The Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) and the College of Birmingham have prolonged their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), initially signed in 2018. It’s going to proceed to function the inspiration for intensive collaboration in analysis, innovation, and educational change within the fields of chemistry and supplies, vitality, additive manufacturing, and environmental and life sciences.
“Our partnership with the College of Birmingham is a primary instance of worldwide cooperation with actual added worth – scientifically, socially, and strategically,” stated Professor Dr. Ulrich Panne, President of BAM.
Because the starting of the collaboration, greater than €9 million in joint funding has been utilized for, greater than 30 publications have been co-authored, and 14 funded PhD exchanges have taken place. As well as, greater than 50 joint workshops, seminars, {and professional} occasions have been held.
“Worldwide collaboration is central to the College of Birmingham’s mission, and our partnership with BAM displays this dedication. Bringing collectively researchers, college students, and technical consultants permits us to handle shared challenges and ship lasting, significant affect by long-term, strategic worldwide cooperation,” stated Professor Rachel O’Reilly MBE, Professional-Vice Chancellor (Analysis) on the College of Birmingham.
The cooperation relies on 4 thematic analysis clusters:
- Hydrogen applied sciences, battery security, and wind vitality. One instance of sensible data switch is the collectively developed hydrogen security module, which has been efficiently delivered a number of occasions as a part of the Joint European Summer season Faculty.
- Analysis in Additive Manufacturing centres on modern functions in aerospace and vitality expertise. A spotlight is the College of Birmingham’s distinctive programs for processing copper and valuable metals utilizing electron beam expertise.
- The Environmental and Life Sciences cluster addresses present challenges reminiscent of microplastics, PFAS, antimicrobial supplies, and biofilms. A flagship undertaking is the EU-funded STOP undertaking on floor transmission of pathogens, which connects science and apply with a price range of €4.3 million.
- Within the Chemistry and Supplies cluster, the main target is on sustainable chemistry, nanomaterials, and vitality supplies. The collaboration gives entry to extremely specialised infrastructure and promotes scientific change, particularly for early-career researchers.
A spotlight of the collaboration has been the change of doctoral and undergraduate college students, with six co-funded PhD exchanges since 2020 and over 20 undergraduate college students enterprise summer time internships at BAM.
“Throughout my time at BAM, I may entry state-of-the-art gear, which enabled me to carry out a number of the experiments that I’m the proudest of. Each my scientific {and professional} improvement had been additional enhanced by the varied community of colleagues and collaborators that I met throughout my time at BAM,” stated PhD candidate Joseph Okeke.
Sooner or later, new interdisciplinary fields can be explored, together with civil engineering, cultural heritage safety, and non-destructive testing strategies. With the renewal, BAM and the College of Birmingham reaffirm their intention to deepen cooperation and collectively develop options to world challenges.
