Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is a higher education and research organisation with about 8000 employees, 18,500 students, and a total annual budget of about 700 million Euros. KIT was established on 01/10/2009 as merger of Universität Karlsruhe (founded in 1825), one of Germany’s leading research universities, and Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH (founded in 1956), one of the largest national research centres in the Helmholtz Association.

CEA (Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) is a French government-funded technological research organisation. A prominent player in the European Research Area, it is involved in setting up collaborative projects with many partners around the world. The CEA is largely involved in the hydrogen and fuel cell field with more than 350 permanent employees belonging to specific laboratories dedicated to hydrogen safety (in the site of Saclay close to Paris) and to hydrogen production, transport, distribution and application in Fuel Cell (in the site of Grenoble).

The University of Ulster (UU) is a key provider of research and education/training in the field of safety of hydrogen and fuel cell (HFC) technologies. The thrust in research is on the development of physical models and large eddy simulations (LES) of the whole spectrum of phenomena: releases and dispersion, spontaneous ignition and fires, deflagrations and detonations, etc. The World’s first postgraduate course in hydrogen safety, i.e. MSc in Hydrogen Safety Engineering, is established in 2007. Since 2008 organises International Short Course and Advanced Research Workshop series “Progress in Hydrogen Safety”.

Institutt for Energiteknikk (IFE) (http://www.ife.no) established in 1948 is Norway’s national research centre for energy technology. The research activities cover petroleum, renewables and nuclear energy. The contribution to the project will come jointly from two departments at IFE (Physics and ENSYS). The Physics Department at IFE is the national centre for materials research using neutron scattering techniques, and the research reactor JEEP II is an important tool for characterization of novel materials.

The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) is part of the UK Regulatory Authority, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and carries out risk assessment, basic and applied research, standardisation, legislation and forensic support services.

European Commission, Directorate-General Joint Research Centre, Institute for Energy and Transport, Petten (JRC)

The Institute for Energy and Transport (IET) is part of the Directorate General Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission. Its mission is to provide support to EU policies and technology innovation to ensure sustainable, safe, secure and efficient energy production, distribution and use and to foster sustainable and efficient transport in Europe. The Institute provides its expertise to different stages of European policy-making process in the energy area, on issues related to environmental protection, safety and security of the citizens, and sustainable development. It collaborates with partners from the EU Member States and beyond and carries out research (laboratory and desk top) in the fields of clean and sustainable energy addressing both nuclear and non-nuclear domains.

The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) infrastructure in JÜLICH is exceptional. The research group is one of the largest in Europe and the world, and possesses major research facilities in line with that scaling. The SOFC specific facilities (distributed across 5 specialised institutes) are backed by world class engineering, chemical analysis, (super) computing and other relevant services from Jülich facilities. JÜLICH probably produces more scientific publications in the field than any other single-site organisation – this results from the scale of the infrastructure and the number of experts employed in the field. Significant competence (exceeding critical mass) is maintained in all relevant research areas from very fundamental materials development through to the design and construction of prototype, pre-commercial systems. In addition to the internal research programme and cooperation projects (German, EU and international), contract commercial research is carried on in the field on behalf of companies such as BMW and ElringKlinger, but also SME’s. Technology transfer is a core mission of JÜLICH.

The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is a multi-disciplinary Swiss federal research centre for natural sciences and technology. In national and international collaboration with universities, other research institutes and industry, PSI is active in solid state physics, materials sciences, elementary particle physics, life sciences, nuclear and non-nuclear energy research, and energy-related ecology.

The Porous Media Group (PMG) of NCSRD, is based on a collaboration between the Institutes of Physical Chemistry, Nuclear Technology & Radiation Protection and Materials Science of NCSR “Demokritos” (http://www.demokritos.gr), the largest multidisciplinary research facility in Greece. The team, comprising of 10 specialised scientists, holds a well-established position in the field of synthesis and characterisation of nanostructured materials for environmental, energy and industrial applications with emphasis on inorganic and hybrid porous media. 

Founded in 1308, the University of Perugia is currently a modern, multi-campus educational institution whose primary aim is to provide the highest quality degree programmes and advanced scientific research and development. More than 35.000 students are enrolled and 1200 teaching staff members are supported by more than 1000 administrators. A wide variety of degree programmes are offered in 11 faculties and the whole structure is further enhanced by 29 Departments. A multi-cultural environment has significantly grown in recent years: more than 1300 international students are enrolled on full degree courses and around 450 students arrive every year on exchange programmes. Unipg boasts around 400 international agreements (ex. LL programme, joint degree programmes).