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.

Background Measuring and monitoring faunal biodiversity across large scales is a challenge, especially for the smaller sized taxa such as invertebrates, and those active below-ground. A growing trend in ecology is to use the sounds of an area to non-invasively monitor species: providing information regarding spatial and temporal distribution of biodiversity, abundance, and the richness and composition of the community. Metrics (e.g. acoustic complexity) can quantify the sounds present and link these to diversity of the ecosystem. This technique is becoming standard in aquatic and above-ground temperate systems focussed on fish, bats, birds and anurans, but is yet to be explored fully below-ground and for invertebrates. Working along disturbance gradients (principally grazing pressure) and across savanna habitats, this project seeks to advance the field of bio-acoustics by determining the potential of this sampling approach for quantifying invertebrate diversity both above and below-ground. Novelty and Timeliness Whilst a few sensors have been used to explore biotic signals in soil, none offer a reliable, cost-effective solution; a road-block in the current utility of acoustics for ground monitoring. This project will develop soil sensors and use AI-driven data processing offering the potential to develop a novel and widely applicable technology to aid conservation and biodiversity understanding. Objectives 1. Explore the potential of above and below-ground terrestrial bioacoustics sampling and biodiversity quantification. 2. Determine if acoustic diversity indices can reflect true diversity by comparing biodiversity data from acoustic recording units, with that from field sampling and eDNA. 3. Determine to what extent differences in savanna habitats can be detected with bioacoustics biodiversity measures. Based in the savanna landscapes surrounding Mount Kenya, the PhD student will work closely with the project CASE partner, Natural State (www.naturalstate.org), to refine the research questions and develop the field sampling design. Natural State will provide in-country support. A growing trend in ecology and conservation is the use of sounds or vibrations to monitor biodiversity. This promising non-invasive monitoring method has a wide range of benefits; it can provide data regarding animal abundance, diversity, and spatial distribution of communities. Whilst ecoacoustics is now commonly used to assess aquatic and above-ground terrestrial taxa (e.g., fish, bats, birds, and anurans), few studies have applied the technique to below-ground systems or invertebrates. Typically, below-ground invertebrate sampling is conducted using traditional fieldwork techniques. Whilst proven to be successful, these methods are often time consuming, expensive, and cause disturbance to soils. This project aims to develop ecoacoustic monitoring to quantify above- and below-ground invertebrates. More specifically our objectives are: (1) explore the potential of above- and below-ground terrestrial ecoacoustic monitoring using a cost-effective sensor; (2) determine if ecoacoustic indices can reflect true abundance and diversity by comparing ecoacoustic data to traditional field sampling; and (3) determine the potential of using ecoacoustics to map invertebrate abundance and diversity in savanna habitats. We will collaborate with the project CASE partner, Natural State in Mount Kenya to conduct our fieldwork in savanna habitats. This will allow us to work along disturbance gradients (e.g., grazing pressure), assess the relationship between carbon storage and invertebrate biodiversity, and explore the impact of savanna habitat restoration on invertebrates. This research aims to support conservation efforts of invertebrates, and quantify the potential effects of disturbance, carbon storage and savanna restoration projects on these functionally important taxa.

The community asset 'market' causes problems to the three main stakeholders. First, an insufficient supply to meet the demand for space from social enterprise. Second, anchor institutions committed to asset transfer find the current process inefficient and high risk. This is because many social enterprises have what is regarded as a weak balance sheet history. For the same reason, social investors who are keen on seeking social impact from their investments, are concerned with the means of investing into individual social enterprises. We propose a solution to these problems. We aim to broker asset transfer, significantly reducing the risk of transfer and investment. We will use detailed local knowledge to provide assets of an appropriate size and location, co-designed with social enterprises, ensuring development fits the resources available. The community asset holding company will generate revenue through rental income for assets and services needed by social enterprise, developed on the expertise of the partner Kindred-LCR. We assist the social enterprise in building its balance sheet and ensure the asset as security for future development. Our 2017 research identified two areas that prevented growth in the social enterprise sector in Liverpool City Region. First was the adequate provision of appropriate social finance and second, was the supply of commercial and community space. This research was developed in 2019 and again in 2021 with further insights showing how growth and financial sustainability could be achieved amongst social enterprise. In 2023 we looked specifically at asset ownership and outlined a blueprint for successful community asset transfer. Our research has shown that 53% of social enterprises are in communities defined as the most deprived, including the hardest to reach groups in migrant and BAME communities. We demonstrate that if £32m of assets were made available to city region social enterprises, from the £8bn worth held by anchor institutions in the city region, then up to £100m of extra income and 2,750 additional jobs could be created. By holding the asset, the company will provide a more effective use of currently under-utilised assets, and commensurate generation of significant social impact. The company will negotiate a transfer of assets for below-market, and where possible nominal, values. The company will charge affordable rents (for the new space) to social enterprises and provide business services that closely match their needs. This will ensure rental income is stable and voids are minimised. Demand for property from social enterprises provides a market to enable fixed costs to be spread across multiple properties, revenues to be generated from a range of different property types and tenures, and scope for significant economies of scale to be realised by the company. As a not-for-profit organisation, any surpluses will be reinvested for the benefit of LCR's social enterprises with no distribution of dividends to external shareholders. The company will operate sustainably, while investors providing loans to the company will achieve stable income from a sizeable asset-backed organisation and significant social impact.

Since the prediction of its existence in 1968 by Sheldon Glashow, Steven Weinberg, and Abdus Salam, the W boson has been one of the most important areas of particle physics research for several reasons. First, the decays of the W boson are a great test for lepton flavour universality through its decays to lepton-antineutrino pairs (or antilepton-neutrino pairs). Another area of investigation around the W boson is linked to its hadronic decays, as these are dependent on both the strong coupling constant and the top two rows of the CKM matrix. More recently, the measurement of the W boson mass made by the CDF collaboration has caused a great deal more interest in this area as the measurement of 80,433 9 MeV lies far outside the current accepted world average from PDG of 80,379 12 MeV. With a deviation of over 7 from the world average it is clear to see the importance of obtaining further measurements of the W mass to determine if this value from CDF is credible, which, if it were the case, would allude to, and be concrete evidence for, effects from beyond standard model physics. As such, this investigation will take advantage of the latest data from RUN 3 of the LHC at s = 13.6 TeV using the ATLAS detector to conduct a precision measurement of the W boson mass.

Background and novelty Longevity, fertility and vector competence are central factors in the geographic range of mosquitoes and the epidemiology of the viruses they transmit. Typically, these traits are studied either in highly controlled laboratory conditions, or observed more loosely in field settings without experimentation. In Drosophila, males are often sterilised by temperatures several degrees lower than their lethal limit, resulting in environment-induced restriction of their geographic range. Conversely, in Culicoides biting midges, heatwaves increase competence for viruses. If present in mosquitoes, these would have contrasting effects on the ranges of vector and virus. Objectives In this project, the student will combine field collection and laboratory experimentation to understand the effect of natural heat waves on two native UK species: Culex pipiens pipiens, and Ochlerotatus detritus. 1) In the lab, the student will administer UK-heatwave representative thermal-shocks to colony Culex mosquitoes and assess the effects on mortality and fertility, to enable estimation of thermal tolerance. 2) Using these results, sub-lethal (heatwave representative) temperatures will be administered to colony mosquitoes. Mosquitoes will then be challenged with Usutu virus, to investigate environmentally induced vector competence. 3) Wild Culex pipiens pipiens, and Ochlerotatus detritus immatures will be collected from field sites after heatwaves. Resultant adults will be assessed for fertility, mortality and challenged with Usutu virus. 4) During experimental downtime, the student will be trained in climate modelling and use their experimental results to model the thermal range, geographic limitations, and virus transmission of these two species in the UK, both now and under future climate scenarios. Timeliness As a direct consequence of climate change, the habitable range for mosquitoes is currently changing rapidly. Mosquitoes are disappearing from some tropical regions where temperatures are increasing and rainfall reducing. Conversely, temperature mosquitoes are spreading polewards, bringing with them important animal and human viruses. The different environmental conditions they face will determine their new geographic ranges. As a result of climate change, there has been extensive and uneven changes in global temperature, heatwave, humidity, and precipitation patterns leading to the general movement of mosquitoes and their viruses, poleward, away from some tropical regions where temperature is too high and rainfall too low toward more temperate climates. For example, in recent years, there has been a spread of zoonotic viruses such as Usutu virus (USUV) throughout mainland Europe, with its detection in the UK occurring in 2020. Previous studies in different insects have shown contrasting effects of heatwaves, e.g., biting midges showing increased transmission of viruses in comparison to male fruit flies that become sterile several degrees below their lethal limit. Similar effects in mosquitoes could have implications on the geographic ranges of vectors, viruses, and who and where is at risk. The aim of this study is to determine which relevant temperature-dependent traits, such as longevity, fertility, and vector competence, are affected by spikes in environmental temperature (heatwaves). I will use the native UK vector species Culex pipiens and Ochlerotatus detritus, both in colony and wild-caught individuals. By administering UK-heatwave representative thermal shocks to colony Culex mosquitoes, temperature effects on mortality and fertility will be determined to estimate thermal tolerance and understand the effect of natural heatwaves. Following the identification of survivable sub-lethal temperatures, mosquitoes will then be challenged with USUV to assess vector competence possibilities induced by the environment. These findings will then be combined with field collected Culex and