Due to the Covid-19 situation and travelling restrictions in 2020 and large parts of 2021 it has been difficult to implement the planned activities in the project. No physical meetings, exchange stays or planned visits have been possible.
3 of the Chinese PhD candidates that should have come to Trondheim in 2020 had to postpone their exchange stays until 2021. They have all arrived in August/September 2021.
The Master student exchange was planned to start August 2020 where two Norwegian candidates should have conducted a 1-year stay in China to obtain their Double Master degree. Due to travelling restrictions this has not been possible either in 2020 or in 2021. We now have to work actively to locate possible Norwegian candidates who is interested in going to China for the academic year 2022/2023.
The IntMat project described in this application is fully in line with the overall objectives of INTPART: To develop world-class research and education in Norway through long-term international cooperation. This partnership center will be equipped with specialised infrastructures and competences at the level of the best in the world. Hence, long-term partnerships with high quality universities and industries within the materials domain in US and China are crucial. Therefore, international partners of high relevance and top quality across China and US have been carefully selected. Together with the Chinese and American partners, there is a big potential for NTNU to develop an international leading environment within education, research and innovation in materials science and engineering.
The existing research-based education within Materials Science at NTNU will be further strengthened via such a network, i.e. a broader field of new research knowledge from different international partners will be introduced in courses and as part of student training. At the same time, a frequent exchange of academic staff, young researchers and students with the partner institutions will further improve the education level of NTNU. Seminars, workshops and symposiums among the partners, and especially the double master degree and joint PhD supervision will broaden the perspective of students and young researchers.
