) are anticipated due to technological breakthroughs and its widespread application in smart homes, smart cities, agriculture, health sector, and industry. However, supplying power to this enormous number of IoT devices is challenging. Accordingly, an autonomous power source operating for multiple years is indispensable to run this massive number of IoTs and portable electronic devices. Photo-rechargeable batteries harvest and storage energy in a single device, and have grown huge attention as an autonomous power source in recent years. In this project, we will develop dye-sensitized photo-rechargeable zinc-ion batteries, which can work under ambient light (artificial indoor and outdoor diffuse light) and could be an autonomous power source for IoTs and low-power-consuming portable electronic devices. This project focuses on the development of the vanadium-based high entropy oxide cathodes for rechargeable zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) and its integration with a high opencircuit voltage Cu-electrolyte based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). DSSCs are recognised for their cost-effectiveness, environmentally friendly nature, and simple fabrication process, surpassing power conversion efficiency by over 38.0% under indoor lighting conditions. Concurrently, ZIBs offer an environmentally friendly and more manageable alternative to non-aqueous rechargeable batteries, simplifying fabrication and further cutting costs. Furthermore, ZIBs have a compatible voltage window with the DSSCs. Therefore, integrating DSSCs with aqueous ZIBs is a feasible technique as an autonomous power source that can be both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. The project aims to revolutionise the field of green energy by fostering the rapid advancement of photorechargeable batteries that are more sustainable and efficient.

Intergenerational mobility, measuring the ability to achieve economic success regardless of family background, is a critical reflection of a society’s commitment to equality of opportunity. Rising income inequality has raised concerns about the potential erosion of upward mobility. While education has traditionally been viewed as the path to mobility, its transformative power is facing challenges in a rapidly evolving job market. This project reorients the focus of intergenerational mobility research by highlighting the labor market as an arena for the reproduction of advantage. It employs a comparative approach, using administrative data from four countries: Sweden, Austria, England, and the United States. It also incorporates evidence from a broader set of nations through cross-national surveys, longitudinal household surveys, labor force surveys, secondary data, and digital trace data. The project employs cutting-edge empirical methods, including quasi-experimental designs, event studies, within-family comparisons, decomposition analyses, counterfactual simulations, and diagnostic checks to rigorously assess the extent of inequalities in the labor market. The research investigates how family background influences the sorting of individuals to employers and workplaces, accounting for education and occupation, and explores variations in career progression within and between employers. It comprehensively catalogues and assesses mechanisms shaping workplace inequality, contributing to the development of social closure theory. Additionally, the project evaluates intervention strategies, encompassing both employer practices and government actions, to promote fair opportunity in the labor market.

Cancer is a global challenge. Addressing this, the EU Mission on Cancer aims to improve the lives of >3 million people by 2030. To achieve this goal requires not only new treatments, but also new in vitro platforms to study how their efficacy can be maximised. Cancer immunotherapy has been a promising treatment for certain haematological cancers, but is encountering tremendous challenges when used for solid cancers. One of the main reasons is that tumours are often protected by an immunosuppressive microenvironment that impedes the delivery and infiltration of immune cells, such as T cells. Specifically, the tumour vasculature is both structurally and functionally abnormal, which interrupts the transport of therapeutic T cells to tumour sites. This project (VASPRINT) will fabricate tumour models containing different vascular architectures. To this end, VASPRINT will combine top-down bioprinting with bottom-up self-assembly methods to create hierarchical vascular networks. VASPRINT will employ analytical tools from graph theory and fractal geometry to gain a quantitative understanding of the vascular structures. The engineered tissue model will be used to address a key question: how does tumour vascular geometry influence T cell trafficking? Despite advancements, the specific effects of vascular geometry on T cell trafficking remain poorly understood. This proposal includes learning bioprinting from the Associated Partner (Harvard University), as well as fractal analysis and modelling from the Beneficiary (University College London). In return, the Researcher will contribute his expertise in the algorithmic design of biomaterial structures (outgoing phase) and developing advanced tumour models for T cell therapy research (return phase). This project aims to advance the scientific understanding of tumour vasculature in the context of immuno-oncology, generating useful insights for therapy development, ultimately contributing to the EU Mission on Cancer.

Isonitriles are valuable organic molecules endowed with unique reactivity features, which find wide applications in a variety of chemical fields, from material sciences to chemical biology, organic, and medicinal chemistry. Current methods to prepare isonitriles suffer from major drawbacks in terms of safety and sustainability, as they rely on the use of large amounts of highly toxic chemicals (e.g., COCl2, POCl3, TMSCN), which make their synthesis hazardous and wasteful, especially for industrial-scale production. Based on the established ability of biocatalytic strategies to enable milder, greener, and more selective chemical processes, the aim of this project is to investigate, characterise, and engineer the protein ScoE from Streptomyces coeruleorubidus and related isonitrile-forming enzymes from the Fe(II)/αKG-dioxygenase superfamily with the final goal to turn them into a new class of biocatalysts for the sustainable production of isonitrile compounds. The project will first characterise wild-type ScoE in order to optimise the biotransformation parameters and to evaluate the in vitro catalytic performances of the enzyme and its natural substrate scope (specificity and selectivity). In parallel, representative isonitrile-forming Fe(II)/αKG-dioxygenases with potential for different activity and selectivity will be selected from assorted environmental niches and assessed for their substrate flexibility and their ability to biocatalyse the synthesis of isonitrile derivatives in vitro. Such investigations will provide experimental data to drive the identification of best candidates for biocatalyst development. Mutagenesis studies driven by in-silico design will be performed to generate improved Fe(II)/αKG-dioxygenase variants (with broader substrate scope) to be exploited as biocatalysts. The hit enzymes will be produced on larger scale and biocatalytic methods for the preparative synthesis of isonitriles will be developed.