FROM THE DIRECTORS' CHAIRS
Unni Steinsmo, SINTEF's president – CEO
Torbjørn Digernes, NTNU's rector
Energetic twins in a global society
Published November, 2011
Some of Europe's foremost research and technology communities are found in Trondheim. As “twin” institutions, NTNU and SINTEF are rooted in central Norway, but our ambitions extend far beyond Norway’s borders, as we strive to be internationally outstanding. An important strategic tool to achieve this goal is to strengthen each other through international cooperation.
Europe is making rapid progress towards establishing a European Research Area (ERA). NTNU and SINTEF are deeply involved in Europe’s numerous research and innovation initiatives. It is our ambition to continue with this involvement in the years to come by making substantial contributions to the ERA, particularly in Horizon 2020, Joint Programming Initiatives, European Innovation Partnerships, the Strategic Energy Technology Plan and the European Energy Research Alliance.
Billions of new citizens will join us around the “global dinner table”.
Sustainable energy is an area of special importance for NTNU and SINTEF. The Strategic Energy Technology Plan lays out ambitious goals for Europe.
Sustainable energy is essential to human life. We need it to provide for our fundamental needs, such as food, clothing, housing, shelter, transportation, health and recreation. The international community must collectively make substantial cuts in the current levels of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, billions of new citizens will join us around the “global dinner table”. Providing sufficient clean energy to ensure a peaceful and sustainable society for everybody in the future is one of the greatest challenges facing global society today. There will be an enormous demand for new knowledge, new technology, new solutions and innovations to meet this global challenge.
Together, NTNU and SINTEF are among Europe’s leading climate and energy research communities. We play an active role in supplying the scientific and technological information and innovations that are essential to the global transformation process needed to achieve a sustainable future. In all, more than 1200 researchers at NTNU and SINTEF are engaged in work that will result in new knowledge, new technology and new solutions to realize our common vision: sufficient clean energy for a sustainable and peaceful global society.
