Introduction
Catalysis by nanostructured materials are emerging as an important area of research with potential applications across many different sectors of the world economy. With the preceding in mind, a study has been initiated by the United States National Science Foundation and other U.S. government agencies. A team composed of experts from university, industry and U.S. NSF is thus organized by the World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC, Inc.) to examine the worldwide status and trends in this field. This half-day workshop is organized to promote communications between the experts at Tsinghua University and the delegates from United States of America. The technical themes of the workshop include:
• Design and control of synthetic nanostructures
• Nanoscale characterization of catalysts in their working state
• Computation and modeling
• New applications of catalysis
Issues closely related with the research in heterogeneous catalysis such as international and multidisciplinary collaborations, infrastructure, training and education will also be discussed. Attached please find a list of questions from the team of the US delegation.
Any persons at Tsinghua University who have interest in the theme concerned are welcomed. Expert who wants to make short presentation (e.g. 3-8 min) should contact with Dr. Ke-Qiang Sun (Tel: 62789022, kqsun@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn) by 17:00 of June 3rd.
Program
9:00 - 9:10 Introduction remark (Prof. Bo-Qing Xu)
9:10 - 9:40 Status and trends in U.S. (Prof. Robert Davis)
9:40 - 10:30 Status and trends at Tsinghua University
10:30 - 10:50 Questions & discussions
10:50 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:00 Lab Tour (Prof. Bo-Qing Xu)
Questions for the small Tsinghua-USA workshop
The following questions were developed by the U.S. delegation to prepare for the visit. We hope that they will help you to understand some of our objectives during this tour of leading Asian sites involved in heterogeneous catalysis research. We do not expect detailed answers to each of these questions. Therefore, please feel free to examine the list and determine which questions would be most appropriate for you and your organization. We would like to emphasize that we are not seeking proprietary information.
It is our goal that discussion of issues addressed by these questions will lead to a productive exchange of views that will benefit programs in catalysis research in both of our countries. Of course, our delegation is prepared to share its perspectives on research activities in the US.
The technical themes of our study are:
- Design and control of synthetic nanostructures
- Nanoscale characterization of catalysts in their working state
- Computation and modeling
- New applications of catalysis
Scientific Issues
1. What are the major needs, opportunities or directions in catalysis research over the next 10 and 20 year time frames?
2. How does catalysis research address the growing need for inexpensive energy and fuel resources relevant to your country?
3. Are there identified targets of opportunity for new catalysts in new environmentally-sustainable chemical processes?
4. What are the research activities aimed at new catalytic routes for CO2 utilization, energy storage, solar conversion, and advance materials synthesis?
5. What do you consider to be the most novel synthetic methods to produce nano-structured catalytic materials?
6. What are the greatest challenges for theory and modeling in heterogeneous catalysis and what is the specific role of theory and modeling in your work? Are there examples of ab initio and simulation methods complementing experiments in your work?
7. What are the techniques currently being used for characterization of nano-structured catalysts under reaction conditions?
8. What are the limitations of current characterization techniques available to you and how can they be improved?
9. What is the relative emphasis of applied versus fundamental projects in your laboratory?
International Collaborations and Multidisciplinary Research Efforts
1. What components of your research program involve multidisciplinary research activities?
2. Who are your principal collaborators and why did you choose to collaborate with them?
3. Are there any collaborations you wish to develop in the future?
Infrastructure Issues
1. What are the roles of academic, government and industrial laboratories in catalysis research in your country?
2. What is the amount of lab space dedicated to your research program?
3. What major instruments or computers do you own or have easy access to?
4. How accessible are state-of-the art methods like electron microscopy, NMR spectroscopy, synchrotron radiation techniques, etc?
5. What major improvements in infrastructure would have the greatest impact on your program?
Financial Issues
1. What are your major sources of funding for research and development involving catalysis by nanostructured materials? (Please list individual companies if you are permitted to do so.)
2. What is the success rate of proposals submitted for government funding?
3. For a typical year, what is the total research budget (including salaries, tuition, equipment, supplies, travel, maintenance, and overhead charges) for your lab?
4. Approximately how many people are supported by this budget, including professors, research staff, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students and administrative support staff?
Intellectual Property Issues
1. When performing collaborative research with a company, who owns the resulting intellectual property and how are intellectual property rights negotiated?
2. Do investigators, laboratories and institutions receive any financial compensation for patented inventions?
3. What role does a patent play in the promotion and recognition of individual researchers within your institution?
4. Who covers costs for patenting and how broad is the coverage (e.g., which countries or regions of the world)?
5. Have any start-up companies spun-off based on inventions in your lab? If so please list and describe them (including any former start-up companies that do not now exist).
Training and Education
1. How is the research performed at your institution, i.e. what fractions are performed by graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and permanent staff?
2. What percentages of your graduate students and post-doctoral researchers have citizenship from a country outside your own? From which country or countries do these researchers originate?
3. Are there international educational opportunities available to your graduate students?
4. Are you satisfied with the qualifications of graduate students entering your research program?
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