IFE research partner in new centres for research driven innovation

Publisert: 13. June 2020

The Research Council invests over NOK 2 billion in new centers for research-driven innovation (SFI) in order to facilitate more innovation and value creation in business. In the centers, prominent research communities collaborate with research-active companies to develop competence and technology that can renew and further develop the business community. The new centers will receive funding for up to eight years and will start in the autumn.

– Research and development is crucial for the Norwegian business community to regain the jobs we had before the crisis hit us, but also to be able to create new jobs and contribute to restructuring. We aim to make Norway one of the most innovative countries in Europe. In order to succeed, it is important to link research and business exactly as we do in the SFI scheme, says Research and Higher Education Minister Henrik Asheim.

https://www.forskningsradet.no/nyheter/2020/22-nye-sentre-for-forskningsdrevet-innovasjon/ [Content in Norwegian]

These are the centers IFE is a partner in:

Center for Rescue of Earth Materials and Waste in the Circular Economy
The center’s ambition is to become a nationally leading and internationally recognized research and innovation center for the sustainable use of soil materials. The main goal is to develop technologies, system innovation and a management framework for the most sustainable management and treatment of waste and soil materials.

Host institution: NMBU
The research partners: NGI, BI Norwegian Business School, Østfold Research, IFE, NIBIO, NIVA and NILU.

Center for Subsurface Well Integrity, Plugging and Abandonment
The main goal of the center is to gain a scientific understanding of permanent well barriers and to develop new and better designs for underground barriers. Understanding well integrity is the key to both safe utilization and shutdown of oil fields, utilization of deep geothermal energy, as well as secure storage in the underground of CO2, hydrogen and nuclear waste.

The center will help develop the industry to meet future challenges. Thousands of wells will be plugged on the Norwegian shelf, with huge costs for the industry and Norway. The field has received considerable attention for several years, but the research and introduction of new methods have not kept pace with the growing need in the industry.

Host institution: SINTEF AS
The research partners: NTNU, NORCE, Department of Energy Technology (IFE), University of Stavanger and other units at SINTEF

SFI Autoship: Safe autonomous ships for sustainable operations
The main goal of the center is to utilize the expertise of the complete Norwegian maritime cluster and consolidate Norway as a leading global player in autonomous vessels. The center will develop and manage technologies, systems and operations for safe, sustainable and cost-effective autonomous maritime transport and operations.

The center’s research is conducted in an area where Norway has particularly good opportunities to develop a world-leading industry and where there is also strong international competition.

Host institution: NTNU
Research partners: University of Oslo, SINTEF and Department of Energy Technology

SFI PhysMet – Center for sustainable and competitive metallurgical and manufacturing industry

The main goal of the center is to enable and accelerate the transformation of the national metal industry towards more sustainable and cost-effective production and to develop future material products, solutions and improved process methods.

When transitioning to circular economics, it is imperative to increase knowledge about how to recycle and sort metals and how they can be combined into new structural and functional alloys. The center will cover a large industrial area that is very critical in relation to reduced CO2 emissions and to achieve a circular economy.

Host institution: NTNU
The research partners: SINTEF Industry, SINTEF Manufacturing and IFE