When it is done well, in other words when your yogurt pots (polypropylene, PP) are sorted from your milk jugs (high density polyethylene), mechanical recycling is the most environmentally positive way to turn plastic waste into new products in a circular plastics economy, turning pots into pots and jugs into jugs.

However, poor sorting can lead to mixing polyolefins together, changing the way that the plastic degrades during the recycling process.

While well understood for polyethylene, the study, published in , focuses on what happens when PP is mixed with HDPE. Researchers found that contaminants act as stress aggregators, and that the phase separation caused by contamination weakens the material. While HDPE can tolerate a few percent contamination, even 1% of HDPE in PP alters the degradation mechanism.

The result of this contamination, even at this small scale, is a recyclate with radically altered physical properties, a change which impacts structure-property relationships and reduces the overall performance of the material, especially important in the context of their industrial reuse.

Researchers argue that while efforts have been made to normalise polymers based on processing history and end-use application, approaches like these only consider a limited number of material grades and do not represent the broad range of polyolefin grades and blends.

They suggest that cross-contamination needs better analytical tools that can serve as quality control in industrial processes, evidencing the need for better sortation in household and industrial recycling.

This paper was published in the journal: ChemCircularity

Full title: Measuring the impact of cross-contamination on quality in polyolefin blends

DOI:

Some of our most eye-catching items included our giant pencil and a graphene enforced crash helmet. One of our most popular activities gave children the opportunity to exfoliate graphite using adhesive tape, recreating the famous technique that led to the isolation of graphene. After viewing their samples under a microscope the children were able to take their graphene home! Visitors enjoyed learning how a material as seemingly ordinary as the graphite found in pencils can be peeled into sheets only a single atom thick.

Over the course of the day, we spoke to hundreds of visitors about the potential applications of graphene and 2D materials, including use in advanced electronics and sustainable technologies. The curiosity and enthusiasm shown by the children and adults alike highlighted the value of public engagement activities in helping researchers share their work beyond academia.��

The Universally �������Թϱ��� Festival gave us the opportunity to develop our skills in communication and public engagement with a lay audience. Hopefully we inspired the next generation of material scientists!

Thank you to the University for hosting the event and to everyone who came to visit our stand. Seeing so much excitement for science reinforced the importance of outreach within the CDT, and we look forward to engaging with even more communities in the future.

The study was carried out in collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and was made possible through the assistance of Emudu Trekkers and members of the Idu Mishmi community, the traditional custodians of the Dibang Valley. The research was funded by a Walters Kundert Fellowship from the Royal Geographical Society (UK).

This study provides the first dated glacial chronology for the Dri Valley in the remote eastern Himalayas, filling a major gap in understanding glacier evolution in one of the least-studied sectors of the Himalayas and providing an important benchmark for future studies of regional climate change.

Key findings

• The Dri Valley glacier reached almost 100 km in length, making it one of the largest glaciers yet documented in High Mountain Asia.
• It extended from altitudes of around 5,300 metres to as low as 1,300–1,500 metres above sea level, giving it one of the lowest known glacier termini in High Mountain Asia.
• The glacier was 80 km in length around 19,600 years ago.
• By around 12,000 years ago, the glacier had retreated to altitudes above 3,250 m and was less than 20 km long.
• Today, its largest surviving remnant is less than 5 km long.

Reconstructing the past Himalayan landscape

Researchers examined the landscape of the Dri Valley for geomorphic evidence left behind by the ancient glacier, including U-shaped valleys, moraines and distinctive bedrock features created by the movement of ice.

The research combines detailed field observations with satellite mapping and digital elevation models to build a picture of the former ice extent and identify locations where exposed rock could provide evidence of past glacier movements.

These features provide a record of how the glacier shaped the landscape as it advanced and retreated, but establishing when those changes occurred required highly sensitive dating techniques.

“The Dri Valley preserves an exceptional record of past glaciation, but until now we had no reliable way of placing these landforms into a timeline,” said Dr Shashank Nitundil of �������Թϱ���, who led the research.

Using rocks as natural clocks

The researchers collected 63 samples from boulders and exposed bedrock surfaces across the Dri Valley. This is the first application of cosmogenic nuclide dating on the southern slopes of the Himalayas east of Mount Everest.

The samples were analysed for cosmogenic radionuclides – rare isotopes produced in rocks exposed at the Earth's surface by cosmic rays.

The team focused on beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be), which accumulates in quartz-bearing rocks while they are exposed to cosmic radiation. When a glacier covers a rock surface, production of the isotope is effectively halted and eventually reset due to glacial erosion. When the ice retreats and the rock is exposed again, ¹⁰Be begins to accumulate. Measuring its concentration allows researchers to determine when the ice disappeared.

The measurements were carried out using accelerator mass spectrometry at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), allowing the team to detect the extremely small quantities of ¹⁰Be needed to establish the timing of past glacier change.

“The huge size of the former glacier in the Dri Valley hints at similar extensive ice cover in neighbouring valleys and the presence of one of the largest contiguous ice masses in the Himalayas. Until now little has been known about the extent, timing and palaeoclimatic significance of the former glaciers in this region and the exciting results of this research have been made possible because of a major international collaboration between the University of �������Թϱ���, ANSTO and local support from members of the Idu Mishmi community” said Professor Philip Hughes of �������Թϱ���, who co-supervised the research and has had long-term collaborations with Dr David Fink at ANSTO.

Understanding monsoon-driven glacier change

The Dri Valley sits within a region dominated by the Indian Summer Monsoon, which delivers some of the highest precipitation across the Himalayas, making it an important natural laboratory for understanding how monsoon-fed glaciers respond to climate change.

The study shows that abundant monsoon precipitation alone was not enough to sustain this giant glacier. Instead, its growth and retreat were shaped by the interplay between temperature, precipitation and topography.

The findings suggest that once temperatures rise above a critical threshold, increasing precipitation falls as rain rather than snow. This reduces glacier accumulation and, at the same time, can accelerate ice loss through melting meaning heavy precipitation does not necessarily protect these glaciers from warming.

The study adds to growing evidence that the response of Himalayan glaciers to climate change is not uniform. Glaciers in different parts of the mountain range are influenced by contrasting combinations of snowfall, temperature, elevation and seasonal climate patterns.

As well as being climatically significant, the Dri Valley and surrounding region form part of a recognised Himalayan biodiversity hotspot, adding further importance to understanding how its glaciers and the water resources they feed are likely to change.

Understanding how Himalayan glaciers responded to past climate change provides an important long-term benchmark for improving projections of how these glaciers may respond to continued global warming in the future.

Publication details

The paper was published in journal Quaternary Science Reviews. The international research team included Dr Shashank Nitundil, Dr Christopher Darvill, Prof Abi Stone, Dr David Fink, Prof Philip Hughes, Dr Matt Tomkins and Dr Krista Simon.

DOI:

The findings of the study, funded�� by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) suggest the wraps may not be the best first-line option for patients receiving strong compression therapy.��

Venous leg ulcers affect thousands of people and can take months to heal, causing pain, reduced mobility and a significant burden on healthcare services.��

Strong compression is an important treatment for people with venous leg ulcers, to improve blood flow in the lower leg and support healing.��

It can be provided in different ways, including bandages systems that can have two or four layers, compression stockings that have two layers and adjustable compression wraps that fasten around the leg with Velcro-style straps.��

All these compression approaches aim to deliver the same level of compression but differ in how they are applied, how easy they are to use and how comfortable people find them.��

Wraps have become increasingly popular because they can be adjusted and, in some cases, self-applied by people with leg ulcers or those around them.�� However, there has been limited high-quality evidence comparing compression wraps with other commonly used strong compression treatments.��

The researchers carried out a large randomised controlled trial involving 637 adults receiving care at 33 mainly community sites across the UK.��

Participants were assigned to be offered either compression wraps, two-layer compression bandages, or established evidence-based compression treatments (four-layer bandages or two-layer compression stockings)��

The researchers found that ulcers healed more slowly in patients offered compression wraps than in those offered established evidence-based compression treatments.��

Patients receiving compression wraps also appeared to heal more slowly than those treated with two-layer compression bandages, although this difference was not statistically significant.��

The study found that two-layer compression bandages performed similarly to established evidence-based compression treatments.��

The findings provide some of the strongest evidence to date comparing commonly used compression therapies for venous leg ulcers.��

A separate companion process evaluation found patients liked compression wraps because they were comfortable, easy to adjust, and could be removed for showering,��

However, these same features may also mean that people are more likely to loosen or remove the wraps, potentially reducing the amount of therapeutic compression delivered and helping explain the slower healing observed in the trial.��

Together, the studies suggest compression wraps should not routinely be the first choice for most people with venous leg ulcers.��

However, they may still be appropriate for some patients where comfort, independence or self-management are particularly important, provided patients receive clear advice on maintaining effective compression.��

Jo Dumville, Professor of Applied Health Research from the University of �������Թϱ��� said: “Venous leg ulcers can have a major impact people’s quality of life and place a significant burden on healthcare services, so it is important that health professionals have robust evidence to guide treatment decisions”.��

“Our study compared three commonly used strong compression approaches in a real-world NHS setting and suggested that�� that compression wraps do not improve healing times when compared with established evidence-based treatments.”��

Catherine Arundel, Senior Research Fellow at the University of York said: “While some uncertainty remains, these findings suggest that compression wraps are unlikely to offer a healing advantage as a first-line treatment”.��

“The results will help clinicians, patients and healthcare providers make informed decisions about the most appropriate therapies for managing venous leg ulcers."��

• The paper Compression therapies for venous leg ulcers: The VENous Ulcer Study 6 (VenUS 6), an open, multicentre, randomised clinical trial is published in PLOS Medicine
• The companion process evaluation Compression therapies for the treatment of venous leg ulcers: a mixed method process evaluation in a randomised controlled trial, VenUS6�� is published in Trials

Professor Mahima Swamy’s lab studies intestinal immunology, diet, infection, and immune-mediated bowel diseases (Coeliac and Crohn’s). The group particularly focuses on intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL), a poorly characterised class of T cells residing within the intestinal epithelium, and their communication with epithelial cells.

Mahima joins the Becker from The University of Dundee, where she is a Programme Leader in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit (MRC PPU). In 2016, Mahima established her own research group in the MRC PPU, supported from 2017 by a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship, and became an EMBO Young Investigator in 2022.

Originally from Bangalore, India, Mahima studied Biological Sciences and Biotechnology at BITS Pilani before completing her PhD at the Max-Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg, Germany, studying T-cell receptor biochemistry with Wolfgang Schamel. She then held postdoctoral positions with Adrian Hayday at CRUK's London Research Institute, researching intestinal immune surveillance, and with Doreen Cantrell at Dundee, uncovering roles for O-GlcNAc modification in T cell lymphomagenesis and development.

Mahima said: “I am very excited to be joining �������Թϱ��� and the Lydia Becker Institute. I have always appreciated the amazing immunology research that happens at the Becker and loved the collegiate and friendly atmosphere whenever I have visited. With the recent award of the MRC Centre of Research Excellence in Exposome Immunology to the University, I think this is a great time to be joining and to be able to contribute to the great mucosal barrier research going on here.”

Commenting on the appointment, Professor Tracy Hussell, Director of the Lydia Becker Institute said: “I am thrilled that Mahima will be joining the Lydia Becker Institute at �������Թϱ���. Her fantastic research on intestinal immunity is a natural fit with our focus on barrier tissues and their interaction with environmental stressors.”

Sixty years after the 1966 World Cup final, the most famous football in England's history has been examined as never before. NXCT at �������Թϱ��� and the National Football Museum have produced the first 3D X-ray scans of the Slazenger Challenge 4 Star used at Wembley on July 30, 1966 – rendering, in extraordinary detail, both its 25-panel hand-stitched leather exterior, and the degraded latex bladder sealed inside it since the day England won the World Cup.

It is a portrait of a vanished craft. Each Challenge 4 Star took two-and-a-half hours to stitch by hand at the Slazenger works in Horbury, near Wakefield, and had to meet strict specifications. 14 to 16 ounces in weight, 27 to 28 inches in circumference. The ball earned its place in the final by winning a blind test of more than 100 footballs at The FA's headquarters. The now iconic orange was not a stylistic flourish, but a practical stand-out effect for the monochrome television sets of 1966.

Set against the ball used in this month's 2026 World Cup final, the scans make sixty years of progress impossible to miss. The Trionda is built from four thermally bonded panels of polyurethan, polyester, viscose and synthetic rubber, and carries an inertial measurement unit sensor that tracks every contact and position change. In 1966, the technology was a needle and thread.

The ball's journey to its casing at the National Football Museum is just as fascinating as the final it was used in. After England's 4-2 win in front of some 97,000 spectators, Helmut Haller – who had scored the opening goal – carried it back to Germany, claiming tradition entitled the first scorer to keep it. It stayed there for 30 years, until a consortium of the Mirror Group, Virgin, and Eurostar bought it for £80,000 and repatriated it ahead of Euro '96. The initials on its surface belong to Uri Geller, who signed it for luck as a pre-tournament publicity stunt.

Today, the ball sits on permanent display in the 'England on the World Stage' section of the National Football Museum, alongside Hurst's hat-trick shirt and other objects from the final. The museum marks the anniversary on Thursday 30 July with a programme of talks from its Visitor Experience team on the 1966 tournament and the final itself.

Dr Matthew Lawson, who performed the scans in the NXCT, said: "X-rays are a fantastic tool to non-destructively see inside objects, this technique has been used a lot in cultural heritage previously but never to look inside such a nationally significant football!

"Although a football is mostly air on the inside, we were able to see the makeup of the leather panels, the stitching and the perished air bladder in amazing detail thanks to X-ray computed tomography. Everyone at the NXCT in the University of �������Թϱ��� would like to thank the National Football Museum for this exciting opportunity to scan such an artefact and to hold it in our own hands!"

Tim Desmond, CEO of the National Football Museum, said: "This is the most famous football in the country and, until now, nobody had ever properly looked inside it. What the scans give us is a window into how the game was made in 1966, the materials, the methods, the craft of a ball stitched by hand in a Yorkshire factory. It's also a measure of just how far the technology has travelled to reach the Trionda of 2026.

"We're a museum committed to educating ourselves and others, and to translating objects behind glass into stories people can get inside. As such, my thanks go to the University of �������Թϱ��� for their expertise and curiosity that have created such a brilliant insight for our visitors and beyond. If you haven't seen it already, come and witness a slice of history for yourself."

The studies, published in Science Translational Medicine on 29 July, were performed using mouse models of this largely incurable disease by a team from the Centre for Nanotechnology in Medicine and the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre at �������Թϱ���.

Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive brain cancer in adults and currently has no cure. Neurosurgeons will typically first remove the tumour, before treating the patient with chemoradiotherapy 4 to 6 weeks later. Because glioblastoma cells infiltrate deep into healthy brain tissue, some will always remain after surgery, fuelling the near‑inevitable return of disease, most times regrowing at the rim of the surgical resection.

The research, spearheaded by postdoctoral associate at �������Թϱ��� Dr Lorena Fernandes, showed experimentally that the blood‑brain barrier is disrupted after surgery, opening two short‑lived therapeutic windows at the resection margin — immediately after the operation and again 48–72 hours later. Using different mouse models and performing precise neurosurgery to remove the growing glioblastoma tumours from their brains, the team tracked fluorescently labelled, liposomal nanoparticles injected into the blood stream during the time-windows identified. The particles homed in on the resection margin with remarkable precision while other brain regions with an intact barrier showed almost no uptake.

Lipid nanoparticle medicines are based on tiny lipid-based nanoscale carriers that can ferry different cancer drugs (such as chemotherapies, radiotherapies, mRNA therapies) directly to tumours so the medicine targets the cancer cells alone. They are used to treat different types of cancer, but until now they have not been shown to be effective against this difficult to treat disease.

Chemotherapies have also largely failed in this disease due to poor crossing of the blood-brain barrier, and minimal amounts can reach the few cancer cells left over from surgery. By loading these liposome nanoparticles with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, the team was able to exploit these newly identified post-operative windows to achieve precise delivery in the brain, exactly where needed. Across different mouse models, a single injection of this liposomal drug was able to suppress recurrence and control the disease with little toxicity.the first half of your story here.

Principal Investigator , CRUK Career Development Fellow at �������Թϱ��� said: “For the first time, we’ve shown that glioblastoma surgery briefly exposes a vulnerability we can exploit. If treatment is timed during specific windows we identified, it is able to halt the disease significantly before it regrows.

“We suggest that the hours and days immediately after surgery may hold the key to stopping glioblastoma from returning.

“It also raises the possibility that other established medicines could be redeployed in smarter, more strategic ways.”

Co-Principal Investigator of the studies, from �������Թϱ��� and the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Barcelona said: “The study has the potential to open a new frontier in postoperative cancer care.

“We propose the re-framing of post-operative treatment that uses the latest nanoparticle-based medicines, including lipid nanoparticle drugs, immunotherapies, or genetic therapies, to target the rim of the surgical resection, which is the area of the brain where the tumour generally recurs, compromising survival.

“We hope and actively fund-raise for the next stage in the development of this technology to move on from preclinical mouse models and trial this potentially redefining therapeutic approach in patients.”

• The study was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Rosetrees Trust both in the UK, and the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence programme in Spain.
• The paper Targeting therapeutic nanoparticles to the glioblastoma resection margin by 6 harnessing post-operative blood-brain barrier disruption is published on Science Translational Medicine on 29 July. DOI��

The research, published today in , describes a new family of antifungal agents, which - when tested in mice - are more potent and less toxic than existing treatments.

A growing threat

Fungal diseases are an escalating global health threat, becoming harder to treat as resistance to existing drugs grows and the development of new antifungal medicines lags behind. The urgency for new treatments was emphasised by a recent by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

While existing antifungal medicines can be highly effective, many can cause serious side effects because fungal cells share similarities with human cells, making it difficult to target infections without harming healthy tissue.

Discovering new antifungal compounds

In the new study, researchers from the Micklefield Lab focused on polyenes — a class of powerful antifungal agents. Using an approach called genome mining, they identified bacterial species capable of producing new, undiscovered antifungals.

Dr Saadia Nasr Mirza who worked on the project said: “The most effective antifungal agent currently available is a polyene molecule called amphotericin produced by soil bacteria. Although amphotericin is very potent, it is highly toxic, so we set out to discover if bacteria can produce different types of polyenes that are safer than amphotericin. We developed a bioinformatics pipeline, which surprisingly showed that many bacterial species have the capability to produce novel polyenes.”

More potent, less toxic treatments

Using a technique called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), the team determined the structures of the newly discovered polyenes, showing that each one had a unique structure that differed from any existing antifungal compounds. The researchers also characterised the enzymes responsible for producing them and generated a library of polyene derivatives for testing.

Several of the new compounds showed increased antifungal activity, reduced toxicity and improved solubility compared with the parent drugs. The findings demonstrate that enzymes can be used to redesign these important medicines in a cleaner, more efficient way, producing new compounds that retain strong antifungal activity while reducing toxicity and harmful side effects.

One compound, known as Nys34, showed particularly promising results. In a mouse model of invasive aspergillosis, a serious fungal infection caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, the compound reduced fungal burden without substantive signs of toxicity.

Professor Jason Micklefield who led the project said “We were pleased to find that several of the new polyene derivatives were more potent and less toxic than amphotericin and nystatin, which is another important polyene that is also used in the clinic.

“Surprisingly, we found that one of the most effective new polyene derivatives, Nys34, has a different mode-of-action to the widely used amphotericin. Because Nys34 kills fungal cells in a different way, it could prove very useful to combat emerging pathogens that have evolved resistance to amphotericin.”

A cleaner way to develop new medicines

Polyene antifungal drugs are highly complex molecules. Previous efforts to improve them have typically relied on lengthy chemical synthesis processes that are expensive, inefficient and can require environmentally harmful reagents.

The Micklefield lab, based at Imperial’s Molecular Sciences Research Hub, developed an enzyme-based approach that can produce improved polyenes by cleaner and more efficient biological processes, generating promising new drug candidates without the need for complex multi-step chemical manufacturing.

Because the process is potentially scalable and cost-effective, it could help make improved antifungal treatments more widely available, particularly in lower-income regions where fungal diseases are highest place a substantial burden on public health.

The researchers hope that further development of Nys34 could ultimately lead to clinical testing in people. Beyond Nys34, their enzyme platform provides a powerful new way of generating and refining polyene antifungal compounds that could be used to create additional treatments for a range of fungal diseases, helping to expand the limited pipeline of new antifungal medicines.

This year's graduating scholars reflect that diversity, with two students from Ukraine joined by scholars from Myanmar and Sudan.

One of these graduates, Yefym, is graduating with a 2:1 in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Yefym joined us in �������Թϱ��� from Kharkiv, a town 30km from the frontline of the war with Russia, where his family’s home was recently destroyed during a Russian drone attack. Yefym has secured a University studentship to continue his studies to PhD level, and will be staying with us come September.

Yefym commented, “Coming to �������Թϱ��� changed my life completely.

When I left Ukraine, I had no idea what would happen next or whether I would be able to return home. There was a great deal of uncertainty, and I suddenly had to begin building a new life in a different country.

�������Թϱ��� gradually became my true second home. It gave me stability, opportunities, and a sense of direction at a time when I needed them most. I have met wonderful people here, developed both personally and academically, and discovered the area in which I would like to build my future.”

For��Serhii, the youngest of our Humanitarian scholars, graduation marks the achievement of an ambition that might once have seemed out of reach after war forced him and his family to flee Mariupol, a city devastated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Having grown up with a passion for mathematics, physics and computer science, Serhii came to �������Թϱ��� to study��Computer Science with an Integrated Foundation Year:

“When the war began, my family and I had to leave Mariupol and start again elsewhere. Coming to �������Թϱ��� with the support of the scholarship opened up opportunities that might never have been possible otherwise. I’ve gained new knowledge, skills, friendships and experiences, and it has genuinely been a life-changing experience.”

Another graduate, Mugtaba, fled Sudan following the outbreak of war, which has since become the world's largest humanitarian and displacement crisis. He recalls that “Schools and businesses closed, families were torn apart, and millions of people were displaced. We had to flee the capital to our hometown, leaving behind our home, belongings, friends, and the life we had built. Conditions became increasingly difficult, with frequent shortages of electricity, water, and essential goods. As my father was no longer able to work, my brother and I took on jobs to help support our family."

Mugtaba says of the scholarship, “Receiving this scholarship has been truly life changing. It eased a significant financial burden at a time when my family had lost almost everything because of the war. It allowed me to focus on my studies instead of worrying about how I would fund my education, and it gave me opportunities that otherwise might not have been possible.

Beyond the financial support, the scholarship gave me confidence. It reminded me that people believed in my potential despite everything that had happened. As I begin my career in electrical engineering, I hope to contribute to projects that improve infrastructure and enhance people’s lives, while giving back to the communities that have supported me. I also hope my journey shows that, even in the face of conflict and displacement, education can create opportunities and transform lives.”

Alongside these three, a fourth Humanitarian scholar from Myanmar is graduating with a��BSc Cognitive Neuroscience & Psychology, joining a diverse cohort whose journeys to �������Թϱ��� span three countries and multiple conflicts.

Published in , the research, led by demonstrates that this electronic “reheating” alone can cause metals to switch between different crystal structures in a fraction of a picosecond.

A different way to drive phase changes

In most phase transitions – such as melting or structural rearrangement – heat flows through the lattice of atoms. But in this work, the team shows that another mechanism can dominate: electronic entropy, a measure of how electron populations spread across energy states at high temperatures.

By modelling 17 different elemental metals, the researchers found that almost all undergo one or more solid-to-solid phase transitions driven purely by this electronic effect.

This means materials can change structure before the atomic framework has time to respond, creating a short-lived but physically meaningful state governed entirely by electronic properties.

Predicting how metals respond under extreme conditions

The team used advanced simulations to calculate how the free energy of different crystal structures changes as electronic temperature rises. These calculations revealed consistent patterns across groups of metals, including transitions between common structures such as hexagonal (hcp), face-centred cubic (fcc), and body-centred cubic (bcc).

A key finding is that increasing electronic temperature tends to favour structures with lower density, driven by an effect known as electronic thermal pressure.

However, the behaviour is not universal. In some elements, subtle differences in electronic structure (especially the distribution of electrons near the Fermi level) lead to more complex or unexpected phase changes.

Understanding materials on ultrafast timescales

These results help explain how metals behave under extreme, nonequilibrium conditions, such as those created in laser experiments or high-energy environments.

Because the transitions occur on femtosecond to picosecond timescales, they could be observed using ultrafast experimental techniques, including time-resolved X-ray or electron diffraction.

The findings suggest that researchers may be able to use ultrafast laser pulses to temporarily switch materials into new structural states, opening possibilities for controlling material properties in ways not accessible under equilibrium conditions.

Toward new approaches in materials design

By showing that electronic entropy alone can drive structural changes, the study provides a new framework for understanding and designing materials under extreme conditions.

The research could inform future developments in areas such as ultrafast electronics, high-energy physics, and advanced manufacturing technologies, where materials are routinely pushed far from equilibrium.

They had been working on the �������Թϱ��� Mark I, an experimental computer which proved, for the first time, that a machine could store and run a program. But testing in a university laboratory and making in the real world were different things at the time.

Robinson soon redesigned the machine's multiplier (the component that handles calculations), so that instead of working through each step one at a time, like traffic queuing in a single lane, his version could tackle several steps, or switch between several lanes, at once. This updated machine ran at five times its original speed, and the result, delivered to the University in 1951, was the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer.

By uniting the two worlds of industry and academia, the researchers had helped to produce something neither party could have achieved alone. Seventy-five years on, universities and industry are now working in a far more direct and collaborative way, to produce equally valuable technologies.

From the lab to the field

One of the most striking examples at �������Թϱ��� is , the Centre for Robotic Autonomy in Demanding and Long-lasting Environments. Funded jointly by engineering and technology company Amentum and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's Prosperity Partnerships programme, the purpose of CRADLE is to design advanced robotics and autonomous systems for environments that can push them to their limits.

CRADLE’s robots have operated more than 1km underground at the Boulby Laboratory in Yorkshire, in conditions designed to mimic the surface of Mars, and competed in the European Space Agency’s challenge to develop excavation systems for the Moon. They’ve also been deployed by National Highways to inspect motorway infrastructure in otherwise dangerous situations for human engineers.

Another successful project was (Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Nuclear), a five-year programme funded by UK Research and Innovation, which saw �������Թϱ���'s Centre for Robotics and AI lead other research institutions in working directly with nuclear sector organisations, including Sellafield Ltd, EDF Energy and the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

They developed autonomous systems that could inspect, handle and maintain equipment remotely when in environments too hazardous for people, something that makes a huge difference to the safety, cost and speed of clean-up in industry phases like nuclear decommissioning.

A different kind of partnership

Not all collaboration looks the same, often these are long-term partnerships built on trust and a shared purpose, rather than short projects with a single deliverable.

�������Թϱ���'s work with BAE Systems, for example, spans several decades and multiple projects, like the FLAVIIR programme which led to the world's first flapless flight. This new aircraft design could be steered by carefully controlling the flow of air across a wing, rather than using moveable flaps and surfaces that conventional planes depend on.

MAGMA further developed this into a method for flying an unmanned aircraft with no moving control surfaces at all, by using air blown at supersonic speed and a technique called fluidic thrust vectoring (redirecting the force of a plane engine’s thrust by shaping airflow rather than by physically angling its exhaust).

Tootill and Robinson crossed the boundary between academia and industry in 1949 because their work demanded it. Today’s researchers pushing those boundaries again, working in underground laboratories, nuclear facilities, flight test centres and road networks to navigate difficult problems, building partnerships that produce real-world impacts.

Key findings

• Many older residents want to "age in place" in the communities where they have built their lives, but many feel excluded from discussions about the future of their neighbourhoods.
• Residents expressed concerns that regeneration could lead to gentrification, exclusion and division, and questioned whether new homes and amenities would benefit existing communities.
• Community spaces, local shops and faith settings provide vital social infrastructure, helping older people maintain social connections and access informal support.
• Everyday encounters between people from different ethnic, cultural and generational backgrounds help create belonging, familiarity and continuity as neighbourhoods change.
• The researchers warn that regeneration should protect and strengthen existing communities, with investment directed towards community organisations as well as new buildings and infrastructure.

North �������Թϱ��� is undergoing one of the largest programmes of urban regeneration in the country. The £6 billion North �������Թϱ��� Strategy includes the redevelopment of North �������Թϱ��� General Hospital, a new mental health facility and the Victoria North housing development, while other major schemes are planned across the area.

Victoria North alone is expected to deliver up to 15,000 new homes over 15 to 20 years, and has been selected as one of the Government's New Towns Initiative sites.

What the researchers say

The researchers say the scale of investment presents a major opportunity to improve health and wellbeing, but warn that the benefits must be shared with the communities already living in the area.

"Regeneration could potentially bring enormous benefits to communities, but it is vital that we don't lose sight of the people who already live in these places,” said Dr Camilla Lewis from �������Թϱ���'s �������Թϱ��� Urban Ageing Research Group. "Older people have deep connections to their neighbourhoods and have built up knowledge, relationships and networks over many years. These are valuable assets for regeneration, not obstacles to it.”

The research found that community organisations and volunteers play a significant role in supporting older people, particularly from ethnically minoritised backgrounds, helping to reduce the effects of social isolation, poor health, financial pressures or language barriers

Community spaces also provide opportunities for interaction between people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, helping to maintain a sense of connection as neighbourhoods change.

The researchers warn that these forms of ‘social infrastructure’ can be overlooked when regeneration focuses primarily on physical development.

They are calling for investment to be directed towards existing community organisations alongside new housing and infrastructure, and for regeneration to be designed collaboratively with older people.

"Regeneration needs to start by understanding what is already valuable about a place - its people, its relationships, its cultural diversity and the spaces where communities come together,” said Dr Niamh Kavanagh from �������Թϱ���. "Our research shows that these everyday connections matter enormously to older people. They can provide a sense of belonging and continuity at a time when neighbourhoods are undergoing profound change.”

"The challenge is to make sure that regeneration strengthens these connections rather than unintentionally disrupting them.”

The report recommends that future regeneration should be equitable, embedded within existing communities, designed collaboratively with older people, culturally sensitive and supported by sustained investment in social infrastructure.

The researchers say the lessons from North �������Թϱ��� are relevant to the wider UK as cities and towns respond simultaneously to an ageing population, housing pressures and major programmes of urban development.

The study was carried out over 12 months and involved 41 interviews with older residents, community organisations and regeneration stakeholders, two focus groups and four creative co-production projects involving more than 50 older people. The research focused primarily on Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall, while also considering the wider North �������Թϱ��� area.

Publication details

Read the full Ageing, inequality and urban regeneration: Collaborative research with older people living in North �������Թϱ��� report .

Tackling the public’s energy concerns

Amidst growing climate change concerns and exposure to fossil fuel price shocks, local energy schemes are beneficial for engaging the public directly in an energy transition, encouraging community cohesion, bringing direct financial benefits to participants, and providing energy for more remote locations.

However, PPERC’s response, Putting Power in its Place, states that the government’s plan also provides a major opportunity to address issues of energy poverty.

“What we argue for is genuinely community owned, democratic energy projects which provide both direct returns to those facing energy poverty and debt but also opportunities to develop skills and greater community cohesion,” said Dr Gareth Fearn, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow and editor of the paper.

Key recommendations��

Their��paper��outlines five practical recommendations��to��ensure��the��LPP��delivers on its full potential.��

• Bring��power to the people��by proactively��identifying��communities most in need, building mechanisms for democratic ownership, creating bespoke regulation, and ringfencing funding for engagement and participatory��energy��planning.
• Address energy poverty by embedding it as a key funding criterion,��targeting local schemes in areas with high energy debt, creating��a single UK��registry of community��energy organisations, and engaging with existing community groups.
• Develop skills through community power��and support job creation��by��creating a more inclusive,��better-targeted skills strategy��and integrating small and��medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community and social enterprises.
• Connect the LPP to other plans,��such as��aligning the Warm Homes Agency with Great British Energy (GBE)��Local, and��guiding��local authority planners on how to include community energy in local policy.
• Invest in the ‘one stop shop’ by ensuring energy and retrofit advice services have secure, long-term funding for delivery partners, creating a nationally��visible advice helpline, and��developing a comprehensive��business- and community-focused energy advice service.��

Creating local job opportunities��

PPERC’s research��suggests��that proactively working with communities leads to better energy planning.��Whilst community projects��can give more people a stake in the future of energy,��their��paper��suggests that the��full��benefits will only be��realised��if the LPP��ensures��clear, inclusive pathways into jobs��and��skills��for locals.��This includes addressing��any��structural barriers to pursuing training faced by marginalised groups.��

“We see the LPP, and the expanding role of Great British Energy at a local level, as a means of bringing a range of different people into the energy transition in both materially and socially beneficial ways,” said��Dr��Fearn.��

Looking to the future

Since the Local Power Plan was announced in February, the political context and global energy pressures have continued to shift, further emphasising the need to strengthen energy security and ensure the plan delivers lasting benefits for the communities most affected.

By establishing protected mechanisms for public and democratic ownership over the projects, PPERC argues, the LPP will be able to maximise the potential of community energy to deliver much-needed impact.

Publication details

The full response and recommendations, Putting Power in its Place: A PPERC response to the Local Power Plan, can be read .

That's the question addressed in the latest position paper from �������Թϱ���'s Dalton Nuclear Policy Group, which sets out practical opportunities for duty holders, regulators and government to build on the recommendations of the 2025 Nuclear Regulatory Task Force.

The paper, A radical reset: actionable opportunities from the UK nuclear regulatory review 2025, responds to a fundamental review of how the UK's nuclear sector is regulated. The review was launched by the UK government in 2025 as part of its plans to both expand nuclear energy generation and retain an effective nuclear deterrent, leading to the establishment of the Nuclear Regulatory Task Force.

The Task Force went on to publish a series of recommendations, aimed primarily at government but with some also directed towards industry. All of these were accepted in full by the government in early 2026 - however, little detail has been proposed to date on exactly how they might be implemented in practice.

The Dalton paper aims to fill that gap, putting forward a suite of practical opportunities which, if taken up, could deliver the more efficient and effective regulatory environment needed to underpin the UK's nuclear sector, without compromising on safety or security.

In developing the paper, the authors drew on input from within the Dalton Nuclear Institute's academic team - which includes individuals with extensive practical experience of policy, operations and regulation across the nuclear sector - as well as from a range of nuclear duty holders across both the civil and defence communities.

‘A once in a lifetime opportunity.’

Co-author Professor Francis Livens said the Task Force's review represented a rare chance to reshape the sector:
"The Regulatory Task Force has indeed provided a once in a lifetime opportunity to rethink the way the UK 'does' nuclear. We have identified opportunities to speed operations up, improve safety and reduce costs, and would be very happy to support organisations across the sector in taking these."

The authors hope the paper will be a useful input for those across the sector seeking to drive positive change.
The paper is authored by:

• Dr William Bodel
• Professor Adrian Bull MBE, Hon FNucI
• Professor Gregg Butler
• Professor Francis Livens
• Dame Fiona Rayment DBE FREng FRSE.

Read the full paper:

This well-deserved promotion recognises Clara's outstanding contributions to research, education and academic leadership, particularly her work advancing digital approaches to improve occupational safety, health and wellbeing. Through her research, she has brought together expertise from engineering, data science, organisational psychology, regulators and industry to address some of the most pressing challenges facing high-risk sectors.��

Commenting on her promotion, Clara said:��
“I am deeply grateful for this recognition and for the many colleagues, collaborators, students and mentors who have shaped my journey. The Thomas Ashton Institute has played an important role in enabling interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers, regulators and industry. I look forward to continuing this work and advancing human-centred digital innovation that delivers meaningful improvements in workplace safety, health and wellbeing.”

As Digital Safety and Health Lead at the Thomas Ashton Institute, Clara has helped strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration across the University and beyond, supporting research that explores how digital technologies can improve workplace safety, health and wellbeing while ensuring innovation remains centred on people.

Reflecting on her promotion, Clara has often said that "no one becomes a professor alone," recognising the collective support of colleagues, collaborators, mentors, students, friends and family throughout her career.��

Professor Cheung's promotion marks an important milestone for both the University and the Thomas Ashton Institute. We are proud to celebrate this achievement and look forward to continuing to work with Clara as she develops new partnerships, advances interdisciplinary research and helps shape the future of digital safety and health.��

Congratulations, Professor Cheung, on this outstanding achievement.��

• 
  ��

Key findings

Bullet point list of the study's key findings

What the researchers say

Put some of the researcher's quotes here, but highlight one or two key sentences in the separate module (accessed on the left of this page)

Relevant subheading

Detail about what the findings mean - changes to previous knowledge, challenge to orthodoxy etc. Make this part human interest if possible - try to ground the study in real world implications so ordinary readers will be interested. Insert another quote in this section if needed/provided - particularly if the academic provides a call to action.

Publication details

The study was published in xxx journal.

DOI: http://xxx.

Representatives from the Institute, and exhibited throughout the day, engaging with delegates from academia, policy and practice. The event provided a valuable opportunity to showcase the Institute's work in risk and regulatory research, occupational health and safety, and interdisciplinary approaches to addressing complex societal challenges.

As well as sharing information about the Institute's activities, the team met with researchers and practitioners from a wide range of organisations, exploring opportunities for future collaboration and knowledge exchange.

The Festival's 2026 programme focused on a number of important themes, including Global Public Health, Commercial Determinants of Health, Research Inclusion, AI and Public Health, and Women's Health.

We would like to thank the organisers and everyone who visited our stand during the event. We look forward to building on the connections made and continuing to support evidence-informed approaches to improving health, safety and wellbeing.

It was fantastic to host scientists from all over the country, from the Universities of �������Թϱ���, Oxford, Birmingham, Keele, Leeds, Loughborough, �������Թϱ��� Metropolitan, Southampton, Sussex, UCL and Imperial, from Belgium, France and Sweden, as well as many of our Harwell colleagues and collaborators from Diamond Light Source, STFC, UKHSA and the Rosalind Franklin Institute.

Speakers

Huge thanks to our excellent speakers who presented a variety of complementary imaging techniques.

• , The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility
• and , Detector Development Group, Science & Technology Facilities Council
• , University of Birmingham
• , University of Ghent
• , MAX IV Laboratory, Lund University
• , �������Թϱ��� Metropolitan University
• , Laboratois MatéIS
• , University of Southampton.

Workshop topics of conversation

Imaging techniques discussed were ultra-fast synchrotron radiography and tomography imaging, micro-CT combined with SWAXS, 3D X-ray Histology, ultra-high resolution tomography, diceCT, tomography imaging of porous media and molten flows, advances in X-ray imaging detectors that were applied in various applications (battery safety studies, laser welding of metals, fuel injectors, shockwave imaging, crystal growth in molten flows, pore-scale imaging of multiphase fluid flow, bone hierarchical structure, tumour margin determination, foetal post-mortem autopsy, laser-based additive manufacturing, muscle whiskers in pinniped species, elemental chemistry in alloys and uranium quantification).

The workshop maintained high engagement all day with fascinating 3D visualisation such as the complex bone canalicular network and impressive 4D animations such as battery failure and hydrogen-brine dynamics. The bottlenecks of analysing such large datasets with different modalities and the importance of taking this into consideration when designing an experiment, was also addressed.

The ability to measure intricate fluid dynamics in porous media using 4D velocimetry was a key advancement. These empirical datasets can significantly improve the accuracy of CFD models and can be extended to study mechanical processes in other domains, such as bone mechanobiology and tissue engineering (bioreactors, scaffolds).

The use of AI and deep-learning techniques to boost data interpretation and identify novel biomarkers in clinical applications look very promising, and it was important to highlight some of the limits such as model hallucination. Because imaging techniques and data analytics are advancing so rapidly, dedicated training programs are increasingly essential to prepare the next generation of scientists.

Posters and poster prizes

• First prize awarded to , University of Oxford, ‘Towards Hydrogen Imaging and Mapping in Embrittlement-Susceptible Steels via XAS and Machine Learning’.
• Second prize awarded to , University of Oxford, ‘Investigating interdendritic flow during aluminium alloys solidification using Artificial Intelligence and synchrotron X-ray imaging’.
• Third prize awarded to , University of Birmingham, ‘Additive Manufacturing and Advance Materials Testing of 316L & Tungstan LPBF Lattices for Fusion Application.

Thank you to everyone who presented a poster and congratulations to our three winners!

Thank you…

We would like to say a huge thank you to all our speakers, chairs, sponsors and delegates who helped make the conference a success.

Published in , the study led by researchers from �������Թϱ���, the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis and the University of Münster describe a family of tellurium-based catalysts that use chalcogen bonding to control reaction outcomes through non-covalent interactions.

Chalcogen bonding, which arises from electron-deficient regions known as σ-holes, has attracted growing attention as a tool for catalysis. However, translating these comparatively weak interactions into effective asymmetric catalysis has proved difficult, particularly when using neutral catalyst systems. Most successful examples reported to date have relied on charged catalysts to strengthen substrate binding.

To address this limitation, the researchers used computational modelling to design a series of chiral tellurium-triazole catalysts capable of forming a confined binding environment around reacting molecules. They identified a catalyst incorporating a 1,3-diaminocyclohexane backbone that could adopt a bidentate binding arrangement, allowing two tellurium centres to interact cooperatively with a substrate.

When tested experimentally, the catalyst was able to induce asymmetry in benchmark Reissert-type reactions of quinolines and isoquinolines. The best-performing examples reached enantiomeric ratios of up to 89:11, providing evidence that neutral chalcogen-bond donors can transfer chiral information during catalysis.

Dr Olga García Mancheño, corresponding author and Professor of Catalysis in Organic Chemistry at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis, who led the experimental catalysis work, adds: "Chalcogen bonding has enormous potential as a tool for catalysis, but translating these relatively weak interactions into reliable asymmetric control has proved challenging. This was only possible by bringing together computational design, synthesis and experimental catalysis. The study shows that carefully designed neutral chalcogen-bond donors can overcome an important limitation in the field and opens the door to more selective systems in the future."

The team combined computational design, synthesis and mechanistic studies to understand why some catalyst architectures performed better than others. Spectroscopic and computational analyses showed that the most effective catalyst forms two cooperative chalcogen-bond interactions with a bound chloride ion, supported by additional hydrogen-bonding contacts that help stabilise the catalytic complex.

Alternative catalyst designs either failed to bind effectively or produced little or no enantioselectivity, highlighting the importance of catalyst geometry in controlling stereochemical outcomes.

"The computational analysis allowed us to understand why certain catalyst structures were successful while others were not", says James O'Brien, who carried out the computational studies at �������Թϱ���. "It revealed how subtle changes in catalyst geometry influence binding and selectivity, helping us identify the features needed for effective chalcogen-bonding catalysis."

Lary Massold, who conducted the experimental studies says: “From the two most promising synthesised chalcogen donors, the catalyst with a weaker binding but more directive bidentate interactions with the substrate showed higher selectivity and stereocontrol. With this study we proved that fine-tuning of weak interactions plays a crucial role in this area of supramolecular catalysis.”

Although the levels of stereocontrol remain below those routinely achieved with more established classes of asymmetric catalyst, the work provides a proof of principle for neutral chalcogen-bonding catalysis and offers a framework for designing more selective systems.

The authors say the design principles identified in the study could help guide future efforts to harness weak non-covalent interactions for increasingly complex catalytic transformations.