C9-Go8 HDR Forum 2011: Clean Energy & Global Change for the Future

- Graduate perspectives from China and Australia

12-15 October, Tsinghua University, Beijing, CHINA

Building on the success of the inaugural Go8-C9 HDR forum “Climate: Science + Humanities” held at Harvard University in March 2010,  the second “C9-Go8 HDR Forum” jointly developed by the Consortium of China Nine Universities (C9) and the Group of Eight Australia (Go8) was successfully held on 12 -15 October, 2011 at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

The theme of this year’s forum was “Clean Energy and Global Change”.

At the opening ceremony held at the Sino-Italian Ecological and Energy-Efficient Building (SIEEB ) of Tsinghua University, Professor He Kebin, Executive Dean of Tsinghua Graduate School, and Professor Laura Poole-Warren, Dean of Graduate Research of The University of New South Wales, both presented an opening speech. Professor Yao Qiang, Director of the Laboratory of Low Carbon Energy of Tsinghua-Cambridge-MIT chaired the opening session.

Preceding the students’ presentations, Professor Zhang Dongke from the University of Western Australia and Professor Luo Yong from Tsinghua University delivered keynote speeches on “Four Imperatives of Energy and Their Implications in Sustainable Energy Development” and “Climate Change and its Impacts” respectively.

The forum enabled 34 postgraduate students, two from each of the C9 and Go8 universities and selected because of the excellence of their research and its relevance to the topic, to present, engage, discuss and progress their thinking.

The post graduate students from a wide range of disciplines including the physical and biological sciences and the social sciences and humanities brought together their diverse disciplinary expertise and understanding as developed within their different national contexts to address issues fundamental to the future of the world.

During the Forum, the students were divided into a number of separate discussion panels, including energy management, business and economics, energy systems and modelling, and law, policy and regulation. They presented their research work and actively engaged in inter-disciplinary debates and discussions.

A special  workshop on research leadership was also successfully conducted by Go8 and C9 academic staff on 15 October, which encouraged all participating students to explore their own strengths as agents of change and to learn from their peers. The one-day workshop covered issues including different disciplinary and cultural models of leadership and influence, human relations and ethical leadership, cross-disciplinary problem solving, global research trends, and teamwork and project management. The students were also asked to break up into small groups and to develop the skills to work up a project plan, timeline and budget with mentoring support from Go8/Tsinghua academic staff.

As this year’s host, Tsinghua University organised a number of group social activities throughout the event to create a friendly and fun environment for Australian and Chinese students to network, including group visit to the Great Wall, campus/city tour, and tea house party.

The C9-Go8 HDR Forum 2011 at Tsinghua University has built a great platform for students from a broad range of academic fields to exchange ideas on hot global topics involving cross-disciplinary research. It also provided an excellent opportunity for Chinese and Australian research students to connect and engage with each other, raise their awareness of global challenges, as well as to enhance their inter-disciplinary research, innovation and leadership skills.

The contribution of the Go8 representatives, including Professor Mandy Thomas (ANU), Professor Laura Poole-Warren (UNSW), Professor Alan Dench (UWA), Professor Richard Russel (Adelaide) and Professor Geoff Stevens (Melbourne),  was warmly received by the students.

More than 50 research students and faculty members from C9 and Go8 universities participated in the 4-day event.

C9 and Go8 Deans of Graduate Studies also held a joint annual meeting at Tsinghua on 12 October to discuss about issues of common interest in research training and collaboration.

The next Go8-C9 HDR Forum will be hosted in Australia in 2012.

C9-Go8 HDR Forum Photos

C9-Go8 HDR Forum presentations: 

Day 1

Key note speeches

ZHANG Dongke (University of Western Australia),
"Four Imperatives of Energy and Their Implications in Sustainable Energy Development"

LUO Yong (Tsinghua University),
"Climate Change and its Impacts"

Panel Discussion Unit I Clean Energy
Chair: LI Zheng (Tsinghua University)   Panelists: YAN Jianhua (Zhejiang University) STEVENS Geoff (University of Melbourne) ZHANG Jing (Peking University) KALLIES Anne (University of Melbourne)
Fuels and Engines	Law,Policy and Regulation
Chair: SU Yi (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) & Go8	Chair:DU Yugang (Nanjing University) & Go8
Experimental research on premixed low-temperature combustion in compression ignition engines based on fuel design concept. by HAN Dong (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)                                                Homogeneous combustion catalysts for fuel efficiency  improvements in diesel engines. bY ZHU Mingming (University of Western Australia)                                                Overview of Bio-oil Upgrading in Supercritical Fluid.  by DANG Qi (Zhejiang University)                                                Biomass gasification and its promising application in the future. by SU Yi(Shanghai Jiao Tong University)	The role of law in the development of the renewable energy sector: A comparative study of the effectiveness of the regulatory support mechanisms offered to participants in the renewable energy sector in Australia, China and the United Kingdom. by CROSSLEY Penelope (University of Sydney)                                                Future Energy and Civilization Development - Nominal Rectification of Nuclear Energy.                  by LI Chao (Harbin Institute of Technology)                                                Fuelling China's Rise: Governing Capacity in the Oil Sector.         by TAYLOR Monique  (University of Queensland)

Day 2

Panel Discussion Unit II Global Change
Chair: Zhang Dongke (University of Western Australia) Panelists: THOMAS Mandy (Australian National University) LIU Hongtao (Xi'an Jiaotong University) WELLMAN J. Florian (University of Western Australia) WANG Yuxuan (Tsinghua University)
CO2 Capture and Hydrogen Production	Energy Systems and Modelling
Chair: SU Yi (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) & Go8	Chair: DU Yugang (Nanjing University) & Go8
The analysis of the structure and degradation of black carbon in terrestrial environments. by McBEATH Anna (University of Adelaide) Contribute to the Global Climate and Environment for the Future. by ZHANG Yaning (Harbin Institute of Technology) Absorption of CO2 into promoted potassium carbonate under pre-combustion capture. by THEE Hendy (University of Melbourne) Mechanism study of CO2 fixation from the flue gas on power plant by microalgae. by HUANG Yun (Zhejiang University) Energy optimization of coal-fired power plants retrofitted with post-combustion carbon capture processes. by KHALILPOUR Rajad (University of Sydney ) Bio-Hydrogen production from organic wastes by using novel membrane technology. by ZHENG Hang (University of Queensland)	Cleaning the energy sources of water heaters in households in Nanjing. by ZHU Lingyun(Nanjing University) Biology Helps to Optimise Wind Farms by WAGNER Marcus (University of Adelaide) The modelling of wind power fluctuation and the impact on the grid frequency deviation. by LIN Jin (Tsinghua University) Impact of Renewable Generation in Power Distribution Networks. by ROY Naruttam (University of New South Wales) Variations of temperature and precipitation extremes in recent two decades over China. by DU Yugang (Nanjing University)

Day 3

Round Table meeting

Materials for Energy Applications Chair: SU Yi (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) & Go8                   Bi-layer electrolyte YSZ-SDC for micro-tubular solid oxide fuel.   by ZHAO Ling (University of Science and Technology of China)                                        Improving the conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell. by CHEN Yang (Monash University)                                        Papery solar cells based on dielectric/metal hybrid transparent cathode. by WANG Fei (Peking University)                                            Separator characteristics and architecture optimization of air-cathode microbial fuel cells. by ZHANG Xiaoyuan (Tsinghua University)                                          Synthesis of Tungsten Oxide Thin Films for Solar Energy Conversion and Water Splitting Applications.   by NG Charlene (University of New South Wales)                                          Catalysis and selectively transformation of the C1 compounds in model system. by XU  Lingshun (University of Science and Technology of China)

Engergy Management, Business and Economics Chair: DU Yugang (Nanjing University) & Go8               Technological Innovation In China's Renewable Energy Development by PAN Rongfang (Australian National University)                                        The Study of Clean Energy-Using Efficiency Based on the CGE Model:Empirical Evidence from China. by JIN Ruiting (Fudan University)                                          Banking on Climate Change: a qualitative investigation of the role and motivations of the banking industry to assist climate change mitigation and the transition to a low-carbon global economy.   by BOWMAN Megan  (Australian National University)                                          Research on the trade policy evolution of China's resource-based products- Case study of petroleum and coal.   by ZHANG Wenjun(Xi'an Jiaotong University)                                          Individuals,Consumption & Sustainability. by DERRICK Stephen(Monash University)

Day 4

Leadership workshop