OXFORD, UK, Sept. 7 – Researchers, industry experts and government officials are meeting at the University of Oxford to explore ways of strengthening international partnerships in clean energy research and innovation.
The Ayrton-Oxford Academic Symposium, convened by the UK Government’s Ayrton Fund, the Africa-Oxford Initiative (AfOx), the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Transforming Energy Access Learning Partnership (TEA LP) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), brings together experts from the clean energy sector.
The meeting will focus on how research partnerships can support energy access, economic growth and climate resilience while helping countries develop affordable and reliable energy systems.
Ayrton-supported innovations have so far improved access to clean energy for 46 million people in emerging economies, attracted more than £3 billion in public and private finance and supported more than 256,000 green jobs.
The wider Ayrton network covers 100 countries and includes 78 universities and more than 840 innovators, researchers and delivery partners.
The partnerships have also resulted in 191 technology patent applications and more than 2,400 research papers.
The symposium will examine how universities, researchers, policymakers, investors and clean energy companies can work together to move research from laboratories into practical applications.
The meeting will open with a keynote address by Professor Sir John Edmunds, Chief Scientific Adviser at the FCDO.
The Ayrton Fund supports several programmes focused on clean energy research, skills and technology development.
Through the Transforming Energy Access-Learning Partnership, more than 30 universities across Africa, Asia and the Pacific Islands are involved in developing clean energy research and training programmes.
The TEA@SUNRISE network connects more than 400 members across 40 countries and 80 universities in the UK, Africa and Asia to support clean energy technology development.
The Faraday Institution also supports international research in energy storage and has a Battery Ambassadors network covering seven African countries.
Other Ayrton-funded programmes include Climate Compatible Growth, Energy Catalyst and ZE-Gen, which support research, data development and the commercialisation of clean energy technologies.
Caroline Ward, Senior International Funds Manager at UK Research and Innovation, said the symposium would help strengthen links between universities, innovators, funders and policymakers.
“The Ayrton-Oxford Academic Symposium provides an important opportunity to strengthen collaboration between universities, innovators, funders and policymakers across the UK and partner countries,” Ward said.
Professor Kevin Marsh, Director of the Africa Oxford Initiative, said African researchers would play an important role in developing solutions to energy access and green transition challenges.
“African researchers will play a critical role in developing solutions which tackle global challenges such as energy access and green transitions,” Marsh said.
Jiska de Groot, Project Lead at the Transforming Energy Access-Learning Partnership, said the programme was focused on giving researchers in Africa, Asia and the Indo-Pacific a greater role in setting research priorities and developing energy solutions.
Prof Misbahu Ladan Mohammed from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria, said the partnership had helped strengthen the university’s MSc Renewable Energy Programme by introducing courses focused on local energy solutions and off-grid communities.
