The acoustics industry contributes £4.6 billion to the UK's economy annually, employing more than 16,000 people, each generating over £65,000 in gross value added across over 750 companies nationwide. The productivity of acoustics industry is similar to that of other enabling technologies, for example the UK photonics industry (£62k per employee in 2014). Innovation through research in acoustics is a key to its industry success. The UK's acoustics industry and research feeds into many major global markets, including the $10 billion market for sound insulation materials in construction, $7.6 billion ultrasound equipment market and $31 billion market for voice recognition. This is before the vital role of acoustics in automotive, aerospace, marine and defence is taken into consideration, or that of the major UK industries that leverage acoustics expertise, or the indirect environmental and societal value of acoustics is considered. All the four Grand Challenges identified in the 2017 UK Industrial Strategy require acoustics innovation. The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF, https://www.ukri.org/innovation/industrial-strategychallenge-fund/) focuses on areas all of which need support from acoustics as an enabling technology. The future of acoustics research in the UK depends on its ability to contribute to the Four Grand Challenges. Numerous examples are emerging to demonstrate the central role of acoustics in addressing the four Grand Challenges and particularly through more focused research. The acoustics-related research base in the UK is internationally competitive, but it is important to continue to link this research directly to the four Grand Challenges. In this process, the role of UK Acoustics Network (UKAN) is very important. The Network unites over 870 members organised in 15 Special Interest Groups (www.acoustics.ac.uk) who represent industry, academia and various non-academic organisations which success relies on the quality of acoustics related research in the UK. UKAN was funded by the EPSRC as a standard Network grant with the explicit aim of pulling together the formerly disparate and disjoint acoustics community in the UK, across both industry and academia. UKAN has been remarkably successful. Its success is manifested in the large number of its members, numerous network events it has run since its inception in November 2017 and contribution it has made to the acoustics research community. Unfortunately, UKAN has not been in the position to fund new, pilot adventurous or translational projects nor has it any funding support for on-going research or knowledge transfer (KT) activities. The purpose of UKAN+ is to move beyond UKAN, create strategic connections between acoustics challenges and the Grand Challenges and to tackle these challenges through pilot studies leading in turn to full-scale grant proposals and systematic research and KT projects involving a wider acoustics community. There is a great opportunity for the future of the UK's acoustics related research to move on beyond this point, build upon the assembled critical mass and explore the trans-disciplinary work initiated by UKAN. Therefore, this proposal is for UKAN+ to take this community to the next stage, connect this Network more widely in the UK and internationally to contribute through coordinated research to the solution of Grand Challenges set by the government. UKAN+ will develop a new roadmap for acoustics research in the UK related to Grand Challenges, award exploratory (pilot) cross-disciplinary research projects to the wider community to support adventure research and knowledge transfer activities agreed in the roadmap and support the development of develop full-scale bids to the government research funding bodies which are aligned with the Grand Challenges. UKAN+ will also set up a National Centre or Coordination of Acoustics Research, achieve full sustainability and support best Equality, Diversity and Inclusion practices.

The quality of UK bathing waters is assessed by enumerating bacteria known as faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) throughout the bathing season. Waters used to harvest shellfish are monitored for FIOs too. E. coli is a common FIO derived from the gut of warm blooded animals and is harmless, but its detection in environmental samples or shellfish flesh indicates the potential for the presence of disease causing microbes derived from faecal material. Their detection at designated bathing and shellfish harvesting waters at levels above standards specified within EU directives can lead to beach closures or shellfish stocks being classed as unfit for human consumption and can therefore have serious implications for local economies and social activity as well as human health. From 2012 the number of UK beaches of poor microbiological status is set to rise because of the introduction of more stringent standards associated with the revised Bathing Waters Directive in Europe. Meeting these new standards and avoiding infraction (and therefore economic consequences) will be a challenge. However, parallel debates over the suitability of traditional versus novel quantification methods add an extra layer of complexity for regulators to grapple with. Recently the US has begun to consider molecular-based enumeration tools as an alternative to 'tried and tested' albeit slower methods that rely on our ability to grow bacteria. This is likely to lead to increased pressure in the UK to consider a methodological shift too. However, with the emergence of rapid novel approaches come difficult decisions for how best to translate technological innovation into up-to-date regulation. As cutting edge science delivers new and more efficient technologies for microbial detection and enumeration there comes a requirement for balanced evaluation of such approaches with regard to their operational utility given their associated limitations and uncertainties at current time. For example, while molecular approaches provide rapid bacterial counts they have yet to be properly evaluated for regulatory monitoring purposes and there is much uncertainty regarding their precision and accuracy for microbial enumeration in the bathing zone. Without careful evaluation the same innovative science could actually bring about negative societal and economic impacts if implemented in haste due to poor understanding of how new and emerging techniques map onto existing health-related water quality standards. With more stringent standards drawing ever closer it is critical that science users and providers do not gamble with a methodological transition that could add further complications to the UK's compliance record. A Working Group (WG) concerned with emerging quantitative molecular tools for microbial water quality compliance parameters has been formed in response to this challenge. The WG brings together experts from across academic, regulatory and stakeholder organisations to build a knowledge-sharing community. Using a workshop series, and drawing on wider national and international expertise, the WG will build an agreed evidence base to underpin and guide future decision-making in the short to medium term. Molecular tools will be interrogated via three themed workshops focusing on (i) the underlying science and technology of molecular tools; (ii) their potential to inform catchment management; and (iii) their economic impact. Members of the WG are already aligned to inform the World Health Organisation (which has been responsible for the development of revisions to the Bathing Water Directive for Europe) of outputs and recommendations from the project. Protecting public health is a priority. By ensuring that the science underpinning regulation and management of microbial water quality is transparent and thoroughly evaluated we can guarantee that the necessary steps are taken to benefit public health through reduced microbial risk from bathing and shellfish consumption.

Agriculture is a major cause of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, pollution and biodiversity loss globally and in the UK. Achieving sustainable ('green') growth of agricultural production to feed 10 billion people by 2050 whilst reducing environmental impacts is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Changing our diets and reducing food waste are part of the solution. However, as recognised in the UK government's Clean Growth Grand Challenge, significant green growth in the agri-food sector is also necessary to meet this demand without compromising other targets, in particular that of neutrality in carbon emissions by 2050. The GREEN AG programme will build a long-term, strategic research and innovation infrastructure to develop new UK farming systems which will produce sufficient food whilst reducing emissions and pollution, protecting biodiversity, and enhancing soil health. We call this 'net zero+' as it will balance net zero emissions aims with wider environmental concerns. These solutions will be required at scale if the UK is to meet emission reduction targets, and avoid the unintended consequences of emissions being offshored by increased food imports, or causing damage to valuable ecosystems in the UK. GREEN AG will engage and unite the science community with industry, policy, farmer and NGO stakeholders. We will identify farm management practices with potential to reduce emissions and/or capture carbon without major impacts on food production or other environmental outcomes. We will undertake detailed, integrated measurements of these practices on both experiments and on a network of instrumented study farms (Living Farm Labs). We will use models to define pathways to achieving net zero+ arable and livestock farm systems that minimise trade-offs with production and the environment. Finally, we will use cutting edge data science to provide data, models and tools to enable the transition to net zero+ agriculture. Achieving the ambition of clean, green and net-zero agriculture will require strategic, cross-disciplinary and long-term research - a so-called national capability. This will bring together directed teams from NERC and BBSRC centres - UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Rothamsted Research, National Centre for Earth Observation, British Geological Survey and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. This partnership will bring together complementary expertise in ground and earth observation, sensor networks, measurement of GHG emissions from soils, groundwater and estuaries, pollution, biodiversity, crop and livestock production, data science and modelling from field to national scales, covering terrestrial, freshwater and coastal zones. Our environmental research will complement work on other aspects of the farming system that might support net zero+, including crop breeding, animal husbandry and diet, soil science, and crop nutrition and protection. The GREEN AG national capability will provide the following outcomes for the UK science community and other stakeholders: - New knowledge underpinning effective agri-environmental policies to achieve net zero emissions by 2050; - New funding opportunities levered from the GREEN AG research and innovation infrastructure which comprise a national digital farmland observatory, instrumented study farms, experiments, data and models; - More effective implementation of net zero+ polices and practice through stakeholder engagement and co-design, and through the provision of new decision support tools; - Opportunities for UK researchers and agri-businesses to export this green growth knowledge, technology and innovations to overseas markets.

The increasing global demand for food, concerns over dwindling reserves of good quality phosphate rock and the climate-change impacts of fertiliser manufacture, fluctuating fertiliser prices, and the adverse environmental, social and economic consequences of phosphorus (P) pollution of water require the development of innovative and more sustainable solutions to the use and management of P on farms. Current systems of production rely on inputs of highly water-soluble fertilisers to maintain large reserves of background P in the soil. Recovery of applied P by crops is consequently low (<30%) and this inefficiency is not only wasteful of resources but also increases the risk of eutrophication through increased P loss in runoff from land. A peak in global phosphate rock production could occur within the next two decades whilst eutrophication is estimated to be costing the UK over £75 million per annum. A potential alternative and more sustainable strategy for P use in arable farming systems is to maintain a lower background of soil P but supplement this with more targeted P applications and/or by fertilisers that are more efficiently used, and/or fertilisers recovered from domestic or livestock wastewaters. We propose here that adoption of these more sustainable P use strategies will reduce growing costs and current dependence on elevated soil P-fertility, so will help to preserve finite global reserves of P and reduce export of P in runoff from land. In this proposal a multi-disciplinary, cross-industry research team will investigate and develop a new direction for P management that will improve P-use efficiency in arable crops, maximise recycling of wastewater P, reduce the pressure on rock phosphate reserves and minimise wider environmental impacts. Through multi-centre modelling, laboratory studies and field experiments we will compare and develop methods to improve P-use efficiency by (a) reducing the fixation of applied P by soils, (b) improving the accessibility of applied P to crops, and (c) improving the exploitation of soil P previously considered to be largely unavailable to crops. The magnitude of the economic and wider environmental benefits from maintaining lower soil P-fertility need to be quantified across a range of soil types and cropping systems. On completion, the project will deliver novel and profitable soil and fertiliser management strategies that will help farmers maintain the economic viability of their farm businesses and meet any future restrictions on P management under the Water Framework Directive. The project will have relevance across the spectrum of conventional, LEAF and organic farming systems and will involve overseas collaboration on what is internationally recognised as a key issue for sustainable farming and global food security. BBSRC funded project will develop mathematical models and optimisation techniques to describe phosphate movement and uptake by cropping systems.

With the Kigali Amendment coming into force in 2019, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer has entered a major new phase in which the production and use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) will be controlled in most major economies. This landmark achievement will enhance the Protocol's already-substantial benefits to climate, in addition to its success in protecting the ozone layer. However, recent scientific advances have shown that challenges lie ahead for the Montreal Protocol, due to the newly discovered production of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) thought to be phased-out, rapid growth of ozone-depleting compounds not controlled under the Protocol, and the potential for damaging impacts of halocarbon degradation products. This proposal tackles the most urgent scientific questions surrounding these challenges by combining state-of-the-art techniques in atmospheric measurements, laboratory experiments and advanced numerical modelling. We will: 1) significantly expand atmospheric measurement coverage to better understand the global distribution of halocarbon emissions and to identify previously unknown atmospheric trends, 2) combine industry models and atmospheric data to improve our understanding of the relationship between production (the quantity controlled under the Protocol), "banks" of halocarbons stored in buildings and products, and emissions to the atmosphere, 3) determine recent and likely future trends of unregulated, short-lived halocarbons, and implications for the timescale of recovery of the ozone layer, 4) explore the complex atmospheric chemistry of the newest generation of halocarbons and determine whether breakdown products have the potential to contribute to climate change or lead to unforeseen negative environmental consequences, 5) better quantify the influence of halocarbons on climate and refine the climate- and ozone-depletion-related metrics used to compare the effects of halocarbons in international agreements and in the design of possible mitigation strategies. This work will be carried out by a consortium of leaders in the field of halocarbon research, who have an extensive track record of contributing to Montreal Protocol bodies and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ensuring lasting impact of the new developments that will be made.