Full speed in research and reconnecting external collaborations
This year, KTH Energy Platform is focusing on collaboration and internationalisation. As the pandemic comes to an end, we can finally meet again in freer settings. Planning is underway to welcome international delegations here, and to travel again - allowing us to meet our international contacts, share our latest research results, and be inspired by new studies.
More than likely, 2022 is the year when the covid pandemic will end. This will mean a lot of work for the Platform, which seeks to encourage inclusive collaboration by bringing together KTH energy researchers. At long last, we can make plans to meet in person and to collaborate with former and new partners!
A new year brings a fresh focus on research. Several programmes are currently underway, including from the Swedish Energy Agency and Vinnova. Unfortunately, KTH did not fare well in last year’s applications to the Swedish Energy Agency’s Competence Centre for a Sustainable Energy System . A small number of KTH proposals went through to the second round; however, KTH was not granted a centre with a co-ordinator role in the final round. We of course congratulate all those that succeeded, and we look forward to developments at the new competence centres that are now being set up in Sweden .
KTH will participate in several of the projects that were approved, such as the Swedish Electromobility Center ( SEC ). The Energy Platform has announced a workshop together with the vice chancellor for research and university administration to gain experiences and learnings. The event will be held on 21 February.
In March, the Energy Platform will welcome its first international delegation from Cuba: the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies ( FIIAPP ). The delegation is visiting us to learn more about how we collaborate between academia and business to promote the generation and use of renewable energy sources. In addition to visiting KTH and Uppsala University, the group will also make stops in Spain and Belgium. In the spring, the Energy Platform will also be organising an international workshop with researchers from Japan.
In the spring, vice-chancellor Sigbritt Karlsson will head a . The aim of the trip is to encourage and support research collaborations and collaboration with universities, companies and wider society. The trip is a collaboration between KTH, the City of Stockholm and the Swedish Embassy in Washington.
The trip starts with an event in Washington where KTH will showcase innovation and research projects from Viable Cities , Live-In Lab, Digital Futures and Senseable Stockholm Lab. After this event, there will be several university visits. The delegation includes several energy researchers from KTH, including former and current directors of the Energy Platform. The trip will seek, among other things, to resume previous research exchanges and start new research exchanges. The Energy Platform will report from the trip.
On 4 May, the Platform will host a study visit from Swedish parliamentarians in collaboration with the Swedish Society of Parliamentarians and Scientists (Rifo). The event will include discussions on the supply of skills and will explore some of KTH’s exciting research environments.
The Swedish government will soon take key decisions regarding the national electrification strategy. Minister of Energy and Digital Development, Khashayar Farmanbar, has invited a number of people who have contributed to work on the strategy to a meeting on Thursday, 3 February, during which the minister will provide details about the strategy and next steps. This is highly anticipated and it will be extremely interesting to listen to their findings.
We are ready to participate in the next phase of work on Sweden’s electrification strategy. To date, the Energy Platform has contributed in several ways, including two national workshops held last year.
The first workshop was in January , in which energy researchers from all over the country participated; and the second, in June, was a digital seminar hosted with Rifo on the sustainable energy systems of the future .
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about the biggest event of the year for us at the Platform: the KTH Energy Dialogue. This year’s event kicks off on 17 November, so be sure to book the date in your diary today.
Don’t miss t he opportunity to apply for funding for interdisciplinary collaborations in energy research from the Energy Platform. Financing of up to SEK 50,000 a project is available in 2022, and the deadline for applications is 4 April 2022.
With best wishes,
Lina Bertling Tjernberg
Director, KTH Energy Platform
Text: Magnus Trogen Pahlén