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.

On a local and international scale, urban heritage is a powerful vector for development and the enhancement of identities, as well as a lever for the tourist economy and many aspects of regional planning. The enhancement of urban heritage is studied mainly from the point of view of the public sector. The present project aims to shed light on the role played by property developers in the process of urban heritage development. To do so, it looks at the multiple strategies, particularly land strategies, that are deployed by property developers and seeks to situate the place that urban heritage occupies within them. The project pays particular attention to the relationship between heritage and sustainable development within the strategies and discourses of property developers. It reinterprets the concept of the neoliberal city by showing that 1) it can include a set of complex, varied and innovative arrangements within a very circumscribed territory that challenge its domination by a homogeneous ethos; 2) although conflicts can arise around the values accorded to tangible and intangible heritage, arrangements can be found around heritage that reconcile uses, exchange values and sustainability. The project is based on two case studies that have been the subject of heritage policies supported by the inscription on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites, Quebec City and Bordeaux, which are also twinned cities. It is particularly interested in the strategies of promoters who give a very important place to urban heritage in their "city making" (GM Développement and Norplex in Quebec and ID&AL Groupe and Pierranova in Bordeaux). The interdisciplinary consortium, specialised in urban and heritage issues, will use mainly qualitative methodological tools.

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.