This is an ambitious interdisciplinary collaborative project aiming to facilitate UK-Shanghai business in the theatre and performance space, focusing on immersive and mixed reality experiences, via curated networking and partnership building events involving creative IP companies, academics and technical partners in the UK and Shanghai, including a series of Investor Showcases to fund development of concepts/IP surfaced by project partners. Our UK-Shanghai Consortium will be led by Goldsmiths, University of London, and will include: - leading UK arts, cultural, immersive and digital content partners - leading Shanghai arts, tech, immersive and academic partners The project will result in sustainable model boosting economic impact of immersive and strong legacy collaborative R&D space, where project partners will share interest in commercial distribution company to be set up in Shanghai. Other setting up one or more companies in Shanghai, we will also build: - Goldsmiths Shanghai Research Centre - Social VR and online digital platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration, incorporating immersive technology

Adult human retina harbours a population of Müller cells with stem cell characteristics. Although these cells have the ability to grow and neurally differentiate in vitro, there is no evidence that they regenerate retina in vivo. It has been thought that factors released during reactive gliosis, a glial proliferation observed in all retinal degenerative conditions, are responsible for the inhibition of retinal regeneration by endogenous stem cells. The proposed research aims to identifiy factors that may promote neural regeneration of diseased retina by stimulating the endogenous proliferation and neural differentiation of Müller stem cells. Using proteomic approaches, we will investigate the total protein and cytokine expression profile of fragments of human gliotic retina, surgically removed as part of the treatment for complicated retinal detachment, and will compare this profile with that of normal cadaveric donor retina. Factors found to be selectively increased or decreased in degenerated retina will then be examined for their ability to inhibit or promote Müller stem cell growth and differentiation in vitro. Once candidate factors have been found to be active on the inhibition or promotion of these cell functions, we will confirm their roles by blocking or promoting their activities using agonist or antagonist molecules for these factors. The work will be undertaken in collaboration with Prof. Sun Xinghai and Dr Lei Yuan from the Eye Hospital at Fudan University, Shanghai. The proteomic analysis will be performed at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and is expected to identify candidate factors which can be examined by both the UK and the Fudan group on Müller stem cell growth and differentiation. The project will form part of a PhD training program for a Chinese student who will visit the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology for a year. Funding for her visit and that of Prof Sun and Dr Lei, her PhD supervisors, is being sought by the Fudan University group from the Natural Science Foundation of China.

The applicant is an experienced researcher and has a broad background in physical chemical characterisation, whose principal research interests include the synthesis, functionalisation and characterisation of advanced and nanostructured electro-materials for applications such as bionics, sensors, and energy storage. The applicant has pioneered the use of carbon nanotubes fibres as possible implantable electrode materials, when previously they were known for their exceptional mechanical properties. Novel fibres were developed, the electrical properties of which far exceeded that of previously made bio-fibres. The methods developed allowed fibre formation with broad material applicability. A challenge for nanomaterial research is aggregation. To allow the extraordinary properties of nanomaterials to be fully exploited, they must be effectively dispersed and integrated into useful devices. Following appropriate dispersion these materials lend themselves to processing by fibre spinning. Flexible fibre electrodes have to date been produced almost exclusively from carbon. Recently, we published the first report combining a metal oxide nanotube with carbon nanotubes to create multi-functional fibre electrodes for biomedical applications. Since it has been shown that it is possible to spin fibres from titania nanotubes it should also be possible to extend the range of nanotubes to those made from other materials. More recently in a very exciting development, researchers have combined graphene sheets with CNTs to produce macroscopic fibres with extraordinary strength properties. Combining the high electrical conductivity we previously achieved, with the strength of intercalated graphene and sustainable energy storage capabilities of manganese dioxide will enable the fabrication of highly novel and patentable flexible fibre electrodes. This proposal aims to broaden the scope of our initial studies by incorporating nanotubes of manganese dioxide with carbon nanotubes and graphene, for the first time. We will demonstrate this approach by fabricating a novel flexible fibre electrode for sustainable energy storage. The overall aim of the proposed research is to fabricate fibre supercapacitors, which can be woven to make energy storage options for e-textiles.

The operation of modern day electronics depends upon electric currents that transport electron charge. However, the electron also possesses intrinsic angular momentum, known as "spin", that is responsible for its magnetic moment. Spin is a quantum-mechanical quantity with two allowed values. We can therefore think of the electron as the smallest possible bar magnet with its north pole pointing either up or down. Ordinarily an electric current transports equal numbers of electrons in the up and down states. However, inside a ferromagnetic material there are more electrons in the up state than the down state; this is the origin of its magnetic behaviour. This means an electric current drawn from a ferromagnet will have a preponderance of up spins. In fact, under certain circumstances in non-magnetic metals, we can arrange for equal numbers of electrons with up and down spins to move in opposite directions so that there is a flow of spin angular momentum without any flow of charge. This is what is meant by a pure spin current. Within a ferromagnet an additional mechanism is available to transport spin current. Rather than the electrons moving, we can think of one electron flipping its spin from up to down and the location of this flipped spin moving from one atom to the next. This mechanism is present even when the material is an electrical insulator and is known as a "spin wave". Ferromagnets are only one of many types of material that have magnetic order. This proposal is concerned primarily with antiferromagnetic materials, where the direction of the spin alternates between up and down for successive layers of atoms. Antiferromagnets have no net magnetic moment, because those on adjacent atoms cancel out, so are generally more difficult to study, and for a long time were thought to be useless in terms of practical applications. However, spin waves also occur in antiferromagnets and so antiferromagnets can be used to transport pure spin current. It was recently observed that the amplitude of a spin current can be enhanced by the insertion of thin antiferromagnetic layers into a stack of ferromagnetic and non-magnetic layers. We have shown that the antiferromagnetic layer is able to transport both dc and ac spin currents, confirming a model that also predicts that spin currents could be amplified by at least a factor of 10 if the thickness of the layer is chosen carefully. This additional angular momentum is drawn from the crystal lattice. Given that a small electric current is usually required to generate a pure spin current, the ability to amplify spin current in the antiferromagnetic layer means that the energy efficiency of devices using spin currents could be significantly improved. One immediate example is a type of magnetic random access memory (MRAM), where spin current is injected into a ferromagnetic layer to reverse its magnetization so as to represent a 0 or 1 in binary code. Reducing power consumption by just a factor of 2 would already make MRAM an attractive alternative to dynamic random access memory (DRAM) within data centre applications. In this project, we will use an ultrafast laser measurement technique to first observe the spin wave modes that exist within antiferromagnetic thin films that may be the order of 10 atomic diameters in thickness. This will be a major achievement since ultrathin films can behave very differently to bulk crystals, and methods for observing their spin waves have yet to be demonstrated. Once we have this information, we will then be able to design multi-layered stacks in which to observe the propagation and amplification of spin currents. Specifically, we will use a time resolved x-ray measurement technique at a synchrotron source that we have already developed and demonstrated. Finally, we will explore how the stacks can be optimised so that they can be used in practical applications such as MRAM.

With the Kigali Amendment coming into force in 2019, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer has entered a major new phase in which the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) will be controlled in most major economies. This landmark achievement will enhance the Protocol's already-substantial benefits to climate, in addition to its success in protecting the ozone layer. However, recent scientific advances have shown that challenges lie ahead for the Montreal Protocol, due to the newly discovered production of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) thought to be phased-out, rapid growth of ozone-depleting compounds not controlled under the Protocol, and the potential for damaging impacts of halocarbon degradation products. This proposal tackles the most urgent scientific questions surrounding these challenges by combining state-of-the-art techniques in atmospheric measurements, laboratory experiments and advanced numerical modelling. We will: 1) significantly expand atmospheric measurement coverage to better understand the global distribution of halocarbon emissions and to identify previously unknown atmospheric trends, 2) combine industry models and atmospheric data to improve our understanding of the relationship between production (the quantity controlled under the Protocol), "banks" of halocarbons stored in buildings and products, and emissions to the atmosphere, 3) determine recent and likely future trends of unregulated, short-lived halocarbons, and implications for the timescale of recovery of the ozone layer, 4) explore the complex atmospheric chemistry of the newest generation of halocarbons and determine whether breakdown products have the potential to contribute to climate change or lead to unforeseen negative environmental consequences, 5) better quantify the influence of halocarbons on climate and refine the climate- and ozone-depletion-related metrics used to compare the effects of halocarbons in international agreements and in the design of possible mitigation strategies. This work will be carried out by a consortium of leaders in the field of halocarbon research, who have an extensive track record of contributing to Montreal Protocol bodies and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ensuring lasting impact of the new developments that will be made.