Six research teams from U-M and Shanghai Jiao varsity will participate in the program that teams up investigators from both schools.
The energy projects selected aim to improve electric vehicle batteries, to model the impact of renewable energy policy on the economy and the environment, and to better understand the combustion biodiesel fuels.
They include thermodynamics and characterization of environmentally benign new generation electrodes for Li ion batteries, integrated energy-economy-environment (3E) modeling for clean vehicle development in China, and Engineering the right fuel for sustainable transportation.
The U-M/SJTU Collaborative Research Program in Renewable Energy Science and Technology aims to develop new technologies that reduce global carbon emissions and their impact on climate change.
The biomedical technology projects aims to find natural therapeutic agents in China’s ecosystem, improve the treatment of sepsis, and creating a base of information on enzyme activity to augment development of new therapies.
U-M vice president for research Stephen Forrest said the strength of this program with SJTU is that it not only brings the Michigan varsity’s complementary research strengths to bear on critical global challenges, but also the different perspectives of its two societies.
"This kind of cross-cultural collaboration is central to our ability to develop realistic solutions," Forrest added.
SJTU executive president Zhongqin Lin said this joint program is a model for successful collaboration between two universities.
"By working together, we are better able to conduct research in renewable energy and biomedical technology that is important not only to both of our nations but also to society as a whole," Lin added.
The universities will spend up to $3m each on their part of the collaborative research over the five-year period.
