Joint seminars to address global challenges
Posted on 13 April 2010
The seminars at Zhejiang explore new areas of research in engineering, radio communications and energy production.
At the joint seminars on 12 and 13 April, leading academics from the two universities are focusing on research and teaching in Nanoscience in Chemical, Materials and Electronic Engineering, using artificial intelligence to improve radio communications and new developments in Fusion Energy.
These seminars help to cement fruitful academic partnerships between world-class researchers
Professor Brian Cantor, Vice-Chancellor
Nanoscience and nanotechnogy have huge potential to provide solutions to global challenges in IT, healthcare, sustainability and climate change. Nanotechnology is multi-disciplinary and can involve electronics, physics, materials science, chemistry and biology. Both the University of York and Zhejiang University have modern facilities and internationally leading research in nanoscience.
The joint Nanoscience seminar will cover a wide range of topics in nanotechnology including magnetic nanomaterials for the next generation IT, metal and oxide particles for catalysis and CNT for various applications. The seminar is expected to strengthen the Zhejiang-York collaborations in nanoscience, leading to joint funding and high impact research.
Cognitive Communications, which involve the application of distributed artificial intelligence to wireless devices, hold the key to the next communications revolution. Artificial intelligence gives devices the cognitive capabilities to route information through a network and access the radio spectrum by taking into account behaviour of other devices, and the local environment in which they operate.
York and Zhejiang, have led a successful bid to Research Councils UK for funding for a summer school later this year at Zhejiang, bringing together up to 100 researchers working in Cognitive Communications. This joint initiative is part of the strengthening collaboration between the two institutions which are members of the WUN Cognitive Communications Consortium, a grouping of over 45 member organisations.
Research into nuclear fusion offers the hope of a greenhouse gas-free source of power. It is now reaching a critical stage with a series of major new developments around the world. Nuclear fusion occurs when light elements such as hydrogen combine to form heavier elements. Fusion reactions generate a large amount of energy but require atomic nuclei to be forced together in a very high temperature environment. The heat and light from the Sun are produced by fusion, but the necessary conditions for a fusion reactor are difficult to reproduce on earth.
The seminar is reviewing the universities’ research activities in this field and exploring opportunities for collaboration. Fusion education activities are also being discussed to identify how York and Zhejiang can work together to help prepare the next generation of fusion scientists.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, Professor Brian Cantor, said: “Zhejiang University is one of our most valued international partners. These seminars provide an opportunity for stimulating intellectual debate as well as helping to cement fruitful academic partnerships between world-class researchers at our respective universities.”
Notes to editors:
- The University of York and Zhejiang University are members of the Worldwide Universities Network.
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