Quantum Materials represent a frontier research endeavour. The strong interactions at the heart of their exotic physical properties has made understanding, let alone predicting, their materials properties one of the most profound challenges of modern-day solid state physics and materials chemistry. This problem is not just an intellectual curiosity, however; harnessing control over the collective states that these systems can host, such as superconductivity, metal-insulator transitions, and magnetic orderings, could open new routes to designing fast, energy-efficient, and smart multifunctional technologies, operating using completely different design principles to the Silicon-based logic of today. To progress towards an improved fundamental understanding, and thereby ultimate exploitation, of these systems requires controlled, new, experimental approaches. Here, we propose to develop new capabilities for applying large, reversible, and continuously-tuneable uniaxial pressures in conjunction with angle-resolved photoemission experiments. This promises novel insight into how the electronic structures and many-body interactions of quantum materials evolve when subjected to a particularly clean tuning parameter, which is of fundamental importance to further our understanding of the quantum many-body problem in solids. To this end, we will focus on two key materials systems, the metallic transition-metal dichalcogenides and the layered ruthenate oxides. These are each of enormous current interest in their own right, as potential hosts of topological excitations, as new 2D materials candidates, and as unconventional magnets, and are chosen here to provide important complementary insights into the nature of phase competition, electron-lattice interactions, and strong electronic correlations in solids.

The burning of fossil fuels is releasing vast quantities of extra carbon dioxide to the Earth's atmosphere. Much of this stays in the atmosphere, raising CO2 levels, but much also leaves the atmosphere after a time, either to become sequestered in trees and plants, or else to become absorbed in the oceans. CO2 staying in the atmosphere is a greenhouse gas, causing global warming; CO2 entering the sea makes it more acidic, and the ongoing acidification of seawater is seen in observational records at various sites where time-series data are collected. The changing chemistry of seawater due to ocean acidification is mostly well understood and not subject to debate. What is much less well known is the impact that the changing chemistry will have on marine organisms and ecosystems, on biogeochemical cycling in the sea, and on how the sea interacts with the atmosphere to influence climate. We will look to investigate these questions in terms of how the surface waters of the world's oceans, and the life within, will respond to ocean acidification. Most of what we know about biological impacts, and the source of the current concern about the impact on marine life, comes from experimental studies in which individual organisms (e.g. single corals) or mono-specific populations (e.g. plankton cultures) have been subjected to elevated CO2 (and the associated lower pH) in laboratory experiments. These laboratory experiments have the advantage of being performed under controlled conditions in which everything can be kept constant except for changes to CO2. So if a response is observed, then the cause is clear. However, there are also limitations to laboratory studies. For instance, organisms have no time to adapt evolutionarily, and there is no possibility of shifts in species composition away from more sensitive forms towards more acid-tolerant forms, as might be expected to occur in nature. Another shortcoming is the absence of food-web complexity in most experiments, and therefore the absence of competition, predation, and other interactions that determine the viability of organisms in the natural environment. We seek to advance the study of ocean acidification by collecting more observations of naturally-occurring ecosystems in places where the chemistry of seawater is naturally more acidic, and/or where it naturally holds more carbon,as well as locations which are not so acidic, and/or hold more usual amounts of carbon. By contrasting the two sets of observations, we will gain an improved understanding of how acidification affects organisms living in their natural environment, after assemblage reassortments and evolutionary adaptation have had time to play out. Most of the planned work will be carried out on 3 cruises to places with strong gradients in seawater carbon and pH: to the Arctic Ocean, around the British Isles, and to the Southern Ocean. As well a making observations we will also conduct a large number of experiments, in which we will bring volumes of natural seawater from the ocean surface into containers on the deck of the ship, together with whatever life is contained within, and there subject them to higher CO2 and other stressors. We will monitor the changes that take place to these natural plankton communities (including to biogeochemical and climate-related processes) as the seawater is made more acidic. A major strength of such studies is the inclusion of natural environmental variability and complexity that is difficult or impossible to capture in laboratory experiments. Thus, the responses measured during these experiments on the naturally-occurring community may represent more accurately the future response of the surface ocean to ocean acidification. In order to carry out this experimental/observational work programme we have assembled a strong UK-wide team with an extensive track record of successfully carrying out sea-going scientificresearch projects of this type.

Increasingly, aerospace systems such as airplane engines have a substantial computer software component. Building such software is challenging, because the software must interact with mechanical devices , like sensors on an airplane wing, and with computer hardware. Moreover, this software must be reliable, robust, and above all, safe, i.e., it must be certified as acceptably safe for use. In building such software, engineers typically rely on ad-hoc design methods for control systems. These methods usually start with an abstract description of a proposed solution, expressed in several different styles: operational (describing steps to be taken) and declarative (describing properties that the software should possess). These descriptions are then step-by-step refined into executable programs.The aim of this project is to put this ad-hoc design method on to a formal footing, via the introduction of a new concept called a refinement pattern. A refinement pattern effectively captures the step-by-step refinements that engineers carry out in practice. We will provide formal, mathematical foundations for refinement patterns and for reasoning about refinements. We also intend to support this method by developing novel and specialised tools, including a specialised model checker, that integrate with the widely used Matlab/Stateflow design tool. This will help engineers produce more reliable, more robust aerospace systems by building on their established practices.

The unique research capability of the Global Hawk, with ultra-long flights possible in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, provides a major new opportunity to advance atmospheric science. In response to the NERC/STFC/NASA collaborative initiative, we have assembled an experienced UK team that proposes to execute a research programme covering fundamental science and technology development, which, by working with the Global Hawk, will radically enhance our future research capabilities. The Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL) is a crucial region for chemistry/climate interactions. Building on work we have already done in this area , we will collaborate with NASA's ATTREX programme to study the TTL over the Pacific Ocean and South East Asia, with new measurements and analysis. We will address fundamental questions related to atmospheric composition, radiation and transport. The TTL controls the transport of water vapour, the crucial radiative gas, into the stratosphere; we will advance understanding of the role of sub-visible cirrus in water vapour processes. The TTL is also the main route by which very short-lived halogen species, which represent a large uncertainty in future stratospheric ozone evolution, enter the stratosphere. We will improve knowledge of the budgets of these gases and of their chemical transformation and transport through the TTL, including the role of convective transport into the TTL and the subsequent routes for transport from the TTL to the lower stratosphere. Improving representation of these processes in global chemistry/climate models is a key aim. In order to study these processes, The FAAM BAe-146 will be deployed in Guam in Jan/Feb 2014. It will fly coordinated flights with the Global Hawk which will make measurements in the same period in the TTL over the West Pacific. Detailed involvement in all phases of the collaborative missions with ATTREX will enhance the UK potential for future research using the Global Hawk, including advanced capability in mission planning and methodologies for complex, real-time data analysis. The aircraft measurements will be interpreted in conjunction with ground-based and balloon-based measurements of very short-lived halogen species and ozone, using a complementary group of regional high resolution models, global composition models and a global cirrus model. We will develop and test two new instruments and new software for the payload/mission-scientist interface, which are ideally suited for the capabilities of the Global Hawk. One new instrument will allow quantification in the TTL of the important physical properties of sub- and super-micron sized particles, allowing new information about clouds and radiation. We will develop a new short-wave IR spectrometer to measure greenhouse (CO2, CH4, and H2O) and other (CO) gases in the lower atmosphere by remote sensing, taking advantage of the very long flights in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Both instruments will be flight-tested in CAST. As well as addressing the specifics of this call, CAST addresses the central vision of the Technology theme: "to engage scientists, technologists, computer specialists and engineers working both within the NERC community and outside it, identifying that in many cases it will only be through developing new partnerships that the most challenging innovations in technology can be enabled" (http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/themes/tap/documents/tap-technologies-2009.pdf). CAST brings new technology expertise in machine learning into the NERC community and strengthens the links between NERC scientists and the technology groups at Hertfordshire and the Astronomy Technology Centre.

Oxygen is critical to the health of all higher life. In the oceans dissolved oxygen concentrations have declined by 2% since 1960, and are expected to continue to decline into the future in relation to man-made climate change. Future deoxygenation, along with overfishing, threatens the sustainability of economically important fisheries and marine ecosystems and will impact global biogeochemical cycles. It is therefore crucial that we obtain a well-informed view about what the future may hold. Current model simulations that predict the future carry considerable uncertainties; they do not all agree and grossly underestimate the document decrease of the last 50 years. This suggests the models are missing key interactions, calling for urgent action and a dedicated and inclusive scientific approach. FARGO provides such an approach by addressing why, and to what extent, seawater dissolved oxygen concentrations may change in a warming world. FARGO will study dissolved oxygen concentrations in the Pacific Ocean, the largest low-oxic water body in the current ocean, through an innovative and dedicated research programme incorporating a novel multi-proxy approach feeding IPCC-type climate model simulations across key warm time intervals: i- warmer climates across the closure of the American sea-way (4-15 million years); ii- warmer climates as future analogue (mid-Pliocene Warm Period, 3.3 to 3 million years ago); iii- Pleistocene warm intervals (interglacials of the last ca. 800,000 years). FARGO is structured into two phases: Phase I (years 1-4), and Phase II (years 5-7). The focus of the first four years is analytical, to advance method development and reconstruct time-series of oxygen concentrations and associated processes that drive changes (seawater warming, stratification, productivity, ventilation). The material FARGO will use to create these time-series involves the shells of microorganisms called foraminifera. Some species float near the ocean surface, called planktonic foraminifera, and can be used to assess the presence of subsurface oxygen minimum zones, seawater temperatures, etc. Species that live on or in sediments at the bottom of the ocean are termed benthic foraminifera and can be used to reconstruct bottom water oxygen concentrations and ventilation. FARGO will use sediments from the International Ocean Discovery Program to determine if there have been changes in the natural extent and intensity of the shallow Pacific Ocean OMZ oxygen minimum, or 'dead', zones (e.g. areas where oxygen levels are too low to support aerobic life), during the key warm intervals. The original time-series will feed the IPCC-type climate model simulations and provide robust tests to investigate if the simulations are realistic and correct for the specific time periods, and identify routes to improve the model simulations. Utilizing these improvements, FARGO will carry out simulations for future, including 1.5 and 2 degree warming scenarios. To raise awareness of ocean deoxygenation FARGO plans several bespoke impact and engagement activities aimed at scientific peers, policy makers, and the general public. To slow/reduce deoxygenation and protect our marine environment FARGO plans to work with government (Scottish and UK) to develop regional legislation to manage nutrient inputs from aquaculture and agriculture of UK waters.