One of the key challenges and concerns when considering 21st century climate change is the identification and avoidance of positive feedbacks (which may lead to "tipping points") in the biosphere carbon cycle, where parts of the biosphere respond to climate change by becoming major emitters of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. High latitude tundras are particular regions of concern, as they hold substantial reserves of permafrost carbon -especially the Yedoma soils of northeast Siberia and north-western North America- and are also substantial sources of atmospheric methane. Although these regions are now dominated by wet shrub- and moss-dominated tundra and forest-tundra vegetation, there is evidence that throughout Pleistocene glacials and interglacials the region was dominated by highly productive grasslands ("the mammoth steppe"), the most extensive land biome on Earth, which supported high animal biomass despite the cold temperatures. SA Zimov (1995, 2012) proposed that the mammoth steppe was created and maintained by the abundance of large herbivores (e.g. bison, horses, rhinoceros, mammoths), and that it was the extinction of these megafauna, most likely caused by the spread of human hunting populations into the Arctic in the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene, that led to the collapse of the mammoth steppe and its replacement by the current low productivity wet tundra vegetation. Moreover, he proposed that the introduction of a guild of megafauna herbivores with diverse feeding strategies such as horses and bison into the Arctic could lead to the rebirth of this lost cold high-latitude ecosystem. This would stabilise soil carbon reserves and act as mechanism to diffuse the threat of a carbon cycle positive feedback in the permafrost regions. In 1996, SA Zimov established the "Pleistocene Park" in northeast Siberia to demonstrate the feasibility of megafaunal introduction in the Arctic and its potential to shift ecosystem states from tundra to grassland. While the experiment has succeeded in initiating a vegetation shift from wet tundra and forest-tundra to open, grass-dominated landscapes, to date no detailed and systematic monitoring has been implemented to test the core components of SA Zimov ecosystem-climate hypothesis. These outline how such an ecosystem shift would affect land surface radiation and water budgets, soil and surface temperature and moisture, and net carbon balance. Here, we propose to work closely with Sergey and Nikita Zimov to conduct the first detailed evaluation of the above hypotheses, using state-of-the art techniques to assess the carbon, water and radiation budgets of the land surface with and without megafaunal rewilding. We will measure the net flux of carbon and water from the ecosystem to the atmosphere using flux measurement towers and soil CO2 efflux measurements, coupled with detailed measurements of soil and atmospheric conditions and energy balance, and scaled using drone-based maps. Detailed observation of ecosystem and microclimate processes in the field will provide parametrisation of key aspects of the system in two Earth System Models (BNU-ESM & CAS-ESM), allowing exploration of the potential impacts of different possible scenarios of high-latitude biome shift on planetary climate and biogeochemical processes. This work would provide unique mechanistic insights into the present, past and potential future ecosystem and climate dynamics of large parts of the Arctic

Despite currently shrinking energy supplies and growing industrial environmental impact, demand continues to rise for products manufactured under forcing conditions (eg. high temperature, pressure), often in the presence of toxic solvents. Industry is continually searching for novel means to reducing production expense and environmental impact. The lack of transferability between existing solutions entails starting anew for each class of reactions. Rational design and optimisation of efficient catalysts presents a solution; it also represents one of the ultimate challenges in the molecular sciences, particularly for homogeneous systems. Catalysis has the highest industrial and environmental impact, opening up never-before-possible ways of creating new bonds and compounds besides imparting pollution reduction and energy efficiency to existing processes.A proposal is made to initiate a novel research line to establishing a central methodology towards characterising homogeneous cross-coupling catalysts, by experiment and theory, towards adding to a growing body of 'design rules' thereof. Focus involves the theoretical characterisation of 2 differing cross-coupling mechanisms. Subsequent wavefunction and electronic structure analyses will be carried-out jointly with collaborators. Both the desired product (cross-coupling) and main side-product (arising from beta-hydride elimination) formations will be studied, for selected Ni and Pd-containing systems. Catalyst samples as well as complexes and variations thereof will be synthesised and their reactivities characterised by project collaborators. Results will aid the candidates concurrent pioneering of theory-designed neutron spectroscopy (NS) experiments to quantify substituent alkyl-group dynamics and their coupling to catalyst flexibility, substrate coordination and electronic structure at the catalytic centre.An EPSRC award would be strategic in helping the candidate contribute to the rational optimisation and design of cross-coupling catalysts and to extend the application of NS. The project would be instrumental in establishing the candidate as a world authority in the theoretical and spectroscopic characterisation of existing homogeneous catalysts and design of novel catalysts.This is a demanding project with the objective of advancing the rational design of highly active cross-coupling catalysts, apriori using computation. Therefore, a fundamental understanding at the molecular level of the steric and electronic nature of the ligand and metal centre is essential. Since most organic reactions take place in solvent and not in a vacuum or a static dielectric field, it is pivotal (no matter how challenging!), to develop an accurate method for including the effect of solvent. As the candidate has already co-authored several high-impact publications in this area, this project will focus on the realisation of catalysed reactions in the presence of a reliable explicit solvent model. The findings of the above program of research will be of vast interest to the wider physical, theoretical, synthetic and industrial communities, as witnessed by the recent publicity detailed from ISI Web of Science searches and the candidate's own co-corresponded work highlighted in the September 2009 issue of C&E News.

One of the key challenges and concerns when considering 21st century climate change is the identification and avoidance of positive feedbacks (which may lead to "tipping points") in the biosphere carbon cycle, where parts of the biosphere respond to climate change by becoming major emitters of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. High latitude tundras are particular regions of concern, as they hold substantial reserves of permafrost carbon -especially the Yedoma soils of northeast Siberia and north-western North America- and are also substantial sources of atmospheric methane. Although these regions are now dominated by wet shrub- and moss-dominated tundra and forest-tundra vegetation, there is evidence that throughout Pleistocene glacials and interglacials the region was dominated by highly productive grasslands ("the mammoth steppe"), the most extensive land biome on Earth, which supported high animal biomass despite the cold temperatures. SA Zimov (1995, 2012) proposed that the mammoth steppe was created and maintained by the abundance of large herbivores (e.g. bison, horses, rhinoceros, mammoths), and that it was the extinction of these megafauna, most likely caused by the spread of human hunting populations into the Arctic in the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene, that led to the collapse of the mammoth steppe and its replacement by the current low productivity wet tundra vegetation. Moreover, he proposed that the introduction of a guild of megafauna herbivores with diverse feeding strategies such as horses and bison into the Arctic could lead to the rebirth of this lost cold high-latitude ecosystem. This would stabilise soil carbon reserves and act as mechanism to diffuse the threat of a carbon cycle positive feedback in the permafrost regions. In 1996, SA Zimov established the "Pleistocene Park" in northeast Siberia to demonstrate the feasibility of megafaunal introduction in the Arctic and its potential to shift ecosystem states from tundra to grassland. While the experiment has succeeded in initiating a vegetation shift from wet tundra and forest-tundra to open, grass-dominated landscapes, to date no detailed and systematic monitoring has been implemented to test the core components of SA Zimov ecosystem-climate hypothesis. These outline how such an ecosystem shift would affect land surface radiation and water budgets, soil and surface temperature and moisture, and net carbon balance. Here, we propose to work closely with Sergey and Nikita Zimov to conduct the first detailed evaluation of the above hypotheses, using state-of-the art techniques to assess the carbon, water and radiation budgets of the land surface with and without megafaunal rewilding. We will measure the net flux of carbon and water from the ecosystem to the atmosphere using flux measurement towers and soil CO2 efflux measurements, coupled with detailed measurements of soil and atmospheric conditions and energy balance, and scaled using drone-based maps. Detailed observation of ecosystem and microclimate processes in the field will provide parametrisation of key aspects of the system in two Earth System Models (BNU-ESM & CAS-ESM), allowing exploration of the potential impacts of different possible scenarios of high-latitude biome shift on planetary climate and biogeochemical processes. This work would provide unique mechanistic insights into the present, past and potential future ecosystem and climate dynamics of large parts of the Arctic

Holding the increase in the global average temperature to below 2 degree C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degree has been agreed by the representatives of the 196 parties of United Nations as an appropriate threshold beyond which climate change risks become unacceptably high. Sea level rise is one of the most damaging aspects of a warming climate for the more than 600 million people living in the low elevation coastal areas less than 10 meters above sea level. Sea level rise concerns both public and policymakers, because the impact, risk, adaptation policies and long-term decision making in coastal areas depend on future sea level rise projections. Sea level rise impact is expected to increase for centuries to come and thus it is a matter of the greatest urgency to accurately project future sea level rise and its uncertainties. However, currently there are no sea level projections for specific warmings of 1.5 and 2 degree C. Our project will explore the pace and long-term consequences for sea level rise with restricted warming of 1.5 degree and 2 degree, providing global and regional sea level projections by 2200. Outputs from this project will contribute to the research assessed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for the new Special Report scheduled to be produced in 2018. The main questions in proposed research are: 1. How will global sea level respond to the warming of 1.5 and 2 degree C? 2. What are the regional differences in sea level projections with these warmings? Proposed work will provide valuable information about global and coastal sea level rise with warming of 1.5 and 2 degree C. Our work will benefit research in coastal engineering, coastal planning (adaptation and mitigation), glaciology, and climatology. Sea level projections in coastal areas (including projections for 136 large coastal cities) are potentially of large societal and economic benefit; for example, planning decisions need to be made concerning coastal infrastructure, such as the Thames Barrier, that may last for decades and cost billions of pounds.

Despite currently shrinking energy supplies and growing industrial environmental impact, demand continues to rise for products manufactured under forcing conditions (eg. high temperature, pressure), often in the presence of toxic solvents. Industry is continually searching for novel means to reducing production expense and environmental impact. The lack of transferability between existing solutions entails starting anew for each class of reactions. Rational design and optimisation of efficient catalysts presents a solution; it also represents one of the ultimate challenges in the molecular sciences, particularly for homogeneous systems. Catalysis has the highest industrial and environmental impact, opening up never-before-possible ways of creating new bonds and compounds besides imparting pollution reduction and energy efficiency to existing processes.A proposal is made to initiate a novel research line to establishing a central methodology towards characterising homogeneous cross-coupling catalysts, by experiment and theory, towards adding to a growing body of 'design rules' thereof. Focus involves the theoretical characterisation of 2 differing cross-coupling mechanisms. Subsequent wavefunction and electronic structure analyses will be carried-out jointly with collaborators. Both the desired product (cross-coupling) and main side-product (arising from beta-hydride elimination) formations will be studied, for selected Ni and Pd-containing systems. Catalyst samples as well as complexes and variations thereof will be synthesised and their reactivities characterised by project collaborators. Results will aid the candidates concurrent pioneering of theory-designed neutron spectroscopy (NS) experiments to quantify substituent alkyl-group dynamics and their coupling to catalyst flexibility, substrate coordination and electronic structure at the catalytic centre.An EPSRC award would be strategic in helping the candidate contribute to the rational optimisation and design of cross-coupling catalysts and to extend the application of NS. The project would be instrumental in establishing the candidate as a world authority in the theoretical and spectroscopic characterisation of existing homogeneous catalysts and design of novel catalysts.This is a demanding project with the objective of advancing the rational design of highly active cross-coupling catalysts, apriori using computation. Therefore, a fundamental understanding at the molecular level of the steric and electronic nature of the ligand and metal centre is essential. Since most organic reactions take place in solvent and not in a vacuum or a static dielectric field, it is pivotal (no matter how challenging!), to develop an accurate method for including the effect of solvent. As the candidate has already co-authored several high-impact publications in this area, this project will focus on the realisation of catalysed reactions in the presence of a reliable explicit solvent model. The findings of the above program of research will be of vast interest to the wider physical, theoretical, synthetic and industrial communities, as witnessed by the recent publicity detailed from ISI Web of Science searches and the candidate's own co-corresponded work highlighted in the September 2009 issue of C&E News.