Institute on Membrane Technology ITM-CNR

Harbin Institute of Technology School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering Dept of Municipal Engineering

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Issue # 4th December 2011

Sino-EU Membrane Science and Technology Research and Development Center, Weihai (China)

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Prepared by

Enrico Drioli (e.drioli@itm.cnr.it)

Jun Ma (majun_hit@163.com)

Lidietta Giorno (l.giorno@itm.cnr.it) Heng Liang (hitsteven@gmail.com) Maria A. Liberti (m.liberti@itm.cnr.it) Yuxin Ma Emma Piacentini (e.piacentini@itm.cnr.it)

Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR) c/o University of Calabria Via P. Bucci 17/C 87030 Rende CS - Italy

Harbin Institute of Technology School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering Dept of Municipal Engineering 202 Haihe Road, Nangang Dist, Harbin 150090 - PR China

Sponsored by

Sino-EU Membrane Science and Technology Research and Development Center, Weihai

(China)

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Summary

… FROM EUROPE

… Open Calls _________________________________________________________________ 5

… Projects in progress ___________________________________________________________ 9

… News/Highlights ____________________________________________________________ 10

… FROM CHINA

… Open Calls ________________________________________________________________ 16

… Projects in progress __________________________________________________________ 17

… News/Highlights ____________________________________________________________ 18

… China Science and Technology Newsletter Corner ___________________________________ 21

… ANNOUNCEMENTS ____________________________________________________________ 23

… UPCOMING EVENTS ____________________________________________________________ 26

… PAST EVENTS ________________________________________________________________ 28

… LIST OF EVENTS OF INTEREST ______________________________________________________ 32

… OVERVIEW ON BOOKS ON MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY _____________________________________ 34

… FOCUS ON RESEARCH __________________________________________________________ 36

… LINKS OF INTEREST_____________________________________________________________ 43

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FROM EUROPE Open Calls

7th Framework Programme Source Link: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/fp7_calls Cooperation Information and Communication TechnologiesCall Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-ICT-2011-C FET Open 2010-07-20 2013-03-12 FP7-ICT-2011-8 ICT Call 8 2011-07-20 2012-01-17 Energy Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-ENERGY-2012-2 Energy Call Part 2 2011-07-20 2012-03-08 FP7-ERANET-2012-RTD ERA-NET Call 2012 2011-07-20 2012-02-28 Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-ERANET-2012-RTD ERA-NET Call 2012 2011-07-20 2012-02-28 General Activities Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-ERANET-2012-RTD ERA-NET Call 2012 2011-07-20 2012-02-28 Health Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-ERANET-2012-RTD ERA-NET Call 2012 2011-07-20 2012-02-28 Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies - NMP Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-ERANET-2012-RTD ERA-NET Call 2012 2011-07-20 2012-02-28 FP7-NMP-2012-CSA-6 Theme 4 – NMP - Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies,

Materials and new Production Technologies – CSAs 2012

2011-07-20 2012-01-24

Socio-economic sciences and Humanities Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-ERANET-2012-RTD ERA-NET Call 2012 2011-07-20 2012-02-28 FP7-SSH-2012-1 FP7-SSH-2012 - Collaborative projects

(Large scale integrated research projects) 2011-07-20 2012-02-02

FP7-SSH-2012-2 FP7-SSH-2012 - Collaborative Projects (Small or medium-scale focused research projects) as well as Coordination and Support Actions

2011-07-20 2012-02-02

Transport (including Aeronautics) Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-AAT-2012-RTD-L0 FP7-AERONAUTICS and AIR TRANSPORT

(AAT)-2012-RTD-L0 2011-07-20 2013-03-14

FP7-TRANSPORT-2012-MOVE-1

FP7-TRANSPORT-2012-MOVE-1 2011-07-20 2012-03-01

FP7-ERANET-2012-RTD ERA-NET Call 2012 2011-07-20 2012-02-28

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Ideas ERC

Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline ERC-2012-ADG_20120411 ERC Advanced Investigators Grant 2011-11-16 2012-04-11 ERC-2012-ADG_20120314 ERC Advanced Investigators Grant 2011-11-16 2012-03-14 ERC-2012-ADG_20120216 ERC Advanced Investigators Grant 2011-11-16 2012-02-16 ERC-2012-SyG Call for proposals for ERC Synergy Grant 2011-10-25 2012-01-25 ERC-2012-Support-1 Gender aspects in career structures and career

paths 2011-10-12 2012-01-12

People Marie-Curie Actions

Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-PEOPLE-2012-CIG MARIE CURIE CAREER INTEGRATION GRANTS (CIG) 2011-10-20 2012-09-18 FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IAPP MARIE CURIE INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA PARTNERSHIPS

AND PATHWAYS (IAPP) 2011-10-19 2012-04-19

FP7-PEOPLE-2012-COFUND MARIE CURIE CO-FUNDING OF REGIONAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES (COFUND)

2011-10-19 2012-02-15

FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IRSES Marie Curie International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES)

2011-07-20 2012-01-18

FP7-PEOPLE-2012-ITN Marie Curie Initial Training Networks 2012 (ITN) 2011-07-20 2012-01-12 FP7-PEOPLE-2012-NIGHT RESEARCHERS' NIGHT (NIGHT) 2011-09-27 2012-01-10 Capacities Regions of Knowledge

Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-REGIONS-2012-2013-1 Transnational cooperation between regional research-

driven clusters 2011-07-20 2012-01-

31 Research Potential

Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-REGPOT-2012-2013-1 Integration of research entities from the EU´s

Convergence and Outermost regions in the ERA and enhancement of their innovation potential

2011-07-20 2012-01-03

Science in Society

Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-SCIENCE-IN-SOCIETY-2012-1 FP7-SCIENCE-IN-SOCIETY-2012 2011-07-20 2012-02-22 Support for the coherent development of research policies

Call Identifier Call Title Publication Date Deadline FP7-COH-2012-Procurers Support to trans-national networks of procurers 2011-07-20 2012-01-05

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Blaise Pascal Chairs 2012 Source Link: http://www.chaires-blaise-pascal.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=471 The Blaise Pascal Research Chairs were established in 1996 by the State and the Ile-de-France region. Each chair allows highly qualified, internationally acclaimed, foreign research scientists in all disciplines, accompanied if they wish by other research workers, to continue their work on a scientific project for a 12 months period that could be spread over two years in a higher learning institution or research institution in Paris/Ile-de-France. The management of these chairs is undertaken by the " Fondation de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure ". A scientific committee selects the candidates every year. The Blaise Pascal chairs have acquired a solid reputation in the francophone scientific community and their attribution is an important milestone in a scientific career. The State and the Ile-de-France Region are establishing new International Research Chairs to accommodate highly qualified, internationally acclaimed, foreign research scientists in all scientific fields : exact sciences, life sciences, humanities and social sciences, applied sciences and new technologies. Each Chair allows the foreign scientist to be hosted for 12 full months, possibly spread over 2 years, in one or more well-known Higher Learning or Research Institutions in Paris/Ile-de-France that are focused on a particular scientific project and are able to provide the suitable environment, equipment and means required. The global financial amount attributed to each project can go up to 200 000 € which includes among other things, salaries, social charges, taxes, accompanying expenses. The candidates are required to give about ten lectures (pedagogical program to be joined), will have to deliver an activity report and to organise a public seminar at the end of the period. Contrary to our wishes and expectations, we receive too little female candidates. It is recalled the applications by female candidates are highly encouraged. A multi-disciplinary jury, in association with the French Institute, will select 4 applicants for 2012 based on the scientific interest of the project for Ile-de-France Region, on its interdisciplinary characteristic and the quality of the application. The applications must be received before 15 December 2011. The foreign candidate may be hosted in Ile-de-France as early as September 2012. The applications must be filled jointly and presented by a person in charge of the laboratory receiving the candidate. The following documents are compulsory and must be presented in triplicate :

• an application form • a financial form • an activity and research project • a teaching program • a CV and a list of recent publications • a letter of motivation from the hosting laboratory • a letter of agreement from the Director of the hosting Establishment

Receipt of each application will be acknowledged by the person in charge of the hosting laboratory. Only complete applications will be presented to the jury.

CSIC / RGC Joint Research Scheme Source Link: http://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/fund/csic_rgc_jrs.htm The Research Grants Council (RGC) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) invite applications for the CSIC / RGC Joint Research Scheme 2012/13 exercise. The Scheme was established last year and aims to promote research collaboration between Hong Kong and Spain by providing researchers in the two places with two-year travel grants. The RGC has reserved an amount of HK$500,000 for the Hong Kong applicants in the 2012/13 Exercise. Additional funding support from Hong Kong and Spanish institutions/companies to individual grant recipient is most welcome.

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Hong Kong applicants should meet fully the requirements for applying the RGC General Research Fund (GRF). Spanish applicants should be CSIC-related researchers. Applications from Hong Kong applicants should be submitted to the RGC through the Research Offices of respective institutions. While applications must reach the RGC before the deadline as outlined below, Hong Kong applicants should check with their institutions for internal closing dates. Late submission will not be processed. Detailed information regarding the Scheme and its application procedure could be obtained from respective institutions. It is also available on the RGC homepage under "Research Funding" at: http://www.ugc.edu.hk/rgc/ . The closing date for applications is 15th December 2011.

Cooperation Hong Kong - Joint Research Scheme (JRS)

Source Link: http://www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOP_894C5A_Eng Line of action : Consolidating strengths Secretariat : EW Participants : CW Deadline : 19 December 2011 23:59 hrs Objective The Research Grants Council (RGC) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) have agreed to establish a joint research scheme to promote research collaboration between Hong Kong and the Netherlands by providing researchers in the two places one-year and two-year travel grants. The scheme also offers workshop grant to sponsor workshops held in Hong Kong and the Netherlands. Research collaboration proposals under the following subject areas are eligible for application: Astronomy, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Science. Who can apply This grant is open to teams composed of Hong Kong and Dutch researchers. Applications should be submitted both to NWO and the RGC: the Dutch researcher should apply to NWO and the Hong Kong counterpart should apply to the RGC. In the Netherlands eligible researchers are senior researchers (professor, associate professor, assistant professor or similar) with a permanent position at one of the thirteen Dutch universities, or at a research institute acknowledged by NWO. They should be working in one or more of the fields of Astronomy, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Science. What can be applied for There are two funding modalities: Travel grants Researchers can apply for one- or two-year travel grants. The travel grants provide for international travel, accommodation, and subsistence costs directly related to the proposed exchanges between the two partners in Hong Kong and the Netherlands. The grant does not cover expenditure on equipment, consumables, or other project-related expenses. The maximum travel grant is 3,000 euro per year, i.e., a maximum of 3,000 euro for a one-year project or a maximum of 6,000 euro for a two-year project. Travel grants provided by NWO are solely intendend for use by the Dutch PI; the Hong Kong PI will receive a grant from the RGC. Workshop grants Researchers can apply to seek sponsorship of a two- or three-day bilateral workshop. The bilateral workshop comprises sessions where overseas and local guest speakers present ongoing research work. The grant covers travel, accommodation, and subsistence costs of guest speakers from Hong Kong to the Netherlands as well as the direct organising costs, e.g., meeting venue and production of workshop materials. The maximum workshop grant id 15,000 euro. Workshop grants provided by NWO are solely intended for sponsorship of the workshops to be held in the Netherlands; workshop grants provided by the RGC are solely intended for sponsorship of the workshops to be held in Hong Kong. When can be applied

• Closing date for submitting applications is 19 December 2011.

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Projects in progress

Membrane related Projects funded under FP7(Seventh Framework Programme)

where Chinese Institutions are involved Biomimetic Membrane Systems (BIOMIMEM) Research area: FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IRSES Marie Curie Action "International Research Staff Exchange Scheme" Organisation Coordinator Max Planck Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften E.V., Germany Project description Biological membranes play a central role in the living organization, but it is difficult to study protein-protein and protein- membrane interaction under controlled conditions inside of the living cells. Pioneering works have been carried out, indicating that biomimetic membrane systems such as lipid mono-layers, liposomes, solid-supported or polymer-cushioned lipid membranes, can not only serve as biophysical models to study protein-protein and protein-membrane interactions, but also can be used to the design of biosensors and drug carriers. We feel it is extremely timely to form a partnership that combines researchers who have significantly contributed to this topic with the hope that our combined effort will lead a further and deeper understanding of the structure and functions of biological membranes. The IRSES project BIOMIMEM aims at connecting groups in the Germany (MPIKG), France (Lyon) and China (ICCAS and Harbin) which are working on biomimetic membrane systems. The exchange programme is organized into definite but complimentary 4 work-packages (WPs) that are executed by the combined effort of the above-mentioned 4 partners. This project brings together leading researchers with broad, complementary expertise: from biophysical chemistry, biochemistry, theoretical chemistry, to the more applicable aspects of nano-biotechnology, to form a team with the common goal of understanding the fundamental nature of biological membranes and developing new biosensors and drug carriers. Moreover, it will support and reinforce collaboration among the participants, help to educate young researchers, and help to develop and establish future long-term research collaboration between EU and China.

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News/Highlights

Horizon 2020: Commission proposes €80 billion investment in research and innovation, to

boost growth and jobs

Source: European Commission - Press release Brussels, 30 November 2011 – The European Commission has today presented a package of measures to boost research, innovation and competitiveness in Europe. Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has announced Horizon 2020, an €80 billion1 programme for investment in research and innovation. Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou has put forward a Strategic Innovation Agenda for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which will receive €2.8 billion of funding under Horizon 2020. In parallel, Vice-President Antonio Tajani has announced a complementary new programme to boost competitiveness and innovation in SMEs, with an additional budget of €2.5 billion. The funding programmes run from 2014 to 2020. Presenting Horizon 2020, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: "We need a new vision for European research and innovation in a dramatically changed economic environment. Horizon 2020 provides direct stimulus to the economy and secures our science and technology base and industrial competitiveness for the future, promising a smarter, more sustainable and more inclusive society." For the first time, Horizon 2020 brings together all EU research and innovation funding under a single programme. It focuses more than ever on turning scientific breakthroughs into innovative products and services that provide business opportunities and change people’s lives for the better. At the same time it drastically cuts red tape, with simplification of rules and procedures to attract more top researchers and a broader range of innovative businesses. Horizon 2020 will focus funds on three key objectives. It will support the EU’s position as a world leader in science with a dedicated budget of €24.6 billion, including an increase in funding of 77% for the very successful European Research Council (ERC). It will help secure industrial leadership in innovation with a budget of €17.9 billion. This includes a major investment of €13.7 billion in key technologies, as well as greater access to capital and support for SMEs. Finally, €31.7 billion will go towards addressing major concerns shared by all Europeans, across six key themes: Health, demographic change and well-being; Food security, sustainable agriculture, marine and maritime research and the bio-economy; Secure, clean and efficient energy; Smart, green and integrated transport; Climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials; and Inclusive, innovative and secure societies. Background Horizon 2020 is a key pillar of Innovation Union, a Europe 2020 flagship initiative aimed at enhancing Europe's global competitiveness. The European Union is a global leader in many technologies, but it faces increasing competition from traditional powers and emerging economies alike. The Commission proposal will now be discussed by the Council and the European Parliament, with a view to adoption before the end of 2013. Funding provided by Horizon 2020 will be easier to access thanks to this simpler programme architecture, a single set of rules and less red tape. Horizon 2020 will mean: drastically simplified reimbursement by introducing a single flat rate for indirect costs and only two funding rates - for research and for close to market activities respectively; a single point of access for participants; less paperwork in preparing proposals; and no unnecessary controls and audits. One key goal is to reduce the time until funding is received following a grant application by 100 days on average, meaning projects can start more quickly. The Commission will make major efforts to open up the programme to more participants from across Europe by exploring synergies with funds under the EU's Cohesion policy. Horizon 2020 will identify potential centres of excellence in underperforming regions and offer them policy advice and support, while EU Structural Funds can be used to upgrade infrastructure and equipment. €3.5 billion will be devoted to a scaled up and expanded use of financial instruments that leverage lending from private sector financial institutions. These have been shown to be extremely effective at stimulating private investment in innovation that leads directly to growth and jobs. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will benefit from around €8.6 billion, recognising their critical role in innovation. Horizon 2020 will invest nearly €6 billion in developing European industrial capabilities in Key Enabling Technologies (KETs). These include: Photonics and micro- and nanoelectronics, nanotechnologies, advanced materials and advanced manufacturing and processing, and biotechnology. Development of these technologies requires a multi-disciplinary, knowledge- and capital-intensive approach.

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Under the Commission proposal, €5.75 billion (+21%) will be allocated to the Marie Curie Actions, which has supported the training, mobility and skills development of more than 50 000 researchers since its launch in 1996. As an integral part of Horizon 2020, the EIT will play an important role by bringing together excellent higher education institutions, research centres and businesses to create the entrepreneurs of tomorrow and to ensure that the European 'knowledge triangle' is a match for the world's best. The Commission has decided to significantly step up its support for the EIT by proposing a budget of €2.8 billion for 2014-2020 (up from €309 million since its launch in 2008). The EIT is based on a pioneering concept of cross-border public-private-partnership hubs known as Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). Its three existing KICs, focused on sustainable energy (KIC InnoEnergy), climate change (Climate KIC) and information and communication society (EIT ICT Labs), will be expanded with six new ones in 2014-2020 (see IP/11/1479 and MEMO/11/851). Funding for the European Research Council (ERC) will increase by 77% to €13.2 billion. The ERC supports the most talented and creative scientists to carry out frontier research of the highest quality in Europe, in a programme that is internationally recognised and respected. International cooperation will also be further promoted in Horizon 2020, in order to strengthen the EU's excellence and attractiveness in research, to tackle global challenges jointly and to support EU external policies. The Joint Research Centre (JRC), the in-house science service of the European Commission, will continue providing scientific and technical support to EU policy making on everything from environment, agriculture and fisheries through to nanotechnology and nuclear safety. Horizon 2020 will be complemented by further measures to complete the European Research Area, a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation by 2014 (IP/11/1025 , MEMO/11/597). For further information MEMO/11/848 Programme for Business Competitiveness and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises: IP/11/1476 and MEMO/11/852 European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT): IP/11/1479 and MEMO/11/851 Horizon 2020: http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm?pg=home Innovation Union: http://ec.europa.eu/innovation-union Europe 2020: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020 Digital Agenda: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/digital-agenda/index_en.htm CIP programme: http://ec.europa.eu/cip/index_en.htm EIT website: http://eit.europa.eu

European funding for top researchers from all around the world - An overview of the European Research Council

Hereunder is an article provided by Samantha CHRISTEY, Information and Communication Agent of European Research Council Executive Agency, Brussels Source: The Science & Technology Fellowship Programme in China (STF China)

http://www.euchinastf.eu/ Almost five years after its launch, the European Research Council (ERC) has firmly established itself as the first pan-European investigator-driven funding organization for frontier research. As a flagship component of the Ideas Programme of the European Union's Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7), it aims to stimulate scientific excellence in Europe by encouraging competition for funding between the very best and most creative researchers of the world. Being aware of the value of brain circulation in a more and more globalised world, the ERC is eager to play a key role in allowing non-European researchers to come to Europe to conduct their project as team leaders or team members for a period of up to five years. With an overall budget of € 7.5 billion for 2007 to 2013, the ERC has contributed to strengthen the European research landscape in a very short time. Nine calls for proposals have been launched since 2007 of which seven have been completed; 26 000 proposals have been received and over 2 250 have been selected for funding. The researchers selected are high-level scientists, including three Nobel Prize winners, notably Prof. Konstantin Novoselov (2010 Nobel Prize in Physics) and Prof. Heckmann (Nobel Prize winner in Economy) from the University of Chicago.

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The ERC mainly offers two types of grants to researchers of any nationality and age: 'ERC Starting Grants' for early-career research leaders and 'ERC Advanced Grants' for established top researchers. Two new smaller forms of funding were introduced in 2011: a “top-up” grant, the so-called 'Proof of Concept' fund, was introduced to help ERC grant holders to bridge the gap between their research and the earliest stage of a marketable innovation and the 'ERC Synergy Grant' designed to support a few small teams of researchers with complementary skills, knowledge and resources who will work together on the same project. One of the ERC's features is its selection process, based solely on scientific excellence. With the contribution of almost 3 000 experts for peer-review of proposals, the ERC funds the brightest ideas at the frontiers of knowledge in all fields, from Physical Sciences and Engineering to Life Sciences and Social Sciences and Humanities. In the context of its international strategy, the ERC has identified China as one of its priority countries, conscious of China's role as an emerging power in science and technology and known as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In its efforts to attract top scientists, an ERC Delegation visited Beijing this year, in June headed by ERC Scientific Council Member Alain Peyraube, renowned Professor of Chinese linguistics and Chair of the ERC Working Group on International Strategy. ERC representatives met with students and researchers from Peking, Tsinghua and Renmin Universities, as well as officials from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In addition, a meeting with researchers, journalists, EU national Science Counsellors and EU national R&D funding agencies was organised by the EU delegation office based in Beijing These visits followed the ERC participation in the "Science and Technology week" at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010. So far, four researchers of Chinese nationality have been awarded an ERC grant, out of a total of 88 Chinese applicants for calls from 2007 to 2010. Three of them have been awarded an ERC Starting Grant in Physical Sciences: Dr. Jian-Ei Pan, who is leading his research project in the Physkalisches Institut of the University of Heidelberg in Germany; Dr. Yong Lei, leader of the 'Surface Nano-Structuring Group' of the Institute of Materials Physics at the University of Muenster in Germany and Professor Xile Hu, director of the Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Catalysis of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. The fourth grantee is Dr. Yiya Chen, who was awarded an ERC Starting Grant in Social Sciences to lead her research project in Leiden University, the Netherlands. 2012 will mark the start of the ERC’s Global Awareness raising campaign, aiming at attracting non-EU applicants from overseas. The campaign will be led by Prof. Donald Dingwell, ERC newly appointment Secretary General, a world renowned volcanologist. With its increase outreach efforts, the ERC hopes therefore, to see more applications coming from China in the years to come. For more information, visit our webpage for Non-European researchers: http://erc.europa.eu/non-european-researchers

Marie Curie international alumni platform On 26-27 September, during the Marie Curie Symposium, the Marie Curie Actions launched their first online international Alumni platform (https://www.mariecuriealumni.eu/web/guest/home). In less than a month, 1100 former Marie Curie fellows have already registered. It is hoped that this number will rise to 3000 alumni by the end of the year. The alumni platform aims to further facilitate the careers of current and former Marie Curie fellows through networking and offering of a set of free alumni-type services. The Alumni platform will also enable the Commission to keep in touch with the Marie Curie Fellows and to trace their career developments after the end of their fellowships in order to further improve the Marie Curie programme.

ERC launches new website The ERC has launched a new and expanded version of its website, which has been reorganised and has a simpler and more user-friendly system of navigation. New features of the website include a map of Europe showing host institutions of ERC grants and a search function of host institutions with at least one ERC grant. It also includes a more detailed set of frequently asked questions, including sections on grant management and cost management for grants, a specific section for researchers based outside the EU who are interested in applying for an ERC grant, and more specific success stories relating to ERC-funded projects. A searchable database of ERC grants with detailed information on the projects will also be added to the website in due course. In the meantime, lists of funded projects per call can be seen on the "ERC funded projects" page. Access the new website is at: http://erc.europa.eu/

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Delft Skyline Debates: a long-term vision for process intensification research The Delft Skyline Debates present a unique international project carried out between December 2009 and June 2010, coordinated by the Delft University of Technology and sponsored by the Action Plan Process Intensification of the Platform Chain Efficiency. A multidisciplinary team of more than 30 leading European scientists was assembled, including both academics and industrialists who are known for their visionary thinking and ability to look beyond the horizons of current R&D trends. The team’s assignment was to develop a scientific vision of long-term developments (beyond 2050) in the field of process technology in general and process intensification in particular. A three-step "back-casting" approach was followed: first a number of "Beacons" were developed for the year 2050, each of which reflected an aspired state of the world within a specific theme. Then several challenging technological achievements in process intensification were defined ("Milestones") which would enable us to reach the Beacons. Finally, several research topics were developed for each Milestone, and then combined into a research agenda. Three documents summarize the results of each step (see Figure 1).

Technological achievements in 2030 to realize our 2050 aspirations Delft Skyline Debates included two two-day workshops held in the historic center of Delft. During the first workshop, the Skyline Team divided into small groups defined 11 Beacons for the year 2050. The groups described each Beacon's relevance to society, the benefits, and how each Beacon can be achieved. An example of a Beacon is presented in Figure 2.

Impression from workshop 1: Former President of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering, Prof. Jean-Claude Charpentier of Université Nancy debates the future of process intensification and process technology with Prof. Enrico Drioli of the University of Calabria. Both are among the International Renowned Scientists who contributed to the setting of the Research Agenda

Figure 1. During the Delft Skyline Debates, a three-step approach was used to arrive at a research agenda which can guide international PI research programs

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This Beacon, "Plants replace mineral mines", addresses the fact that traditional resources of almost half of all elements will be depleted within 50 years; however, about 50% of the elements we use can be obtained from agriculture – provided we develop biorefineries that optimize biomass utilization through advanced extraction and separation techniques. To illustrate the aspirations of the participants, the Beacons were converted to newspaper articles that one could expect in the year 2050. The result, the "Delft Skyline Times", is included in this issue of NPT Procestechnologie. One of the articles in this newspaper deals with the shift from oil to biomass: "The Port of Rotterdam-Antwerp, the largest biomass hub in Europe, handled more than two-thirds of all European biomass last year. About 40% was processed locally, in the biorefineries on the Second and Third Maas Plains, the gasification installations and retrofitted oil refineries at Pernis, and smaller, specialized production sites in Delft and Rotterdam. The rest mostly found its way to the chemical and energy industry in the Netherlands, Germany and France. Total biomass imports into the European Union totaled 270 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2049. Most of it came from North America, Brazil and Ukraine (forestry biomass) and the Mediterranean (algae). About 240 Mtoe was produced in the EU itself. Biomass processing, logistics and transit trade amounted to approximately 10% of Dutch GDP." In addition to such articles, the Delft Skyline Times features a column by the well-known Dutch writer Herman Koch. Guided by the Beacons of 2050, the team defi ned a set of key technological achievements ("Milestones") that we need to reach by the year 2030. Each Milestone had to contribute to several Beacons. Examples of the Milestones include models, sensors and actuators to control and improve human body functioning, full control of chemical reaction pathways at the molecular level and low-energy food production and processing throughout the value chain, including energy and materials generation and transport (see Figure 3).

Figure 2. Example of a Beacon: "Plants replace mineral mines"

Figure 3. Each Milestone 3 contributes to the realization of several Beacons

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A research agenda founded securely on scientific position papers For each Milestone, participants wrote scientific position papers that will be published in a special issue of Elsevier’s Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification journal. These position papers were then used by the participants to define several research topics which make up a research agenda for process intensification and process technology research for the next five years. For instance, the research topics for the Milestone “Full control of chemical reaction pathways at the molecular level” include: • targeted (dynamic) introduction of electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields in spatially structured reactors for molecular alignment, orientation and activation; • manipulation and control of local thermal conditions in reactors, by choice of materials or by acting on media; • in-situ molecular separations in spatially structured reactors; molecular alignment, orientation and activation in reactions involving condensed phases; • instrumentation to observe, measure and control on time and space scales of molecular events.

The research agenda is primarily intended as a recommendation from leading scientists to political, economic and scientific organizations for the funding of key multidisciplinary R&D programs in chemical engineering and interfacing disciplines, such as chemistry, biochemistry, applied physics, materials engineering, electronics, etc. To this end, the research agenda will be presented, among other things, to the European Commission, European Technology Platform on Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem), European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) and European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE), as well as a number of non-European organizations. The research agenda will be available by the end of 2010. The Delft Skyline Debates is a visionary project for the process industry of today and tomorrow. No other vision of the distant future has used such a solid scientific basis for identifying specific research topics for the shorter term. Furthermore, the quality and the diversity of participants from leading scientific institutes in 11 countries, with backgrounds ranging from healthcare and green chemistry to oil, provided an exceptionally reliable point of departure for defining the national and international research activities that will ultimately shape the sustainable world of 2050.

Participants of the Delft Skyline Debates during the second workshop, June 3-5, 2010, joined by Hans van Luijk (Platform Chain Efficiency), Rein Willems (Regiegroep Chemie) and José-Lorenzo Valles (European Commission – DG Research)

Impression from workshop 2: Floordebate on the research agenda. From left to right: Prof. Jean-Claude Charpentier, Dr. Helmut Mothes – Senior Vice-President and Head of Process Technology at Bayer Technology Services, Prof. Andrzej Górak – Dean of the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty at Technical University of Dortmund.

The Delft Skyline Debates are a part of the Action Plan Process Intensification of the Platform Chain Efficiency financed by a subsidy from the Innovation Agenda Energy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. More information about the Action Plan Process Intensification can be found at http://dsti.nl/appi.

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FROM CHINA

Open Calls

The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) Programme (Hong Kong) The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) is now inviting applications for research and development projects. The HKRITA programme provides research funding to the following technology areas: • Scientific management system for textiles and clothing production; • Lean production; • Engineering for manufacturing system enhancement; • Energy/water/chemical saving and heat recovery; • Green chemicals; • Industrial waste management; • Clean production (low carbon emission and chemical free); • Quick testing equipment (electronic device) for toxic and harmful textiles and clothing products (involving azoic dyes, heavy metals, harmful chemicals, etc.); • 3D pattern and garment design system. Applications are open to universities, institutions, trade and industry associations. This requires support from at least two industry sponsors who should make a cash or in-kind contribution of at least 10% of the total project cost. Applications are open to private companies who must collaborate with a local public-funded research institute (e.g. a university, the Hong Kong Productivity Council or the Clothing Industry Training Authority) and which require either: (a) Collaborative Research with Industry - a cash or in-kind contribution of no less than 50% of the total

project cost of which at least 30% is required at the start of the project; or (b) Collaborative Research with Research/Technology Partners - a combination of cash or in-kind contribution

and the monetary value of background intellectual property right which equates to no less than 50% ofthe total project cost of which at least 30% is required at the start of the project.

The Board of Directors of HKRITA has decided that priority for funding will be given to projects which solve practical problems and issues faced by the industry; have high technical merit with deliverables which have potential for commercialisation; and have experienced key research personnel. Submission of Applications To minimise unnecessary work and save time, the following two-step approach should be followed: (a) applicants should first brief HKRITA on the proposed application by way of a powerpoint presentation

which identifies the key features of the project proposal – this will facilitate an initial assessment as towhether the proposal can be supported; and, if so

(b) a formal application for funding, fine-tuned on the basis of earlier discussions, can then be formally

submitted. The application proposal for the funding has to be submitted by filling in the new application form downloaded from the website of the Innovation and Technology Fund. Three hardcopies with two of the original of the application should be stamped by your own research institution before submitted to HKRITA. We may require additional hardcopies of your application later. Date for Applications HKRITA will entertain and consider applications whenever submitted. Enquiries email info@hkrita.com or tel:(852) 2627 8183.

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Projects in Progress

Advanced Ozone Membrane Technology for Treatment of Endocrine Disrupting

Compounds in Water Project Reference: ITS/108/09FP Programme: Innovation and Technology Support Programme Project Period: 1 October 2009 – 30 September 2011 Recipient Organization: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Collaborating Organization(s): Anjou Recherches Chiaphua Industries Limited Veolia Water South China Limited Project Coordinator: King-lun YEUNG Deputy Project Coordinator: Joseph Kai-cho KWAN Funds Approved: HK$ 1,337,000 Abstract: There are more than 100,000 natural and synthetic chemicals used in households, industry and agriculture, and there is growing evidence that a significant number of chemicals in medicine, personal care products and household items known to be endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are not effectively treated by today’s conventional wastewater and water treatment plants. The potential risk of chronic exposure to EDCs in humans has not been adequately addressed to date, but their effects on normal hormonal processes are well documented and there is strong evidence of their adverse effects in wildlife. The goal of this project is to develop an advanced ozone membrane process for treatment of these low-level but potent pollutants. The technology synergistically combines the only three known technologies that show promise in treating broad spectrum EDC pollutants, i.e., (1) ozone oxidation, (2) adsorption and (3) membrane separation to establish a compact and efficient treatment unit that could be applied for both household use and in large-scale drinking water treatment plants. This project will create new products that could be manufactured in Hong Kong and China for environmental control, significantly broadening the range of products and services that could be offered by the emerging environmental industry in Hong Kong and China. The social impact of the project is considerable because of its contribution to enhancing Hong Kong’s and China’s environment and health. Deliverables: 1. An advanced ozone membrane process that uses membranes as the ozone distributor,reaction contactor

and water separator to concentrate, capture and destroy endocrine disrupting compounds found in water 2. A porous membrane for ozone distributor that enhances mass transfer rate by at least 50% compared to

glass sparger 3. A membrane separator to concentrate the EDC pollutants by permeating clean water (i.e., < 1 ppm

TOCs) 4. An adsorbent coating for membrane contactor based on safe and environmentally benign mineral clay

for capture of EDCs and EDCs degradates 5. An advanced ozone membrane prototype unit designed to convert target EDCs by greater than 95 %

and degrade by at least 90 % 6. Design a prototype unit for domestic household use and test performance for at least 60 days 7. Use process simulation software to design a scale-up advanced ozone membrane unit for drinking

water treatment plant

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News/Highlights

Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering

NIMTE was co-founded in 2007 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Zhejiang provincial government and the Ningbo municipal government in April 2004. NIMTE is mainly engaged in the research on polymer &. composite materials, magnetic materials, functional materials &. nano-devices, surface engineering, new energy materials and special fiber technology. NIMTE owns a public technical service platform with facilities valued at120 million RMB. At present, NIMTE has more than 700 staff, including 1 academician of the Chinese academy of Engineering, 92 full professors and 59 associate professors/senior engineers. Until 2010, NIMTE has undertaken over 400 research projects with a total grant of 409 million RMB. In the past 5 years, NIMTE has filed 252 patents and published over 470 scientific papers and proceedings. NIMTE is being always interested in cooperating with research organizations and enterprises around the world. Since 2007, NIMTE has established long-term cooperative relationship with Japan, Korea, Sweden USA and etc. The researchers have been doing joint works with the Bosch Company of Germany, UTRC, G.E. and M.Q. Company of USA, L.G. Company and JNL Company of Korea. NIMTE Membrane Research Center Functional membrane research team is comprised of 26 members, including 1 professor and 2 associate professors, 3 assistant professors, 10 postgraduates, and 10 research assistants. The team facilities include a complete set of equipments for preparation, characterization of functional membranes and several setups for the experiments of microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, membrane bioreactor, etc. Research areas including: (1) Preparation and characterization of functional membranes such as ion exchange membrane, air exchange membrane, microfiltration membrane and hollow fiber membrane, nano-filtration. (2) scale-up and process design of membrane preparation , (3) membrane distillation and forward osmosis, (4) fuel cells and solid electrolytes, (5) modeling and simulation of membrane processes (6) the application of membranes in water reuse and seawater treatment. Address No.519 Zhuangshi Road, Zhenhai District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, 315201 P. R. China Website http://www.nimte.cas.cn

Laboratory for Membrane Materials and Separation Technology Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Laboratory for Membrane Materials and Separation Technology (2MST) is a new membrane research center at –the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (SARI). SARI is a new comprehensive non-profitable research organization jointly established by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shanghai Municipal government. 2MST focuses on development of cutting edge, low energy, highly efficient separation materials and sustainable Reaction-Separation Integrated processes. We aim at leading the paradigm shifts to environmentally friendly and cleaner production in a wide spectrum of industries. We are a professional team equipped with an advanced research platform and infrastructure for the innovation in membrane science and technology. The other task of 2MST is to educate the young generation membrane scientist and engineers who will continuously develop the membrane and separation technologies in the future. 2MST have innovative research programs in various multidisciplinary areas including nanotechnology, materials science, and chemical, biological and environmental engineering. 2MST will play a leading role in the fields of advanced polymeric and inorganic membrane materials and processes for economic and environmentally friendly utilization of chemical and biomass resources in China, as well as processes for more efficient seawater desalination and wastewater treatment and reuse. We are ready for the collaboration with international and national academic and industrial partners with the aim to generate novel ideas from fundamental research and strive to develop the ideas to a commercial scale At present,

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2MST has over 20 scientists and engineers. The main research activities within MMST are grouped into four areas of thrusts:

1. Electrocatalytic membrane reactor (ECMR) for industrial wastewater treatment An electrocatalytic reactor with TiO2/Carbon membrane that functions both as filter and anode was designed for refractory industrial waste-water treatment [Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 50(2011)2148]. During wastewater treatment, the membrane generates microflows that alleviate concentration polarization and reactive intermediates that decompose organic foulants on the membrane surface or in pores into CO2 and H2O or small biodegradable products (see Fig. 1).

O2H2

Foulant Carbon membrane TiO2 catalysts

(Foulant) (CO2+H2O, R’)

Reactive intermediates

Permeate

“clean” water

Figure 1. Electrocatalytic membrane reactor

2. Forward Osmosis-Membrane Distillation Process (FOMD)

To avoid the high energy cost in reverse osmosis and take the advantage of low-grade thermal energy from industry, a new FOMD coupling process is designed and applied as follows. The aim of the present study is to develop high performance FO membranes and novel drawing solutions.

conc. draw solution

Diluted draw solution

energy

Circulation pump

wastewater Pure water

pure water

Figure 2. FOMD process for wastewater reuse

3. Hydrophilic Hollow Fiber Membranes

Our hydrophilic hollow fiber membranes have the following advantages: permanently hydrophilic, antifouling, less chemicals for cleaning, longer lifetime, and lower operational cost. Permanently hydrophilic membrane shows much high permeate flux and excellent antifouling properties.

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Figure 3. hydrophilic hollow fiber membrane

4. Nanofiltration Hollow Fiber membranes

Nanofiltration (NF) is a cross-flow filtration technology which ranges somewhere between ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO). The nominal pore size of the membrane is typically about 1 nanometer. The operating pressure required is much lower (up to 1 MPa) than the one used for RO, significantly reducing the operating cost.

Figure 4. NF for the treatment of wastewater from dye industry

For more information, please contact with Prof. Tao He (Email: het@sari.ac.cn) and Prof. Jianxin Li (Email:lijx@sari.ac.cn), Laboratory for Membrane Materials and Separation Technology, Sustainable Technology Research Center, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 99 Haike Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai 201203, PR China (Tel: +86-21-2032 5162;Fax: +86-21-2032 5034)

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China Science and Technology Newsletter Corner

Source: The Newsletter of the Ministry of Science and Technology People's Republic of China

http://www.most.gov.cn/eng/newsletters/index.htm Top-Notch Students Training Program LIU Ju, Deputy Director of Ministry of Education Department of Higher Education, said recently that three government agencies, including the Ministry of Education, the CPC Central Committee Organization Department, and the Ministry of Finance, will jointly stage a pilot project to train the top-notch students in the area of basic research, establishing national young talents centers in the advantageous disciplines at qualified research oriented universities, setting up a training mechanism aiming at top-notch students, and making them part of basic research activities and a future academic leader in the discipline. LIU added that the top-notch students selection will be first made in the areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science at ten selected universities. The Ministry of Education has established an expert panel made up of renowned scientists from both home and abroad, to review the implementation plan, select the qualified universities, and provide guidance for the implementation. The interested students with desired potentials will be selected either through self-enrollment or through secondary screening, in line with the status quo of the universities. Experimental schools or classes will be created to train top-notch students under advanced teaching theories or models. Many schools have so far proposed to invite renowned and experienced scholars of international influence to be Chief Professor or project director for the top-notch students training programs, along with some concrete measures for allowing students to be part of research activities, and strengthening collaborations with world-class universities. (No. 611) Innovative Design and Technology Transfer Centers As part of the agenda for Premier WEN Jiabao's visit to Italy in October 2010, the Chinese and Italian governments jointly publicized a three-year action plan to strengthen the collaborations between the two countries. According to the action plan, three inter-governmental cooperation platforms will be created to take care of innovative design, technology transfer, and e-government. At the invitation of WAN Gang, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology, Renato Brunetta, Italian Minister of Public Administration and Innovation, visited China April 21-25, 2011. During his visit, Brunetta and WAN attended the ceremonies to launch a China-Italy Innovative Design Center at Tongji University in Shanghai, and a China-Italy Technology Transfer Center at the International Hotel in Beijing. China-Italy Innovative Design Center found its home at Shanghai International Design Park. The new design center expects to open up a range of branches in Shanghai, Hunan, and other cities, working on innovative design, industrial design, heritage protection design, and fashion design. The new center will collaborate with other institutions, including Tongji University, Hunan Industrial Design Association, Dong Hua University, and China (Shenzhen) Design Park to achieve desired objectives. At the launch ceremony, six parties, including the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology Department of International Cooperation, Tongji University, Hunan Industrial Design Association, Italian Innovation Promotion Agency, Italian Value Foundation, and Italian Association for Industrial Design, jointly inked a Framework Agreement on China-Italy Innovative Design Center. Physically located in Beijing, China-Italy Technology Transfer Center is established to promote cross-border transfer of innovative technologies, allowing innovative elements, including research findings, personnel, funds, and projects, to be exchanged and configured in an optimized manner. The Technology Transfer Center will initially cover the high-tech parks in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hunan. In the coming three years, the new center will complete the construction of information sharing platform, innovative resources platform, technology transfer platform, and business innovation incubators, focusing on modern agriculture, machinery and equipment, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, energy saving and emission reduction, environmental protection among others. (No. 617) Simple But Effective Porous Material Preparation A study team, led by Prof. WANG Yong at Nanjing University of Technology, has invented a new strategy to prepare the porous materials that have a pore size only one ten thousandth of hair. The confined swelling-induced pore generation strategy is extremely simple, and leads to pores with high regularity. The pore ??size can be regulated within a range of 10-50 nm by selecting the block copolymers with different chemical compositions, and by defining the immersion time and temperature in the liquid. The facial mask made of the materials can be as thin as a paper, enjoying an enhanced ventilation and bacteria blocking effect. The process also enjoys synergic advantages that include extreme simplicity, high pore regularity, and involvement of no chemical reactions, no weight loss, and reversibility. The finding was published in the April issue of Advanced Materials. (No. 619)

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Better Nano-Lithography Not long ago, CAS Academy of Opto-Electronics Microlithography Lab proposed for the first time a micro-structure margin based LSP super-resolution lithography technology. The technology borrows the margin of a micro-nano structure as the mask pattern, to effectively excite surface plasma. Meanwhile, it has obtained a less than 30-nm super-resolution lithography under regular I-line and G-line light sources. In recent years, the development of surface plasma optics has made a new option available for the development of microlithography. Defining the desirable short wavelength for surface plasma, and a rational design of mask pattern and associated process parameters, may lead to a super-resolution nano-lithography. In this context, researchers propose to work on micro-structure margin based LSP super-resolution lithography. Theoretical studies have shown that the technology is able to produce a nano-structure with a size that is less than 1/10 the exposure wavelength. Researchers have also obtained from the experiment a lithography resolution exceeding the diffraction limit from a 365-nm light source. This creates a solid ground for building up the processing and preparation capability of China's information and nano-processing industry. (No. 619) Nanomaterials Convertible from Hard to Soft Scientists from Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Metal Research, the Technical University of Hamburg, and the Helmholtz Center Geesthacht have developed a magic material that can change its strength, virtually at the touch of a button, from friable hard to elastic soft. The property can be changed by electrical signals. The finding was published in the recent issue of Science. Researchers put precious metals such as gold or platinum into an acid solution for corrosion, allowing tiny ducts and pores being formed in the materials. Then, they poured nano-structured materials into the framework made up of minute ducts and pores, and instilled conductive liquid (such as salt solution or weak acid solution) into every tiny pores, making it a hybrid of metal and liquid. Researchers called it the union of metal and water which, when triggered by an electric signal, enables the properties of the material to change at the touch of a button. The effect can be a strengthened or weakened atomic bonding in the surface of the metal when extra electrons are added to or withdrawn from the surface atoms. The strength of the material can be as much as doubled when required. Alternatively, the material can be switched to a state which is weaker, but more damage tolerant, energy-absorbing, and malleable. Researchers said the novel material can switch back and forth from hard to soft. It generates electric signals either spontaneously or selectively, so as to strengthen the matter in the region having a local stress. Damages, for instance, in the form of cracks, could thereby be prevented or even healed. (No. 621) Partnership for 863 Projects A working meeting was held on July 18, 2011 to foster partnerships between the implementers of the National 863 Program at the Binhai New Area in Tianjin. WAN Gang, Vice-Chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Minister of Science and Technology, and HUANG Xingguo, Mayor of Tianjin, were present at the event. At the meeting, head of the 863 Joint Office spoke about the implementation of the urban partnership project staged to transfer the S&T findings derived from the National 863 Program and associated supporting policies. Senior officials from Tianjin Science and Technology Committee and Binhai New Area reported the construction of the infrastructures for spinning-off the S&T findings derived from the 863 Program. According to the partnership project, MOST and Tianjin Municipal Government will work on four pilot fields in the first place, including new generation information technology, biomedicine, high-end equipment manufacturing, and new energy, and establish industrial centers, incubators, and generic technology platforms for the purpose. 90 cooperation projects under the 863 Program were undersigned at the event for commercial applications at Binhai New Area, with a total investment worth RMB 2.78 billion. (No. 626) High Performance Metallic Glass Thanks to many-year efforts, a research team, led by Prof. ZHANG Tao of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has landed major progresses in preparing metallic glass and associated mechanism studies, and rolled out the amorphous alloy materials desirable for making stretching mechanisms for satellite solar cell arrays. Researchers established an amorphous alloy lab for the purpose, through which they discovered a range of novel amorphous alloy systems, and improved their understanding of the mechanisms that forge metallic glass. In addition, they have worked out metallic glass containing light alloy, including aluminum, magnesium, and titanium, enjoying the merits of high strength, low melting point, and fine fluidity, desirable for preparing the parts and components in sophisticated shapes, like plastics. Researchers developed the amorphous alloy materials desirable for making satellite solar array’s stretching mechanism. In the laboratory, solar array’s 20cm long titanium metallic glass spiral rod is able to reach the length of 2m when stretched out. Researchers also mixed metallic glass powder with lubricants to raise lubricating performance, taking advantage of high hardness, high flexibility, and low friction of metallic glass. (No. 627)

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

EUDIME CALL FOR APPLICATION NOW OPEN! 2nd Edition (Academic Year 2012-2013)

DEADLINE: DECEMBER 15, 2011 (MID-NIGHT CET)

1. Admission criteria Candidates must hold a 2ndLevel Master Degree (120 ECTS) or a Single-Cycle Degree (minimum 240 ECTS) in Chemical Engineering or Bio-Engineering, Materials Science, Chemistry or a equivalent degree in a pertinent field, awarded by a College, University or Technical School with recognized standing. Candidates are required to provide all appropriate information supporting their ability to apply and complete a doctoral programme: academic record, professional experience and qualification, motivation letter and letters of recommendation. Candidates are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English, either by proving that some of their previous studies were successfully completed in English, or by submitting the results of a recognized language proficiency test (TOEFL iBT with minimum required score of 80, TRINITY ISE ESOL II, IELTS with minimum score of 5.5, or equivalent tests to level B2 or higher). In some cases (PET, certificates from Schools of English equivalent to level B1, or absence of certification) the applicant is asked to confirm their good command of English by phone interview or teleconference. 2. Application procedure Students interested in applying have to complete the EUDIME Application Form, including all required documents listed below:

o Detailed and signed Curriculum Vitae in English, specifying scientific and professional experiences, academic degrees, publications and special skills. Europass CV template is preferred (http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/hornav/Downloads/EuropassCV/CVTemplate.csp;jsessionid=CD61C1953013448F75E86E32901F8114.worker_portal_cms ). Max 3 pages

o Copy of all pages of international passport (preferably) or identification card o Certified copy of academic degree(s) in original languages and translated in English, stating the final

classification obtained. Certified copies of official transcripts (mark sheets) of academic courses attended to obtain each degree (Bachelor, Master or equivalent) with translation in English, and correspondent Grade Point Average

o Signed Letter of Motivation in English, covering the following aspects: what made the candidate decide to apply to EUDIME Doctorate, which skills and abilities make the applicant a good candidate for EUDIME, motivations to carry out research abroad, professional interests in coming to Europe for education (statement of purpose) must be included in this letter. Maximum one page. The letter must be provided in two copies: one handwritten and one typed

o Two Reference Letters signed by a university lecturer or an expert in the area of Membrane Engineering. Letters must be printed on letterhead and duly signed

o Letter of Research Statement, describing a research proposal related to the preferred EUDIME research area (as in paragraph 6 of the Application Form). Max 1500 words

o Official proof of English language proficiency, providing evidence that the applicant’s level of proficiency of the English language

o Any other qualifications relative to the areas of the research dealt with in the course

Applicants with disabilities or special needs may apply, if they wish, for special aids and/or additional time to take the entry examination. Applicants who wish to make use of this facility must enclose a medical certificate substantiating the validity of their request with their application form.

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EM3E Erasmus Mundus Master Call for application NOW OPEN!!!

2012-2014 EDITION DEADLINE: DECEMBER 15, 2011 (MID-NIGHT CET)

1. Admission criteria The minimum admission criteria are the same for all students irrespective of their country of origin or of the training track they candidate to.

• Hold a Bologna 1st cycle degree or a bachelor degree in Chemistry, Physics, Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Bio-chemical Engineering, or equivalent degrees in one of the previous domains, from a College, University or Technical School with a recognised standing or alternatively, a recognised professional experience in these areas. Students in the final year of a degree may be admitted as long as they present the certificate and official transcripts before they enrol. Students in the process of obtaining their Bachelor degree, may apply for admission to EM3E. Applicant should include a letter from his/her university stating the anticipated date of completion of the degree.

• Excellent academic background. Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of their academic grades, professional experience, and motivation letter explaining their education and professional objectives and letters of recommendation.

• Proof of good English competencies (all courses are conducted in English). English language tests accepted are: TOEFL-iBT (required overall of at least 90); IELTS (required overall score of at least 6,5); University of Cambridge (“Certificate of Proficiency in English” or “Certificate in Advanced English”). Other official proof could be admitted under validation of the EM3E consortium. Candidate from English speaking countries or candidate who completed his/her bachelor degree in English as medium of instruction must provide an official letter from his/her university from which he/she graduated attesting that English is the media of instruction.

2. Application procedure

- Application form dully filled out and signed. - Detailed Curriculum Vitae in English specifying scientific and professional experiences, academic

degrees, conference presentations, publications and special skills. Maximum 3 pages. - Letter of motivation in English covering the following aspects: what made you decide to apply to the

EM3E Master course, which skills and abilities make you a good candidate for EM3E, your motivations to study abroad, your professional interests and your career goals and expectation. In case of non-European candidates, their goals and interests in coming to Europe for education (statement of purpose) must be included in this letter. Maximum 1 page. The letter must be provided in 2 copies: one handwritten, one typed.

- Certified copy of academic degree(s) in original language and translated into English, stating the final classification obtained. Please note that if you are in the process of obtaining your Bachelor degree, you may also apply for admission to the EM3E Master. Applicant should include a letter from his/her university stating the anticipated date of completion of the degree. The EM3E Consortium may conditionally admit you, based on requested documents in the application form and the expected date of graduation. After graduation, you have to submit the degree and official transcripts before the start of the EM3E Master (September 1st 2012).

- Certified copy of academic transcript(s) in original language and translated into English, listing the grade/rank/mark of each discipline/subject attended to obtain each degree. All courses taken must be included.

- An official document, from the last institution visited, College, University or Technical School, stating his/her relative position in the corresponding graduation course, i.e., top 5%, top 10% or top 20% of your Bologna 1st cycle class or of your bachelor’s course.

- Official proofs of English language proficiency. English language tests accepted are: TOEFL-iBT (required overall of at least 90); IELTS (required overall score of at least 6,5); University of Cambridge (“Certificate of Proficiency in English” or “Certificate in Advanced English”). Other official proof could be admitted under validation of the EM3E committee. Exception: Candidate from English speaking countries or candidate who completed his/her bachelor degree in English as medium of instruction must provide an official letter from his/her university from which he/she graduated attesting that English is the media of instruction.

- Official proofs of other language proficiency (where applicable).

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- Two reference letters. The first letter from faculty from which you obtained your degree. The second letter, from faculty or from an employer or supervisor. The letters have to be on letterhead of the referee’s organisation.

- Copy of international passport (preferably) or identification card.

Green chemistry - First international joint research unit of CNRS established in China

On November 4, 2011, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Rhodia, the Ecole Normale Superieure of Lyon and the East China Normal University officially opened the Laboratory of Eco-efficient Products and Processes, an international joint research unit devoted to eco-friendly chemistry based in Shanghai (China). This international research facility was officially opened by Régis Réau, head of the CNRS Chemistry Institute, and Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Chairman of Rhodia, in the presence of Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, French Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing, and Sun Chao, Secretary of the communist party, Minhang District. Specifically dedicated to eco-efficient chemistry, this international joint research unit is based at Rhodia's research center in Shanghai and will bring together research scientists from academia and industry in addition to a number of students. The lab will accomplish the following tasks: - Scientific research in the fields of production, materials and processes based on the principles of eco-conception and use of renewable raw materials - Staff research training - Scientific and technical information - Development of relations with industrial partners. More information available on the CNRS website (http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/1929.htm).

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UPCOMING EVENTS

China (Guangzhou) Water Week 2012 23 – 25 February 2012 Venue: Guangzhou, China

The China Desalination Association (CDA) is cooperating with the Qingdao International Desalination Center and the China Foreign Trade Exhibition Corp to organize the Guangzhou Water Week on 23-25 February 20 12. CDA and the European Desalination Association will stage the China Summit Forum on Water Development 2012 during the week. The Water Week will have three major themes: desalination and water reuse equipment and technology; fluid automation and automatic control equipment; and commercial and home water purification installations. The show is the first large exhibition in China on the theme of desalination and will gather 2,000 industry leaders and experts from over 30 countries. The venue will be the China Import & Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou. Contact : China Desalination Association Tel : +86 10 6466 1601 Fax : +86 10 6466 1601

Euromembrane 2012 23 - 27 September 2012 Venue: London (UK)

Join international delegates at the Euromembrane 2012 conference to be held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London on 23rd-27th September 2012. The aim of the Euromembrane Conference series is to bring together academic and industrial scientists from the field of membrane science and technology to stimulate contacts and to exchange new ideas on their research work. The conference will cover all types of membrane and related work including membrane materials, membrane fabrication and characterisation, modelling and simulation, membranes for process intensification, and application. The conference will be organized by the European Membrane Society and Imperial College London. Previous meetings were held in Bath (1995), Twente (1997), Leuven (1999), Jerusalem (2000), Hamburg (2004), Taormina (2006) and Montpellier (2009). Topics • Gas and vapour separation • Membranes for biorefinery applications • Membranes for drinking water production • Ultra and microfiltration • Waste water treatment and membrane fouling • Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis • Organic solvent nanofiltration • Membrane bioreactors • Membrane contactors and multifunctional reactors • Membranes for energy generation and CO2 capture • Fuel cells/batteries, electromembrane processes

• Facilitated transport membranes • Biomedical membrane applications • Microfluidic membrane applications • Modelling • Membrane ageing • Membrane characterization • Membrane formation • Membrane and surface modification • Molecular membrane design • Inorganic membranes • Mixed matrix membranes and carbon membranes

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Important Conference Deadlines • Abstract deadline: 30th March 2012 • Author notification deadline: 4th May 2012 • Author registration: 25th May 2012 • Early Bird registration deadline: 20th July 2012

Contact For all queries regarding your submitted abstract, please contact: Ms. Angela Yuan Publishing Content Coordinator Tel : +86 10 8520 8797 E-mail : A.Yuan@elsevier.com For exhibition and sponsorship queries, please contact: Tom Faulkner, Global Commercial Manager

Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043NX Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel : +31 (0)20 485 2175 Fax : +31 (0)20 485 2623 E-mail : t.faulkner@elsevier.com For general enquiries, please contact: E-mail : Customerservice-euromemb12@elsevier.com Website: http://www.euromembrane2012.com/

10th International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes (ICOM 2014) 20-25 July 2014 Venue: Suzhou, China

Being the world's largest conference in the membrane field, ICOM, the International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes, focuses on fundamental and applied membrane science, engineering and technology. It provides a convenient platform for exchange of innovative ideas and discussions on membranes and membrane processes. The 10th ICOM will be held in Suzhou, China from July 20~25, 2014. Suzhou is in the east of China. It’s a small but beautiful city with a 2000 years history. It is famous for its classic gardens and picturesque water-towns. The venue of ICOM 2014 will be set in Taihu Lake International Conference Center in Suzhou. Taihu Lake International Conference Center is surrounded by the local landscape of Taihu Lake. There are advanced communication facilities and multi-functional conference hall in the center. A logo for ICOM 2014 has been designed by the organizing committee. It’s a Chinese paper-cut. The red colour in Chinese tradition stands for good luck. It means that the participant in ICOM 2014 will enjoy the good luck and happiness. There are dozens of international flights from all around the world arriving in Shanghai Pudong international airport near Suzhou, and convenient high-speed trains and highways connecting Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Suzhou. The organizing committee has the pleasure to invite all scientists, experts and young scholars from academics and industries related to membrane science and technology to ICOM2014. Our website will be issued at 2012, if you want to know more details, please contact us. Contact for further information: Yifan Zhou and Yu Liu State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology 5 Xinmofan Road, Nanjing, 210009, China Tel.: +86-25-8317-2291，+86-25-8317-2262, E-mail: liuyu020203@163.com, zhouyifan@njut.edu.cn

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PAST EVENTS

Bilateral Agreement Citrus Research Institute (CRI-CAAS)/Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR): Visit to the Citrus Research Institute

September 18 - 21, 2011 Venue: Beibei, China Alfredo Cassano, ITM - CNR Dr. Alberto Figoli and Dr. Alfredo Cassano, permanent researchers at the Institute of Membrane Technology (ITM-CNR), visited the Citrus Research Institute (CRI) from September 18, 2001 to September 21, 2011 within the Agreement on Scientific Cooperation between the National Research Council of Italy and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). A Joint Project entitled “Upgrading fruits and vegetable juice quality and enhancing by-products utilization through integrated membrane process” was approved in 2011 within the above agreement. It is coordinated by Dr. Alfredo Cassano from the Italian side and by Prof. Jiao Bining from the Chinese side. The project aims to:

1) evaluate the recovery of high added value compounds from products and by-products of citrus processing industry by using integrated membrane operations;

2) improve the quality of fruit and vegetable juices by using membrane technology; 3) investigate membrane operations based on the use of hollow-fiber membranes to remove pesticides

from orange juice. The Citrus Research Institute was founded by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1960 and now subordinates to both the CAAS and Southwest University. As a national scientific research center, the CRI has played an important role in the compilation and revision of national and regional plans, the implementation of major and key

projects and services for industry development, and made its contribution to the sustainable development of the China citrus industry. The Research team of Prof. Jiao Bining is involved in activities related to the quality and safety control of citrus products and standard formulations. Basically four major research area are under investigation:

1) establishing standards and developing whole-course-control techniques for citrus quality and safety;

2) developing detection techniques; 3) developing detection techniques for citrus

traceability; 4) developing high efficiency pre-sampling

methods and kits for the rapid detection of low level microbial/chemical contamination.

During their stage in China Dr. Cassano and Dr. Figoli held a seminar entitled “Integrated membrane processes in agro-food applications” in which some results concerning the application of membrane technology in the treatment of products and by-products of the agro-food industry were depicted and discussed. During the visit both research teams planned the research activities that will be performed in the next two years at ITM and at Citrus Research Institute within the agreement. Prof. Jiao and his staff are strongly acknowledged for their special and warm hospitality towards the Italian team.

Dr. Cassano, Prof. Jiao and Dr. Figoli at the Citrus Research Institute in Beibei

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2011 International Conference on Membrane Technology in Water Treatments: Research and Application

September 15 - 17, 2011 Venue: Harbin, China Alberto Figoli, ITM-CNR

The international Conference on Membrane Technology in Water Treatments: Research and Application (MTWT2011) was held on September 16-17, 2011 in Harbin, P. R. China. This conference was jointly hosted by the Harbin Institute of Technology, Department of Science and Technology (Shandong Province), Weihai Municipal Government, European Membrane Society and National Engineering Research Center of Urban Water Resources. Prof. Drioli was the Honorary Chairman of the Conference. The event focused on water treatment and the lectures were mainly devoted to the study of i) Drinking water purification, ii) Domestic wastewater reuse, iii) Industrial wastewater treatment, iv) Membrane materials and module, v) Membrane bioreactor, vi) Novel hybrid membrane processes, vii) Membrane fouling mechanisms and control, viii) Desalination. A delegation from Europe participated to the conference as “special guests” and Prof. Drioli started with a lecture on “membrane Engineering for water treatment and desalination”. ITM-CNR was represented by Prof. Enrico Drioli, Dr. Lidietta Giorno, Dr. Alberto Figoli, Dr. Alfredo Cassano. They reported recent developments in membrane technology employing integrated membrane systems for olive oil wastewater treatment (Lidietta Giorno and Alfredo Cassano) and membrane encapsulation system for polymeric hybrid beads production for arsenic removal (Alberto Figoli). Other European colleagues reported lectures on membrane preparation and characterisation (Kang Li, Imperial College, UK) and water recovery and wastewater treatment in the food industry (Frank Lipnizki, AlfaLaval, Denmark). Very interesting lectures on water treatment were also given by distinguished professor coming from China and Membrane Chinese Companies. A large number of students of Harbin Institute of Technology attended too and their interest in the topic and membrane technology was demonstrated by the high number of questions made and interactions

with the European delegation even after the conference. The event was very well organised and the deep scientific discussions and interactions among the EU delegation and Chinese professors made it really successful.

2nd Conference on China-Italy Innovation Cooperation Held in Nanjing October 31st, 2011 Venue Nanjing, China

The 2nd Conference on China-Italy Innovation Cooperation and the 1st Meeting of Innovation Steering Committee was held in Nanjing on October 31st, 2011. Minister Wan Gang, Italian Minister of Public Administration and Innovation Renato Brunetta and Vice Governor of Jiangsu Provincial Government He Quan addressed the opening ceremony. Nearly 500 representatives from over 170 innovative enterprises, governmental departments, universities and research institutes of the two countries attended the conference. At the opening ceremony, Minister Wan briefed the participants on China’s innovation policies and the major steps taken in following up the Three-year Action Plan for Enhancing China-Italy Economic Cooperation. He also made detailed proposals on the establishment of China-Italy Technology Transfer Center, Design Innovation Center and E-government Center, as well as on the interaction between science parks and major research cooperation. Minister Brunetta spoke highly of Wan’s proposals. Minister Wan and Minister Brunetta then co-chaired the 1st Meeting of China-Italy Innovation Steering Committee. Both sides reviewed the progress of innovation cooperation platform, recognizing the bilateral partnership and having in-depth discussion on the prospect and actions of practical cooperation.

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China Qingdao International Forum on Blue Economy Development 2011 October 27 - 29, 2011 Venue: Qingdao, China

In April 2009, during his inspection of Shandong, Chinese President Hu Jintao made important instructions on the development of marine economy. He emphasized utilization of the marine resources in a scientific fashion and fostering of competitive marine industries in order to build a blue economic zone in Shandong Peninsula. In August of the same year, the Shandong provincial government, in collaboration with 12 Chinese ministries, held the 1st International Qingdao International Forum on Blue Economy Summit Forum under the time of “Blue Economy Leads the Future” building a platform for high-end international communications. In order to fulfil the requirements of national planning and pilot work, and promote the construction of Blue Economic Zone, the executive meeting of Shandong Provincial Government organized Qingdao International Forum on Blue Economy Development 2011. The forum was sponsored by National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Science and Technology Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Agriculture, State Oceanic Administration, China Association for Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Shandong Provincial People’s Government and organized by Qingdao Municipal People’s Government. Approximate 500 people participated in the forum, including state leaders, chiefs of the ministries and commissions, famous domestic and foreign marine specialists, senior executives of large domestic and foreign enterprises on marine industry, and bankers. They conducted in-depth research and discussion about marine economy and technology, ocean management around the topic Technological Innovation and Industrial Development.

In January 2011, the State Council formally approved the Shandong Penisula Blue Zone Development Plan. It was the first national development plan and China s first regional plan for marine economy development approved by State Council in the first year of the 12th Five-year Pan. It was a strategic move to extend China’s regional development form the land to the sea, and to coordinate land and marine economy, marking the beginning of the pilot work for national marine economy development. With the implementation of the national strategy to build a blue economic zone in Shandong Peninsula, it became an important part of the national marine development strategy and regional synergies. When interviewed by China News Service during the Fourth Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress, Mr. Xia Geng, Mayor of Qingdao City, indicated that the blue economy would become one of the main driving force to promote economic development of Qingdao in the next five years, Qingdao will seize the historic opportunity to make overall plans for land and ocean resources and expand development space, convert marine resource advantages into economic predominance, improve the comprehensive strength and competitiveness of Qingdao. Qingdao will seriously implement the Development Plan for Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone, and make experiments for blue economic development. The national deep-sea base will be built in Qingdao; constructions of national marine laboratories, marine research vessels and other new carrier will be accelerated, and we will establish key projects library for blue economy, strengthen the technological development of marine resources and environmental protection, plan a number of marine natural reserves, wetland and island areas.

Opening Ceremony of Qingdao International Forum on Blue Economy Development 2009

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China Links Horizontal meeting: Mobility of European Researchers to China Beijing - 7 December, 2011

Source: EURAXESS Links China Newsletter- http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/links/china/newsletterchina_en.htm This meeting aims to exchange views on the practicalities of how to increase in volume and improve in quality the mobility of EU researchers to China. EU researchers, those in charge of mobility funding programmes, etc. are all invited to attend and share experiences and ideas. All participants will have the opportunity to share their experiences and views about coming to China, adapting to the Chinese research environment and valorizing their stay in China in their career. Lead speakers from different backgrounds will initiate what we hope to be constructive discussions with all participants. This event will also mark the 2nd anniversary of the launch of EURAXESS Links China providing a good opportunity to share a convivial moment in the company of HE Markus Ederer, EU Ambassador to China, and a buffet dinner offered by the EU Delegation to China. Venue: Delegation of the European Union, South Wing, Prodi Room 15 Dongzhimenwai Street, Sanlitun, Beijing Date: Wednesday, 7 December, 2011 Time: 14h30 – 18h30 + Dinner Registration: jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net

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LIST OF EVENTS OF INTEREST

Date Title Location Field

December 15-17, 2011

CAMOT 2011 International Conference  Hong Kong http://www.camot.org/2011conference/2011index.htm

January 5-7, 2012

2012 2nd International Conference on Life Science and Technology (ICLST 2012)  

Hong Kong http://www.iclst.org/cfp.htm

March 26-28, 2012

Asia‐Pacific Power and Energy Engineering Conference（APPEEC2012） 

Shanghai http://www.appeecconf.org/2012/

March 17-18, 2012

2012 Second International conference on Engineering Materials, Energy,Management and Control (MEMC2012）

Wuhan, China Website: http://iser‐association.org/MEMC2012/ 

March 24-25, 2012

6th  SASTech: 6th International Symposium on Advances in Science and Technology 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Email: info@6thSASTech.khi.ac.ir sastech2012@yahoo.com Website: http://www.6thsastech.khi.ac.ir/default.aspx

March 27-28, 2012

Workshop INORGANIC MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY-Advanced production and design-

Montpellier, France

Contact: Sadika Guedidi Email: Sadika.Guedidi@iemm.univmontp2.fr  

April 6-8, 2012 ICEICE 2012: The 2nd International Conference on Electric Information and Control Engineering

Lushan, China Email: iceice2012@126.com;iceice.conf@gmail.com Website: http://www.iceice.org/2012.

April 16-20, 2012

ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY in the frame of the knowledge-based Bio & Green Economy -EMB2012

Bologna, Italy Contact: Fabio Fava Email: fabio.fava@unibo.it Website: www.unibo.it/EMB2012

April 16-20, 2012

11th World Filtration Congress, WFC11 Graz, Austria Contact: Mrs. Suzanne Abetz Email: info@wfc11.at Website: http://www.wfc11.org

May 17-20, 2012

The 6th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering （iCBBE 2012） 

Shanghai http://www.icbbe.org/2012/

May, 2012 ECI Conference, Rare Earth Minerals/Metals – Sustainable Technologies for the Future

San Diego, California, USA

Contact: Dr. Daniel Tao Email: dtao@engr.uky.edu   

June 24-27, 2012

International Congresso Chemical Engineering (ANQUE-ICCE 2012)

Sevilla, Spain Email: congresssecretary@anqueicce2012.org scientificsecretary@anqueicce2012.org Website: www.anqueicce2012.org

July 9-13, 2012 12th International Conference on Inorganic Membranes, ICIM-12

Enschede, The Netherlands

Contacts: Lu Yang, Tracy Chen Email: L.Yang@elsevier.com tr.chen@elsevier.com Website: http://www.icimconference.com/

August 12-17, 2012

Rare Earth Minerals/Metals – Sustainable Technologies for the Future

San Diego, California, USA

Email: info@engconfintl.org Website: http://www.engconfintl.org/12ar.html

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September 16-19, 2012

3rd International Conference on Metal-Organic Frameworks and Open Framework Compounds (MOF 2012)

Edinburgh, UK Email: geiling@dechema.de Website: www.mof-conf.org

September 23-26, 2012

15th European Congress on Biotechnology Istanbul, Turkey Contact: Gozde Gurdal Email: gozde@zed.com.tr Website: www.ecb15.org

September 23-27, 2012

Euromembrane 2012 London, United Kingdom

Email: Customerservice-euromemb12@elsevier.com Website: http://www.euromembrane2012.com/

November 7-8, 2012

14th Aachener Membran Kolloquium, 14th AMK NOVEMBER

Aachen, Germany

Contact: Fee Pitsch Email: Fee.Pitsch@avt.rwth-aachen.de Website: http://www.amk.rwth-aachen.de

12-13 November, 2012

15th Aachener Membran Kolloquium, 15th AMK

Aachen, Germany

Contact: Fee Pitsch Email: Fee.Pitsch@avt.rwth-aachen.de Website: http://www.amk.rwth-aachen.de Website: http://www.engconfintl.org/12ar.html

May 12-16, 2013

2nd International Conference on Materials for Energy EnMat II

Karlsruhe, Germany

Contact: Claudia Martz Email: info@enmat.de Website: http://events.dechema.de/enmat.html

August 18-23, 2013

9th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (WCCE9)

Coex, Seoul, Korea

Email: wcce@wcce9.org Website:www.wcce9.org  

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OVERVIEW ON BOOKS ON MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY

Membrane BioReactors WEF Manual of Practice No. 36 Water Environment Federation

ISBN-13: 978-007175366, McGraw-Hill Professional (1 Nov 2011) The Definitive Guide to Membrane Bioreactors for Wastewater Treatment. This Water Environment Federation resource presents best practices for the use of membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment. The book begins with an overview of membrane and biological process fundamentals, followed by coverage of membrane bioreactor system integrated process design. The physical design of features unique to membrane bioreactors and the procurement of membrane equipment are discussed. This authoritative manual also covers the operation of properly designed membrane bioreactor facilities. Membrane Bioreactors covers:

• Membrane bioreactor capabilities • Membrane fundamentals • Biological process fundamentals • Membrane bioreactor process design • Membrane bioreactor facility design • Membrane bioreactor membrane equipment procurement • Membrane bioreactor operation

Membrane Engineering for the Treatment of Gases Gas-separation Problems Combined with Membrane Reactors

Enrico Drioli, Giuseppe Barbieri (Editor) ISBN: 978-1-84973-239-0, RCS Publishing, 2011

Membranes already have important applications in artificial organs, the processing of biotechnological products, food manufacture, waste water treatment, and seawater desalination. Their uses in gaseous mixture separations are, however, far from achieving their full potential. Separation of air components, natural gas dehumidification and sweeting, separation and recovery of CO2 from biogas, and H2 from refinery gases are all examples of current industrial applications. The use of membranes for reducing the greenhouse effect and improving energy efficiency has also been suggested. New process intensification strategies in the petrochemical industry have opened up another growth area for gas separation membrane systems and membrane reactors. This two volume set presents the state-of-the-art in membrane engineering for the separation of gases. It addresses future developments in carbon capture and utilization, H2 production and purification, and O2/N2 separation. Topics covered include the: applications of membrane gas separation in the petrochemical industry; implementation of membrane processes for post-combustion capture; commercial applications of membranes in gas separations; simulation of membrane systems for CO2 capture; design and development of membrane reactors for industrial applications; Pd-based membranes in hydrogen production; modelling and simulation of membrane reactors for hydrogen production and purification; novel hybrid membrane/pressure swing adsorption process for gas separation; molecular dynamics as a new tool for membrane design, and physical aging of membranes for gas separations. Volume 2 looks at problems combined with membrane reactors

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Membranes for Membrane Reactors Preparation, Optimization and Selection Basile, Angelo / Gallucci, Fausto (eds.)

ISBN-13: 978-0-470-74652-3 - John Wiley & Sons, February 2011 A membrane reactor is a device for simultaneously performing a reaction and a membrane-based separation in the same physical device. Therefore, the membrane not only plays the role of a separator, but also takes place in the reaction itself. This text covers, in detail, the preparation and characterisation of all types of membranes used in membranes reactors. Each membrane synthesis process used by membranologists is explained by well known scientists in their specific research field. The book opens with an exhaustive review and introduction to membrane reactors, introducing the recent advances in this field. The following chapters concern the preparation of both organic and inorganic, and in both cases, a deep analysis of all the techniques used to prepare membrane are presented and discussed. A brief historical introduction for each technique is also included, followed by a complete description of the technique as well as the main results presented in the international specialized literature. In order to give to the reader a summary look to the overall work, a conclusive chapter is included for collecting all the information presented in the previous chapters. Key features: * Fills a gap in the market for a scientific book describing the preparation and characterization of all the kind of membranes used in membrane reactors * Discusses an important topic - there is increasing emphasis on membranes in general, due to their use as energy efficient separation tools and the 'green' chemistry opportunities they offer * Includes a review about membrane reactors, several chapters concerning the preparation organic, inorganic, dense, porous, and composite membranes and a conclusion with a comparison among the different membrane preparation techniques

Membrane Based Desalination: An Integrated Approach

Enrico Drioli, Alessandra Criscuoli and Francesca Macedonio (authors) ISBN: 9781843393214, IWA publishing, 15 Apr 2011

Reverse Osmosis is the dominant technology in water desalination. However, some critical issues remain open: improvement of water quality, enhancement of the recovery factor, reduction of the unit water cost, minimizing the brine disposal impact. This book aims to solve these problems with an innovative approach based on the integration of different membrane operations in pre-treatment and post-treatment stages. Membrane-Based Desalination: An Integrated Approach (MEDINA) has been a three years project funded by the European Commission within the 6th Framework Program. The project team has developed a work programme aiming to improve the current design and operation practices of membrane systems used for water desalination, trying to solve or, at least, to decrease the critical issues of sea and brackish water desalination systems. In the book, the main results achieved in the nine Work Packages constituting the project will be described, and dismissed by the leaders of the various WPs. The following areas are explored in the book:

• the development of advanced analytical methods for feed water characterization, appropriate fouling indicators and prediction tools, procedures and protocols at full-scale desalination facilities;

• the identification of optimal seawater pre-treatment strategies by designing advanced hybrid membrane processes (submerged hollow fibre filtration/reaction, adsorption/ion exchange/ozonation) and comparison with conventional methods;

• the optimisation of RO membrane module configuration, cleaning strategies, reduction of scaling potential by NF;

• the development of strategies aiming to approach the concept of Zero Liquid Discharge (increasing the water recovery factor up to 95% by using Membrane Distillation - MD; bringing concentrates to solids by Membrane Crystallization or Wind Intensified Enhanced Evaporation) and to reduce the brine disposal environmental impact and cost;

• increase the sustainability of desalination process by reducing energy consumption(evaluation of MD, demonstration of a new energy recovery device for SWRO installations)and u se of renewable energy (wind and solar

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FOCUS ON RESEARCH

The study of Chinese desalination development 2010-2011

Kun Yang, 20 January 2011

1 National strategies of desalination

China is a developing country with the huge pressure of energies and resources incomparable with any other countries in the world due to the huge population, and the development of “blue territories” is much more significant to future development of China. Therefore, the level of Chinese desalination development will influence developing status and economic decision-making of China. Some experts predict that by 2030 the population of China will reach 1.516 billion, and the crisis of water shortage may be much more serious than that of energy. Developing the technology of seawater utilization including seawater desalination and direct utilization of seawater to industry and living will not only support realization of the next economic goal, but also directly determine survival and development of the Chinese nation. As the Ministry of Land and Resources surveyed, among over 660 cities in China, there are over 400 cities lack in water, 114 of which suffer severe water shortage, 71 in north China and 43 in south China. Even in the drainage area of the Changjiang River, there are still 59 cities and 155 counties with water shortage. In terms of the global orientation of water resources in China, the reserves of water resources is 2800 billion m3, which is in the sixth place in the world, but the reserves per capita of fresh water resources is only 2125 m3, which is only 1/4 of global level, China is therefore classified as one of the 13 water-poor countries by the United Nations. Especially in coastal areas covering 2/3 of Chinese economic aggregate with developed economy and dense population, the per capita water resources is mostly below 500m3. By the end of 2009, the population in Beijing had increased sharply to 19.70 million, and the per capita water resources is 126.6m3, which had replaced Tianjin (per capita water resources of 126.8m3) as the largest city with water shortage in China. (Refer to the General Plan of Social and Economic Development of Beijing in 2010). Besides energy, water shortage has become the primary bottleneck restricting social and economic development in China. For some time, groundwater exploitation and water transfer are both vital methods to solve water shortage in China. However, these methods can only solve the problem of uneven spatial and temporal distribution of water other than increasing the overall reserves of fresh water resources. In long views, the reserves of fresh water in China is relatively stable, but the need for fresh water in economic and social development is rigidly increasing. Hence, besides saving the limited reserves, new increment must be achieved. Industrialization of seawater utilization in coastal areas may save much more fresh water for the inland, which means that the reserves of fresh water is increased successively. In this sense, industrialization of desalination not only can resolve the conflicts of fresh water supply in coastal areas, but also has strategic significance to generally solve the problem of water shortage in China. The National Development & Reform Committee plans that about 1/3 of water consumption in coastal areas can be supplied through desalination before 2020.

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2 Rapid expansion of desalination capacity By Oct. 2010, 65 sets of desalination facilities have been established, and the daily desalination capacity has nearly reached 612.6 thousand m3, which has surpassed the last year by 52%. The capacity of the largest desalination project under construction is 100 thousand m3 per day. Generally, desalination market of China is quickly growing to a regional market with certain global influence and great improvement on component supply, equipment manufacture, assistant equipments, engineering design and installation. The desalination in China is under quick industrialization promoted by market demand, however, the core elements of desalination are still dispersed, and there is still no core enterprises driving the development of desalination. Besides, the bottleneck and problems blocking development of desalination in China are not solved. Therefore, such condition offers multinationals an opportunity to enter the Chinese market. At present, corporations such as IDE of Israel, BEFESA of Spain, HYFLUX of Singapore have occupied larger market shares.

With the continuous development of desalination in China, the average capacity of single facility is successively increasing from 2500m3 per day in 2005 to over 6550 m3 per day nowadays. The average capacity can reflect the economic level of Chinese projects and the investment capability under a relatively poor status, thus we should realize that we still have a long way to compare with the world level. 3 Policy and tendency of desalination In 2006, the National Development & Reform Committee initiated the issuance of Special Plans for Seawater Utilization in China with relevant departments, and the daily capacity of 800-1000 thousand m3 will be reached in 2010. As things go, there is still a big gap between current scale and the goal. According to the analysis, many places in China intend to construct desalination projects, and the most important reason for the gap is the low water price policy of the government, inversion of the cost and price restrains the enthusiasm of coastal areas on constructing desalination projects, and the government does not reach an agreement on the policies of investment and price subsidies. Besides, the problems of ineffective implementation and

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incompatibility of the policies supporting desalination development are not solved perfectly, for example, desalinated water is still not a part of municipal water supply system, desalination projects have difficulty in investment and financing and can hardly enjoy the national preferential policy on infrastructure projects. Even so, there are still some enterprises and investment corporations exploring positive elements of desalination; they are mostly aiming at long-term development in the future to influence the future structure of Chinese market. For example, the nuclear-power enterprises plan to deal with desalination industry, integrate market factors and attempt to form the management structure of water and power integration. The capacity of desalination coordinated by coastal power enterprises is 70~80% of the gross capacity in China; it seems feasible for thermal power plants to develop desalination, however, the 5 larger power enterprises are much more interested in investing maritime solar and wind plants than seawater desalination projects; some steel and equipment manufacturers plan to engage in seawater desalination; in addition, chlor-alkali and soda enterprises are researching the coupling technique of chlor-alkali and desalination, and if the process can be optimized, it will be a new choice for the new coastal chlor-alkali projects. Though Chinese desalination has owned basic conditions of industrialization, it still has a long way to go in aspects such as research level, innovation capability, development and manufacture of equipments, design and integration of systems prominently reflected in the facts that the ability of scientific and technical innovation is relatively weak and the core technology and equipments still depend on foreign suppliers. Moreover, the uneven development of Chinese desalination and the unreasonable industrial chain reflect that the market mechanism needs to be further improved. In terms of technology and products, it is crucial to cut down the cost of desalination, and the long-term targets of desalination are promoting the localization of core parts such as membrane, materials of membrane and key facilities, intensifying R&D for new technologies, procedures, facilities and products of desalination with independent intellectual property, and enhancing the capability of constructing large-scale desalination projects by ourselves. Table 1 Statistics of construction of desalination devices in China during the recent five years (quantity & scale)

Category Capacity of already established devices Capacity of the devices under construction

Time Quantity (set) Total capacity （104m3/d） Quantity (set)

Total capacity （104m3/d）

2010- 65 61.26 2 15

*The total capacity contains the non-operated parts of the already established devices *Source of data: China Desalination Database Table 2 Desalination projects completed and put into operation in 2010

Project name Technical type

Capacity (104 m 3/d) Industry Area

1 Desalination project of Tianjin Northern Border Power Plant MED 100000 Power Binhai District Tianjin

2 Desalination project of Zhejiang Quzhou Island SWRO 2500 Municipal Daishan Zhejiang

3 Desalination project of Qingdao Alkali Factory SWRO 7000 Chemical Industry Qingdao Shandong

4 Desalination project of Shandong Laizhou Power Plant SWRO 7000 Power Laizhou Shandong

5 Desalination project of Guangzhou Huilai Power Plant SWRO 17000 Power Huilai Guangdong

6 Desalination project of Guangdong Huizhou Pinghai Power Plant SWRO 17000 Power Pinghai Guangdong

7 Desalination project of Fujian Ningde Nuclear Power Plant SWRO 11 000 Nuclear power Ningde Fujian

8 Desalination project of Dalian Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant SWRO 15 000 Nuclear power Dalian Liaoning

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As the above tables show that, the total capacity of desalination has been increased. After 2005, construction of desalination projects has been quickened with averagely 4 or 5 projects finished every year, and the rate of newly-increased capacity of desalination in China is between 35% and 50% for consecutive years. 4 Stably increased market demand With decades of development, the Chinese market of desalination has formed a certain structure. A lot of coastal industrial enterprises have adopted desalination because of the advantages of surplus heat utilization and co-generation and water and power, and desalination is therefore applied to more and more industrial fields, especially in power industry. However, new changes have happened to desalination in recent years. The industrial transfer of steel and chemical industries to coastal areas promotes the construction of desalination projects as infrastructures of coastal industrial parks, and the rapid growth of nuclear power in the last few years has expanded the new market of desalination. Besides, in the field of municipal water supply, seawater desalination adopted in coastal country-level islands is another important direction of the development. Seawater desalination has promoted the development of overall markets of equipment manufacture, project design and installation, anti-rot materials and technical services, etc. At present, the domestic market scale has been up to thousands of billion RMB per year. Desalination is mainly applied in the following fields: ① Boiler water used in power industry. The rapid growth of this market is mainly oriented by the national industrial policy stipulating that the newly established coastal projects must adopt desalination as the water source, therefore, desalination has been widely applied due to the competitive advantages of renewable resources and low cost. Consequently, the purpose of optimizing the structure of industrial water consumption is achieved; the market space of seawater desalination is expanded more quickly, and such condition is same for the boiler water market of power and metallurgy industries. It is estimated that, before 2010, the newly increased power in the coastal areas of China will be at least 35000 MW, which needs over 180 thousand tons of boiler water with high quality. At present, the procedures of adopting desalinated seawater to supply boiler water in coastal power plants have been relatively mature, e.g. the North China Power Bureau plans to universally adopt desalinated seawater as boiler water while establishing new coastal power plants. In coastal areas, desalinating seawater as boiler water will be the mainstream of the power industry. ② More desalinated seawater is used as the water supply for coastal steel and petrochemical industries, ports and boilers because of the integrative advantages of the large quantity of low pressure exhaust gas and residual heat generated during production. In order to optimize the water supply structure, realize heat balance, reduce production cost and guarantee reliability of water for production, more and more coastal industrial enterprises have adopted seawater desalination facilities and become the new customers of desalination projects. ③ Due to the unreasonable distribution of water resources, most coastal areas suffer water shortage, which is much more serious in many islands. The water supply only depends on rainwater accumulation and shipment from the land, the cost may reach RMB50/ton, and the water supply is not guaranteed upon bad weathers. Seawater desalination may guarantee the water supply for the islands. The coastline of China is over 18000km, the coastal areas have developed economy and large demand of fresh water, and there are thousands of inhabited islands. Therefore, such market space is huge. 5 Characteristics of seawater utilization environment According to different water quality, temperatures and geographical conditions, some characteristics are reflected in technical development and market of seawater desalination in China. The south parts such as Zhejiang and Guangdong have better water quality and lower annual temperature difference, and the water shortage is mainly on islands and large industrial enterprises. Therefore, the water supply scale is small, and the requirement to cost is high. According to statistics, except several projects adopting the combination of reverse osmosis membrane and thermal method, the reverse osmosis is mainly adopted. The capacity of a

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single set of facility is usually below 2000 tons. Electrical energy is the main cost for smaller reverse osmosis devices, and the price of power supply may greatly influence profits of the projects. The main consumers are island water supply and enterprises, especially the power plants. At present, other projects with better prospects are Caofeidian Industrial Park Seawater Desalination Project, Baosteel Zhanjiang Iron Base Project and the nuclear power projects under planning and construction. The seawater desalination through thermal method assisted by membrane method under low temperature and multi-effect mode is applicable to the areas with worse water quality and larger temperature difference in northern China. At present, the desalination plants with the largest scales and most advanced technology adopting the advanced imported equipments and constructed by foreign contractors, such as Tianjin North Border Power Plant constructed by IDE, Shougang Tangshan Steel Project constructed by SIDEM and Tianjin Dagang HYFLUX Desalination Plant constructed by Singapore HYFLUX, are gathered here. The thermal method applies residual heat exhaust systems or cooling systems of steel plants, thermal power plants and nuclear power stations to provide steam for water production. The main projects with prospects in the future are large-scale industrial enterprises in Tianjin, Shandong and Hebei, some of which are planned with municipal water supply functions. 6 Engineering-oriented capability and associated industries Through R&D and demonstration of almost 40 years, the seawater desalination in China has formed the tendency of industrialization and laid solid foundations for large-scale application. Among the already established seawater desalination facilities, reverse osmosis (RO) and multi-effect distillation (MED) are the most popular methods, whose capacity covers 95% of the total capacity, that of multi-stage flash (MSF) covers about 5%, and that of electro-dialysis (ED) & vapor compression (VC) covers less than 1%. According to the development trends, no other methods than RO can meet with the situation of China. As for the condition of practical applications, RO has greater advantages in municipal water supply, and MED also has certain competitive advantages to produce boiler water and fresh water in power plants as well as petrochemical enterprises with low-grade steam or residual heat. The research and development of key materials, components and equipments such as the energy recycling and variable-frequency control are under active development to largely reduce the energy consumption of RO desalination. In the recent 10 years, the technology of RO in China has a rapid growth and has become the major desalination method. At present, there are over 40 divisions dealing with desalination research and over 600 enterprises producing associated devices. Hangzhou Water Treatment Technology R&D Center is the biggest desalination engineering corporation in China with the annual capacity of 1.2 million m2 and over 2000 pieces of composite membranes and solving the crucial technology of membrane and component production, and there are almost a hundred of water treatment corporations and associated product enterprises with the annual production value up to over RMB 2 billion. In recent years, two production lines of RO composite membrane with the annual production capacity of 2 million m2 have been established in Hangzhou and Guiyang through importing advanced technologies and equipments. The components of composite membrane for seawater desalination have been developed, the localization of membrane pressure vessels for seawater desalination have been basically realized, and the designing capability for complete set of desalination project has been possessed. In 2008, China Blue Star Group and Japan Toray Industries Inc. jointly established a plant of RO modules in China with the annual productivity of 6.17 million m2. Besides technical problems, seawater desalination is also influenced by project management and financing, etc. Therefore, full support of government is essential to development of desalination. In this respect, China still needs careful research and scientific development compared with foreign countries. In recent years, more and more foreign corporations have entered into Chinese market and occupied larger market shares with mature technology and powerful capital advantages, while Chinese enterprises seems to be inadequate on financing. The process of multiplied investment in Chinese desalination is still under the beginning stage, so the sustained support of government on policy, investment and infrastructures, etc. is most crucial. The domestic demand for desalination at present as well as in the future will create opportunities for enterprises in the forms of BOO and BOT. Currently, restricted by regional factors and market demand, the Chinese desalination market is mainly for industrial water supply in coastal developed cities. With appreciation of tap water and application of the

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latest seawater desalination technologies, there will be greater breakthroughs in the development of Chinese seawater desalination industry. 7 Large-scale projects newly established in 2010 ① The first stage of Northern Border Power Plant has a total investment of RMB 12.1 billion, and two generating-sets of 1000MW as well as a desalination device with daily capacity of 200 thousand tons will be constructed. The MED desalination device of Israel IDE Corporation can produce 65.70 million tons of fresh water, and it is the largest desalination device in China up to now.

② The desalination project of Shougang Jingtang Iron and Steel Base adopts two sets of MED devices with the daily capacity of 12500 tons imported from SIDEM Corporation. The base is the biggest domestic steel enterprise associating desalination devices, and it can balance the economic benefits through residual heat application. ③ Zhejiang Liuheng Seawater Desalination Project has a designed daily capacity of 100 thousand tons and the total investment of RMB 540 million. The daily capacity of the first stage

is 22.5 thousand tons. The project was completed in Sep. 2009, and the desalination system was put into operation in the beginning of 2010 after being examined by experts. After the whole project is completed, it will become the largest desalination project in China at present. ④ Tianjin HYFLUX Desalination Project Tianjin Dagang Xinquan Desalination Project is constructed by Singapore HYFLUX Group with the investment of RMB 1.059 billion. The daily capacity of the first stage is 100 thousand tons, and after the whole project is

finished, the daily capacity will be up to 150 thousand tons. The successful test water supply marks that most industrial water is supplied by the Dagang Xinquan Desalination Project. ⑤ Caofeidian New District Aqualyng Desalination Project was started in Jan. 2011 with the investment of RMB 350 million. It is planned to be put into production in October this year, and 10 million m3 of water can be saved after completion of the project.

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8 The anticipation for combination of nuclear power and seawater desalination is worthy of expect.

As experts predicted, the combination of nuclear power and desalination in China will have deep significance in the future, and nuclear power enterprises will grasp the energy and water resources necessary for economic development if they can simultaneously provide power as well as large quantity of desalinated water, which depends on the extent of coupling of two technologies and integration of industrial development. During the period of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, China reformulates the new Medium and Long-term Nuclear Power Development Plan (2005-2020), which has greatly accelerated the process of nuclear power development. Lead by nuclear power development, the desalination industry faces a new opportunity for development. Nuclear power plants have both the price advantage of energy and the resource advantage of integrated development of water and power. Two major Chinese nuclear power corporations have respectively started to discuss the commercial prospects of associating coastal nuclear power plants with large-scale desalination in the future. Though the coupled technologies of nuclear power and desalination have the encouraging prospect, the industrial integration of them has had certain commercial significance. In

terms of large-scale nuclear power enterprises, the intensivism of nuclear power projects can reduce the cost because of ready-made utilities such as water-taking facilities as well as water transfer conditions, the new industries can drive development of localized integration capability and manufacturing, and state-owned enterprises are capable of and willing to undertaking social responsibility. Therefore, we can anticipate that the integration of nuclear power and desalination will face opportunities in the future, and enterprises with the above conditions will bring new spaces for development of Chinese desalination if they can seize the opportunities. The first large-scale desalination project of nuclear power enterprise has been completed and put into operation in 2010, and the desalination device in Dalian Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant with daily capacity of 20 thousand tons has been formally put into operation. At present, 4 or 5 of the 13 nuclear power plants under planning and construction have planned and designed associate desalination devices, however, it still takes time to plan large-scale water supplying facilities of desalination.

The desalination industry has become the industrial component of the “blue economy” in China, and is bringing infinite opportunities as a new industry. The industrialization of desalination technology can not only resolve the problem of water shortage in China, but also be a new growth point for China’s economy. In 2010, the Chinese Government decided to support the development of seven new industries to build the future High-tech development structure, and as a vital component of “blue economy”, desalination has attracted wide attention from the investment field, and during period of the Twelfth Five-Year plan, Chinese desalination industry will have a rapid growth. With the quickened process of marketization of Chinese water resources, desalination will become a new economic growth point and form a gigantic industrial economic scale. According to the National Development Planning, the daily capacity of desalination will be up to 2 million m3 in 2015, and the sales value of desalination equipments will be RMB 48 billion. Hence, the Chinese desalination development has a broad prospect and demonstrates a trend of rapid growth, and there is a huge potential and a rapid growth in desalination demand. As predicted in the future 20 years, the international seawater desalination market will grows most rapidly in the Middle East, and then in China, India and USA.

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LINKS OF INTEREST

ITM – CNR Homepage: www.itm.cnr.it ITM News: http://www.itm.cnr.it/English/External%20Relations.htm

EMS

European

Membrane Society

European Membrane Society Homepage: http://www.emsoc.eu

EFCE Section on Membrane Engineering http://www.itm.cnr.it/data/section/

Research Agenda for Process Intensification Towards a Sustainable World of 2050 http://www.3me.tudelft.nl/fileadmin/Faculteit/3mE/Actueel/Nieuws/2011/docs/DSD_Research_Agenda.pdf

European Union's new funding programme for research and innovation – Horizon 2020 http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm?pg=home