The UK faces a challenge of providing an energy system that is secure, sustainable and affordable. The cost of upgrading the power infrastructure is estimated to be £200bn using a centralised energy generation model. We believe that the Buildings as Power Stations concept can create a whole new manufacturing and business opportunity and dramatically reduce the investment required to create a secure future for the next generation. Even reducing the power infrastructure investment by 10% represents a £20bn UK opportunity which is mirrored across the developed world. So far on our journey we have had substantial impact and SPECIFIC is a key component to ensure commercialisation of these disruptive technologies principally though leadership of demonstration of new technology in the built environment. Research leadership and excellence is backed up by the publishing of 149 papers, international invited conference presentations and an expanding portfolio of 29 patents. A network of over 52 early adopter industrial partners, spanning both large corporates through to a selection of fast moving and innovative SMEs has also been grown. Where no company or market yet exists we have elected to spin two companies out. Alongside this, world class facilities have been created for large scale research and demonstration of product manufacture, including three pilot lines co-located with world class scientific research instrumentation. The opening of the Solcer Demonstration house in July this year is a key milestone; with colleagues at the Welsh School of Architecture (Cardiff) and the construction supply chain, this 'Active House' uses EXISTING technology harnessed in a unique way to generate up to twice as much energy as it uses. Combining solar electric and thermal generation and storage systems the house is globally unique and with a construction cost of under £150k it is affordable. The journey into the next decade brings both challenge and opportunity. We intend to build on the success of the first four years and to deliver critical new technologies to market, including printed photovoltaics at half the current commercial Si cost, safer building scale aqueous batteries delivering the opportunity to time shift renewable generation to demand, and solar thermal integrated storage solutions which create Active Buildings that do not require gas heating. Each of these sectors alone represent a billion pound opportunity and together they create a compelling case for a paradigm shift in our energy matrix from centralised generation and grid distribution to a model of distributed energy generation. This is disruptive technology so accurate market assessment is challenging. However, considering domestic new build in isolation, with 145,000 new UK homes built in 2014 and assuming an average £125k construction cost (proved through the Solcer House project) this translates to a >£1.8bn annual domestic new build opportunity if only 10% of new homes use the Buildings as Powerstations concept. Given it is affordable, environmentally friendly and offers building owners an additional income stream this projection is conservative. The opportunity in retrofit is even larger as is that in commercial and industrial buildings. The associated manufacturing opportunity will create 5000 jobs in the construction supply chain and give the UK, centred in Wales, a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' to lead the world using technology invented, developed, proven and manufactured here. Wales and the UK can be a beacon of leadership for developed and developing nations alike in a new industrial revolution.

The Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials (BCFN) is an EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training at the forefront of creative graduate training, equipping students to meet global grand challenges. The BCFN focus is to produce the highest quality students capable of designing, measuring and understanding advanced functional materials from their fundamental components, to their real-world applications. This is achieved by breaking down the traditional boundaries of chemistry, physics, biology and engineering, and providing training in a highly creative, adaptive and flexible way. Functional materials, and their characterisation, are vital to the UK economy, and are found in a very diverse range of application sectors including medicine, energy, food and coatings, in a wide range of high value products and are key to fundamental aspects of science. Understanding materials across all length scales and application areas is pivotal to our success - there is therefore a clear need for highly-skilled graduates, and an understanding of materials across all length scales is pivotal to our success. The global market for advanced materials is predicted to be $957bn by 2015, and we are committed to providing cohorts of skilled scientists who can lead innovation in both academia and industry. Our approach is to embed the training program into every aspect of the student experience. This means that the students receive the strongest possible scientific foundations through taught courses and research projects but also develop a fully rounded set of skills, including communication, team working, entrepreneurship and creativity. We have a proven track record of excellence in graduate training and have pioneered innovative tools where the needs of the student are at the core. These have included new online learning tools, a mixture of short- and long-term research projects to promote choice and a wider research experience, and intense involvement with industry which allows students to be exposed to "realworld" problems, ensuring that their creativity is always directed towards finding solutions. We have an extensive expert network of supervisors who deliver the training, whilst collaborating to create new research areas. Our network has more than 100 academics from 15 departments across four faculties at the University of Bristol, aswell as industrial partners. This ensures that the BCFN research and training can adapt to the changing needs of both the UK and global demands for materials. Our centre is located at the nexus of funding council priority areas, and has studentship support (3 p.a.), staff funding, and dedicated space support from the University. From 2014, we will build on our strong foundations and evolve our training. Our links with industry will be strengthened further and via our Bristol-Industry Graduate Engagement (BRIDGE) program we will build sustainable, long-term research platforms to ensure a true benefit to the economy. We will take our successful training model and create a distance learning platform which can be used by partners overseas and in industry through innovative e-learning. We will run summer schools with these partners to expand the training experience for both BCFN students and partners alike. We will continue our extensive public engagement with schools, the general public and policy makers, ensuring that at all stages we communicate with our stakeholders and receive feedback. We have a strong student-focussed management team to ensure quality and delivery. This team, composed of a Director, Principal, co-Principal, Teaching Fellow, Industrial Research Fellow and Manager, and a wider Operational Team drawn from our core departments of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, represent a wide range of research experience from Fellows of the Royal Society to early career fellows, covering a range of strengths in functional materials with proven leadership and research track records.

Coatings are ubiquitous throughout day to day life and ensure the function, durability and aesthetics of millions of products and processes. The use of coatings is essential across multiple sectors including construction, automotive, aerospace, packaging and energy and as such the industry has a considerable value of £2.7 billion annually with over 300,000 people employed throughout manufacturers and supply chains. The cars that we drive are reliant on advanced coating technology for their durability and aesthetics. Planes can only survive the harsh conditions of flight through coatings. These coatings are multi-material systems with carefully controlled chemistries and the development and application of coatings at scale is challenging. Most coatings surfaces are currently passive and thus an opportunity exists to transform these products through the development of functional industrial coatings. For example, the next generation of buildings will use coating technology to embed energy generation, storage and release within the fabric of building. Photocatalytic coated surfaces can be used to clean effluent streams and anti-microbial coatings could revolutionise healthcare infrastructure. This means that this new generation of coatings will offer greater value-added benefits and product differentiation opportunities for manufacturers. The major challenges in translating these technologies into industry and hence products are the complex science involved in the development, application and durability of these new coatings systems. Hence, through this CDT we aim to train 50 EngD research engineers (REs) with the fundamental scientific expertise and research acumen to bridge this knowledge gap. Our REs will gather expertise on coatings manufacture regarding: - The substrate to be coated and the inherent challenges of adhesion - the fundamental chemical and physical understanding of a multitude of advanced functional coatings technologies ranging from photovoltaic materials to smart anti corrosion coatings - the chemical and physical challenges of the application and curing processes of coatings - the assessment of coating durability and lifetime with regards to environmental exposure e.g. corrosion and photo-degradation resistance - the implantation of a responsible and sustainable engineering philosophy throughout the manufacturing route to address materials scarcity issues and the fate of the materials at the end of their useful life. To address these challenges the CDT has been co-created with industry partners to ensure that the training and research is aligned to the needs of both manufacturers and the academic community thus providing a pathway for research translation but also a talent pipeline of people who are able to lead industry in the next generation of products and processes. These advanced coating technologies require a new scientific understanding with regards to their development, application and durability and hence the academic impact is also great enabling our REs to also lead within academia.