STFC Food Network+ (SFN 1.0 hereafter) brought together STFC researchers and facilities with research and industry in the agri-food sector (>700 members with >80 non-academia). The network has built an interdisciplinary community including NERC, ESRC and BBSRC-funded researchers, working to provide a sustainable, secure supply of safe, nutritious and affordable high-quality food using less land, with reduced inputs, in the context of global climate change and declining natural resources. SFN 1.0 has kick-started innovative interdisciplinary projects providing key opportunities for the research community, industries and policy makers, making a meaningful contribution to the food system. It has supported over 40 small projects covering areas such as forecasting crop yields using SENTINEL data, radio astronomy; investigating the microstructure architecture of snacks and arsenic in rice using Diamond and ISIS facilities; assuring the authenticity of fruit juices and high value products such as avocadoes, packaged salads through Raman Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; predicting successful cattle pregnancy through IR Thermography and the application of Blockchains for food safety and cryogenics to food supply chains to reduce food waste. STFC Food Network+ Extension (hereafter SFN 2.0) offers exceptional value to the STFC by building on and substantially extending existing investments on SFN 1.0 that have proven themselves highly capable of wide-ranging user engagement with STFC CAPABILITIES in (a) data science, (b) technology and (c) facilities for better understanding and addressing food challenges in via THEMES of (i) Sustainable production, (ii) Resilient supply chains and (iii) Improved Nutrition and Consumer Behaviours. Over the life of the SFN 2.0, it will galvanise the research community in the UK and beyond to deliver new models of interdisciplinary, co-designed, user-engaged research through a GIVE framework: Globalisation: While continuing to have focus on STFC core capabilities in the UK, the SFN 2.0 would aim to create an impact by globalising STFC capabilities across the targeted international countries and widening Network+ membership and partnerships of SFN with global partners. Impact-led projects: Leveraging on the innovative project initiation by SFN 1.0 (14 of which included industry participation) and its relations with multiple policy and business stakeholders, SFN 2.0 will provide platform to further realise impact on ground by co-developing and perhaps also co-funding impact-driven projects of national importance with non-academic beneficiaries. SFN 2.0 will also focus on new area of research in all the food themes including but not limited to smart farms, palm oil, aquaculture, permaculture, insects, cultured meat, innovative production systems such as hydroponics, vertical farming and food for space stations, food safety, transparency, diets for healthy ageing population, acceptance of new healthy/ innovative products, alternative proteins whilst reducing waste and demands on land, energy and water. Visibility: While continuing to focus on increasing its visibility within the UK, SFN 2.0 would aim to highlight the core capabilities of STFC by leveraging on its expertise in high speed computing, thermal engineering, big data analytics, sensor technologies, Blockchain and other disruptive technologies internationally through regular knowledge exchange activities, partner visits, and STEM activities. Early Career Enhancement: SFN 2.0 will engage early career researchers from STFC and food research to build capacity for long-term sustainability of SFN. Involve existing STFC Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) as well as with food industry/ policy/ international organisations for providing secondment or internship opportunities to early career researchers (PhDs/ Post-doc/ Lecturers - both UK and international) in one of the SFN themes.

In 1929, Edwin Hubble reported that spectra from further away galaxies were more redshifted, providing foundational evidence for the expansion of the universe. Almost 100 years later, some of the most exciting science cases for optical astronomy rely on spectroscopy, including the detection and characterisation of Earth-like exoplanets, and the Sandage Test, which aims to directly measure the acceleration in the expansion of the universe from the temporal variation of the redshift of extra-galactic sources. Astronomers use high resolution spectrographs to record the pattern of colours received from distant objects, but the wavelength axes of these instruments can shift slightly over time, and so must be regularly calibrated with an external reference light source to ensure consistency between observations. For several decades, lamps producing hundreds of narrow atomic emission lines have been used as calibration sources, but the high precision and accuracy demanded by exoplanet and cosmological observations now exceeds their capabilities. In response, the astronomy community is turning to astrocombs, a laser technology giving a sequence of ultra-narrow, drift-free, regularly spaced optical frequencies on a selectable grid spacing of 5-50 GHz. When referenced to GPS time, astrocombs provide atomically traceable optical frequencies with a precision at the 10^-12 level. Current astrocombs are complex and expensive systems, typically costing >2 million EUR, and their limited reliability requires regular maintenance visits by PhD-level staff. Our proposal seeks to address these issues by developing a new, simple and robust laser platform based on diode-pumped Ti:sapphire. The timeliness of this concept is emphasised by letters of support from ESO, and from the HARPS3 and ANDES instrument consortia. A promising proof-of-concept Ti:sapphire laser emerging from Heriot-Watt's current STFC consortium grant will first be systematically optimised to produce the powers and pulse durations needed for an astrocomb system. Using new alignment and mounting techniques developed at Heriot-Watt it will then be developed into a turnkey device, in which the optical elements forming the laser cavity will be bonded directly to a common baseplate, eliminating the drift and instability associated with optomechanical mounts. External partners will provide state-of-the-art nonlinear waveguides to the project, with designs tailored to generate broadband visible light when driven by the developed laser system. Using photonic locking and filtering methods, we will configure this light into the format needed for an astrocomb. The final year of the project will integrate these diverse elements into a single astrocomb system, testing it first on a high resolution comb-mode-resolving spectrograph at Heriot-Watt. We will conclude the project with a campaign at the 10-metre SALT telescope, validating the system outside the lab, as a key step to commercialisation and building community confidence in the performance of this disruptive astrocomb concept. Steps towards commercialisation will be taken during the project including, where appropriate: filing of patent protection, spin-out company incorporation, development of licensing agreements, and input from business development advisors. The project offers excellent value for money, with the £477K cost to STFC being highly leveraged by £187K in-kind support from our partners and £120K cash (20% FEC) from Heriot-Watt.

STFC Food Network+ (SFN 1.0 hereafter) brought together STFC researchers and facilities with research and industry in the agri-food sector (>700 members with >80 non-academia). The network has built an interdisciplinary community including NERC, ESRC and BBSRC-funded researchers, working to provide a sustainable, secure supply of safe, nutritious and affordable high-quality food using less land, with reduced inputs, in the context of global climate change and declining natural resources. SFN 1.0 has kick-started innovative interdisciplinary projects providing key opportunities for the research community, industries and policy makers, making a meaningful contribution to the food system. It has supported over 40 small projects covering areas such as forecasting crop yields using SENTINEL data, radio astronomy; investigating the microstructure architecture of snacks and arsenic in rice using Diamond and ISIS facilities; assuring the authenticity of fruit juices and high value products such as avocadoes, packaged salads through Raman Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; predicting successful cattle pregnancy through IR Thermography and the application of Blockchains for food safety and cryogenics to food supply chains to reduce food waste. STFC Food Network+ Extension (hereafter SFN 2.0) offers exceptional value to the STFC by building on and substantially extending existing investments on SFN 1.0 that have proven themselves highly capable of wide-ranging user engagement with STFC CAPABILITIES in (a) data science, (b) technology and (c) facilities for better understanding and addressing food challenges in via THEMES of (i) Sustainable production, (ii) Resilient supply chains and (iii) Improved Nutrition and Consumer Behaviours. Over the life of the SFN 2.0, it will galvanise the research community in the UK and beyond to deliver new models of interdisciplinary, co-designed, user-engaged research through a GIVE framework: Globalisation: While continuing to have focus on STFC core capabilities in the UK, the SFN 2.0 would aim to create an impact by globalising STFC capabilities across the targeted international countries and widening Network+ membership and partnerships of SFN with global partners. Impact-led projects: Leveraging on the innovative project initiation by SFN 1.0 (14 of which included industry participation) and its relations with multiple policy and business stakeholders, SFN 2.0 will provide platform to further realise impact on ground by co-developing and perhaps also co-funding impact-driven projects of national importance with non-academic beneficiaries. SFN 2.0 will also focus on new area of research in all the food themes including but not limited to smart farms, palm oil, aquaculture, permaculture, insects, cultured meat, innovative production systems such as hydroponics, vertical farming and food for space stations, food safety, transparency, diets for healthy ageing population, acceptance of new healthy/ innovative products, alternative proteins whilst reducing waste and demands on land, energy and water. Visibility: While continuing to focus on increasing its visibility within the UK, SFN 2.0 would aim to highlight the core capabilities of STFC by leveraging on its expertise in high speed computing, thermal engineering, big data analytics, sensor technologies, Blockchain and other disruptive technologies internationally through regular knowledge exchange activities, partner visits, and STEM activities. Early Career Enhancement: SFN 2.0 will engage early career researchers from STFC and food research to build capacity for long-term sustainability of SFN. Involve existing STFC Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) as well as with food industry/ policy/ international organisations for providing secondment or internship opportunities to early career researchers (PhDs/ Post-doc/ Lecturers - both UK and international) in one of the SFN themes.