On regional and global scales, tropospheric ozone is a key compound controlling atmospheric oxidation capacity and an important driver of climate change. On a local scale, ozone is a criteria air pollutant that has detrimental effects on human health and natural ecosystems. Although having successfully lowered some ozone precursor concentrations, many countries have been struggling to also lower ozone concentrations due to its rapid and complex photolytic formation chemistry and regionally transported plumes. Consequently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) projects significant ozone increases across much of Southeast Asia (SEA) in the coming decades. Unlike other criteria pollutants, ozone is not emitted directly from various anthropogenic activities, but formed as a byproduct of volatile organic compound oxidation in the presence of nitrogen oxides and sunlight, making it challenging to design effective mitigation strategies. While chemical transport models are commonly used to investigate how ozone concentrations will change in response to precursor emission regulations, these models are at the whim of the embedded chemical and physical processes and emission inventories, and alternative methods to aid in the design of the mitigation strategies are needed in a field where important socio-economical aspects are at stake. The research proposed in OSEAMS centers around the recently developed novel technique in France to measure Ozone Production Rates (OPR), which is a useful metric to investigate the atmospheric ozone budget, i.e. distinguishing between local in situ production and long-distance transport, and to gauge the effectiveness of mitigation regulations. This project seeks to transfer this knowledge to an area of the world in need of slowing down or turning around increasing ozone concentrations. In order to design an optimal roadmap for mitigating ozone in Taiwan, and ultimately in SEA and much of the rest of the world, we propose to (1) identify major production pathways of locally-formed ozone and distinguish it from transported O3 pollution in Taiwan, and then (2) assess ozone mitigation strategies implemented in Taiwan and other SEA countries. Specific tasks are to (i) build an OPR instrument in Taiwan, (ii) conduct an observation-based investigation of the ozone budget – through the deployment of both Taiwan and France OPR instruments at contrasting sites in Taiwan, (iii) characterize the ozone-forming chemistry – conducting simulation chamber experiments to describe the ozone chemistry and characterize the OPR response to mitigation measures, and (iv) assess past, current and future mitigation measures implemented in Taiwan and propose optimized reduction strategies. 0-D/3-D atmospheric modelling will support the field- and laboratory-based studies, and the assessment and improvement of ozone mitigation strategies. An originality of this work lies in using observation-based O3 budgets to drive mitigation strategies on this highly-populated pollution hotspot. Taiwan will be used as an open laboratory to (1) assess the potential of real-time in situ measurements of the ozone budget for air quality monitoring networks and (2) design ozone mitigation roadmaps that will directly benefit policymakers of Taiwan, France and other countries to achieve lower ozone pollution levels in a context of climate change.

Economies in South East Asia are developing rapidly leading to rapidly growing emissions of a variety of important chemicals including halocarbon compounds that can impact the ozone layer and nutrients and contaminants that can alter ocean biological processes. These emissions are carried towards the Pacific Ocean mixing with dust from the Asian deserts. The subsequent deposition of this material can impact on ocean productivity and the transport of ozone damaging chemicals southwards allows them to enter the equatorial region with rapid transfer to the stratosphere with attendant threats to stratospheric ozone. A recently developed Taiwanese sampling station offers an ideal location to study this Asian outflow as it starts its journey and hence to better understand its current and potential future impacts in the region and globally. This grant aims to develop links between a leading UK research group and colleagues in Taiwan in preparation for a major grant application for fields studies in this region.

Long-term measurements of the atmospheric composition are required for a full understanding of the effects of human emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants. For historic reasons, the network of observing stations run under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation's Global Atmospheric Watch program has some regions which are well studied (e.g. Europe and North America) and some which are not. One region where the observing capability is limited is that part of Southeast Asia and the West Pacific known as the 'Maritime Continent'. In this project, we will work with the University of Malaya and the Malaysian Meteorological Department to develop a high-quality, long-term atmospheric monitoring program at the new field station at Bachok on the Malaysian peninsula. This site is extremely well located for studies of the outflow of the rapidly developing Southeast Asian countries, as well as for the interaction of that air with the much cleaner atmosphere in the southern hemisphere. The Universities of Cambridge and East Anglia both have experience in making long-term measurements. In particular UEA have operated a well-instrumented observing site at Weybourne on the north Norfolk coast for well over a decade. This expertise will be used to develop the existing capability in Malaysia and to design and implement a programme of long-term measurements at Bachok. The focus of the measurements in the first instance will be greenhouse gases, ozone depleting substances, and chemical pollutants. In addition we will be encouraging the involvement of other interested scientists in NCAS Composition, the UK more generally and beyond to strengthen the planned measurement program. A demonstration activity will be arranged in the winter monsoon season when the flow is strongly from Southeast Asia. This activity will have two aims: (i) ensuring high quality measurements are made at the site; and (ii) determine the characteristics of the site and its suitability for the assessment of both global and regional atmospheric composition. Many of the measurements made in this activity will then be continued in to the monitoring programme. It is important to ensure that such measurements are fully exploited, and to this end we will both collaborate with partners in Taiwan and Australia and develop a modelling strategy for the interpretation of the data in conjunction with UK modelling groups including those at Cambridge, UEA and within NCAS. Exchange visits will be used for training purposes and for the development of collaborative interpretive studies (and peer-reviewed publications). Finally, a major scientific conference will be held towards the end of the project, linking in to international programs such as WMO-GAW, IGAC or SOLAS.

Network partners The project is a cross sector partnership between universities and the theatre area of the cultural industries. The core institutions will be represented on the steering committee: the Universities of Leeds, Newcastle, Zhejiang, Nanjing, California Davis, British Columbia, and Queensland with the Royal Shakespeare Company, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Sichuan Peoples' Art Theatre. These institutions are leaders in their fields with international profiles which will be further enhanced by this proposed network. The RSC's first production of a Chinese play 'The Orphan of Zhao' (a 13th century classical play based on historical events during 600-500BC yet with period transcending themes) provides a good topic for the network to examine how China and Chinese culture are presented in intracultural, intercultural and transcultural theatre productions, and how languages and translations play a key role in stage productions to form or to alter people's perception of others' cultures. Academic outputs in the funding period (01/2013 - 08/2014) We will carry out conventional and practice-led research (University of Leeds is an international leader for both), workshops for the future plan of the repository of stage productions, development of curricula on translating Chinese drama, and practical work involving professionals and general public. Through these activities, the network attempts to seek answers to the following research questions and related issues, allowing for further definition, clarification or alteration during the course of the project. Primary question and related issues How is China constructed and projected through intra/inter/trans-cultural stage productions in Chinese (including different dialects) and in English, and how can research into languages and translations contribute to understanding of the perceptions of China? To answer the overarching question, the following will be addressed through proposed activities: 1. Why has the ancient play 'The Orphan' (first written in the 13th century based on historical events during 600-500BC) fascinated so many artists? What images do various Chinese productions (in the styles of indigenous song-dance theatre, Western-inspired spoken drama and Western opera) and now that of the RSC's attempt to create? How can a classical Chinese play be made relevant to today's British/ Chinese youth and how do we tackle language, culture and generation barriers? 2. Is 'translation' involved in theatre even within China's own territories? Does 'translation' only mean 'verbal rendition' and what happens when a written text transfers to performance and travels from one regional genre to another in different dialects and stage vocabulary? What levels of translation are involved when an English poet adapts 'The Orphan' to be directed and performed by British artists? How does the intracultural encounter contribute to the intercultural work? 3. How does theatre shape perception of China and Chinese culture through the languages and translations it involves? 4. What skills gaps exist in the UK, and what strategies exist to fill those gaps i.e. to help students build the capacity to tackle complicated language and culture issues in translations? The introduction of a new module 'Translating Chinese Drama' at Newcastle University will serve as a case study. 5. How can intercultural theatres develop, based on a genuine dialogue in the highly complex global cultural landscape, engaging issues from broader perspectives involved in languages and translations? 6. How can digital technology be used to share knowledge and expertise on Chinese theatre and to enrich international and intercultural engagement?

The imminent climate risks for our planet have been highlighted by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calling it "code red for humanity" in its scientific report in August 2021. Presently, nearly all energy conversion power electronics use Silicon (Si), which is relatively inefficient, wasting energy as heat. In fact, 72% of global primary energy consumption is wasted, of which 20% could be saved with new power electronics! Wide bandgap devices using GaN and SiC are entering the market, but they either do not sustain high enough voltages or are too expensive for widespread use, e.g., in smart grids. Ultrawide bandgap Gallium Oxide (Ga2O3), with efficiency far exceeding that of narrow bandgap Si, has emerged as a transformative contender with low cost and >1-2 kV, even 10 kV voltage capability, with potential for a massive >100x reduction in power conversion efficiency losses. Considering Ga2O3's high Baliga figure of merit, the metric determining how beneficial a material is for power devices, it has potential to even exceed current wide bandgap power devices (GaN, SiC), now replacing incumbent Si power electronics, by more than a factor of 5-10 in performance. In this project, we target high voltage power devices using van der Waals epitaxy of functional Ga2O3 as a transformative and revolutionary vehicle to open a new research field for low cost high voltage power devices. This form of epitaxy uses an intermediate layer, which reduces the substrate-epitaxial layer interaction, enabling growth of the epitaxial layer onto a foreign material with different crystal structure at the wafer-level, potentially followed by layer transfer to other beneficial substrates, which would otherwise not be possible. If successful this will enable for the first time even >10kV low cost power electronics devices, e.g. for smart grids, i.e., a high reward but the approach taken is highly speculative: (i) Do van der Waals materials survive the reactive ambient of a Ga2O3 MOCVD chamber? (ii) does potential damage to the van der Waals material impact the subsequent device quality? (iii) can we control Ga2O3's polytypes during growth? (iv) do van der Waals grown interfaces provide high enough electron and phonon transport through them, and can these be optimized or mitigated for e.g. using growth conditions or h-BN thickness, or during a layer transfer? If successful, subsequent layer transfer would allow heterogeneous integration of Ga2O3 with numerous low-cost high thermal conductivity substrates such as poly-AlN and poly-diamond to revolutionize device heat sinking. Use of p-type substrates would open the design space to bipolar devices, even superjunctions, i.e. device concepts which have transformed Si power electronics, concepts which have rarely being able to venture beyond Si, a major impact if we are successful. Lateral devices will be used to validate the effectiveness of the integration, with routes to possible commercialization of high performance devices to be explored through our industrial partnership with Dynex Semiconductor. Vertical devices (with improved power density over lateral configurations, attractive for power electronics applications) will also be demonstrated. The programme also marks a key milestone from a sustainability perspective, within a circular economy; van der Waals epitaxy or epilayer transfer used for the active devices will minimize the need for Ga2O3 substrates, to transfer to substrates with less sustainability issues (elemental Ga may become scarce within 100 years), minimizing the amount of Ga being used in power devices. Successful demonstration of heterogeneous integration of Ga2O3 by van der Waals epitaxy will also pave the way for low-cost, wafer-level integration with other ultrawide bandgap materials (e.g. single crystalline AlGaN, AlN, diamond), offering the potential to strongly reduce the contribution of inefficiency in power electronics to global energy consumption.