At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists discovered how to measure the size and spacing of atoms using a technique called diffraction, which led to a revolution in the understanding of chemistry, biology and solid-state physics. X-rays and electrons behave like waves, but with a wavelength which is much smaller than the spacing between the atoms of a solid. These waves scatter and interfere with one another, producing strong beams coming out of the object at particular angles. By measuring these angles, and knowing the wavelength of the waves, the separation of atoms could be calculated. It was using this method that Watson and Crick determined the structure of DNA in the 1950s. However, diffraction is only useful if the object is a regular lattice structure. In order to look at more complicated atomic structures, scientists have relied on electron or X-ray microscopes. In a standard microscope, a lens is used to produce a magnified image, but the method still relies on the waves that make up the radiation (light, electrons or X-rays) interfering with one another to build up the image. With light, this is experimentally easy, but with very-short wavelength radiation (a fraction of an atomic diameter), the tiniest error in the lens or the experimental apparatus makes the waves interfere incorrectly, ruining the image. For this reason, a typical electron or X-ray microscope image is about one hundred times more blurred than the theoretical limit defined by the wavelength.In this project, we aim to unify the strengths of the above apparently very different techniques to get the best-ever pictures of individual atoms in any structure (which is not necessarily crystalline). Our approach is to use a conventional (relatively bad) X-ray or electron lens to form a patch of moderately-focussed illumination (like burning a hole in a piece of paper with the sun's rays through a magnifying glass). In fact, we do not need a lens at all! Just a moveable aperture put in front of the object of interest will suffice. We then record the intensity of the diffraction pattern which emerges from the other side of the object on a good-quality high-resolution detector, for several positions of the illuminating beam. This data does not look anything like the object, but we have worked out a way of calculating a very good image of the object by a process called 'phase-retrieval'. To make an image of an object we have to know what's called the relative phase (the different arrival times) of the waves that get scattered from it. In diffraction, this information is lost, although some of it is preserved (badly) by a lens. Our data is a complex mixture of diffraction and image data, but the key innovation in this project is that we can use a computer to calculate the phase of the very high resolution data which could never be seen by the lens alone. Other workers in the United States have demonstrated very limited versions of this new approach, but we have a much more sophisticated computational method which eliminates essentially all earlier restrictions.The new method, which has received patent protection, could be implemented on existing electron or X-ray microscopes, greatly enhancing their imaging capability. It is even possible to contemplate a solid-state optical microscope, built into a single chip with no optical elements at all. All the weakness and difficulties and costs of lenses would be replaced by a combination of good quality detectors and computers. Our ultimate aim is to be able to image in 3D directly (using X-rays or electrons) any molecular structure, although this will require a great deal of research. The work put forward in this proposal will build the Basic Technology foundations of this new approach to the ultimate microscope.

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU) is driven by industry and market needs, which indicate unprecedented growth in renewable and distributed energy to 2050. This growth is underpinned by global demand for electricity which will outstrip growth in demand for other sources by more than two to one (The drivers of global energy demand growth to 2050, 2016, McKinsey). A significant part of this demand will arise from vast numbers of distributed, but interconnected devices (estimated to reach 40 billion by 2024) serving sectors such as healthcare (for ageing populations) and personal transport (for reduced carbon dioxide emission). The distinctive remit of ReNU therefore is to focus on materials innovations for small-to-medium scale energy conversion and storage technologies that are sustainable and highly scalable. ReNU will be delivered by Northumbria, Newcastle and Durham Universities, whose world-leading expertise and excellent links with industry in this area have been recognised by the recent award of the North East Centre for Energy Materials (NECEM, award number: EP/R021503/1). This research-focused programme will be highly complementary to ReNU which is a training-focused programme. A key strength of the ReNU consortium is the breadth of expertise across the energy sector, including: thin film and new materials; direct solar energy conversion; turbines for wind, wave and tidal energy; piezoelectric and thermoelectric devices; water splitting; CO2 valorisation; batteries and fuel cells. Working closely with a balanced portfolio of 36 partners that includes multinational companies, small and medium size enterprises and local Government organisations, the ReNU team has designed a compelling doctoral training programme which aims to engender entrepreneurial skills which will drive UK regional and national productivity in the area of Clean Growth, one of four Grand Challenges identified in the UK Government's recent Industrial Strategy. The same group of partners will also provide significant input to the ReNU in the form of industrial supervision, training for doctoral candidates and supervisors, and access to facilities and equipment. Success in renewable energy and sustainable distributed energy fundamentally requires a whole systems approach as well as understanding of political, social and technical contexts. ReNU's doctoral training is thus naturally suited to a cohort approach in which cross-fertilisation of knowledge and ideas is necessary and embedded. The training programme also aims to address broader challenges facing wider society including unconscious bias training and outreach to address diversity issues in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects and industries. Furthermore, external professional accreditation will be sought for ReNU from the Institute of Physics, Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Engineering Technology, thus providing a starting point from which doctoral graduates will work towards "Chartered" status. The combination of an industry-driven doctoral training programme to meet identifiable market needs, strong industrial commitment through the provision of training, facilities and supervision, an established platform of research excellence in energy materials between the institutions and unique training opportunities that include internationalisation and professional accreditation, creates a transformative programme to drive forward UK innovation in renewable and sustainable distributed energy.

In this research programme, planetary scientists and engineers from the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre have joined forces to answer important questions concerning the origin and evolution of asteroids, the Moon and Mars. The emphasis of our work is on understanding the thermal histories of these planetary bodies over a range of time and distance scales, and how water and carbon-rich molecules have been transported within and between them. One part of the consortium will explore the formation and subsequent history of asteroids. Our focus is on primitive asteroids, which have changed little since they formed 4500 million years ago within a cloud of dust and gas called the solar nebula. These bodies are far smaller than the planets, but are scientifically very important because they contain water and carbon-rich molecules, both of which are essential to life. We want to understand the full range of materials that went to form these asteroids, and where in the solar nebular they came from. Although they are very primitive, most of these asteroids have been changed by chemical reactions that were driven by liquid water, itself generated by the melting of ice. We will ask whether the heat needed to melt this ice was produced by the decay of radioactive elements, or by collisions with other asteroids. The answer to this question has important implications for understanding how asteroids of all types evolved, and what we may find when samples of primitive asteroids are collected and returned to Earth. Pieces of primitive asteroids also fall to Earth as meteorites, and bring with them some of their primordial water, along with molecules that are rich in carbon. Many scientists think that much of the water on Earth today was obtained from outer space, and consortium researchers would like to test this idea. In order to understand the nature and volume of water and carbon that would have been delivered by meteorites, we first need to develop reliable ways to distinguish extraterrestrial carbon and water from the carbon and water that has been added to the meteorite after it fell to Earth. We plan to do this by identifying 'fingerprints' of terrestrial water and carbon so that they can be subtracted from the extraterrestrial components. One of the main ways in which this carbon was delivered to Earth during its earliest times was by large meteorites colliding with the surface of our planet at high velocities. Thus we also wish to understand the extent to which the extraterrestrial carbon was preserved or transformed during these energetic impact events. The formation and early thermal history of the moon is another area of interest for the consortium. In particular, we will ask when its rocky crust was formed, and use its impact history to determine meteorite flux throughout the inner solar system. To answer these questions we will analyse meteorites and samples collected by the Apollo and Luna missions to determine the amounts of chemical elements including argon and lead that these rocks contain. Information on the temperature of surface and sub-surface regions of Mars can help us to understand processes including the interaction of the planet's crust with liquid water. In order to be able to explore these processes using information on the thermal properties of martian rocks that will soon to be obtained by the NASA InSight lander, we will undertake a laboratory study of the effects of heating and cooling on a simulated martian surface. Hot water reaching the surface of Mars from its interior may once have created environments that were suitable for life to develop, and minerals formed by this water could have preserved the traces of any microorganisms that were present. We will assess the possibility that such springs could have preserved traces of past martian life by examining a unique high-altitude hot spring system on Earth.

Recent advances in biological imaging have focussed on improving resolution in both living and cryopreserved tissue. Despite exciting developments, the new techniques are still not ideal for many biological studies and remain far from simple to apply for non-specialists. To achieve a full understanding of the complex biological systems that underlie disease/infections and fundamental biology, it is imperative to understand all aspects of the mechanisms involved. Recent years have seen genomic/proteomic studies further our understanding, but we are still unable to visualise many key processes directly in an intact living cell. Thus, whilst recent developments are bringing us closer to this goal, a critical resolution gap between light and electron microscopy remains. Our electron-excited Super Resolution Microscopy (eSRM) technique will build on our Fluorescence Electron Microscopy (FEM) approach and seamlessly couple the technologies of light and electron microscopy to achieve a paradigm shift in biological imaging. This approach brings together the unique ability to image multiple coloured tagged-particles, such as antibodies, with the resolution of the electron microscope, whilst only requiring standard light microscopy preparations. It is therefore simple and easy to use across a broad range of biological questions. Preliminary work has established proof of concept that multicolour images can be acquired with a resolution of 3 nm on cell membranes. We are now uniquely placed to develop these methods and address vital medical/biological questions. Our ability to preserve fluorescent proteins (GFP) through sample preparation for electron imaging will revolutionise electron microscopy just as the same fluorophores did for light microscopy several decades ago. Our groundbreaking integration of SRM with both SEM and volume EM (3View) will allow us to exploit these developments quickly and efficiently to deliver accurate protein localisation in situ without complicated sample processing. Our strategy will have a major impact on the microscopy field; it will go beyond the information gained through recent advances and enable us to undertake molecular localisations and interactions under more relevant biological conditions. Current methods have a number of limitations that curtail data interpretation. For example, they rarely detect all the labelled proteins, require extensive imaging strategies and high resolution is usually achieved through mathematical algorithms rather than directly. Our techniques (eSRM, SRM coupled with CLEM) will enable studies at physiological concentration, visualise true molecular associations/distributions and permit study of fine-detailed sub-cellular and cell surface structures and changes in response to various stimuli. A key aspect of our approach is to enable easy sample handling and labelling so that non-specialist microscopists can use the methods. Our probes will be widely applicable to many microscopy methods, from in vivo multiphoton through to light emission from electron excitation. They are more photostable than existing probes and have very narrow emission bands, making multicolour imaging simpler. They have improved sensitivity and longer lifetimes which will be exploited when the very latest technologies are launched this year. In summary, by bridging the current gaps to produce a continuum light and electron microscopy approach and through combination of our latest advances, we aim to develop an integrated approach that far surpasses other techniques being developed. This will enable the step change required in microscopy to enable biologists to undertake true multicolour sub-light resolution imaging with very few constraints or specialist training, thus addressing a major limitation in biology and representing a ground-breaking advance in biological imaging.

Quantitative in situ microanalysis of natural and synthetic materials underpins cutting-edge, high-impact research across the Earth and environmental sciences. Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) is the gold standard in quantitative electron beam microanalysis. Equipped with an array of electron and X-ray detectors, EPMA measures spatially resolved major, minor and trace element compositions down to ~2 µg/g, at spatial scales down to 1 µg3 or better. EPMA supports research into natural materials that have intricate intergrowths of complex minerals with varying crystallographic orientations and structures. In most analytical sessions, multiple distinct phases are qualitatively mapped and quantitatively analysed at high spatial resolution for >10 elements in major, minor and trace concentrations. The presence and association of these elements provides critical information on the origin and history of the Earth; the evolution of life; the chemistry of the Earth's crust, oceans and atmosphere; and chemical exchanges between engineered materials and the natural environment. We propose to install a JEOL JXA-iHP200F field emission EPMA with integrated extended range soft X-ray emission spectrometer (SXES-ER) in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester (UoM). This asset will provide unique and transformative capability in quantitative analysis of light elements, transition metals, and heavy elements. It will enable simultaneous characterization of phase chemistry and chemical state (valence), which is challenging and expensive to achieve using existing, over-subscribed, equipment in the UK. Next-generation EPMA+SXES-ER capability will galvanize EPMA-led research aligned with UKRI NERC strategic and discovery science priorities in Frontiers of Understanding, Productive Environment and Resilient Environment, including energy and advanced materials. Examples of newly enabled research at UoM will include: - Tracking magma redox conditions, which control the formation of critical metal deposits, determine volcanic gas compositions, and affect planetary habitability; - Characterizing redox-sensitive mobility of radioisotopes, to underpin the safety case for geological storage of radioactively contaminated materials; - Determining contaminant metal speciation in mineral phases in soils and crops, to assess human exposure and develop remediation strategies. The asset will bring potential for widespread impact and economic benefit to UK research and business including critical metal resources for Net Zero; long-term storage of radioactively contaminated materials; environmental remediation; geofluids, including carbon capture and storage technology and geothermal energy. It will enhance UoM's existing research collaborations with national institutions and a wide range of industry partners, and will provide a platform to build new collaborations. The asset will be made available to external academic and industry users through a web-based application. We will facilitate capacity building by delivering advanced training in electron beam microanalysis for early career researchers, capitalizing on UoM's nationally leading scientific and technical expertise in EPMA and soft X-ray emission spectrometry. The asset will be housed in UoM's Electron Microscopy Centre alongside other internationally leading assets in analytical electron microscopy. UoM will invest £494k to cover procurement costs above the £750k requested from NERC.