India - Norway partnership for research and education in materials for energy and environment

The project INNOREM is funded under the INTPART program and is led by the University of Oslo. It collaborates with three Indian research/educational institutions: JNCASR in Bangalore, Anna University in Chennai, and CUTN in Thiruvarur. The scientific focus of INNOREM is on "materials for energy and environmental technology," ranging from fundamental studies to materials used in applications such as batteries, catalysts, absorbers, hydrogen, and magnetism. Similarly, education and research training for master's and PhD candidates are focused on topics that support innovative materials and solutions for sustainable energy and environmental technology. These topics are highly relevant in both Norway and India. The project's first phase was very constructive. Shortly after its start in 2018, an initial academic meeting between the partners was held in Bangalore, with concrete plans for student exchanges, staff/expert exchanges, curriculum development, and research topics. In 2019, seminars and concrete collaborations were carried out through meetings at the University of Oslo and in India (Anna, CUTN, JNC). These activities were coordinated with the related activities in the TESFUN project (SIU). This included a meeting focusing on the introduction of a module at the University of Oslo (master's/PhD level) on DFT modeling of energy materials to strengthen competence at the university. In May (16th-22nd), a larger academic seminar/workshop on materials for energy/environment was organized at the University of Oslo, with participation from all institutions. JNC, in particular, had a strong presence with leading professors, including Prof. CNR Rao, who attended and gave a guest lecture at the University of Oslo. Prof. Rao is a world-leading expert in his field (http://www.jncasr.ac.in/cnrrao/), and the visit marked his last international academic trip. In connection with his upcoming 90th birthday, Prof. Fjellvåg attended his private and official celebrations in Bangalore in December 2023. The collaboration further strengthened in September/October 2019 with visits by Profs. Sjåstad and Fjellvåg to Anna University, CUTN, and JNC, including lectures at a joint international seminar (Indo-Norwegian Workshop on Functional Materials for Energy Technology) and participation in a high-profile conference in Kerala organized by JNC (JNC Research Conference on Chemistry of Materials). The collaboration and further development took a drastic turn with the onset of the pandemic in 2020. No planned activities could be carried out, although a one-year exchange was conducted (through additional funding from India). However, for the most part, everything was put on hold. The situation in 2020-2022 developed differently in Norway and India, with periods of full shutdown and uncertainties about which infrastructure could be operated at the Indian partner universities, as well as collaboration projects and supervision of PhD students. This difficult period was further exacerbated by a traffic accident that affected one of the key Indian partners for over a year. At the University of Oslo, we had a broad and solid team of permanent researchers/scientists, which allowed us to carry out some small but important collaborative initiatives, produce some materials, conduct measurements in Norway and with international partners in Europe, and thus prepare ourselves for a full and renewed momentum. In 2023, the focus was on consolidating the collaboration, making plans for concrete actions in 2024, summarizing individual results achieved at one of the partners during the COVID period, with the goal of joint publications. The project leader participated in RAM-90 Recent Advances in Materials in Bangalore in December 2023, as well as the celebration of Prof. Rao mentioned above, and met all the key professors for the INNOREM project. It was agreed that INNOREM would hold a broad academic meeting in Oslo in the summer of 2024, assuming that the project was still active. The INNOREM project has aimed towards realizing the strong potential for scientific collaboration between Indian and Norwegian top leading groups within the fields of "materials for energy- and environmental technology". We hope this can be further realized through new joint research projects and funding in years to come.

The project INNOREM, led by the University of Oslo, in collaboration with three Indian research/educational institutions: JNCASR in Bangalore, Anna University in Chennai, and CUTN in Thiruvarur had its scientific focus on "materials for energy and environmental technology," ranging from fundamental studies to materials used in applications such as batteries, catalysts, absorbents, hydrogen, and magnetism. Similarly, education and research training for master's and PhD candidates were focused on topics that support innovative materials and solutions for sustainable energy and environmental technology. These topics are highly relevant in both Norway and India. In sum, there exists a basis for enhancing collaborative interactions between India and Norway in the fields of energy and environmental technologies, an aspect clearly addressed at a high level meeting in Oslo 2024 between Indian representatives and the UiO leadership. Possibly, this opportunity should be considered at the level of RCN and Ministries. During 2018-20 many scientific and educational objectives were successfully approached. Among these were exchange of students/coworkers, joint scientific seminars/workshops, an international event being run as a joint effort. This led to strong links between the Norwegian and Indian partners, and to a genuine possibility for establishing long term interactions based on the strength of the other research partners in joint projects, including research training of coworkers. Since INNOREM involves very strong research groups in India and in Norway, within materials chemistry, with clear profiles towards energy, environment, catalysis, the potential for excellent scientific outcome and future collaborations within joint projects were seen as major. During the early project period, exchange and visits, seminar, discussions were very fruitful and plentiful. However, the project was strongly jeopardized by the pandemic, causing impossibilities with respect to travels and exchange, as well as also joint experimental campaigns at institutions worldwide. The successful re-consolidation in 2023 gave new momentum. However, RCN decided not to prolong the INNOREM project into 2024. The agreed visiting plan for 2024 had to be cancelled. A major potential for science and innovation remains therefor open. The trust, exchange, supervision, joint science established by INNOREM between the partners provide a solid basis for renewed interactions, hopefully to be re-established by means of future collaborative projects.

Directly related to our education and research efforts at UiO in the field of materials for energy and environment we will establish an extensive collaboration with three Indian institutions; JNCASR, Bangalore; Anna University, Chennai and CUTN, Thiruvarur. UiO is a stronghold in this field under the umbrellas of Centre for Materials Science and Nanotechnology and the "UiO energy" effort, and is a key partner of several nationally prioritized efforts as well as ongoing researcher projects funded by RCN. Our objective is a strong collaboration on education and training of master/PhDs with due focus on topics that underpin innovative solutions for sustainable technology. We will benefit from the strong expertise in materials/nano science at JNCASR as well on computational materials science more generally (all Indian partners). This opens an option to integrate modeling (predictions) by Indian partners with experimental tools and verification at UiO. The educational and research aspects of the project will be closely interwoven. New intensive courses will be established, assuring inter-disciplinarity between Physics, Chemistry, Materials and Nano Science. Curricula and dedicated teaching material will be developed. Hands-on training on computational modelling and on cutting-edge techniques in synthesis and characterization is provided. Joint student supervision (master/PhDs) is planned, including exchange for shorter or longer periods. Exchange of staff is planned, for teachning, supervision and scientific networking and research, including organizing and providing talks at workshops/seminars. Special emphasis is put on means to enhance mobility. A detailed risk analysis is done with suggested modes for mitigation. The scientific part of the collaboration will focus on materials for energy and environment, specifically batteries for energy storage, thermoelectric for energy conversion, absorbents for water cleaning and catalysts for abatement of harmful gases.