Research focused on improving the efficiency of gas turbines is of great importance for energy generation and transportation. A much desired way of achieving this is the production of a new class of materials, capable of increased operating temperatures over the current ¿nickel-based superalloys¿. An area of considerable interest is to use the ultra-high melting point ¿refractory metals¿: e.g. Ta, Mo or Nb. However, these metals lack the required high temperature strength, a problem that has seen considerable study. An avenue that has not seen sufficient study is to mimic the structure of nickel-based superalloys, producing a ¿refractory metal-based superalloy¿. The primary problem in doing this is knowledge of suitable reinforcing phases. The proposed experiment will increase understanding of the properties of potential reinforcing phases as well as how they can be modified.