The proposed EPSRC CDT in the Science and Applications of Graphene and Related Nanomaterials will respond to the UK need to train specialists with the skills to manipulate new strictly two-dimensional (2D) materials, in particular graphene, and work effectively across the necessary interdisciplinary boundaries. Graphene has been dubbed a miracle material due to the unique combination of superior electronic, mechanical, optical, chemical and biocompatible properties suitable for a large number of realistic applications. The potential of other 2D materials (e.g. boron nitride, transition metal and gallium dichalcogenides) has become clear more recently and already led to developing 'materials on demand'. The proposed CDT will build on the world-leading research in graphene and other 2D nanomaterials at the Universities of Manchester (UoM) and Lancaster (LU). In the last few years this research has undergone huge expansion from fundamental physics into chemistry, materials science, characterization, engineering, and life sciences. The importance of developing graphene-based technology has been recognized by recent large-scale investments from UK and European governments, including the establishment of the National Graphene Institute (NGI) at UoM and the award of 'Graphene Flagship' funding by the European Commission within the framework of the Future and Emerging Technologies (Euro1 billion over the next 10 years), aiming to support UK and European industries.Tailored training of young researchers in these areas has now become urgent as numerous companies and spin-offs specializing in electronics, energy storage, composites, sensors, displays, packaging and separation techniques have joined the race and are investing heavily in development of graphene-based technologies. Given these developments, it is of national importance that we establish a CDT that will train the next generation of scientists and engineers who will able to realise the huge potential of graphene and related 2D materials, driving innovation in the UK, Europe and beyond. The CDT will work with industrial partners to translate the results of academic research into real-world applications in the framework of the NGI and support the highly successful research base at UoM and LU. The new CDT will build directly on the structures and training framework developed for the highly successful North-West Nanoscience DTC (NOWNANO). The central achievement of NOWNANO has been creating a wide ranging interdisciplinary PhD programme, educating a new type of specialist capable of thinking and working across traditional discipline boundaries. The close involvement of the medical/life sciences with the physical sciences was another prominent and successful feature of NOWNANO and one we will continue in the new CDT. In addition to interdisciplinarity, an important feature of the new CDT will be the engagement with a broad network of users in industry and society, nationally and internationally. The students will start their 4-year PhD with a rigorous, bespoke 6-month programme of taught and assessed courses covering a broad range of nanoscience and nanotechnology, extending beyond graphene to other nanomaterials and their applications. This will be followed by challenging, interdisciplinary research projects and a programme of CDT-wide events (annual conferences, regular seminars, training in transferable skills, commercialization training, outreach activities). International experience will be provided by visiting academics and secondments to overseas partners. Training in knowledge transfer will be a prominent feature of the proposed programme, including a bespoke course 'Innovation and Commercialisation of Research' to which our many industrial partners will contribute, and industrial experience in the form of 3 to 6 months secondments that each CDT student will undertake in the course of their PhD.

The dramatic changes in global manufacturing have greatly increased the demand from UK companies for skilled employees and new operational practices that will deliver internationally leading business positions. The UK is considered to be very strong both in scientific research and in the invention of innovative products within emerging sectors. This conclusion is supported by the fact the UK is a significant net exporter of intellectual property, ranking behind only USA and Japan. The potential of the UK's innovation capacity to create new high-end manufacturing jobs is therefore significant. Maximising this wealth generation opportunity within the UK will however depend on the creation of a new breed of skilled personnel that will deliver next generation innovative production systems. Without relevant research training, production research, r&d infrastructure, and an effective technology supply chain, there will be a limit to the UK's direct employment growth from its innovation capacity, leading to constant migration of UK wealth creation potential into overseas economies. Many emerging sectors and next generation products will demand large-scale ultra precision (nanometre-level tolerance) complex components. Such products include: 1) Next generation displays (flexible or large-scale), activated and animated wall coverings, 3D displays, intelligent packaging and innovative clothing ; 2) Plastic electronic devices supporting a range of low cost consumer products from food packaging to hand held devices; 3) Low cost photovoltaics, energy management and energy harvesting devices; and 4) Logistics, defence and security technologies through RFID and infrared systems. The EPSRC Centre in Ultra Precision is largely founded on the support of SMEs. It is widely acknowledged that manufacturing employment growth in developed manufacturing economies will stem from SMEs and emerging sectors . The supply of highly trained ultra precision engineers to UK manufacturing operations is therefore critically important in order to deliver benefit from any new technologies that arise from the industrial or academic research base within the EPSRC Centre in Ultra Precision.

Topic of Centre: This i4Nano CDT will accelerate the discovery cycle of functional nanotechnologies and materials, effectively bridging from ground-breaking fundamental science toward industrial device integration, and to drive technological innovation via an interdisciplinary approach. A key overarching theme is understanding and control of the nano-interfaces connecting complex architectures, which is essential for going beyond simple model systems and key to major advances in emerging scientific grand challenges across vital areas of Energy, Health, Manufacturing (particularly considering sustainability), ICT/Internet of things, and Quantum. We focus on the science of nano-interfaces across multiple time scales and material systems (organic-inorganic, bio-nonbio interfaces, gas-liquid-solid, crystalline-amorphous), to control nano-interfaces in a scalable manner across different size scales, and to integrate them into functional systems using engineering approaches, combining interfaces, integration, innovation, and interdisciplinarity (hence 'i4Nano'). The vast range of knowledge, tools and techniques necessary for this underpins the requirement for high-quality broad-based PhD training that effectively links scientific depth and application breadth. National Need: Most breakthrough nanoscience as well as successful translation to innovative technology relies on scientists bridging boundaries between disciplines, but this is hindered by the constrained subject focus of undergraduate courses across the UK. Our recent industry-academia nano-roadmapping event attended by numerous industrial partners strongly emphasised the need for broadly-trained interdisciplinary nanoscience acolytes who are highly valuable across their businesses, acting as transformers and integrators of new knowledge, crucial for the UK. They consistently emphasise there is a clear national need to produce this cadre of interdisciplinary nanoscientists to maintain the UK's international academic leadership, to feed entrepreneurial activity, and to capitalise industrially in the UK by driving innovations in health, energy, ICT and Quantum Technologies. Training Approach: The vision of this i4Nano CDT is to deliver bespoke training in key areas of nano to translate exploratory nanoscience into impactful technologies, and stimulate new interactions that support this vision. We have already demonstrated an ability to attract world-class postgraduates and build high-calibre cohorts of independent young Nano scientists through a distinctive PhD nursery in our current CDT, with cohorts co-housed and jointly mentored in the initial year of intense interdisciplinary training through formal courses, practicals and project work. This programme encourages young researchers to move outside their core disciplines, and is crucial for them to go beyond fragmented graduate training normally experienced. Interactions between cohorts from different years and different CDTs, as well as interactions with >200 other PhD researchers across Cambridge, widens their horizons, making them suited to breaking disciplinary barriers and building an integrated approach to research. The 1st year of this CDT course provides high-quality advanced-level training prior to final selection of preferred PhD research projects. Student progression will depend on passing examinable components assessed both by exams and coursework, providing a formal MRes qualification. Components of the first year training include lectures and practicals on key scientific topics, mini/midi projects, science communication and innovation/scale-up training, and also training for understanding societal and ethical dimensions of Nanoscience. Activities in the later years include conferences, pilot projects, further innovation and scale up training, leadership and team-building weekends, and ED&I and Responsible Innovation workshops

Graphene is ideal for opto-electronics due to its high carrier mobility at room temperature, electrically tuneable optical conductivity, and wavelength independent absorption. Graphene has opened a floodgate for many layered materials (LMs). For a given LM, the range of properties and applications can be tuned by varying the number of layers and their relative orientation. LM heterostructures (LMHs) with tailored properties can be created by stacking different layers. The number of bulk materials that can be exfoliated runs in the thousands, but few have been studied to date. The layered materials research foundry (LMRF) will develop a fully integrated LM-Silicon Photonics platform, serving 5G, 6G and quantum communications, facilitating new design concepts that unlock new performance levels. Graphene and the other non-graphene LMs are at two different stages of development. Graphene is more mature, and can now target functionalities beyond the state of the art in technologically relevant devices. In (opto-)electronics, photonics and sensors, graphene-based systems have already demonstrated extraordinary performance, with reduced power consumption, or photodetectors (PDs) with hyperspectral range for applications such as autonomous driving, where fast data exchange is a critical requisite for safe operation. Applications in light detection and ranging, security, ultrasensitive physical and chemical sensors for industrial, environmental and medical technologies are beginning to emerge and offer great promise. These technologies must be developed to achieve full industrial impact. The other non-graphene LMs are also at the centre of an ever increasing research effort as a new platform for quantum technology. They have already shown their potential, ranging from scalable components, such as quantum light sources, photon detectors and nanoscale sensors, to enabling new materials discovery within the broader field of quantum simulations. The challenge is understanding and tailoring the excitonic properties and the nature of the single photon emission process, as well as to make working integrated devices. Quantum emitters in LMs hold potential in terms of scalability, miniaturisation, integration with other systems and an extra quantum degree of freedom: the valley pseudospin. A major challenge is to go beyond lab demonstrators and show that LMs can achieve technological potential. The LMRF will accelerate this by enabling users to fabricate their devices in a scalable manner, with comparable technology to large-scale manufacturing foundries. This scalability is essential for LMs to become a disruptive technology. The vision is to combine the best of Silicon Photonics with LM-based optoelectronics, addressing key drawbacks of current platforms. ICT systems are the fastest growing consumers of electricity worldwide. Due to limitations set by current CMOS technology, energy efficiency reaches fundamental limits. LM-based optoelectronics builds on the optical/electronic integration ability of Silicon Photonics, which benefits product costs, but with modulator designs simpler than conventional Silicon Photonics at high data rates, giving lower power consumption.

The process of translating new materials into practical devices of benefit to society typically requires substantial time and capital investment. By virtue of their unique geometries and material properties, devices based on nanomaterial structures have unique (opto)electronic characteristics enabling applications not possible with conventional bulk materials. When creating a device based on an individual nanostructure, that structure's exact position needs to be known. Fabricating and measuring nanoscale devices is notoriously labour-intensive, involving searching and alignment before manual routing of electrode layout, or manually performing pick-and-place to transfer these nanostructures onto existing electrode configurations. In a research setting, this need for human intervention is a significant bottleneck that slows the development of new nanomaterials-enabled technologies. Worse still, the slow throughput of this approach precludes its application in any manufacturing setting. We have developed a three-pronged approach - together known as NanoMation - to remove the human intervention required during inspection, research and manufacturing. The first is a system of fiducial markers, "LithoTags", which are optimised for lithography processing - photo-, electron beam-, or nanoimprint lithography. These markers can be easily read by automated microscopy processes. The second is a computer-vision system that can find, sort and filter nanostructures depending on desired properties. Third is a system of computer-adjustable electrode designs where a machine-learning algorithm automatically routes the supporting electrodes to form an entire circuit. These processes will enable a rapid transition from individual prototype devices to high performance integrated systems (e.g. single-unit nanomaterial photodetectors, transistors, or LEDs respectively - to image sensors, integrated circuits, and displays).