The terahertz (THz) frequency region within the electromagnetic spectrum, covers a frequency range of about one hundred times that currently occupied by all radio, television, cellular radio, Wi-Fi, radar and other users and has proven and potential applications ranging from molecular spectroscopy through to communications, high resolution imaging (e.g. in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors) and security screening. Yet, the underpinning technology for the generation and detection of radiation in this spectral range remains severely limited, being based principally on Ti:sapphire (femtosecond) pulsed laser and photoconductive detector technology, the THz equivalent of the spark transmitter and coherer receiver for radio signals. The THz frequency range therefore does not benefit from the coherent techniques routinely used at microwave/optical frequencies. Our programme grant will address this. We have recently demonstrated optical communications technology-based techniques for the generation of high spectral purity continuous wave THz signals at UCL, together with state-of-the-art THz quantum cascade laser (QCL) technology at Cambridge/Leeds. We will bring together these internationally-leading researchers to create coherent systems across the entire THz spectrum. These will be exploited both for fundamental science (e.g. the study of nanostructured and mesoscopic electron systems) and for applications including short-range high-data-rate wireless communications, information processing, materials detection and high resolution imaging in three dimensions.

From Marconi's first transatlantic wireless transmission through Sir Henry Tizard's radar to modern cellular communications, the rapid advance of applied electromagnetics during the 20th century has changed our world. Now, in the 21st century, a new revolution in exploiting electromagnetism (EM) is emerging; one that brings together two recent developments: spatial transformations and the design and fabrication of novel electromagnetic materials. The idea of spatial transformations (ST) is to provide entirely fresh solutions to the distribution of the spatial arrangement of materials so as to enable new ways to manipulate the emission, propagation and absorption of EM radiation. This goes far beyond what can be accomplished with traditional materials in the form of lenses and mirrors, requiring both conventional materials and also those with properties that do not exist in nature (i.e., metamaterials). ST are at the heart of exciting ideas such as invisibility cloaking and optical illusion. To make the required exotic materials in large quantities, modern fabrication techniques will be needed, including the use of nano-composites and graded-index coatings. The material palette can be further widened by the inclusion of active metamaterials and superconducting dielectric composites. As an example of the type of application one may envisage, there is an increasing demand for wireless communications anywhere and at any time. However, many environments such as offices and crowded shopping centres contain obstacles and scatterers that lead to signals being 'confused'. Signals either reach places they ideally should not, or worse, are not accessible where they are required. Current methods try to deal with these problems by additional signal processing of the received signals, but this can only be seen as an interim fix. A more resilient solution would be to modify the local EM environment so as to ensure quality reception at any given location by, for example, making certain obstacles or scatterers 'invisible'. Materials and devices based upon the concept of STs offer the exciting prospect of warping electromagnetic space so as to overcome problems due to obstacles and scatterers. Such applications are at the heart of the QUEST project. We will build and demonstrate several devices in collaboration with defence, aerospace and communication stakeholders in the areas of healthcare, security, energy and the digital economy. QUEST solutions will place the UK in a leading position in this exciting area, pushing the conceptual boundaries whilst at the same time exploring the practical problems of design and manufacturability.The Programme Grant will bring together a new grouping of leading UK experimentalists and theorists from physics, materials science and electronic engineering to work together on the exciting opportunities and challenges emerging in the area of spatial transformations (STs) and electromagnetism (EM). The potential of the underlying ST approaches however have much wider applicability than cloaking alone, in arguably more important applications that span communications, energy transfer, sensors and security. However, theory and concepts are outstripping practical demonstration and testing, leading to a mismatch in what may be theorised and computed and what can be realised for impact in society and commerce. We contend that the timing is now ideal for UK theorists, modellers, manufacturers and engineers to work together to maintain the UK strength in this field, with a clear focus on the reduction to practice and demonstration of potentially radical new concepts and devices.

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

In this proposal we will design, fabricate and employ a novel multiple materials additive manufacturing (MMAM) equipment to enable us to make optical fibre preforms (both in conventional and microstructured fibre geometries) in silica and other host glass materials. In existing low-loss fibre preform fabrication methods, based on either chemical vapour deposition technique for conventional solid index guiding fibres or 'stack and draw' process for micro-structured fibre, it is very difficult to control composition in 3D. Our proposed MMAM can be utilised to produce complex preforms, which is otherwise too difficult or time consuming or currently impossible to achieve by the existing fabrication techniques. This will open up a route to manufacture novel fibre structures in silica and other glasses for a wide range of applications, covering from telecommunications, sensing, lab-in-a-fibre, metamaterial fibre, to high-power laser, and subsequently we are expected to gain significant economic growth in the future.

AI holds great promise in addressing several grand societal challenges, including the development of a smarter, cleaner electricity grid, the seamless provision of convenient on-demand mobility services, and the ability to protect citizens through advice and informed deployment of medical, emergency and police resources to fight epidemics, deal with crises and prevent crime. However, these promises can only be realised if citizens trust AI systems. In this fellowship, I will develop the fundamental science needed to build trusted citizen-centric AI systems. These AI systems will put citizens at their heart, rather than view them as passive providers of data. They will make decisions that maximise the benefit for citizens, given their individual constraints and preferences. They will use incentives where appropriate to encourage positive behaviour change, but they will also be robust to strategic manipulation, in order to prevent individuals from exploiting the system at the expense of others. Importantly, citizen-centric AI systems will involve citizens and other stakeholders in a feedback loop that enables them to audit decisions and modify the system's behaviour to ensure that effective but also ethical decisions are taken. Achieving this vision of citizen-centric AI systems requires several novel advances in the area of artificial intelligence. First, to safeguard the privacy of individuals, new approaches to understanding the constraints and preferences of citizens are needed. These approaches will be distributed in nature - that is, they will not depend on collecting detailed data from individuals, but will allow citizens to manage and retain their own data. To achieve this, I will develop intelligent software agents that act on behalf of each citizen, that store personal data locally and only communicate limited information to others when necessary. Second, to incentivise positive behaviour modifications and to discourage exploitation, I will draw on the field of mechanism design to model how self-interested decision-makers behave in strategic settings and how their actions can be modified through appropriate incentives. A particular challenge will be to deal with limited information, uncertainty about preferences and a constantly changing environment that necessitates incentives to be dynamically adapted via appropriate learning mechanisms. Finally, to enable an inclusive feedback loop involving citizens and other stakeholders, new interaction mechanisms are needed that can provide explanations for actions as well as information about whether the system is making fair decisions. While there is a wealth of emerging work on explainability and fairness in AI, this typically deals with simple one-shot problems. In contrast, I will consider more realistic and complex sequential settings, where actions have long-term consequences (including on fairness) that may not be immediately apparent. As part of the fellowship, I will work with a range of partners to put the research into practice and generate real impact. With EA Technology and the Energy Systems Catapult, I will work on incentive-aware smart charging mechanisms for electric vehicles. With Dstl and UTU Technologies, I will develop disaster response applications that use crowdsourced intelligence from citizens to provide situational awareness, track the spread of infectious diseases or issue guidance to citizens. With Siemens, Jaguar Land Rover, Thales and the Connected Places Catapult, I will develop new approaches for trusted on-demand mobility. With Fawley Waterside, I will work on citizen-centric solutions to smart energy and transportation in the Southampton area. With Dstl and Thales, I will explore further applications to national security and policing. Finally, with IBM Research, I will develop new explainability and fairness tools, and integrate these with their existing open source frameworks (AI Fairness 360 and AI Explainability 360).