MME session

JFS successfully hosted the Information Session and Matchmaking Event on 15 February 2024

4 speakers presented their research ideas at the virtual JFS Matchmaking Event
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The Southeast Asia-Europe Joint Funding Scheme hosted another Virtual JFS Matchmaking Event in the thematic area of Circular Economy (2023 JFS STI Joint Call for Proposals) on Thursday, 15 February 2024.

The event started with the opening remarks by Mr. Victor Gram-Erichsen, the Policy Officer from the European Commission. Highlighting the roll of the JFS for international research collaboration and provided some background on the importance of Circular Economy for the European Union. Victor also announced that on 20 March 2024 the JFS is planning a next event in cooperation with EURAXESS ASEAN which is Meet My Lab X JFS. An event there researchers from Southeast Asia and Europe show their laboratories and get connected to other researchers.

The event continued with a speech by Ms. Adele Clausen, the JFS Manager. She gave a general introduction of the JFS programme. Providing information about the basic JFS principles, what rules are important for a submission, especially the 2+1 Rule which is crucial for a successful application. Furthermore, she gave insights what the JFS did in the past explaining what topics has been funded and what countries did participate in the past 7 calls.

Mr. Tuấn Vũ Bùi, Junior Programme Officer, presented the JFS Partnering Tool which is an online application available on the JFS Website and helps researchers to find partners by searching and filtering for researcher profiles. Then, he briefly explained the submission process on the online submission tool PT-Outline.

Afterwards, the Senior Programme Officer of the JFS Call Secretariat, Mrs. Finarya Legoh, presented the current open 2023 JFS Call with the two thematic areas of Circular Economy and Clean, Accessible & Secure Energy Supply. She provided information about the funding bodies that are participating in the call and highlighted detailed requirements of certain funders. She also showed a timetable explaining the tasks during the call.

During the Matchmaking Event, which gathered more than 100 participants from Europe and Southeast Asia, four researchers, selected from the Call for Speakers applications, took the floor to introduce their research project ideas in the field of circular economy intending to find interested partners to bring their research project to the next level.

Dr. Andreas Rudi from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany was the first speaker of the Matchmaking Session. He is head of the research group: Sustainable Value Chains. In total, he presented four project ideas: 
•    Transition towards a more sustainable use of raw materials by evaluating innovating solutions.
•    Development of closed-loop concepts for material utilization pathways.
•    Assessment of bioeconomy concepts in Southeast Asia.
•    Analysis of renewable carbon & green hydrogen potentials in Southeast Asia.
For his project consortia he is looking for interdisciplinary partners that have expertise such as in material and energy flow orientated planning and control of industrial operations, or in various fields like circular economy, bioeconomy, green hydrogen and general resource efficiency and sustainability in industrial context.

The next presenter was Dr. Yaowaret Jantakat from the Rajamangala University of Technology Isan in Thailand: She is a lecturer at the Department of Information and Communication Technology. Her research idea is about the valorization of vetiver wastes for the biochar synthetization, which can be used as an alternative innovative carbon storage solution. Dr. Jantakat is looking for a partner who shares knowledge and experience for the design of a scalable circular economy framework based on the use of local place-based knowledge that enables positive social impact within the aromatherapy and textile industries.

Then, the third presentation was held by Dr. Paulus Hengky Abram from the University of Tadulako in Indonesia. He is a teacher and researcher in the Department of Education Chemistry. In his project idea, he wants to study Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) as an environment cleansing agent and economic resource for the local community around Lake Tondano in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. For his research project he emphasized that he is also looking for partners from social sciences.

Final presentation was delivered by Asst. Prof. Pimpet Sratong-on from the Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology in Thailand. She is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Engineering. Her project idea studies the Mechanical and Physical Properties of Mycelium-Based Composite derived from Thai Oyster Mushrooms for green building materials and bio-degradable packaging. She is looking for partners in the fields of Chemical Engineering, Architecture, Biotechnology, Mechanical Engineering or related fields.

Presentations slides for download:
•    JFS Presentation Slides
•    Dr. Andreas Rudi, Karlsruhe Institut of Technology (KIT), Germany
•    Dr. Yaowaret Jantakat, Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Thailand
•    Dr. Paulus Hengky Abram, Tadulako University, Indonesia
•    Asst. Prof. Dr. Pimpet Sratong-on, Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology, Thailand