There are numerous data sources to advance scientific knowledge, yet there are a greater amount of avenues uncertainty and trust to be brought into question. Therefore, the primary aim of this research is to understand how users of secondary data come to place trust in these contemporary sources - that have not been collected by themselves and may contain potential uncertainties, and how we can foster well-placed trust in these sources. - How do researchers view trust in data? Are they cognizant of the trust and uncertainty issues of data? Having seen from the literature that the definition of trust varies, how do researchers define trust in this context? - How trust is performed versus how it is verbalised. What do researchers actually do when they use these data sources? Are they apprehensive and take caution in these scenarios, or do they take a pragmatic approach and utilise this data (regardless of trust) if it is a necessity? - How do researchers account for potentially uncertain data in methods and methodologies? I.e. as uncertainty or untrustworthy data could potentially affect results and should be accounted for in order to be rigorous and reproducible. Are researchers aware of the effects of uncertainty and ambiguity in data and data science techniques? - Under which conditions is this data sufficiently trustworthy enough for the purposes that one might hope to use it? Are there varying contexts and purposes for this? - Finally, I will seek to understand the communication of uncertainty and trust. What forms of supplementary information are necessary for data users to formulate trust, and to use this data in their research? How can this be effectively presented and communicated?

Batteries are currently present in our everyday life and have countless applications from smartphones to medical and military uses. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) started to attract a lot of attention in the 70s due to their good performance, high energy density and no memory effect and are nowadays the dominating types of rechargeable batteries used in the market due to their energy storage capacity and well-known chemistry. Carbons have been used in commercial batteries for more than 20 years, being the most commonly employed anode material for LIBs nowadays. Intercalation of Li-ions between the graphene planes offers carbon a good 2D mechanical stability, electrical conductivity and easy Li transport. Despite all the advantages of graphite carbons, researchers figured that this material exhibits some disadvantages as incompatibility with some electrolytes, electrochemical stability and volume expansion, which results in rapid capacity fading. Since the discovery of graphene, other two-dimensional (2D) materials have been the centre of attention as suitable anode materials for LIBs. Recently, layered two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been on the rise due to their attractive physical and chemical properties, which could be used in energy storage applications. These class of materials are represented with formula MX2 where M is a transition metal from groups 4 to 7 and X is a chalcogen atom and have been attracting lots of attention as anode materials for LIBs due to their structural similarity with graphene. Tellurium-based TMDs have been gaining more interest than sulphides and selenides due to its intrinsic chemical versatility, high electronic conductivity and high material density resulting in higher utilization of active materials than sulphur and selenium analogues. The main aims and objectives of this 4-year PhD studentship project are: 1) To study and develop new suitable negative (anode) electrode materials that can reversibly intercalate ions (e.g. Li+) with the aim to replace the current state of the art anode materials in the studied battery technologies 2) To synthase and characterize several transition metal dichalcogenides materials using several analytical techniques (e.g. X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Inductive Coupled Plasma (ICP-OES), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)). X-ray diffraction will be used for primary phase identification and study the crystallinity of the bulk materials as well as check for the existence of impurities. ICP-OES will be used to collect data on the elemental composition of the materials. SEM will be used to acquire high-resolution images of the electrode materials in order to have information on the particle's size and morphology. 3) To evaluate the electrode suitability to be used as electrode materials at room temperature for LIBs and NIBs through electrochemical characterization (galvanostatic cycling, impedance tests). These electrochemical measurements will be used to evaluate that charge stored in these materials as well as the redox processes occurring in these materials (eg. Intercalation vs capacitance). The electrochemical characterization will be used to evaluate the suitability of the electrodes as anode materials focusing on the number of ions inserted (specific capacity), the durability of the material (cyclability) and stability. 4) To use advanced synchrotron radiation for characterization of the materials during battery cycling (operando). Particularly, we will use (X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD)) to gain knowledge on the transition metal oxidation state changes and monitor the structural evolution (such as phase transitions and appearance of new phases) in the materials while Li insertion and extraction take place, respectively. Approach: The novelty of this project lies in the making of potential novel chalcogenide electrode materials for Li-ion batteries.

Labour productivity is 0/L, where Q is output and L is the labour input - an input that has both a quantity dimension (man hours) and a quality dimension (skills). Human capital contributes to the skills of workers and is widely recognised to be the primary driver of Lin developed countries. This is reflected in labour productivity, and thence real wages. It is a widely-held view that Britain needs to increase the skills of the workforce, and ensure that they are better matched to employers' needs, to address the "skills gap". While the dominant proxy for productivity in the literature remains (hourly) earnings (i.e. the wage rate), reflecting the tendency for labour markets to better reward those with greater skills, there are good reasons for thinking this is a naive measure - an issue which will be explored in the planned research. Early research on the aggregate impact of education on GNP failed to reflect the findings in individual level studies - that showed large causal effect on wages, this is now attributed to measurement error in the aggregate data on education. In particular, subsequent research in [4] showed that correcting for measurement error bias results in aggregate data leads to effects on per capita GNP that exceed the individual level effects of education. Many countries have sought to increase their average living standards through the expansion of higher education. In the spirit of skills being the most important long-term driver of labour productivity, we aim to analyse the effects of higher education on wages. An excellent recent overview of the skills and productivity literature in Economics can be found in [3] and the role of skills in heavily emphasised in OECD's recent "forward look" in [5].

Many fascinating quantum behaviours occur on a scale that is intermediate between individual particles and large ensembles. It is on this mesoscopic scale that collective properties, including quantum decoherence, start to emerge. This project will use vibrating carbon nanotubes – like guitar strings just a micrometre long – as mechanical probes in this intermediate regime. Nanotubes are ideal to explore this region experimentally, because they can be isolated from thermal noise; they are deflected by tiny forces; and they are small enough that quantum jitter significantly affects their behaviour. To take advantage of these properties, I will integrate nanotube resonators into electromechanical circuits that allow sensitive measurements at very low temperature. First, I will study the motional decoherence of the nanotube itself, by using it as the test particle in a new kind of quantum interferometer. This experiment works by integrating the nanotube into a superconducting qubit, and will represent a test of quantum superposition on a larger mass scale than ever before. It will answer a longstanding question of physics: can a moving object, containing millions of particles, exist in a superposition of states? Second, I will use the nanotube device as a tool to study superfluid helium 3 – the mysterious state of matter that may emulate the interacting quantum fields of the early universe. By measuring an immersed nanotube viscometer, I will be able to measure the behaviour of superfluid excitations on a scale where bulk superfluidity begins to break down. Third, I will add to the device a nanomagnet on nanotube springs, creating an ultra-sensitive magnetic force sensor. This offers a way to perform nuclear magnetic resonance on a chip, ultimately creating a microscopy tool that could image for example single viruses.