The requested equipment will complement existing infrastructure in our Laboratories for Robotics and AI, Sustainability and Photonics Technologies. These Laboratories have been identified as core to the aforementioned strategy and support highly inter-disciplinary research underpinning the work of diverse Research Groups across four Research Institutes (RIs) within the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS), namely Institutes of; Mechanical Process and Energy Engineering (IMPEE); Photonics and Quantum Sciences (IPAQS); Sensors Signals and Systems (ISSS.

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).

Using adaptive optics, first applied in astronomy and then (under STFC funding) successfully adapted for use in optical microscopy, we aim to to produce micrometric resolution ultrasound imaging. Specifically, the goal is to track microbubble contrast agents in circulation thus generating detailed images of the vascular network. This is to meet the unmet clinical need for microvascular assessment in common diseases associated with abnormal microvascular networks such as cancer, ischaemia, inflammatory disease, transplant rejection and tissue regeneration. An example is the ongoing need for rapid and low-risk biomarkers of treatment outcome and its prediction in cancer. The current response evaluation criteria for solid tumours (RECIST) utilises Computerised Tomography (CT) to assess tumour volume changes which typically is done three (3) months after the treatment. Such indirect assessment significantly limits early personalisation based on treatment response and may contribute to suboptimal morbidity and mortality rates. Every year, over 250,000 people in England are diagnosed with cancer, and around 130,000 do not survived as a result of the disease. The annual NHS related costs are in the order of £4.5 billion, and the cost to society as a whole about £18.3 billion. Although these statistics are improving the UK Department of Health aims to achieve the average cancer survival rate on par with the rest of the European Union in an attempt to save an extra 5,000 lives every year. Our proposed product will be used to provide additional benefits to the care of each patient that can be used for: -Early diagnosis with the potential of becoming a screening test, -Early and fast disease monitoring that enables early patient stratification. Ultrasound provides real time images at low cost and low risk to patients, which is very attractive for repeated imaging of tissues. As recommended by the Department of Health we will assess our technique in the measurement of an established biomarker such as microvascular density (which is an established biomarker for many cancers), and consider the generation of new biomarkers such as capillary blood velocity, vessel structure and tortuosity that may provide a robust differentiation of vascular related disease. This is a significant improvement to all current imaging modalities that are macroscopic. There is a real opportunity to establish CEUS as the leading modality for perfusion assessment by translating existing technology that provides super-resolution images of point sources in optics (microscopy, astronomy), mm-wave and radar. This proposal will deploy the scatter from single microbubbles as a priori knowledge for implementing an available maximum sharpness likelihood technique similar to that used in optical microscopy. We will implement existing algorithms in an ultrasound field simulation environment to define the experiments that will be used to test these algorithms in vitro and finalize the design of the beamforming method. By utilizing existing image analysis algorithms used for particle tracking we will generate the visualization of in vitro microvascular phantoms. A prototype tool that can be implemented in existing ultrasound imaging product provided by BK Medical, our industrial partner, will be delivered. Finally, we will use existing commercial equipment to collect cancer patient data in order to identify a patient group with promising image data (in comparison with a gold standard). This will provide a focal point in a follow up project for the commercialization of the enhanced imaging capability of our prototype.

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.

From cookers to concrete: Understanding the environmental impact of buildings will engage school children in a web-based game designed to develop their skills in recognising where carbon dioxide is produced in buildings and what they can do to reduce it. The proposed engagement project aims to instil demand for more environmentally benign methods of construction and building use in future generations of construction clients and the public as building users. The work seeks to increase awareness of the potential that marked shifts in design and construction methods (such as the use of innovative construction materials and servicing methods to achieve zero-carbon buildings)) have for maintaining our quality of life in a sustainable manner. It is necessary to inspire future building users to demand the use of new technologies and new practices so that they will become commonplace without need for regulatory mandate. The project will last twelve months and has been designed to coordinate with the school calendar. The project will be evolve over three phases. The initial phase will be the development phase and will involve the educational partners and researchers and the creation of a database; a series of building model animations and a public interface for the game specifically and the project in general. The second phase will be a strategic piloting phase within our partner schools, two at primary level and two at secondary. This phase will involve an iterative process of developing educational material tuned to the specific requirements of the different age groups. The third and final phase will be the implementation of the game and support material within the schools and the dissmenation of the project outcomes. The implementation will be designed to meet the needs of the specific schools and the material will be developed to allow a flexible delivery. The dissemination will be through various media but will culminate in an exhibition to be hosted by the Lighthouse and will showcase the work of the schools.