Have you heard of the RE Hub?

Renewable energy (RE) is one of the pillars of the Alliance. Launched a few months after the start of the UNITA project, the RE Hub aims to be a catalyst for training to and through research for our students, also pretends to be an instigator of research projects on renewable energies for our laboratories, and an ambassador for our universities in their territories.

A Hub structured to encounter the challenges of society and those of our territories

The universities constituting the UNITA Alliance find ground in mountainous and rural territories. The Hub has been structured into 3 large "archipelagos" in relation to the challenges of these territories:

• "Basic sciences for renewable energy" (including 5 “islands”: solar, hydraulic, wind, biomass, geothermal);
• "Energy transformation, integration systems and Energy carriers";
• "Socio-economic, legal and educational aspects".

The objective of this structure is to cover the entire chain of renewable energy, going from the physical phenomenon to the development of the sectors, and this in a multidisciplinary perspective.

For more information, contact Benoit Stutz benoit.stutz@univ-smb.fr

Brief history

• January 2021: Creation of the interim Hub task force
• February 2021: 1^st call for expressions of interest from the Alliance's researchers and laboratories
• April 2021: Thematic structure of the Hub
• June 2021: 1^st call for application for cotutelle PHD
• July 21-22, 2021: Meeting of the interim task force in Chambéry
• October 26-28, 2021: 1st workshop in Covilha
• January 2022: Creation of the RE Hub task force
• April 18, 2022: Creation of the 1^st microcredential on RE

1^st RE Workshop in Covilhã, October 26-28, 2021 

PhD thesis in cotutelle

5 PhD in cotutelle on renewable energies, financed by the University of Pau and Adour Countries (UPPA), the University of Turin (UNITO) and the University Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB), have been launched in the framework of UNITA in 2021:

• Durable and Efficient Solar Cells Combining Perovskite and Nanocrystals
• Synthesis of stable Hole Transporting Materials (HTMs) for emerging hybrid photovoltaics
• Distributed solar energy source in a mixed local renewable energy system in response of energy demand in mixed urban-rural attractive territory
• Suitable solutions for the production and communities in mountain areas
• Modeling climate change: starting from rain

7 new PhD in cotutelle financed by the University of Beira Interior (UBI), the University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR), the West University of Timisoara (UVT) and the University of Turin (UNITO) should be implemented in the fall of 2022. The call for proposals has been launched and the recruitment of the PhD students will take place throughout the summer.

Microcredentials

The Hub has been mobilized to develop a first online micro-accreditation on renewable energy for undergraduate students. This first general micro-accreditation of about ten hours of teaching covers the whole chain of renewable energies, from the resource to the deployment, including the basic sciences and the environmental impacts. It will be offered to students of the Alliance at the beginning of the academic year 2022-23. A great collective work that inaugurates the collaboration on renewable energy education between the different universities!

For more information, contact Jean-Luc Got Jean-Luc.Got@univ-smb.fr

Summer School

The first summer school on renewable energies will be held in Turin from July 11 to 15 2022. This general and multidisciplinary school is addressed to master students of the 6 universities of the Alliance. It will be an opportunity for students to deepen their knowledge on renewable energies and their implementation, to visit many sites nearby Turin, and to work in a collective way on a challenge related to renewable energies.

For more information, contact Marcello Baricco marcello.baricco@unito.it

RE Summer School in Turin

In November, this school will be followed by a second one in Chambéry. More specialized, it will focus on digital tools for the prediction, monitoring and exploitation of solar energy. It will be oriented to master and doctoral students.

For more information, contact Monika Woloszyn monika.woloszyn@univ-smb.fr

Research projects?

The first contacts resulting from the call for expressions of interest helped to forge links between the research teams, as well as the setting up of cotutelle thesis and the workshop in Covilha. The second workshop of the RE Hub will be held on July 11 in Turin, at the same time as the summer school. It will be an opportunity to present the first collaborative works between the UNITA teams. The third workshop will take place at the end of 2022. It will focus on the setting of projects in connection with the European calls for projects.

For more information, contact B. Stutz benoit.stutz@univ-smb.fr