The new FME was announced by the Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland on Friday 11 March. Two hydrogen centres will receive funding, one is coordinated by NORCE and one is coordinated by SINTEF. UiO is an important partner in the latter, FME HYDROGENi, which includes more than 50 partners in total, among others research partners and industry – from Tromsø in the north to Agder in the south.
The FME scheme plays an important role in facilitating collaboration between academia and industry. Furthermore, it contributes to educating candidates who can fill jobs in the emerging green Norwegian industry sector. These two FME centres specifically, will be important for positioning Norway internationally within the field of hydrogen. We’re already putting our mark on it, and will continue to do so even better!
The necessary energy transition affects all sectors of society and requires the additional development of cross-disciplinary knowledge. UiO will partake in the new FME centre with research both on technology and within law studies.
The key research groups at UiO that will contribute to FME HYDROGENi are the Centre for Materials Science and Nanotechnology (SMN), the Department of Technology Systems (ITS) and the Nordic Institute of Maritime Law (NIFS). The first two are located at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the latter at the Faculty of Law. The interdisciplinary initiative UiO:Energy will also participate in the FME.
UiO is really looking forward to taking part in the new FME!