EPSRC : Andrew Bage : EPSRC/3202/R83279 The pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries are dependent upon the construction of novel molecular structures to target new medicines and agrochemicals. One of the most generally applied and used methods to do this uses arylboronic esters building blocks. Therefore an extensive library of arylboronic esters is needed and the easy ability to continually increase this library is essential. The greater the library, the greater the potential for novel chemical structures. Arylboronic esters are currently prepared by a two-step process which is inherently wasteful and practically challenging. The direct production of arylboronic esters by C-H borylation is far more economic and has the potential to become a staple reaction, particularly for the medicinal chemistry and agrochemical industries. Currently, rare, toxic metals, typically iridium and rhodium, are used as catalysts for the C-H borylation reaction, but the reactions suffer from limited selectivity. This project will introduce broad-scope and selective boron-based catalysts for C-H borylation to give arylboronic esters. A boron-based catalyst would offer orthogonal reactivity and remove the need for exhaustive catalyst removal, as boron is far less toxic than the heavy metals currently used. The Fontaine group is the world leader in boron-based C-H borylation reactions. They have developed a series of stoichiometric and substoichiometric boron species that are capable of activating aryl C-H bonds to further reaction. The Thomas group has shown stoichiometric boron species can be transformed into catalysts by utilising the 'boron-boron exchange' mechanism. This mechanism shows impressive versatility and is vital to catalyst regeneration. Boron-boron exchange has been used to prepare alkyl- and alkenylboronic ester products and it will be applied to arene C-H borylation in this project. Initially, stoichiometric C-H borylation will be used to probe the efficacy of the boron-boron exchange mechanism for C-H borylation. This will include isolating reaction intermediates and directly observing exchange and catalyst regeneration. Subsequently, we will develop catalytic reactions using the fundamental knowledge gained. Optimisation will focus on functional group tolerance and the targeting of arylboronic esters of significant interest to the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. Ultimately, this project will showcase boron-boron exchange as a versatile tool for developing industrially-relevant building blocks and give a system that will rival current industrial methods for C-H borylation.

In this project, the team of researchers will address the problem of autonomous robotic grasping of objects in challenging scenes. We consider two industrially and economically important open challenges which require advanced vision-guided grasping. 1) “Bin-picking” for manufacturing, where components must be grasped from a random, self-occluding heap inside a bin or box. Parts may have known models, but will only be partially visible in the heap and may have complex shapes. Shiny/reflective metal parts make 3D vision difficult, and the bin walls provide difficult reach-to-grasp and visibility constraints. 2) Waste materials handling, which may be hazardous (e.g. nuclear) waste, or materials for recycling in the circular economy. Here the robot has no prior models of object shapes, and grasped materials may also be deformable (e.g. contaminated gloves, hoses). The proposed project comprises two parallel thrusts: perception (visual and tactile) and action (planning and control for grasping/manipulation). However, perception and action are tightly coupled and this project will build on recent advances in “active perception” and “simultaneous perception and manipulation” (SPAM). In the first thrust, we will exploit recent advances in 3D sensor technology and develop perception algorithms that are robust in challenging environments, e.g. handling shiny (metallic) or transparent (glass/perspex) objects, self-occluding heaps, known objects which may be deformable or fragmented, and unknown objects which lack any pre-existing models. In the second thrust, autonomous grasp planners will be developed with respect to visual features perceived by algorithms developed in the first thrust. Grasps must be planned to be secure, but also provide affordances to facilitate post-grasp manipulative actions, and also afford collision-free reach-to-grasp trajectories. Perceptual noise and uncertainty will be overcome in two ways, namely using computationally adaptive algorithms and mechanically adaptive underactuated hands. An object initially grasped by an accessible feature may need to be re-grasped (for example a tool that is not initially graspable by its handle). We will develop re-grasping strategies that exploit object properties learned during the initial grasp or manipulative actions. Overarching themes in the project are: methods that are generalisable across platforms; reproducibility of results; and the transfer of data. Therefore, the methods proposed in the two thrusts will be tested for reproducibility by implementing them in the different partner’s laboratories, using both similar and different hardware. Large amounts of data will be collected throughout these tests, and published online as a set of international benchmark vision and robotics challenges, curated by Université Laval once the project is completed.

TEMA+ European Territories: Heritage and Development is a renewed and developed version of the TEMA European Societies: Identity and Development EMJMD that was launched in 2010. This bilingual Master Program of four eminent European universities has been an outstanding example of interdisciplinary research and education that analyses identity formations in different levels (from civilization to locality) and promotes European Social Sciences and Humanities globally through the great number of its non-European students. The improved program is making European cultural heritage its new key element. The consortium is thus enlarged with the first francophone HEI of North-America, Laval University in Quebec. The emphasis put on cultural heritage resulted from the recognition of its importance in contemporary culture on global, national and regional scales, and, within the EU. During the last decades, the academic institutionalization of Cultural Heritage Studies took various forms according to countries and disciplinary backgrounds. Now that the European dimension of heritage became an expression of contemporary identity building, it is time that is should also be inducted into higher education. Therefore, the new TEMA+ Master Program would offer a network-based approach and a critical-analytical interpretation in order to establish a current and innovative higher educational project of European Cultural Heritage Studies. TEMA+ European Territories: Heritage and Development will be a two-year long (120 ECTS) Master course, coordinated from Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, in cooperation with the European Heritage Label (EHL) and different UNESCO organs. The mobility tracks of the students will be divided among the coordinating institution (Semester 1) and the four partner universities (École des Hautes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, University of Catania, Charles University, Prague and Université Laval, Quebec for Semester 2-3 and chosen individually for Semester 4 among the five HIE). The consortium awards the students with double or multiple degrees, all accredited on national level. During the four semesters, our students will learn about the theory and practices of cultural heritage, the history of its institutionalization in Europe and in the respective partner countries, complemented by courses on nationalism, immigration, comparative historiography and digital heritage. These theoretical courses will be accompanied by methodological and tutorial seminars during the two years and at least one obligatory internship at a non-academic associated member of the consortium (among others, national and international cultural heritage institutions, museums, EHL or UNESCO sites and organs). Hence, students graduating from the TEMA+ program will not only belong to the well-established and prestigious TEMA-community but will also be connected to the international and professional world of European Heritage.

With brain diseases responsible for 35% of Europe’s disease burden, neuroscience research is pivotal in fighting the challenges faced by our health systems. Meanwhile, pharmaceuticals across Europe report a shortage of neuroscientists properly trained in experimental methodologies and the latest techniques used in clinical and industrial research. Neurasmus is a two-year joint Master Programme in Neurosciences whose main objectives are: 1) to provide strong training in state-of-the-art technologies and technology transfer; 2) to enhance employment prospects in academia, industry, and entrepreneurship and consulting; and 3) to support our graduates through Europe-wide networks of mentors and industry associates early in their careers. Neurasmus includes five partner institutions, each a leader in a key field of neuroscience research: 1) Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Neurogenomics); 2) Université de Bordeaux (Neuropharmacology); 3) Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Neurophysiology and Imaging); 4) Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität und Humboldt - Universität zu Berlin (Clinical Neuroimaging and Translational Research); 5) Université Laval, Québec (Neurophotonics). As a joint international programme, Neurasmus is fully integrated into the local institutions, and has the commitment of all partners for financial support. During the two years of the Master, every student will take rotations in at least two host institutions of the consortium. Our teaching staff are very active in research, and the programme covers a rich interdisciplinary curriculum, from basics in Neuroscience to brain pathologies, and from optogenetics and small-scale microscopy to translational research. Students will be introduced to the different domains of neuroscience through advanced seminars, tutorials, and hands-on laboratory training. They will take internships in academia and industry, choosing among more than 400 internship opportunities in hospital laboratories, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology parks. Students will participate in workshops and career mentorship events held by our industry partners. Innovative teaching methodologies include individual hands-on tutorials, conferences by world-class scientists, and collaborative projects run with students who are on rotation in another partner institution, so that everybody will have worked together. Students will receive training in scientific writing, all aspects of scientific communication, English and two other foreign languages. They will have the opportunity to publish in a student-run Neuroscience Newsletter. Our graduates will profit from the rich connections we maintain with research centres across Europe and the world. They will be highly competitive and will receive strong support if they wish to pursue a PhD degree, an industry career or a consulting career in our wide network of affiliates.

NERC: Jessica Cleary: ES/P000681/1 Using qualitative interviews with participants involved in criminal justice interventions, collected in Québec (Canada) and Scotland prior to the exchange, this project will explore what national level characteristics and processes impact individual's ability to stop offending. Research into criminal desistance - the exploration of how and why people refrain from criminal behaviour long term - has gained increasing attention both in academia and policy in recent years. Most notably, in some international contexts the growing awareness and prioritisation of desistance research has influenced political strategies, institutional aims and objectives, and criminal justice practices. Despite the growing importance of understanding pathways to desistance; there remains a significant gap in empirical research examining the impact national-level variations have on individual's likelihood of reoffending between countries. Indeed, many significant mono-cultural studies have contributed to knowledge on desistance which allows secondary analysis across nations. However, direct international comparisons cannot conclusively be drawn for a number of reasons. For example, researchers will have inevitably designed different research questions, sampling criteria and analysis strategies. Therefore, a rigorous comparison of the role national-level variances contribute to the processes of desistance remains relatively unknown. This project, will compare a number of nation level factors to examine whether they shape processes of desistance from crime. The proposed factors are: national characteristics (such as, population size and imprisonment rates) involvement and prioritisation of different societal institutions (including, social work and education) cultural and religious beliefs economic systems (for instance, provision of national welfare support and conditional benefit systems) This study will not simply ask 'why do people stop offending?' but rather critically interrogate how national level characteristics and processes, societal institutions, cultural and religious beliefs and economic systems impact desistance in Scotland and Québec. In doing so, this project will identify which interventions and wider social, cultural and economic processes most markedly influence desistance in such a way that national variations will begin to be accounted for in theoretical explorations of how and why people stop offending. Methodologically this study will generate comparative profiles of the two datasets to allow a number of outcomes to be compared at a national level including: obstacles overcome, any re-offending, de-escalation and/or acceleration in offending, desires to desist, and general improvement in objective and subjective well-being. Rigorous comparative analysis will be possible since the same interview questions will have be asked to both the Canadian and Scottish participants during the data collection phases. Additionally, analyses will also examine country-level comparisons regarding each cohort's social and personal circumstances, their usage of time and space, feelings about citizenship and inclusion, formations of 'self', and experiences of stigma and victimisation. To combination of both theses stages of analysis will enable both the interplay of personal and societal factors and their influence on the participant's ability to stop offending to be examined. Finally, a crucial element of this project will be to write up the findings from this international study into two journal articles. To maximise the impact of these outputs the two papers will focus on two distinct aspects of desistance: individual-level factors and structural-level variables. Additionally, the dissemination plan for this project also includes presentations at research group meetings and academic conferences, as well as producing lectures for teaching modules in both Scotland and Québec.