Sensors permeate our society, measurement underpins quantitative action and standardized accurate measurements are a foundation of all commerce. The ability to measure parameters and sense phenomena with increasing precision has always led to dramatic advances in science and in technology - for example X-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), interferometry and the scanning-tunneling microscope. Our rapidly growing understanding of how to engineer and control quantum systems vastly expands the limits of measurement and of sensing, opening up opportunities in radically alternative methods to the current state of the art in sensing. Through the developments proposed in this Fellowship, I aim to deliver sensors enhanced by the harnessing of unique quantum mechanical phenomena and principles inspired by insights into quantum physics to develop a series of prototypes with end-users. I plan to provide alternative approaches to the state of the art, to potentially reduce overall cost and dramatically increase capability, to reach new limits of precision measurement and to develop this technology for commercialization. Light is an excellent probe for sensing and measurement. Unique wavelength dependent absorption, and reemission of photons by atoms enable the properties of matter to be measured and the identification of constituent components. Interferometers provide ultra-sensitive measurement of optical path length changes on the nanometer-scale, translating to physical changes in distance, material expansion or sample density for example. However, for any canonical optical sensor, quantum mechanics predicts a fundamental limit of how much noise in such experiment can be suppressed - this is the so-called shot noise and is routinely observed as a noise floor when using a laser, the canonical "clean" source of radiation. By harnessing the quantum properties of light, it is possible reach precision beyond shot noise, enabling a new paradigm of precision sensors to be realized. Such quantum-enhanced sensors can use less light in the optical probe to gain the same level of precision in a conventional optical sensor. This enables, for example: the reduction of detrimental absorption in biological samples that can alter sample properties or damage it; the resolution of weak signals in trace gas detection; reduction of photon pressure in interferometry that can alter the measurement outcome; increase in precision when a limit of optical laser input is reached. Quantum-enhanced techniques are being used by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) scientific collaboration to reach sub-shot noise precision interferometry of gravitational wave detection in kilometer-scale Michelson interferometers (GEO600). However, there is otherwise a distinct lack of practical devices that prove the potential of quantum-enhanced sensing as a disruptive technology for healthcare, precision manufacture, national security and commerce. For quantum-enhanced sensors to become small-scale, portable and therefore practical for an increased range of applications outside of the specialized quantum optics laboratory, it is clear that there is an urgent need to engineer an integrated optics platform, tailored to the needs of quantum-enhanced sensing. Requirements include robustness, miniaturization inherent phase stability and greater efficiency. Lithographic fabrication of much of the platform offers repeatable and affordable manufacture. My Fellowship proposal aims to bring together revolutionary quantum-enhanced sensing capabilities and photonic chip scale architectures. This will enable capabilities beyond the limits of classical physics for: absorbance spectroscopy, lab-on-chip interferometry and process tomography (revealing an unknown quantum process with fewer measurements and fewer probe photons).

Digital technologies and services are shaping our lives. Work, education, finance, health, politics and society are all affected. They also raise concomitant and complex challenges relating to the security of and trust in systems and data. TIPS (Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security) issues thus lie at the heart of our adoption of new technologies and are critical to our economic prosperity and the well-being of our citizens. Identifying and addressing such issues requires a coherent, coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach, with strong stakeholder relationships at the centre. SPRITE+ is a vehicle for communication, engagement, and collaboration for people involved in research, practice, and policy relevant to TIPS in digital contexts. Since launching in 2019, we have established ourselves as the go-to point of contact to engage with the broadest UK network of interdisciplinary, cross-sector digital TIPS experts. The second phase of SPRITE+ ('SPRITE+2') will continue to build our membership, whilst expanding the breadth and depth of our innovation, and deepen our impact through proactive engagement. SPRITE+2 will have the following objectives: 1. Expand our TIPS community, harnessing the expertise and collaborative potential of the national and international TIPS communities 2. Identify and prioritise future TIPS research challenges 3. Explore and develop priority research areas to enhance our collective understanding of future global TIPS challenges 4. Stimulate innovative research through sandpits, industry led calls, and horizon scanning 5. Deepen engagement with TIPS research end users across sectors to accelerate knowledge Exchange 6. Understand, inform, and influence policy making and practice at regional, national and international level These will be delivered through four work packages and two cross cutting activities. All work packages will be led by the PI (Elliot) to ensure that connections are made and synergies exploited. Each sub-work package will be led by a member of the Management Team and supported by our Expert Fellows and Project Partners. WP1 Develop the Network We will deliver a set of activities designed to expand, broaden, and engage the network, from expert meetings and workshops to student bootcamps and international conferences. WP2 Engage stakeholders to enhance knowledge exchange and deliver impact. We will be greatly enhancing our purposive engagement activity in SPRITE+2. This activity will include a new business intelligence function and PP engagement grants, designed to enhance mutual understanding between researchers and stakeholders. WP3 Identify, prioritise, and explore future TIPS challenges We will select and then investigate priority areas of future TIPS. Two areas are pre-scoped based on the work we have done so far in SPRITE+ (TIPS in digital cities; trustworthy digital identities) with a further two be identified during the lead up to SPRITE+2. WP4 Drive innovation in research This WP concerns the initiation and production of high-quality impactful research. Through horizon scanning, sandpits and industry-led calls, we will steer ideas through an innovation pipeline ensuring SPRITE+2 is future focused. Cross cutting activities The first cross-cutting activity will accelerate the translation of TIPS research into policy and practice for public and private sector end uses. The second focuses on mechanisms to facilitate communication within our community. The experiences of SPRITE+ and the other DE Network+s demonstrate that it takes years of consistent and considerable effort for a new network to grow membership and develop productive relationships with stakeholders. In SPRITE+2 grant we would hit the ground running and maximise the impact of four additional years of funding. A successful track record, a well-established team, and a raft of ambitious new plans provide a solid foundation for strong delivery in 2023-27.

Intergranular degradation such as corrosion can be a serious problem in many materials applications. Hence, it is of interest to study which grain boundary crystallographic parameters (i.e. boundary structure) are more resistant than others to this phenomenon. Recently it has become possible to use a stereological technique coupled with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) to measure all five grain boundary crystallographic parameters, i.e. both misorientation and boundary plane. This landmark experimental advance is delivering new insights into the link between grain boundary structure and properties. However, at present the 'five-parameter analysis' cannot be applied to materials which have a crystallographic texture, which includes many technologically important alloys.The first aim of this project is to remove that limitation. This will be achieved by the design and implementation of various multiple sectioning sampling routines (i.e. acquisition of EBSD maps from several non-parallel sectioning planes), in parallel with extensive revision of the existing software code to take into account non-random orientation distributions i.e. texture. Then the new scheme will be validated by application to alloys of the Al-Mg-Mn 5xxx series, which is being used to reduce mass in automotive chassis applications, and to commercially pure Ti. Focused ion beam (FIB) microscopy coupled with EBSD will be used to confirm and validate the procedures used. The data will provide information on the distribution of boundary planes, which is hitherto unknown in textured alloys, and will allow insights into the mechanism of texture formation. This information will then be applied to explore the relationship between boundary crystallography and intergranular corrosion in the Al-Mg-Mn alloys, which will in turn input to the larger initiative of reducing susceptibility of Al-Mg alloys to intergranular corrosion by proper control of the final gauge texture. This is a cost-effective project because the experimental work is well suited to be carried out by a research student and there are no equipment costs. The principal project partner is Professor Rohrer's group at Carnegie Mellon University, USA, where the five-parameter analysis was developed, and who will carry out the software revision. Other project partners are Hydro Aluminium, Germany, who have an interest in grain boundary network analysis in aluminium alloys and are providing specimens for the project, and the University of New South Wales, who are supporting the work with complementary FIB analysis. Extension of the five-parameter technique to textured materials would give it much more general applicability as a microstructural tool. Furthermore, given that mapping speeds by EBSD are now very rapid, it is envisaged that in the future five-parameter analysis could become incorporated into mainstream grain boundary analysis.

The UK plans to build a new fleet of nuclear power plants starting with two units at Hinkley Point in Somerset. The UK government has also recently announced in the autumn 2015 statement that £250M will be set aside for in innovative nuclear technologies. More specifically it has stated that the UK will invest in small modular reactor designs. The large reactors and many small modular reactor designs are based around a reactor type called a pressurised water reactor. These reactor designs have a steel reactor pressure vessel to enclose the nuclear fuel and act as a key barrier to the release of radiotoxic materials to the environment. The integrity of the vessels is paramount to the safety and continued operation of the reactor. Unfortunately, neutron irradiation from the nuclear fuel damages the steels over their 40-60 year design life. Understanding the role of neutron damage to these steels is therefore key to continued operation beyond the design life. This programme of work will study commonly used reactor pressure vessel forging grade steels (A508 class 3), under neutron irradiation damage, at the OPAL test reactor, at Lucas Heights in Australia. The steels will be manufactured by processes not commonly used in nuclear reactors i.e. hot isostatic pressing (HIP) of powdered material and then welded using electron beams (EB). These new manufacturing processes could potentially be used to manufacture parts for the reactor pressure vessels of future small reactor designs. As yet there is no information on how changing the manufacturing routes from arc welding of forged material to EB welding of HIPed material will change the neutron irradiation response of the material. In this case the chemistry of the material remains unchanged so the key variable is the so-called "microstructure" of the material. It is planned to irradiate samples, at the OPAL reactor, for up to 1 year, to achieve doses of neutron embrittlement equivalent to 40-60 years reactor operation. The irradiated material will then be mechanically tested, in hot cells, at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation before material is shipped to the new Materials Research Faclility at UKAEA Culham site in the UK. Here, it will be prepared for state-of-the-art characterisation, by atom probe tomography on the new LEAP 5000 atom probe recently installed at Oxford University, Chemi-STEM transmission electron microscopy at Manchester University, together with atomic scale models developed at Imperial College London and Manchester University. The project will also have management and input from the National Nuclear Laboratory and Rolls-Royce and international links to the University of New South Wales, University of California Santa Barbara and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The overall output from this work will be much improved mechanistic understanding and models of how neutron irradiation effects steels manufactured by HIP and EB welding, lead to a new generation of engineers in the UK who can perform work on irradiated materials and help direct the use of such technologies for the building of future small reactor designs. It will also be a crucial driver in the effort to rebuild the physical and knowledge based infrastructure, for dealing with neutron irradiated steels, that has been missing for a generation in the UK.

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Nuclear Energy Futures aims to train a new generation of international leaders, at PhD level, in nuclear energy technology. It is made up of Imperial College London (lead), Bristol University, Cambridge University, Open University and Bangor University. These institutions are some of the UK's leading institutions for research and teaching in nuclear power. The CDTs key focus is around nuclear fission i.e. that is the method of producing energy by splitting the atom, which currently accounts for 11% of the world's electricity and 20% of the UK's electricity, whilst producing very low levels of carbon emissions (at levels the same as renewable energy, such as wind). The CDT whilst focused on fission energy technologies will also have PhD projects related to fusion nuclear energy and projects needed or related to nuclear energy such as seismic studies, robotics, data analytics, environmental studies, policy and law. The CDT's major focus is related to the New Nuclear Build activities at Hinkley Point, Somerset and the Anglesey site in north Wales, where EDF Energy and Horizon, respectively, are building new fission power plants that will produce around 3.2 and 2.7 GWe of nuclear power (about 13% of the UK current electricity demand). The CDT will provide the skills needed for research related to these plants and potential future industry leaders, for nuclear decommissioning of current plants (due to come off-line in the next decade) and to lead the UK in new and innovative technologies for nuclear waste disposal and new reactor technologies such as small modular reactors (SMRs). The need for new talented PhD level people is very high as many of the UK's current technical experts were recruited in the 1970s and 80s and many are near retirement and skills sector studies have shown many more are needed for the new build projects. The CDT will champion teaching innovation and will produce a series of bespoke courses that can be delivered via on-line media by the very best experts in the field from across the CDT covering areas such as the nuclear fuel cycle; waste and decommissioning; small modular reactors; policy, economics and regulation; thermal hydraulics and reactor physics as well as leading on responsible research and innovation in the sector. The CDT is supported by a wide range of nuclear companies and stakeholders. These include those involved in the new build process in the UK such as EDF Energy, Hitachi-GE, Horizon and Rolls-Royce, the latter of which are developing a UK advanced modular reactor design. International nuclear stakeholders from countries such as the USA, UAE, Australia and France will support the student development and the CDT programme. The students in the CDT will cover a very broad training in all aspects of nuclear power and importantly for this sector will engage in both media training activities and public outreach to make nuclear power more open to the public, government and scientists and engineers outside of the discipline.