Keywords: membrane-based sensor; membrane permeability and damage; cross-validation/demonstration; technical development; staff exchange; project workshop This project can be divided into the following four categories of activity with the ultimate aim of transferring an interesting and unique technology to appropriate end users;SEAC, Unilever and ALcontrol Ltd and co-workers; IBMT, Fraunhofer:- (i) Cross-validation/demonstration. The University of Leeds has developed a unique and elegant biosensor which is sensitive to compounds and particles which damage and/or are permeable in biological membranes a property defined as biomembrane activity. The aim of this task therefore is to evaluate exactly how the Leeds biosensor assay compares with those currently employed by the end users in achieving the same or similar functions. This activity will provide a clear definition of the respective advantages and disadvantages of both the Leeds and the end users' techniques. This is necessary since although the Leeds biosensor is at prototype stage, it is essential that its performance is compared with other systems in their detection of the biomembrane activity of a common group of compounds. Particular attention will be paid to the similarity and differences in the parameters being measured by each technique. The outcome of this activity is, (a) to enable end users to determine whether it is advantageous to add this technology to their measuring systems and, (b) to enable Leeds to adapt their technology to specified applications. The impact is an increasing confidence in and acceptance by the user community of the capabilities of the Leeds device. 2. Technical development. The technical development will take the Leeds biosensor from the prototype stage to a routine sensing device which can be operated by skilled technicians. This improvement will include streamlining the data analysis and extending the device from one module to three or more modules which will will enable it be used in a high-throughput automated configuration. The outcome of this activity therefore is to transform the Leeds biosensor system from a lab prototype into one which can be used by skilled technicians in the end user laboratories in a form which is specified by them. The impact is an increasingly robust biosensing device where a perceived risk in its application has been decreased allowing a more ready take up by end users. 3. Exchanges and placements. This objective will allow (a) end user scientists to operate and become completely familiar with, the Leeds biosensor and (b) scientists from Leeds to fully evaluate the end-users' methods and requirements in order to assess exactly how the end user technology fits in with the Leeds biosensor technology. The outcome of this activity is to transfer the Leeds technology to end users as a complimentary system to their own. Currently the Leeds biosensor has not been adopted by an end user. This objective will enable the Leeds biosensor to have a direct user application which not only expands the user's facility but also validates and consolidates the Leeds biosensor's applicability. The impact is a transfer of the technology to the end user. 4. Facilitated dissemination. This objective will enable the Leeds scientists to communicate the project progress to the end users and for the end users to comment on the deliverables. An end of project workshop will be held where the project's final report will be presented. The open nature of the workshop with outside participants will ensure other potential end users can assess Nelson's technology with increasing confidence and judge whether it is suitable for their needs so expanding its remit. The outcome and impact of this activity is to facilitate further knowledge transfer of the Leeds technology and its take up by other commercial users in additional to SEAC and ALcontrol.

There is a continuing need for high-throughput assays of multiple substances at particular levels of biological organisation, the so-called omics methods. Microarrays have been widely used for transcriptomics, and occasionally for proteomics (protein microarrays). In the latter case it is necessary to select an antibody or equivalent binding agent for each target. We here propose to develop a novel strategy that can cut the development of selective binding agents by orders of magnitude, and will apply it to a variety of target determinands.

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.

Work at Warwick has demonstrated that river sediment bed-form, such as particle courseness and ripple height, has a major influence on the behaviour of tracers, but the implications for the fate of chemical pollutants remain to be elucidated. Furthermore, in many developing countries, untreated waste water is routinely discharged directly into surface water, and is associated with high levels of suspended solids and biochemical oxygen demand. However the implications of direct discharge conditions for the biodegradation of chemical pollutants is not known. The student will work with microbiologists, civil engineers and environmental modellers to elucidate the effect of bed-form characteristics on the diversity and pollutant degrading potential of microbial communities inhabiting biofilms at the sediment surface, and the way in which direct discharge scenarios affect interactions between bed-form, microbial community composition and pollutant biodegradation rates. The following hypotheses will be tested: 1. Chemical pollutant distribution patterns within river sediment are determined by bed-form 2. Bed-form controls microbial community structure and diversity 3. Bed-form affects the development of catabolic communities and biodegradation rates 4. Direct discharge conditions affect establishment of river-bed microbial communities and biodegradation processes Following the experimental phase of the work the student will spend six months at Unilever to develop approaches to incorporate the results into general exposure modelling frameworks for developed and developing countries. The studentship provides inter-disciplinary training in microbiology, molecular biology, environmental hydraulics and modelling. The industrial partner will provide funding to enable establishment of micro-flume experimental systems and the use of cutting edge techniques, including high throughput sequencing to assess microbial diversity. Furthermore funds will be made available for the student to attend regular national and international conferences and to spend 6 months at Unilever for training in exposure modelling and environmental risk assessment.

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.