The human skeleton has continued to evolve over the past 40,000 years in Europe, long after the emergence of our species. During this period, major social, technological and demographic changes occurred as a mobile hunter-gatherer lifestyle gave way to sedentary farming villages, and then cities. This was accompanied by biological changes to our skeletons, which are retained into the present day. One of the most striking changes is the reduced size of our teeth and jaws. This dental reduction contributes to dental crowding for modern day Europeans, which requires extensive orthodontic treatment with a significant global socio-economic cost. Despite 50 years of academic debate amongst anthropologists about the hypothesised causes underlying dental reduction, a consensus has still to be reached. Yet, we know nothing about the cell mechanisms that facilitated the reduced size of our teeth and jaws. The goal in this project is to develop an original, interdisciplinary and holistic approach that combines dental and bone analysis at three structural levels, to identify and describe the micro-evolutionary cell mechanisms that led to the reduction of modern human teeth and jaws in Europe. Combining cutting-edge histological and microtomographic techniques, I will examine molars and jaws from prehistorical, medieval and modern samples, spanning our most recent evolution from ~38,000 years ago to the present day. Using these cell mechanisms, I will re-evaluate the existing hypothesised causes of dental reduction. This project will provide a unique biological insight that will help to resolve a long-standing debate, and reshape our understanding of dental reduction during recent human evolution. Results will be of interest to anthropologists, biologists, and the general public. My project can also contribute new information for clinical orthodontic treatment. Results will be published in high-impact scientific journals and presented at international conferences.

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.

In view of the rapid increase in demand for mobile data services, next generation wireless communication systems will have to provide greatly increased capacity density and high data rates greater than 50Gbps. However, satisfying these requirements for increasing numbers of users and connected devices, and increasingly bandwidth, processing power and energy-hungry applications will require a transformation in the way in which current mobile and wireless networks perform. Recently, massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology, where each base station (BS) is equipped with a large number of antenna elements (typically tens or even hundreds) has emerged as a key enabler to achieve a 1000 times data rate and enormous spectral and energy efficiency. In order for massive MIMO to become a reality, the proposed work aims to explore transformative methods for the design of innovative techniques in 3 key challenging areas of massive MIMO communication systems: (i) fundamental limits; (ii), (ii) transmission strategy; and (iii) caching mechanisms. The solution is achieved with small remote antenna units equipped with compact massive MIMO arrays deployed over certain coverage regions, and developing practical signalling schemes, network coordination, and management protocols.

The proposed project addresses the restoration of a colonial era Catholic church located in a peripheral indigenous community in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. It investigates the ways in which the professionals concerned with the conservation of the church as a federally-protected historic site engage with the local religious community that has particular rights in, and relationships with, the building and objects that are to undergo repair. It raises larger political and ethical questions of how divergent ideological, aesthetic and cultural values are negotiated in contexts of religious heritage conservation. This is a social anthropology project that is grounded in a broader multidisciplinary approach that connects with art and architectural history, conservation sciences, and religious studies. The aims are to investigate: 1. the cultural, religious, and vocational ideologies and beliefs that come into conflict as actors work through restoration projects together; 2. how the material and immaterial aspects of sacred and historically valuable objects are understood by different stakeholders; and 3. how relations of power are manifested and reinforced or resisted during restoration projects. These aims will be achieved through 8 months of ethnographic research in Oaxaca with conservation experts associated with a private foundation that funds many restorations in the state, and with the local community and clergy in the municipality where the church is located. This research will be supplemented by preparatory research at the University of Kent on heritage conservation practices and will be disseminated through an academic and public engagement plan that includes a public debate, a photograph exhibition, an academic workshop, and two journal articles.