CRESTING will train Early Stage Researchers (ESR) in cutting edge systematic analysis of the process of transformation to a Circular Economy (CE). Establishing a CE (such that the maximum value is extracted from materials and waste generation minimised) is a major policy area within the European Union and elsewhere. Explicitly seen as increasing economic competitiveness and laying a foundation for environmental employment, CE policies are designed to increase resource efficiency and decrease carbon dependency. Previous and ongoing research into the CE, however, has been largely concerned with strategies for implementation. The many different fields of activity comprising the CE (e.g., re-use, recovery, recycling, eco-design amongst others) operate with varying degrees of effectiveness in different places and for different materials. These fields of activity have not been critically analysed as an interrelated social, technical, environmental and, significantly, spatial phenomenon. This programme will advance the critical analysis of the concept and sustainability implications of the CE by the training of 15 ESR analysing CE-related activity and initiatives in a range of geographic and economic settings. CRESTING is divided between 5 work packages (WP) analysing: current discourse and policy contexts (WP1); corporate engagement with the CE (WP2); public sector engagement in the CE (WP3); the potential for local economic development and employment from the CE (WP4); and measuring life cycle impacts and developing sustainability indicators relevant to the CE (WP5). With multidisciplinary and international supervisory teams including non-academic partners within each WP, CRESTING will 1) analyse the sustainability implications of the CE; 2) analyse the spatial dimension of the CE and 3) translate these analyses into specific actions for managing the transformation to the CE.

Background and challenges: UK estuaries are at risk from combination flooding. Sea-level rise and predicted changes to UK storm patterns (affecting both surge and river flows) will alter the joint probability of multiple hazard events, making previous understanding of risk, and mitigation measures, potentially obsolete. Existing probabilistic methods for assessing combination hazard (e.g. FD2308) provide only water level hazards, with limited detail on where and when issues may occur, and vitally cannot readily accommodate revised estimates of event distributions due to sea-level rise and climate change. Combination hazards, therefore, present a clear risk to project partner's infrastructure in estuaries (e.g. Flood defences, railways, roads, water treatment works, nuclear power stations), both under present conditions - and more with greater uncertainty in the future. The ability to better forecast the specific locations and timings of such combination hazards will enable effective planning and timely warnings to industry operators, partners and the public. All of our project partners have considerable investments in areas prone to estuarine flooding including flood defences (EA), rail networks (Network Rail), water supplies (Welsh Water) and nuclear power stations (EDF Energy). The scale of national exposure to combination hazard is phenomenal. Taking the Humber alone, the projected economic costs of the 2015 surge tide occurring with 0.3m of sea level rise would be £12.5bn in direct flood damage and £10.8bn in consequential losses. Quite simply, our project partners cannot ignore how combination hazard may increase with climate change. Aims & Objectives: CHEST will assess if the management of combined river-surge-wave-tide flooding in UK estuaries (and surrounding low-lying areas) needs to be amended, especially in the light of sea-level rise and changing climates. This leads to three objectives: 1. Establish if the interaction between the combination hazards of rivers, surge, waves and tides is important to resolve for estuarine flood risk. 2. Determine which of these factors and in what combination pose the greatest risk. i.e. What is the sensitivity to the different hazards and does it differ in different locations (a) within an estuary (b) between different estuaries? 3. With sea-level rise and climate change - ascertain whether the relative importance of the combination hazards change or shift. i.e. with SLR do surges become more dominant? To achieve these objectives, CHEST will use novel, fast numerical models (developed in previous NERC and EA funded projects) to simulate the combination hazard for two contrasting pilot studies (Humber and Dyfi estuaries) where the primary project partners have particular concerns. In a second phase the CHEST modelling framework will be documented, packaged and where necessary tailored to a wider group of additional project partners allowing the application to estuaries around the UK. Deliverables will be predictions in pilot basins of 'worst case' scenarios, system sensitivity to different combination hazards and for the impacts of climate change (Milestones 1, 3 & 4). As requested by PP's these will be in the form of digital maps/data of flood inundation areas, max depth, max velocities, water surface (AOD), flood duration, and a matrix/look up table for combination hazard sensitivity. For the model roll out phase, deliverables will be the software (source and exe) along with documentation and tutorials (Milestone 5). This may also involve tutorials/webinars - as requested by PP's at meetings C and D. Project duration is 10 months involving researchers from the University of Hull and Bangor University. Cost is £104 700 (80%) including 10 months PDRA (Hull); CoI and PI costs and travel for meetings. Lewis' contribution is in kind (20% for 10 months), as a Ser Cymru NRN-LCEE Research Fellow on the QUOTIENT project.

Research and development in liquid crystals has been highly significant over the past 35 years, and a wide range of high technology products has resulted in high quality, flat-panel displays from watches and calculators, mobile telephones, and digital cameras to lap-top computers, desk-top monitors and large-area colour televisions. These products have helped to completely revolutionize the way in which we all live and conduct our day to day activities of business and lesiure.Research in the area of liquid crystals continues to be intense in order to improve the well-known products, and to use the unique nature of liquid crystal materials (materials where the molecules have the mobility of a liquid, yet are not completely disordered, which provides a fluid with the important optical, electronic and visco-eleastic properties of solids) to generate novel applications for high technology products of the future.The training of researchers new to the field of liquid crystals is of paramount importance to maintaining the excellent progress of research, and the delivering of the desired technological achievements in the future. Such training presents particular challenges because the research area of liquid crystals is extremely multidisciplinary and necessarily involves the close collaboration of researchers from areas of chemistry, physics, engineering, mathematics, computation and biology.The British Liquid Crystal Society Annual Winter Workshop serves to provide the education and training needs for research scientists who are new to the field of liquid crystals research. The Workshop involves experienced scientists who are experts in their various disciplines. The experts deliver lectures to provide the backgound knowledge in the various scientific disciplines, they operate hands-on laboratory sessions to introduce the important practical techniques, and importantly they are available for the entire duration of the Workshop for informal discussions and general networking with the new researchers.Hence, the Annual Workshop is invaluable for the continuous generation of trained scientists in the multi-disciplinary and technologically important area of liquid crystals.

The mathematical demands of acoustics research are wide: ranging from solution of partial differential equations to the methods of digital signal processing. Some of the mathematical basics are covered by undergraduate mathematics for engineers but many important topics such as Green's function methods, asymptotic methods, integral transforms and variational calculus lie outside the typical engineering mathematics syllabus. Most researchers in acoustics do not have access to master level courses to broaden their postgraduate study. Consequently, the fundamental mathematical methodologies taught at undergraduate level are often advanced through independent learning by individual researchers. They develop their mathematical skills on a 'need-to-know' basis rather than being made aware of the potential of advanced mathematical tools at the onset of their research career. Feedback from two previous Support Mathematics for Acoustics Research Training Summer Schools suggests that they have been successful. It is proposed to mount a third such school in 2007 for up to 40 attendees. The School will consist of an intensive 5 days, with a high tutor/student ratio, devoted to lectures on mathematical topics supported by graded tutorials and computing laboratory classes. The course will make use of a book Lecture Notes for the Mathematics of Acoustics edited by Matthew Wright and will feature Lecturers who have the benefit of experience from the previous SMART Schools where they achieved good levels of student satisfaction.

MRC Confidence in Concept 2018 - University of Hull