Nanoscience and nanotechnology are concerned with the nanoscale which is usually defined as being between 1 and 100 nm in size. The synthesis and use of nanoparticles and other nanomaterials (NMs) are significant parts of nanotechnology and there are clearly many economic, environmental and social benefits from the use of NMs as detailed in recent reports from Royal Society and Royal academy of Engineering and the Royal Commission for Environmental Pollution (http://www.nanotec.org.uk/finalReport.htm; http://www.nanotec.org.uk/finalReport.htm) in energy, in healthcare, consumer products and in other sectors. However, use of NMs, particularly on the vast scale at which is currently occurring and projected for the future, has led to concerns about human and environmental health effects from the bodies mentioned and from others such as the EU SCENIHR (http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/committees/04_scenihr/docs/scenihr_o_012.pdf) and more widely e.g. Wiesner et al (2006), Owen and Handy (2007), Klaine et al (2008). Ideally, we require full exploitation of the benefits of nanotechnology while ensuring the environment is not adversely affected. An initial important step forward in determining environmental risk is the identification, quantification and characterisation of nanoparticles in real environmental systems. This issue is seen as important in policy terms; of the 19 Research Objectives (ROs) produced by the UK government (DEFRA's Nanotechnology Research Coordination Group http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/nanotech/research/pdf/nanoparticles-riskreport07.pdf), number 9 is: Optimise, develop and apply technologies that enable the measurement of exposure to nanoparticles in soil and water. Further, such issues were fully recognised at a recent international workshop co-organised by the applicants (Alvarez et al, 2009) where appropriate analysis and metrology was seen as perhaps the key bottleneck to advancing environmental nanoparticle research. Aims and Objectives The overall aim is to generate data on the likely concentrations of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in real environmental aquatic systems. Specific objectives are: 1) To synthesise a set of well controlled isotopically modified titania NPs which will be used as tracers in laboratory based experiments. 2) To characterise fully these and commercially obtained titania NPs. 3) To compare properties of natural and manufactured titania NPs. 4) To quantify total titanium and titania concentrations in laboratory and natural systems. 5) To estimate the concentrations of manufactured NPs using appropriate metrics.

The earliest history of planetary bodies in the solar system encompasses the accretion of the objects and their differentiation into silicate mantles and metallic cores. Subsequently the newly formed bodies cooled and solidified. Recent developments in modelling and analytical techniques have significantly improved our understanding of the timing and duration of some of these processes. The timescales over which differentiated asteroids cooled and their metallic cores crystallized remain poorly constrained, however. In this research project, we will address this shortcoming by studying the only samples of planetary cores that are available for direct analyses - iron meteorites. The approach will be to measure the decay products of the short-lived palladium-silver (107Pd-107Ag) and lead-thallium (205Pb-205Tl) radionuclide systems in such meteorites. These two decay schemes have half-lives of only about 10 Myr, and they can thus provide very precise (+/- a few Myr) ages of 'metal crystallization'. These ages define the time at which the metal, which was originally present in liquid form, had cooled to form a solid iron-rich core. To obtain such ages, the research project involves the following investigations: 1) The Pd-Ag and Pb-Tl decay systems first need to be calibrated before they can provide absolute age information. To obtain such a calibration, we will analyze meteorite samples for which precise absolute ages are already available. Once completed, the calibration will be of long-lasting value because it provides the basic foundation for the use of the Pd-Ag and Pb-Tl dating systems as precise absolute 'clocks' of processes that took place in the early solar system. 2) With this calibration, we will analyze the decay products of the Pd-Ag and Pb-Tl clocks in iron meteorites. These analyses will provide the precise ages at which the metallic cores of the asteroids, from which the iron meteorites were derived, cooled and crystallized. 3) This information will then be combined with the results of previous studies, which dated the age of 'metal segregation'. This is the time at which an originally primitive asteroid was heated to melting temperatures, such that it differentiated into an outer mantle composed of silicates and a core composed mainly of liquid metallic iron. By comparing the 'metal segregation' with the 'metal crystallization' age, we can infer the rate at which the metal core of an asteroid cooled. As this 'cooling rate' is primarily a function of the size (with larger bodies cooling slower than smaller ones), we can use this information to estimate the diameter of the asteroidal precursor of an iron meteorite. This implies that our data will enable us, for the first time, to relate the duration of accretion to the size of a given asteroidal parent body. In this study, we will analyze various groups of iron meteorites, which are derived from distinct asteroids. The age information that we will obtain for these samples, together with previous results, will provide comprehensive chronological records for the parent asteroids of most iron meteorites. These records will span the period from accretion and concomitant core formation to the cooling and crystallization of the metallic cores. Taken together, this information will significantly expand our understanding of the chemical, physical and thermal evolution of asteroids in the early solar system.

Building a Collaborative Learning Research Agenda for Natural History Museums in the UK is a series of working seminars organised by two internationally significant UK institutions - King's College London (KCL) and the Natural History Museum, London (NHM). The seminar series brings together museum education practitioners, pre-eminent academics and funding bodies to unpick the complexities of learning in natural history environments and to develop a research agenda that will address critical questions around learning in natural history museums* within the UK. The purpose of the seminars is to develop and disseminate a collaborative learning research agenda to inform how natural history museums can best use their resources to support learning in the 21st century. Learning in such places has been under-researched and under-theorised, hampering the field's ability to address policy and broader concerns around impact. When addressed, the research agenda will help transform what natural history museums do for and with their audiences. We will articulate and prioritise topics and issues that natural history museums most need to address in order to serve diverse audiences. These topics are likely to include: The current landscape of informal science learning; Models for facilitation/interaction between the public and museum educators, scientists and curators; Learning from objects and the role of authenticity in learning programmes; Audience research to more fully understand audiences and their needs; and, New technologies for discovery, learning and social engagement. Museums and academics in the US have begun to address questions surrounding these topics but they remain under-researched in the UK. This seminar series is a timely response to urgent issues surrounding learning from natural history objects in the UK context. We will hold six seminars at the NHM during the course of the grant. Numbers will be limited to 30-35 participants in order to facilitate high quality, in-depth participation. Attendees will include arts, humanities and learning researchers as well as museum and educational professionals. An advisory group will also meet following each seminar to support translation of the discussions into the emergent research agenda, as well as to help develop subsequent seminars. Developing this research agenda is of strategic benefit both to academics and to museum practitioners, as it explores and extends relevant theoretical perspectives that have the potential to transform our understanding of learning within the museum sector. The series brings together individuals from a wider range of both academic and informal settings than have previous meetings, thus providing fruitful ground for the exploration of theoretical perspectives to underpin the developing research agenda. Perspectives from fields such as sociology and anthropology will inform the development of the research agenda itself and will highlight new methodologies well suited to exploring potential research questions. The series and subsequent research will benefit museum practitioners and academics with interests in learning in informal settings and museology, as well as in related fields, such as sociology and anthropology. With its multiple theoretical and methodological perspectives, the research ultimately emerging from these seminars will help the field respond to questions about learning in museums with natural history collections and in other museums as well. *The term 'museum' is used to refer to settings with natural history collections (primarily, but not exclusively natural history museums), but can incorporate zoos, as institutions that hold specimens for natural history education.

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.