EPSRC Capital Award emphasising support for Early Career Researchers

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The development of new healthcare technologies and materials for solar energy conversion would have significant societal benefits and it will directly address EPSRC priorities of enabling a Healthy and Resilient Nation. It is therefore important that the UK's research base in these areas is strengthened. The University of Liverpool will use the capital award to accelerate the activities of a large cohort of high potential early career researchers (ECRs) in these fields. Our aim is to procure fit-for-purpose equipment that leverages existing investment and will enable our ECRs' most ambitious research programmes whose aims include: the development of entirely new classes of photovoltaic devices, realising materials for artificial photosynthesis, the advancement of novel technologies for surface decontamination and the discovery of new antimicrobial materials. Providing our ECRs with state-of-the-art equipment to address the underpinning mechanisms of these technologies will deliver new capabilities for our team and allow our researchers to develop world-class laboratories that achieve both academic and societal impact. The equipment will be housed in an ECR led laser laboratory and have new capabilities in fast transient spectroscopy, primarily laser induced fluorescence and transient absorption spectroscopy. This will also have wider benefits to the academic community with applications across, catalysis, sensing and advanced manufacturing also being able to gain insight from the equipment. To ensure maximum usage this will be shared equipment, administered through the Universities Shared Facilities Scheme. Equipment sharing and collaborative science is at the core of our proposal as it provides access to a wide user base, leads to the development of novel approaches to existing problems and ultimately will accelerate the career development of our most promising and talented early career researchers.