The proposal seeks funds to renew and refresh the Centre for Doctoral Training in Formulation Engineering based in Chemical Engineering at Birmingham. The Centre was first funded by EPSRC in 2001, and was renewed in 2008. In 2011, on its 10th anniversary, the Centre received one of the Diamond Jubilee Queen's Anniversary Prizes, for 'new technologies and leadership in formulation engineering in support of UK manufacturing'. The scheme is an Engineeering Doctoral Centre; students are embedded in their sponsoring company and carry out industry-focused research. Formulation Engineering is the study of the manufacture of products that are structured at the micro-scale, and whose properties depend on this structure. In this it differs from conventional chemical engineering. Examples include foods, home and personal care products, catalysts, ceramics and agrichemicals. In all of these material formulation and microstructure control the physical and chemical properties that are essential to its function. The structure determines how molecules are delivered or perceived - for example, in foods delivery is of flavour molecules to the mouth and nose, and of nutritional benefit to the GI tract, whilst in home and personal care delivery is to skin or to clothes to be cleaned, and in catalysis it is delivery of molecules to and from the active site. Different industry sectors are thus underpinned by the same engineering science. We have built partnerships with a series of companies each of whom is world-class in its own field, such as P&G, Kraft/Mondelez, Unilever, Johnson Matthey, Imerys, Pepsico and Rolls Royce, each of which has written letters of support that confirm the value of the programme and that they will continue to support the EngD. Research Engineers work within their sponsoring companies and return to the University for training courses that develop the concepts of formulation engineering as well as teaching personal and management skills; a three day conference is held every year at which staff from the different companies interact and hear presentations on all of the projects. Outputs from the Centre have been published in high-impact journals and conferences, IP agreements are in place with each sponsoring company to ensure both commercial confidentiality and that key aspects of the work are published. Currently there are 50 ongoing projects, and of the Centre's graduates, all are employed and more than 85% have found employment in formulation companies. EPSRC funds are requested to support 8 projects/year for 5 years, together with the salary of the Deputy Director who works to link the University, the sponsors and the researchers and is critical to ensure that the projects run efficiently and the cohorts interact well. Two projects/year will be funded by the University (which will also support a lecturer, total >£1 million over the life of the programme) and through other sources such as the 1851 Exhibition fund, which is currently funding 3 projects. EPSRC funding will leverage at least £3 million of direct industry contributions and £8 million of in-kind support, as noted in the supporting letters. EPSRC funding of £4,155,480 will enable a programme with total costs of more than £17 million to operate, an EPSRC contribution of 24% to the whole programme.

The overarching objective of FOODENGINE is to provide, for the first time, a research-based training programme to a new generation of young food scientists and technologists by introducing an enginomics approach in food quality design. It connects an omics approach to instrumentally quantify food quality with an advanced engineering approach using multi-response kinetics to model food quality changes during processing and storage. At the same time, FOODENGINE will develop models linking the enginomics-based instrumental food quality design with sensory properties, consumer acceptability and consumer preferences to create new products appealing to consumers. FOODENGINE provides unique interdisciplinary, international and intersectoral training opportunities to 13 ESRs, each for 36 months. This extensive international (5 countries), intersectoral (2 universities, 1 research institute and 6 food (ingredient) companies) and interdisciplinary (food engineering, food chemistry, food nutrition and sensory/consumer research) training should lead for all ESRs to a PhD degree. FOODENGINE will boost the career perspectives of the FOODENGINE fellows to the top level. In addition, it has the ambition to become a best-practise example for structuring PhD research training in food science and technology at the European level. Although FOODENGINE specifically focusses on sustainable commodities which are essential parts of a healthy lifestyle (fruit-, vegetable-, legume-based food ingredients and foods), the skills and new ways of thinking the fellows will acquire are generic and can be extrapolated beyond the specific application area (diverse range of food systems or food processes) in their future careers.

The SWEET project has been designed to i) identify and address the barriers and facilitators to the use of sweeteners and sweetness enhancers (S&SEs) and ii) examine the risks and benefits of using S&SEs to replace sugar in the diet in the contexts of health, obesity, safety and sustainability. Industry experts will integrate technological, health and sweetness databases to provide a platform on which new and emerging S&SEs can be selected for inclusion in food products. The behavioural and physiological impact of specific S&SEs will be examined in acute and repeated dosing studies and natural population differences (by age, region, gender etc) in sweetness perception established. A sensory profile will be developed and genetic determinants assessed. The core randomised controlled trial will adopt a whole diet approach to examine the impact of prolonged sugar replacement on weight control, appetite and energy intake. Underlying mechanistic effects of S&SE use, alone and in combination, will be evaluated using the technology platform developed in acute studies. Outcomes relating to safety and overall health risks will be i) measured in acute and chronic studies and ii) investigated in secondary data (long term interventions, prospective cohorts). The preferences for and perceptions of S&SEs within European consumers, and the barriers to their acceptance, consumption and use will be determined. The environmental cost and sustainability of replacing sugar with S&SEs will also be modelled. Consumers will be engaged to inform research design, and stakeholder driven exploitation and impact plans will be developed to communicate and disseminate project objectives and results to i) address the role of sweeteners in weight control for target audiences (consumers, health professions, scientists, policy makers, regulators) and ii) move effective products nearer to market. A gender action plan will be developed and implemented to promote equity across all research activities.

Food and environmental transitions are worldwide major challenges as illustrated by the Farm to Fork Strategy, at the heart of the EU Green Deal, and by the United Nations Development Goals. Sustainable and healthy food requires an urgent shift from a diet rich in animal-based ingredients towards a diet enriched in plant-based ingredients. This is the challenge behind the Edible Soft Matter (ESM) project. Soft matter science has been tremendously successful in tackling complex problems involving multicomponent materials with a wide range of length and time scales and is now recognised as providing unique perspectives to understand the complexity of foods and to design new foods. ESM objective is to train and develop the employability of a new generation of eighteen young researchers, regulators, consultants and project leaders by providing them with a unique expertise in the design, production and quality assessment of innovative plant-based food products. The ESM Doctoral Candidates (DCs) will benefit from an international, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral training through research in basic and applied soft matter and food sciences. Through their Individual Research Projects and the network-wide training activities, characterised by a strong involvement of the non-academic partners, they will develop the hard and soft skills needed to face the current challenges related to food and environmental transitions. The consortium includes eleven Beneficiaries (including three from the non-academic sector) from seven countries and eleven Associated Partners (including four from the non-academic sector), with worldwide recognised and complementary expertise in food and soft matter sciences. All DCs will be exposed to both academic and non-academic working environments. ESM objectives are timely and the ESM unique training programme holds a great promise for the advancement of the DCs careers as well as for scientifically, technologically and socially relevant outputs.