Japanese Swiss Energy Materials Workshop
March 7-9, 2016 in Dübendorf, Switzerland

Strategic International Collaborative Research Program (SICORP)
http://www.jst.go.jp/inter/english/sicorp/index.html

The Japanese Swiss Energy Materials Workshop was jointly run by Japan Science and Technology Agency JST (Department of International Affairs), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich ETHZ and Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology EMPA.

In its previous Strategic International Research Cooperative Program (SICP)^*1, JST had been implementing joint calls and supporting collaborative research with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) in the field of life science. The theme of the workshop was related to Energy Materials, with the aim being to promote research exchange between the two countries and explore new research fields that have synergetic effects for both countries. Hereafter, a new support will investigate the new framework of the Strategic International Collaborative Research Program (SICORP)^*2.

The workshop was organized and led by two scientific chairs Prof. Motoko Kotani (Director and Principal Investigator at the Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku Univeristy) and Prof. Corsin Battaglia (Head of Laboratory, Materials for Energy Conversion, Empa). On the first two days, participants presented their research through speeches and in poster sessions in the fields of Photovoltaics, Emerging Concepts, Batteries, Photocatalysis/Electrolysis/Catalysis, Data Driven Design, followed by lively discussions. On the 3rd day, a lab tour was organized at Empa, introducing different laboratories and facilities in order to foster and promote exchange between Japanese and Swiss researchers. One of the highlights presented was move, Empa’s Future Mobility Demonstrator which uses massively reduced fossil energy sources and CO2 resources for mobility.

About 50 researchers took part in the three-day event and exchanged useful information on both countries’ research efforts and the latest research trends. Through the workshop, new collaborations on research between Japan and Switzerland is expected in the research fields discussed.

(*1) JST has been implementing the Strategic International Research Cooperative Program (SICP) since 2003. As part of that framework, JST has supported collaborative research projects with Switzerland in the fields of medicine (2008 and 2009), molecular medicine (2011) and medicine for an aging society (2012) (http://www.jst.go.jp/inter/english/sicp/country/switzerland.html).

(*2) JST has been executing the international joint research program called SICORP since FY2009, together with leading countries and regions in various research fields. The aim of this program is to contribute solutions to challenges facing world today and to bolster Japan’s scientific and technological capabilities through collaboration with a broad range of countries.