The MRPET research group at the Department of Information Security and Communication Technology (IIK), NTNU Gjøvik have completed a workshop on “Usefulness of emerging technologies in formal foreign language education”. In collaboration with researchers from the Dept. of Applied Linguistics, Univerzita Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, the projects aims to investigate how technology can be utilised when learning foreign languages. The workshop is a part within the project Czech–Norwegian initiative titled Usefulness of emerging technologies in formal foreign language education. The project ..read more

Winter is here and animals in the wild are facing challenges of how best to spend their energy. A lot of the small birds that can be seen now, were hatched this year and grew rapidly in the spring to reach their adult body size. Now, it’s about surviving until they may be able to reproduce next year. All organisms are bound to allocate their energy between growth, survival and reproduction. How organisms differ in the resolutions to such trade-offs shapes the diversity of life-history strategies among species. However, our knowledge about the mechanisms that underpin these trade-offs is still ..read more

The Arctic white winter wonderland. Ocean is covered by sea ice where seals and polar bears live. The landscape is mesmerizing. Although it is always cold here, this part of the planet is subjected to strong seasonal changes. The most dramatic being light. So far North, we have the Polar Night with 3 months of darkness from November to February and 3 month of light “midnight sun” from May to July. This variation in day length, light intensity and spectral composition of light defines what we call the light climate and is one of the major cues of life. Picture of two young polar bears roaming o ..read more

As part of the work to decarbonize the industry sector, we need to learn the basics of the particular compressor we use in our test rig at NTNU. Here I am at the Japanese manufacturer, disassembling bearing from the female rotor screw compressor. Photo: Marcel Ulrich Ahrens. Some industries require temperatures of between 100 and 180 degrees. A high temperature heat pump is able to deliver this, so it has great commercial potential. The reduction of climate gas emissions is a global challenge for todays and future generations to minimize the impact of global warming. In fact, the discussion is ..read more

Erika Eiser is a Professor at NTNU’s Department of Physics and a Principal Investigator at PoreLab. Here she talks to science writer Kelly Oakes about her research plans, why she chose NTNU, and what Chinese Century eggs have got to do with soft matter physics. Erika Eiser. Photo: Marie-Laure OlivierWhat is your role at NTNU and when did you join? I joined NTNU’s physics department and PoreLab, which is a Norwegian Centre of Excellence for studying flow in porous media, just over a year ago. My background is in soft matter physics. There are lots of materials that fall into this category: food ..read more

I am researching woodburning stoves, which have a long tradition of heating homes and cabins in Norway. Photo: Maren Agdestein/NTNU Hopefully my PhD project will contribute to a sustainable woodstove future, where the impact on climate is mitigated and the air quality will be improved, which will improve people’s health and quality of life. I am researching woodburning stoves, and the impact they have on human health and the climate system. The goal is to better understand the impact of woodstoves today and to contribute to more sustainable stoves in the future that are better for the environm ..read more

My first expedition to Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, was about observing, absorbing, and participating in big data collection in action. The trip was months delayed due to the pandemic. And it was absolutely magic. So… Svalbard. First, I was going in December. Then January. Then a bit later in January. (Spoiler alert: I did not go to Svalbard in December or January). Then it was February. (See previous spoiler alert). By the time my P.I. told me, “Svalbard, end of May,” I had grown distrustful and cynical. Sure, Svalbard, pandemic allowing. Don’t make me laugh. Honestly, the cat would be just as happy ..read more

It felt like Christmas came early when the unique heat pump prototype for my PhD project arrived in May. Photos: Maren Agdestein/NTNU Food processing, battery production and other industriall processes all demand heating and cooling at the same time. Improving high temperature heat pumps will reduce both energy use and CO2 emissions for these and other industrial processes, and the objective of my PhD is to develop a prototype of such a “hot” heat pump. Thermal processes in the industry are responsible for increasing energy consumption and the associated CO2 emissions. Several industrial proce ..read more

When the sun was out on Gløshaugen campus earlier in April, so was our solar concentrator with heat absorber. Photo: Maren Agdestein/NTNU Can you believe that during our series of tests, the maximum temperature reached so far is 173 degrees Celsius? Despite the challenges with the weather in Trondheim? My name is Casiana Blasius Lwiwa, and I started my PhD period at NTNU in 2019. The research project I work with will help to develop simple and cost-effective solutions for concentrating solar radiations and convert into heat for cooking. This is particular significant in Tanzania, where the sys ..read more

Jacob Lamb is an associate professor in sustainable energy systems in the Department of Energy and Process Engineering at NTNU. His research is focused on environmentally friendly energy storage technologies. Here he talks to John de Mello, Director of NTNU Nano, about life, research, and potential solutions to the climate crisis. What’s your role at NTNU? I’m one of the three thematic leaders for a strategic initiative called “ENERSENSE” which aims to improve energy efficiency and energy storage technologies through “digitalization” of energy systems. In practice, that means we aim to use se ..read more