The National Graduate School in Materials Science

Chalmers University of Technology,

Karlstad University, University College of Dalarna,

University College of Borås and University College of Trollhättan/Uddevalla

Program Outline 2001-03-01

Executive Summary

A National Graduate School in Materials Science as proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science in September 2000, will be based on a network hosted by Chalmers University of Technology with nodes at Karlstad University, University College of Dalarna, University College of Borås and University College of Trollhättan/Uddevalla. The Graduate School will also be linked to graduate education activities at other universities (e.g. Linköping and Uppsala) and to National centre (MAX-lab in Lund and NFL in Studsvik).

The main objectives for the new graduate school are the following:

• To provide a high quality PhD education in materials science for all graduate students entering the network organisation.

• To increase the basis for recruitment to graduate education by forming a network organisation in materials science.

• To develop co-operation between the universities in Sweden involved in materials science graduate education: First by improving the links between the partner universities and the host university and then by forming a national platform for materials science graduate education.

In order to reach the objectives the new school aims to develop the capacity for supervision, modernise the graduate course program and stimulate multi-disciplinary exchange and co-operation. The special requirements for developing a network graduate school of high class will be paid particular attention and specific action will be taken.

In the network there are several strong research programs in materials science. Based on an inventory of the present activities and competence in the network four sub-fields in materials science that should form the core in the new network have been identified:

1. Functionalised Polymers

2. Functional Gradient Materials and Functional Surfaces.

3. Nanostructured Materials and Technology

4. Functional Ceramic Materials

In each of these sub-fields the aim is to cover the whole chain from materials synthesis and design on atomic or molecular level, characterisation, materials theory, simulation and modelling, (and finally devices if applicable).

The new school will be managed by a board with representatives from all the involved Universities and University Colleges but also from external academia and industry. A programme director and co-ordinators at each node will be responsible for the activities and also active in graduate level teaching and supervision.

During the spring 2001 the board for the National Graduate School in Materials Science will invite researchers within the network to suggest graduate student projects that can be financed.

List of Contents

1. Introduction

2 The graduate school

2.1. Objectives and goals

2.2. Means

2.3. Organisation

2.4. Supervision

2.5. Course Program

2.6. Seminars, workshops and international exchange

2.7. Recruitment and requirements for admission

2.8. Relation to existing graduate programs

3. Program area

3.1. Short summary of current trends in materials science

3.2. Network conditions

3.3. Suggested sub-fields in the program

3.4. Selection of graduate projects

3.5. Networking given a Materials Dimension

4. Budget and resources

Appendix A: The national network

A.1. Materials Science at Karlstad University

A.2. Materials Science at University College of Dalarna

A.3. Materials Science at University College of Borås

A.4. Materials Science at University College of Trollhättan/Uddevalla

A.5. Materials Science at Chalmers University of Technology

A.6. Interdisciplinary collaborations between the schools at Chalmers

A.7. Materials science activities at other Swedish universities

A.8. National research facilities

Appendix B: The Reference Group

1. Introduction

Materials science plays an immense role in almost every aspect of our daily life. New materials are a prerequisite for better performance of existing products as well as for the development of completely new products and processes. The area is of importance not only for purely technical or economical reasons but also for the development of environmentally friendly products and processes, and thus for a sustainable society. For example, new and improved materials for vehicle batteries and fuel cells, solar cells, and catalysts etc., may undoubtedly have major impact on our society.

The task to make a program outline for a new national graduate school in materials science is a challenge. The national graduate school will be based on a network with nodes in Göteborg, Karlstad, Falun/Borlänge, Trollhättan/Uddevalla and Borås and coupling to other Swedish universities (e.g. in Linköping and Uppsala) and national research facilities. A national graduate school in materials science requires on one hand a multi-disciplinary approach and a network structure that promotes co-operation between the educational institutions and on the other hand enough critical masses and focus on the educational programme to produce internationally competitive PhD’s for Swedish academia and industry.

The modern discipline of materials science is diversified; with links to basic physics and chemistry as well as to the development of devices, products and systems, the area spans over classical engineering metals, ceramics and bulk polymers, to new functional materials and so called intelligent materials. Examples of the two latter are for example highly functional polymeric, biological, soft, biomimetic, nanostructured, magnetic, electronic, optical and optoelectronic materials. Each of the sub-fields requires a multi-disciplinary approach in order to understand the basic conceptions: atomic and molecular reactions, microstructure and macrostructure, physical properties, processing of materials and performance.

On the initiative of the President of Chalmers a working group was formed to make the program outline for the National Graduate School in Materials Science. The present outline presents the organisation and structure of the graduate school, some suggested scientific foci, and a number of objectives and means for the graduate school. It is, however, not a detailed description of the implementation. This will finally be a task for the participating institutions and individuals and rely on their competence, enthusiasm and dedication. A brief description of the network and the materials science activities within the network are presented in appendix A.

2 The graduate school

The National Graduate School in Materials Science is a completely new activity in Sweden with new challenges and special boundary conditions (e.g. the need for a de-localised programme). The new school will provide means to develop and modernise already existing graduate school programmes in materials science at the Universities. In a longer perspective it may also develop to a national platform for materials science

2.1. Objectives and goals

The Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden formulated some central objectives when proposing the new network organisations for graduate education. These objectives are summarised below:

• To provide a high quality PhD education for all graduate students entering the network organisation.

• To increase the basis for recruitment to graduate education by forming a network organisation in materials science.

• To develop co-operation between the universities in Sweden: First by improving the links between the partner universities and the host university and then by forming a national platform for materials science graduate education.

In addition the following objectives for the National Graduate School in Materials Science have been identified during the planning:

• To ensure that the time for completion of the graduate program is kept to the nominal time stated.

• To educate researchers that are attractive and useful for academic society and for a wide range of Swedish industries.

• To increase multi-disciplinary interaction throughout the network.

• To recruit more female students for graduate studies in materials science. The long-term target here is an equal representation between male and female students; the short-term target is to have the same relation as in the undergraduate programmes from which we recruit our students.

2.2. Means

In order to reach the above objectives the following means have been formulated:

• Developing the capacity for supervision of PhD students through formation of subject-related groups with supervisors within the network. Hereby also increasing the total available supervision capacity for each student.

• Providing a strong course program that allows a tailored plan for each student.

• Making accessible important tools like experimental and analytical equipment to all students in the network.

• Monitoring the graduate education process on an individual base with a yearly evaluation process including both graduate student and the supervision team.

• Promoting exchange within the network and providing international contacts.

• Formulating a policy for equality of opportunities between female and male students.

The number of female professors in Swedish universities is too low and there is a need for working actively to recruit more women to doctoral studies and to encourage them to make an academic career. According to our experience the materials science discipline is an attractive field of study for women. We will turn this into an advantage and a possibility to actively encourage more female students in the upper classes of the under-graduate programmes to apply for studies in the National Graduate School in Materials Science. In this work the female researchers in the network will be important role models.

2.3. Organisation

A board appointed by the president of Chalmers, after consultation with the network representatives via the work group, will manage the graduate school. The board consists of 9 members: 3 from Chalmers, 2 from the partner universities, 2 from industry, 1 from external academia and 1 graduate student. Deputy members have right to be present at board meetings. The three members from Chalmers represent the Physics, Chemistry and Mechanical engineering schools. The board has an overall responsibility for the school activities, for example, to select the graduate projects that can be financed within the network. The term of office will be 3 years starting from 2001-04-01.

A program director nominated by the board and appointed by the president of Chalmers will ensure that the objectives of the graduate school are ultimately met and that the graduate school is efficiently marketed. Together with co-ordinators at the partner universities and at the participating disciplines at Chalmers the program director will ensure that teachers are available, that new courses are developed, that seminars and guest lectures are organised and that the student progress is followed up. The co-ordinators, that will be appointed by the board and financed from the graduate school on a part time basis, will also be active in graduate level teaching and supervision.

Some educational institutions will have a large number of graduate students in the materials science discipline financed by other means than by the network. The graduate school activities (courses and seminars etc.) must be open also for these students. However, the network co-ordinators responsibility for these students cannot be infinitely extended and the extra workload has to be financed locally.

2.4. Supervision

The graduate student has the right to get qualified supervision during the time of study. The main supervisor is responsible for establishing and maintaining an individual plan for the graduate student. An advisory committee, including the head supervisor and one or two assistant supervisors and a “mentor”, is guiding and monitoring the student’s progress. The mentor may be either a senior student or some senior scientist or from industry. The supervision process is followed up on a yearly basis by the co-ordinators in the network. In order to further strengthen the competence of the supervisors, initiatives will be taken to create also a programme for development of supervision. Particular attention needs to be paid to the roles of supervisors and their interaction within the graduate school network.

2.5. Course Program

The national graduate school in materials science will be offered jointly by the partner universities and several schools at Chalmers. Closely matched curricula (”studieplaner”) for the graduate school will be prepared during the first year of activity. For the schools of Engineering Physics, Chemical Engineering, and Mechanical and Vehicular Engineering most of this matching work was done already in 1997 within the old SSF-financed graduate school in materials science at Chalmers and Göteborg University, described briefly in section 2.8.

In parallel with the work with the curricula mentioned above a more detailed planning of the course program consisting of a number of elective broad courses and more specialised project oriented courses will take place. Today more than 50 graduate courses in materials science are available at Chalmers and the partner universities. Some of these courses are very specialised and only given on request, some are of the character of master level courses and can only be of interest for a minor part of an individual course plan. Graduate courses that are of broader interest have to be adapted to the network structure. The co-ordinators together with the program director will be responsible for this work.

In addition there will be a need for new courses as the field of materials science rapidly develops. (Several new courses have recently also been developed within the old SSF-financed graduate school. See 2.8.)

The graduate students evaluate each course after the examination and the result of the evaluation forms, together with comments from lecturers, the basis for improvements.

Twinning

In system oriented and cross-disciplinary research it is often suitable that two or more graduate students from different fields work together in cross-disciplinary research projects. This type of graduate student “twinning” has been proven to be highly efficient for enhancing interdisciplinary contacts and will be encouraged in the present program. Twinning projects between graduate students at different universities might also be efficient for enhancing the interaction between the universities within the network.

2.6. Seminars, workshops and international exchange

The National Graduate School will arrange seminar series and workshops where the PhD students present their projects to an audience of colleagues and researchers from universities and industry. The PhD students are also expected to attend seminars by senior scientists invited by the School. International exchange is a prioritised activity in the graduate training, through international summer schools and exchange programs for graduate students.

2.7. Recruitment and requirements for admission

Admission to the Graduate School is subject to approval according to admission rules for the different schools at Chalmers and at the partner universities. Full transparency will be ensured and similar rules will apply as regulated by closely matched curricula. Normally, admission to the Graduate School of Materials Science would require a M. Sc. or a M. Eng. degree in physics, chemistry, materials science or engineering or a comparable background. All candidates must demonstrate a high level of competence in the English language and, moreover, an ability to make use of the education.

2.8. Relation to existing graduate programs

A new graduate school in materials science at Chalmers and Göteborg University was established in 1997 with joint funding from SSF and Chalmers foundation. The objective was to modernise the materials education by creating a graduate school in materials science that resides on a truly interdisciplinary approach. It also takes advantage of the specialised knowledge in the different traditional disciplines (such as physics, chemistry, mechanical and electrical engineering). An entirely new course package has been developed that is obviously very attractive for the students. New courses have been developed to suit the interdisciplinary program. For example; Materials science; Structure and properties (5p), and Characterisation (5p), Lasers in materials science (5 p), Biomaterials (5p), Polymer physics (5p) and Amorphous materials (5p). A complete list can be found at http://fy.chalmers.se/gsms/.

The school became very attractive and by the end of 1999 more than 70 PhD students (most of them with funding from other sources than from the Graduate School) follow the materials science graduate program. The students represent many different groups at the several schools at Chalmers; Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical engineering and Electrical engineering. The experience from this school will be important as input for the new National Graduate School of Materials Science.

Other programmes with focus on Materials Science (e.g. the Brinell Centre, KTH and Forum Scientum, LiTH) exist in Sweden. Opportunities to interact with these programmes will be sought to create best possible input for graduate courses.

3. Program area

3.1. Short summary of current trends in materials science

New and improved materials are strategic. They are fundamental enablers of almost all other enabling technology areas (especially Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and biotechnologies). They also provide the basis for innovations in system technologies such as transport, energy, defence and aerospace. Particular attention should be paid to two issues: 1) sustainable materials and recycling issues for complex components, and 2) increasingly smart or intelligent materials.

Particularly important trends in materials science are:

The moves from passive structural and active functional materials to multifunctional materials and smart materials.

The need for materials that lend themselves to sustainability requirements - longer service life, reusability, biodegradability.

New materials processing techniques such as molecular design, nano-level self-assembly, three-dimensional printing.

Radical changes in demands on materials in health care (e.g. biocompatibility, biomimetic materials for prosthetics), in construction, automobiles and aerospace (e.g. lighter and stronger materials for frames), in computing devices (VLSI, optical processing, quantum computing).

A very important, relatively new, ingredient in the materials science field as a whole is computational materials science. Advances in computer speed, efficient algorithms, and developments in condensed-matter theory and a microscopic understanding of materials now aid the design of new materials. Today the ideas of materials modelling are taken far beyond traditional continuum theories, finite elements codes, finite difference codes, and computational fluid dynamics etc., that already have major impact on industry, making optimised designs and processing possible. State-of-the-art electronic-structure calculations can lead to cement with the right setting times, or to the best choices of piezoelectric transducers. Atomistic studies can identify the right catalyst system, or the behaviour of nuclear waste in extreme conditions. The quantitative understanding of structure at the mesoscale and how these structures are created can improve polymers, ice cream, and thermal barrier coatings. Insightful quantitative thermodynamic, kinetic and statistical modelling enables alloys to be produced with exceptional performance.

Also on the experimental side there is rapid development of new preparative and analytical experimental methods, including for example nano-scale electron beam lithography, atomic layer deposition, wet chemical methods, small particle and powder technologies, combinatorial diagnostics for rapid screening of new materials, scanning probe techniques, synchrotron radiation based spectroscopic and diffraction techniques, neutron scattering techniques, and laser based optical techniques for processing and characterisation.

The theoretical advances and new advanced methods for synthesis, manipulations and analysis of materials on the atomic level make the atom-by-atom-, or molecule-by-molecule-, engineering of new materials one of the most exciting fields for the future.

In parallel with this development, the traditional fields of Materials Science, metallurgy and engineering materials, continue to evolve towards increased sophistication and functionality For example, demands on lower fuel consumption require lighter vehicles that in turn creates a fierce competition between different materials solutions. Here lightweight metals, such as aluminium and magnesium, are at hand, as well as engineering polymers and composites, but also new alloy design of steel for thinner sections and superior properties.

3.2. Network conditions

The new trends in materials science discussed above are well represented at Chalmers and the sub-fields of highly functionalised materials were originally suggested to define the foci of the present programme. As such this description could be used as a guideline when choosing graduate projects to finance. However, even in the traditional fields of materials science there is today a strong strive towards the atomic or molecular level of understanding of materials as discussed for the functionalised materials. A natural goal for the National Graduate School of Materials Science is therefore to strengthen the connection between researchers working at micro and macro levels in materials science.

However, an equally important boundary condition in the selection of sub-fields in the program, made by the board of the programme, must be to cover the overall network structure. It is important to identify projects that either combines competencies at different universities or promotes co-operation between different scientific disciplines. In the long run the projects financed by the national graduate school in materials science must also be in line with the strategic plans for research and education at the different Universities and University Colleges.

Four different scientific sub-fields of materials classes (presented below) have been identified according to the above criteria. The programme board can define new sub-fields in the future.

3.3. Suggested sub-fields in the program

Functionalised Polymers

Polymeric materials is the class of materials that has, since long, shown the largest increase in production volume. The trend is expected to continue in the future since the employment of polymers often decreases the use of resources, as compared to other materials. In more traditional applications polymers are often divided into groups according to their production volume and performance; bulk polymers, engineering polymers and high performance polymers. To an increasing extent polymers are today also used in applications where mechanical or processing related properties are of less importance compared to other properties, for example, electrical, ionic, optical, or surface properties. These properties are obtained via design of the molecular structure. Developments in the use of functional polymers are of particular interest in for example the communication, computing, energy production and storage, and biomedical areas. To be successful in research in these areas a multi-disciplinary approach is essential, covering the whole chain; molecular design including modelling – synthesis – characterisation – physical properties – devices (if applicable)

In a national perspective the sub-field of functionalised polymers is well motivated for the network with strong activities covering the whole chain above at several schools at Chalmers and already existing activities at the partner universities. In this sub-field there are as well already strong links to other Swedish universities, which the new network can contribute to develop

The research themes in functional polymers include:

• Electro and electro-optically active polymers; conjugated polymers for light emitting diodes (displays), solar cells, and lasers; liquid crystalline polymers for displays

• Ion- or proton-conducting polymers; ion conducting polymers are at focus in membrane technology for fuel cells and plastic batteries. This is a hot research area today mainly for realising an efficient power source for the electrical car.

• Functional polymer surfaces; polymers with specific and controlled surface structure to meet specific demands, e.g. as biocompatible materials, to have controlled hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties, or to have adhesive properties

• Polymer support; polymers intended to facilitate reactions and transport of other species, e.g. as substrate in new techniques for molecular biology, support for solid state synthesis of pharmaceutical drugs, membrane in controlled release devices,

• Environmentally friendly polymers; polymer with build-in functions to improve the property profile from an environmental perspective, e.g. controlled degradability, polymer bound additives (antioxidants, flame retardants etc),

Functional Gradient Materials and Functional Surfaces

The performance of materials in various products and processes is often related to the outermost atomic layers/surface region. It is therefore of great interest to understand how materials can be intelligently designed on a fine scale to create substructure with unique combination of properties. This includes chemical composition as well as microstructural changes. Often, combination of dissimilar materials is needed, having for example a layered structure with a strongly corrosion resistant material on top of a less resistant base material. For such structures, it is crucially important to create good interfacial matching between the different materials. The problem is not only to design the outermost surface region, but also to create an underlying gradient structure adapted to the structure and properties of an actual component/device. One particular way of directional tailoring of materials is to create multiple layered structures, which can be transferred to gradient microstructures, or more specifically functional gradient materials. In its most elaborate design this means a continuous directional change in chemical composition on atomic level. However, there are also possibilities to achieve tailored gradient properties by design of microstructures on nanometer/micron-range scale or larger. Even a gradual change in grain size for homogeneous composition can for example be designed to prevent stress-corrosion cracking.

In a broad sense, materials of interest comprise various layered structures (multiple layers, surface coatings, thin films, etc) that can be designed to create reduced friction, corrosion and wear resistance, crack propagation resistance, tailored properties in terms of dielectric, electrical, thermal transport, thermoelectric or photoelectric behaviour, etc. It is envisaged that graduate studies and research related to subjects as those outlined here would be of highly interdisciplinary character involving for example materials synthesis and processing, advanced materials characterisation and property assessment as well as in-deep theoretical studies based on modern material theory and modelling. Consequently, important research themes are:

• Processing technology that includes fine particle preparation and processing into bulk composites, thermal gradient heat treatment for tailoring of structural changes at various depths into a material, application of thin and thick film processes by physical, chemical and electrochemical methods, reactive gas heat treatment of porous bodies (e.g. nitriding), advanced sintering approaches such as gradient sintering, grain boundary engineering by means of repeated deformation an recrystallisation processes (achieving certain properties by controlling the amount of special boundaries in the surface), etc.

• Materials characterisation that involve detailed analysis using advanced electron microscopy and spectroscopic techniques (ion, mass, photon, electron), X-ray techniques (e.g. grazing angle diffraction), etc. Also, assessment of material properties including electrical/thermal conductivity, magnetic and optical properties, mechanical behaviour, wear, thermal transport and corrosion/oxidation behaviour is required.

• Computational materials physics and simulation research that includes modern material theory with particular reference to surfaces and interfaces, thermodynamics and simulation of kinetics (diffusion), micromechanics and continuum mechanics modelling.

• System-oriented research that deals with the total design of a complex (composite) structure on component/device level or a complex process, where modelling is carried out with regard to overall performance or processing and correlated with detailed understanding of microstructure-property relationships and atom level models.

Today, industrial use includes various examples where gradient structures and tailoring of surfaces are important, including for example highly advanced hardmetals and tool steels for cutting and forming applications, contact materials in electronic circuits, corrosion protection and thermal barrier coatings, tribo-systems (in engines, bearing applications), etc. Future technology will place even further demands to generate tailored gradient structures in components/devices used in these areas and for other applications.

Nanostructured materials and nanotechnology

Nanoscience and nanotechnology is the systematic and controlled design and manufacturing of structures on the nm scale, using atoms/molecules as building units. The objective is to observe, and utilise new electronic and optical (quantum) phenomena and devices, new mechanical properties and components and new or improved devices and processes for chemical and biological/biomedical applications. Nanoscience, as a whole a new emerging cross-disciplinary field drawing on physics, chemistry and biology, constitutes in its own right a major new trend. It has a significant materials science and engineering component covering ultrathin layers, manipulating material and building lateral structures down to atomic scale and nanomaterial and molecular architectures with novel macroscopic properties. In terms of the array of potential nanotechnologies, important 'systems'-related challenges are also raised regarding integration and interconnection different nano-scale features to form functional components.

A sampling of some of the research themes in nanotechnology:

• Nano-scale materials manipulation: atomic scale & lateral structures; writing techniques, particle beams, self-assembly, ultra-precise surface figuring, cluster deposition, colloid synthesis techniques, analysis techniques of vertical/ horizontal structures, scanning probe techniques, boundary layers & surfaces; complex combinations of mechanical, optical, electrical or chemical characteristics of organic, inorganic or biological molecular structures; e-beam lithography, X -ray lithography, Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography, focused ion beam lithography etc.

• Nano-structured materials: nanomaterial & molecular architectures with novel macroscopic properties or new nanoscale properties such as those emerging from quantum structures and devices;

• Nanoscale devices: quantum electronics, biosensors and biochips built on the nanoscale, chemical sensors, quantum optics, optical bandgap materials and 1D and 2D optical waveguides, etc.

• Systems research aspects: integration & interconnection of different nano-scale features to form functional components, nano-scale devices & systems.

A huge number of potential applications and an enormous market potential arise. For example;

In the area of Information and Communication Technologies certain nanotechniques hold the potential to further extend Moore's law beyond its presently foreseeable limits within the current Silicon semi-conductor paradigm.

In the car industry nanotechnology will be of crucial importance for all kinds of sensors, actors, engine and emission control, catalysts, displays, reduction of lubrication and wear, alternative propulsion systems, coating and even painting.

Direct market volume of microimplants and sensors in the area of biology and medicine in the early 2000 will be in the range of several billion Euros.

For Sweden to be a strong player in this field we must build a strong multidisciplinary competence base perhaps based on the development of highly specialised complementary expertise profiles at different universities. Graduate studies in this research area need a highly interdisciplinary approach spanning fabrication techniques, development and utilisation of advanced characterisation methods, theory and modelling and also device fabrication and system development. Close co-operation between several groups would in many cases be required for successful projects. At Chalmers there exists a unique infrastructure to compete internationally in the nano-technology field. Excellent nano-fabrication facilities exist already at the Physics department, but even more advanced equipment will soon be installed in the new clean-room of the MC2 centre. Furthermore, a wide variety of advanced characterisation techniques for nano-structures is available at the different departments.

Functional Ceramic Materials

Ceramic materials offer a wide range of possibilities for functionalisation of their properties. One example is the family of oxide based ceramic materials which during recent years have shown

• high-T_c superconductivity,

• colossal magneto-resistance effects,

• ferro-electric behaviour (and other related effects such as piezoelectricity, pyroelectricity etc),

• fast ion conduction etc.

There is a wide range of applications of other perovskite related materials, e.g., as magnetic sensors, in digital devices, in filters and other microwave components, in varactors, for data storage and magnetic recording devices, as chemical sensors, catalysts and multilayer capacitors and in fuel cells. However, as in the case of the superconductors, there are many unsolved materials related problems concerning stability, grain boundary effects, processing, non-optimized properties, etc. Moreover, in most cases the mechanisms behind the unique properties are not well understood. Understanding these materials properties is of strategic importance for development of applications. Thus the area is of major scientific and technological and they are expected to have widespread industrial use.

The area is under rapid development and the research includes new approaches to the design and synthesis of novel ceramics, processing of thin films and heterostructures for novel components and devices (in particular for applications in the information and communication technologies), nano-structuring for device patterning, and molecular design. Furthermore, fundamental theory development of highly correlated electrons, advanced characterisation (particularly of the complicated structures and the electronic behaviour, development of new kind of devices (e.g. spintronics), and device design for electronics, memories, sensors, power transmission components and fuel cells.

The development of applications of oxide ceramics is intimately coupled to further materials science advances. The control of the interesting properties are intimately related to control of synthesis, doping, thin film and hetero-structure fabrication, as well as to advances in the understanding of the fundamentals of highly correlated electron systems and ion diffusion mechanisms, and to new strategies for device fabrication. An interdisciplinary scientific approach is absolutely necessary and a close co-operation between groups of different disciplines within the framework of a graduate school should be an ideal melt-pot for new advances in the field.

Examples of current materials research themes:

For high speed logics and storage, high frequency electronics and communications

• High-T_c superconducting films for electronic and microwave applications. Fabrication and properties of heterostructures, control and understanding of weak links on the atomic level .

• Ferroelectric films – data storage, tuning of microwave filters and microwave components. Improvements of thin film materials, control of defects and strain, lattice and thermal matching of ferroelectric/superconducting heterostructures.

• Colossal magnetoresistive films – information storage applications. Understanding of the sensitive interplay between electronic, magnetic and lattice degrees of freedom, growth of thin films, fabrication of superconducting/ferromagnetic heterostructures, optimization of magnetoresistive properties.

For power applications

• Improving the critical current in cables through alignment of grains, vortex pinning by defects, e.g. irradiation, functional binding phases.

• Understanding the importance of the vortex state for high currents and high magnetic fields

For basic understanding:

• Design of new materials with improved electronic, magnetic or ionic properties. Understanding of the rôle of the structural units giving rise the exotic properties. Tuning of properties through atomic doping, pressure, illumination etc.

• In-depth experimental and theoretical studies of the electronic structure and the coupling of electronic degrees of freedom to the magnetic and lattice structure and dynamics.

3.4. Selection of graduate projects

During the spring 2001 the board for the National Graduate School in Materials Science will invite researchers within the network to suggest graduate student projects that can be financed. Proposals should be within the program area and apply to the network conditions described above in this section. However, detailed guidelines will be given in the announcement. It’s important to point out that the graduate positions in the program are funded to 0.5 MSEK and that an additional source must be guaranteed. See section 4 for more details.

3.5. Networking given a Materials Dimension

The meetings with the reference group made one feature particularly clear. Coming from different schools, industries, and laboratories, the participants, showed quite a spread in their views on materials, the spectrum stretching from practical industrial handling of materials to manipulation of atoms. There was agreement on the value of bridging the macro-, meso-, and microscopic scales. Research and research training in one group is on macroscopic scales and phenomena could benefit from collaboration with another one, e.g., electron microscopy and modelling on the mesoscale, which in turn could benefit from groups with microscopic characterization and modelling. At the same time there are great benefits going in the other direction, practical considerations providing stimulating and valuable questions and problems for fundamental research. Examples of such constructive networks exist, for instance, for materials of hard cutting tools. This can be done in any materials subfield, let it be polymers, ceramics, or engineering materials. In this way the networking really gets a very concrete implementations. The activities of the groups at various sites hook into each other by a common interest in a particular class of material but also by a very explicit joint interest in the dissemination of knowledge from one scale to another. Needless to say, this can be combined with twinning discussed in section 2.5.

4. Budget and resources.

The average cost for a graduate student has at Chalmers been estimated to be 0.85 MSEK/year. Experience shows that these figures are reasonably accurate and correspond to the full cover of the cost for a graduate student when all costs have been taken into consideration e.g. salary, overhead and infrastructure, supervison, administration and expenses for travels and visits to other universities. Variation lies in the different disciplines depending on laboratory equipment etc.

At Chalmers the graduate student should have 20% of full time for undergraduate teaching or other commitments within the department. The cost for these 20% should be covered elsewhere. Thus 680 KSEK/year is the general cost for one graduate student per year.

To run the graduate school a common cost for co-ordinators and workshops etc adds up to 2,5 MSEK. Thus when the programme is fully built up there will be 12,5 MSEK to cover the costs for the graduate students. With the figure 680 KSEK this corresponds to approximately 18 graduate students.

The remaining financial requirement will be 4,5 MSEK in order to reach the goal of 25 grad students and this will have to come from the following sources:

• Faculty funding

• External funding from industry, research councils or foundations

• Combination of these sources

We expect partners and participating groups to cover up for these financial requirements and a guarantee will also be a required before a student is accepted in the programme.

The experience from the SSF supported graduate school in materials science shows that there will be a number of students in this new materials school, that will take part but be financed elsewhere. Therefore we are convinced that we will reach the goal of 25 graduate students in the programme and that an even larger group will benefit from the course-program and other activities.

Appendix A. The network

The National Graduate School in Materials Science as proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science in Sweden will be based on a network hosted by Chalmers University of Technology with nodes at Karlstad University, University College of Dalarna, University College of Borås and University College of Trollhättan/Uddevalla. The Graduate School should also be linked to graduate education activities at other universities (e.g. Linköping and Uppsala). In order to identify scientific areas of common interest and define the foci of the new graduate school the materials science activities at the partner universities and at Chalmers are summarised below. For Chalmers, where Materials Science is a high profile area the summary is based on the recent “Strategic plan for materials science at Chalmers”. Finally, national resources and some of the already existing network structures of different characters at Chalmers are outlined in the end of the chapter.

A.1 Materials Science at Karlstad University

Research at Karlstad University is conducted within academic disciplines as well as under multidisciplinary research programmes. All postgraduate and undergraduate education is joined in one faculty, in which the university has two research schools, one for science and technology and one for the humanities and social sciences. Postgraduate students follow the common courses of the research schools and produce dissertations in their respective disciplines. The university’s key tasks are to closely integrate research and undergraduate studies, developing multi-disciplinary training and research programmes and working with various players at the regional, national and international level. The university offers 35 study programmes and over 500 courses in the fields of the humanities, health science, the natural sciences, social science and engineering sciences. Approximately 10,000 students are enrolled at Karlstad University. There are just over 900 staff, 500 of whom are lecturers. Responsibility for teaching and research is spread between nine multidisciplinary divisions. Five thematic research areas, having good research environments and future potential, are defined providing the research profile of the university.

The present number one university research priority, as stated by the university board, is the research thematic area Forest, Environment and Materials. Several of the divisions of Karlstad University are engaged within this thematic area. Two dominant divisions working in this area are the Division of Engineering Sciences, Physics and Mathematics and the Division of Chemistry. Also, there is a materials science programme running within the disciplines Materials Engineering and Materials Physics, but other material related work is as well done in other groups, for example on paper and surface coated paper.

Department of Materials Engineering (Division of Engineering Sciences, Physics and Mathematics)

Materials Engineering at Karlstad University is working in a broad field, including engineering, functional and building materials. Present staff is 15 people; 1 professor, 1 docent, 3 PhD researchers, one licentiate researcher, 6 post-graduate students, one research engineer, one laboratory engineer and one secretary, excluding one docent in recruitment. The department has a metallography and mechanical testing laboratory. Particular developed test setups related to applied industrial conditions are also used.

Education is performed in the university programs for engineers. The group presents today about 20 different courses including study programmes within the levels of bachelor, master and doctor degrees.

The overall theme of research is that of the relation between microstructure, mechanical properties and application. The core theme is tool materials for forming tools, and their application, where the group today has established a platform for research. Also, research has been started on mechanical properties of coated papers. Present projects are on fatigue properties of surface treated cold work tool steels, hot wear in aluminium extrusion, thermal fatigue damage in die casting dies, high temperature cyclic properties of hot work tool steels, wood saw tooth wear, fatigue of treated circular saw blades, structural analysis of paper and fracture properties of coated paper. The projects are performed by theoretical and laboratory studies as well as by production testing. Tool materials are of a very great technical, economical and in particular of strategic importance for the manufacturing industry. Advanced surface treatment is today practiced in many tooling applications and is of great importance for the tool capability. This fact implies that effects of, and investigations in, tool surface properties, surface treatments and coatings, are parts of the research projects.

The department works in the different research projects in cooperation with a number of companies from the manufacturing industry. The department has contacts in active collaboration with other universities, for example Uppsala University and Luleå Technical University in Sweden, but also in Denmark, France, Austria and China.

The Materials Physics Group (Division of Engineering Sciences, Physics and Mathematics)

The Materials Physics group at the Physics Department at KaU consists of one professor, one assistant professor, one docent, one junior researcher (PhD) and three PhD students. The group is assisted by one technician (part-time) and another lecturer.

The overriding theme for the group’s research is characterisation, organisation and growth of surface structures with emphasis on materials for micro- and optoelectronics, photovoltaic materials and nanostructures. The present main research projects are: (1) experimental investigations of semiconductor surfaces, mainly SiC, Si and GaN, e.g. atomic and electronic-structure studies, adsorption and metallisation studies (2) theoretical and experimental studies of fundamental growth processes on surfaces, e.g. self-organisation of 3D-structures and epitaxial growth, (3) experimental studies of organic molecular layers on surfaces.

The main experimental facilities at KaU are AFM, scanning-Auger microscopy and (to be installed during 2001) direct and inverse photoemission. It is planned to add UHV-STM capacity later. The group is a frequent user of the MAX-lab synchrotron laboratory in Lund, where photoemission and soon X-ray diffraction and EXAFS are the main experimental techniques. The group has many international contacts including active collaborations with scientists in Germany, Switzerland, Japan and Korea.

The Paper Surface Treatment Group (Division of Chemistry)

The paper surface treatment group at Karlstad University is doing interdisciplinary research involving several departments, divisions and research groups. The main part of research is conducted at the Chemical Engineering department. In total, about 25 persons are involved in the activities within the group. Two Professors, three University Lecturers and eleven Ph.D. Students are involved in the research programme.

The research addresses two main areas: (1) Coating process technology and (2) Paper and board converting. The research on paper and board converting are divided into three sub-areas: (a) Flexographic printing, (b) Barrier properties and (c) Mechanical properties of coated products. The research is not only focused on traditional paper coating systems, also extrusion, lamination, surface sizing, etc. are included. The substrates are most frequently paper or board, but an ongoing project is also studying coating on fabrics and non-woven substrates.

The main experimental facilities are: Pilot coating machine (presently under construction), several types of rotational viscometers and capillary viscometers, two rheometers (dynamic spectrometers, whereof one will be installed during 2001), DSC, AFM, Bench coater, Laboratory calender, just to mention some examples.

The group are running joint projects with other universities and institutes, e.g. Lund University, Luleå University of Technology, Swedish Pulp and Paper Research Institute (STFI), Institute for Surface Chemistry (YKI), Swedish Institute for Fibre and Polymer Research (IFP), Packforsk and Åbo Academy University.

A.2 Materials Science at Dalarna University College

Dalarna University College currently has about 8000 students coming from all parts of the country. Approximately half of them study in Falun, the administrative capital of the province, while the rest study in the neighbouring town of Borlänge. The University is organized in three campuses: Campus Falun, Campus Borlänge and DalaCampus. On Campus Falun, you will also find Arts, Education, Media and Health Sciences. On Campus Borlänge you will find Social Sciences, Business Administration, Economics, Tourism and Engineering. DalaCampus covers the education and research that are organized outside the two main campuses in different towns mostly within but also outside Dalarna. One central idea in organizing the campuses is to facilitate the integration of research and undergraduate programmes and to promote interdisciplinary contacts. Today Dalarna University offers a choice of over 50 complete programmes of study and over 200 one-semester courses. In the field of materials science Dalarna university college offer three different programs at a master of science degree level.

Dalarna University College has chosen to sharpen its focus in certain research areas of which materials science is one. The aim of the research and development performed by the personnel of the platform “Materials and Surface Engineering” is to further strengthen an existing knowledge base, including both education and research activities, within the field of materials and surface engineering at Dalarna University.

Research activities in materials science are today carried out in four different areas, i.e.;

• LCD-technology, especially characterisation and theoretical modelling of new LCD types, and evaluation of functional and optical aterials and micro textured surfaces for the LCD industry.

• Modelling and simulation of materials processing, especially constitutive modelling of the mechanical behaviour of metals.

• Surface engineering, especially the use of thin organic and ceramic coatings in the field of metal forming

• Wood processing and technology, especially the mechanical and tribological properties of compressed wood.

The studied materials range from bulk-type to thin films and include metals, ceramics an d polymers. Collaboration takes place nationally and internationally with researchers at universities, institutes and industry. The research groups have at their disposal a large number of advanced equipment and facilities for chemical, mechanical and structural characterisation of materials, e.g.; optical microscopes, image analysis systems, scanning electron microscope, Scanning Auger electron microscope, Time of Flight - Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer, a complete LCD production line (capacity 300 000 cells/year), advanced LCD processing equipment, high-power UV source for surface modification and photo alignment, professional photolithography equipment, UV-shielded clean-room for photolithography and etching of electrode pattern, etc.

A.3 Materials Science at University College of Borås

The University College of Borås, UCB, consists of six academic Schools: The Swedish school of Library and Information Studies, The School of Business and Informatics, The School of Engineering, The School of Education and Behavioural Sciences, The School of Textiles and The School of Health Sciences. UCB has 8500 registered students, where of approximately 5500 are (registered) degree programme students. Materials Science projects are performed at the two schools presented below.

The School of Engineering offers Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. Specializations are given for example in Indoor Climate, Heat and Electric Power, Communication and Signal Processing, Environmental Engineering and Logistics. The School has close contacts with the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute, SP, in Borås, providing the engineering students with unique opportunities of access to highly qualified specialists and advanced laboratories.

The School of Textiles is the only one of its kind in Sweden. It is a centre for the development, design and commercial promotion in the area of textiles and clothing. The School of Textiles has a modern textile machine park, laboratories, sewing ateliers, studios for computer design and a series of workshops.

Research

At the University College of Borås there are 72 teachers with a PhD degree, of whom 16 are professors. There are approximately 100 PhD-students. The total investment in research at UCB is in the region of SEK 45 million.

The School of Engineering has its research platforms in several areas. In building technology the focus is in indoor climate with a close collaboration with the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute, SP. The research group in robotics deals with computational and sensor aspects of semi-structured control systems. Research areas in environmental engineering are superheated steam drying, hydrodynamics and mass transfer in bubble columns and environmental aspects of flame-retardants in polymers. A smaller group focuses on the computational studies of chemical systems. The group in transport logistics is working in two main areas: transportation safety and direct distribution. In energy technology, a research platform funded by the KK-foundation works with energy production and transmission.

The School of Textiles has started a Centre for Textiles Research with emphasis in the fields of design, textile management, and handloom weaving and textile technology. A professor in Textile Materials Science will shortly be appointed. Research is also performed in fibre technology in collaboration with Chalmers. Furthermore the School is engaged in artistic developmental work and in reconstruction of historical textiles.

A.4 Materials Science at University College of Trollhättan/Uddevalla

The University College of Trollhättan/Uddevalla (HTU) was founded 10 years ago and consists of five different departments, Dept. for studies of Work Economics and Health, Dept. for studies of the Individual and Society, Dept. of Nursing, Dept. of Informatics an Mathematics and the Dept. of Technology. HTU has 7000 registered students, of which 3600 are registered Degree program students. Materials Science are studied at the School of Engineering.

The School of Engineering are offering Bachelors Degrees in Electrical Engineering, Land surveying, Manufacturing and Maintenance Technology and Mechanical Engineering. One of HTU’s characteristics are the special form of programmes (co-op programs), to increase the students practical work experience, where the students are spending a total of one year in three different periods in industry. HTU was the first university in Sweden to introduce such a programme. At present eight of HTU’s programmes offers a co-op possibility. Within this program a network of 60 industries has been built up. A Masters program is currently under discussion. Collaboration has been established with the De Montfort University (DMU), Leicester where students with BSc degree from HTU can study one year to obtain a MSc degree in Mechatronics.

Research

Of the total staff of 347 people, 207 are teachers/researchers. The internal research funding amounts to 14 MSEK. Current research investments at HTU are primarily focused in the fields of work-integrated learning, health and handicaps, media production and in sustainable processes in the manufacturing industry. Material science connected research are thus mainly performed in the latter focus area. The research in this area is focused on simulation and control of manufacturing processes and is mainly externally financed.

During the last 5 years an interdisciplinary manufacturing process simulation and regulation research group has been built up at the University of Trollhättan/Uddevalla. The group, led by a professor (part-time), currently consists of eleven persons: Three PhDs and eight graduate students. The students are enrolled in PhD-programmes at both Manufacturing and Materials departments. The aim of the research is to develop simulation for optimisation of the processes studied as well as new process control methods based on sensor technology and simulation technology in close co-operation. The proposed method is to develop models to describe the coupling of process parameters, measurable quantities of the process to the resulting material properties, using both statistical and physical models, and to use these coupled with sensor-systems to control the processes to give more reproducible results. Current focus is on manufacturing processes for the mechanical industry, and on processes that may influence the material properties and especially the surface properties a great deal. Research is currently undertaken in areas such as thermal spraying, welding, hole-drilling and sheet metal forming.

The research is performed in co-operation with both national and international partners within industry as well as within the academia. Within the academia a network has been built up between HTU and other universities in Sweden (LTH, KTH, CTH and LTU) as well as internationally, e.g. University of Belfort (France), University of Limoges (France) and University of Achen(Germany).

A.5 Materials science at Chalmers;

The Materials Science field is strong on the Chalmers campus and makes significant contributions to the understanding of materials and development of new materials. It is also an important link to industry. The field, taken in a broad context, constitutes about one quarter of the research at Chalmers, spread over seven of its schools. The major part of the materials science projects are performed within the Physics, Chemistry, and Mechanical engineering schools, where the school of Physics is by far the largest player. The Electrical and computer engineering, the Civil engineering, and the Mathematical and computing schools make significant contributions. The materials science field at Chalmers is in many sub-areas of the highest national and international quality. This is evident from various evaluations of projects, programs and disciplines by international experts. Among the strong areas at Chalmers are: biomaterials, computational materials science, engineering materials, and soft matter (including polymers, gels, liquid crystals and glasses) etc.

There is a long tradition of interaction between many groups within the material science field at Chalmers with local as well as national industry (e.g. Ericsson, Volvo, SAAB, SKF, Borealis, SCA etc.). It is of major importance that Swedish industry in these fields can take advantage of technologically and economically attractive materials for their products and that research activities support this development in areas that are important to materials producers and end users. The end user perspective is of particular significance for the industry in the west of Sweden (e.g. the car manufacturers).

A.5.1 Materials science at the various schools at Chalmers

Materials science projects are performed at seven of the nine schools at Chalmers. The projects cover a very broad range of subjects and the activities are diversified. Table 2.1 represents an attempt to give an overview of the activities at the different schools.

Table A.1. Subject areas of Materials Science at Chalmers and its different Schools

Below follows a brief description of the materials science conducted at the different schools.

A.5.2 School of Chemistry

Within the School of Chemical Engineering there are 70 faculty members, whereof 25 professors, 20 associate professor and 16 assistant professors, and 170 doctorate students (120 with position at Chalmers and 50 industrial doctorate students). The School is responsible for three undergraduate programmes leading to a MSc degree (chemical engineering, 90 students/year; chemical engineering with physics, 35 students/year; bioengineering, 65 students/year) and one international masters programme in environmentally sustainable process technology. The last 1.5 year in the chemical engineering programme the students specialise in one of six competence fields, one being material science. The number of students choosing material science has increased and this field is now the largest with about 35 students/year. The graduate education is organised in four graduate schools, chemistry, chemical engineering, bioscience, and material science. Today there are 30 graduate students in material science, most of them specialising in polymer technology.

Material research is one of the strategic areas at the School. The dominating unit is the department of Polymer Technology but dedicated material research is also done at Ceramic Technology, Food Science, Forest Product & Chemical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry. In addition, projects with relevance for material science are also performed at the departments of Organic Chemistry, Applied Surface Chemistry, and Physical Chemistry. To a large extent the research is experimentally based and relations between structure and properties is a common theme. During the last years there are two trends that obviously have become more prominent; molecular design to achieve specific properties including synthesis and molecular modelling, and sustainable material development. The material research at the School is also characterised by an intense and close cooperation with industry. Examples of research in material chemistry at the School of Chemical Engineering include:

• Polymer technology: functionalised bulk polymers, biopolymers, functional polymers including liquid crystal polymers, photo-luminescent polymers and polymer carriers

• Ceramic technology: traditional ceramics, structural ceramics, functional ceramics, and powder metallurgy, with emphasis on processing technology

• Inorganic chemistry: preparation and structural characterization of new transition metal superstructures, transition metal organometallics, and large single-crystals of inorganics, with interest to optical, catalytical and electronic materials

• Food science: microstructure and mechanical properties of biopolymers and gels

• Applied surface Chemistry: synthesis of catalyst materials and catalyst supports, self-organised templates, nanoparticles

• Physical chemistry: fundamental mechanisms of chemical recognition, polymer dynamics, photocleavage, and electron transfer including both experimental work and theoretical modeling

A.5.3 School of Civil Engineering

The materials related research within the School of Civil Engineering is in particular found within the Departments of Building Materials and Structural Mechanics, the Division of Steel and Timber Structures, and the Division of Concrete Structures. The research on building materials is focused on concrete- and timber-based building materials and surface engineering of such materials. A main emphasis of this research is the study of transport and properties of liquid, gases, ions and moisture in porous materials. Another area is the lifetime prediction of building materials. Fields of subject include: studies of chemical reactions during concrete processing; corrosion of reinforcing steel in concrete; decay damage of painted outdoor timber structures. The Division of Steel and Timber Structures focuses its research on the mechanical behavior and design of steel and timber structures. Improved and safer principles for design of load bearing structures are developed. Areas of application include thin- walled structures, steel bridges and quality of timber. The research on Concrete Structures concerns the load bearing capacity, stability and design of such structures. Advanced analytical methods for calculation and design are being developed and compared with experimental results. This leads to safer and improved methods for the design of Concrete Structures. Fields of application are for example structures of high performance and prefabricated concrete.

A.5.4 School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

At the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (SECE) basically all research is motivated by possible applications. Hence many (most?) projects have an interested partner in society (industry, institutes such as Onsala Space Observatory, ESA etc.) and the projects often involve co-operation with a partner in problem areas of mutual interest and in some cases for developing specific devices. A large research activity is focused on materials, devices and subsystems for microelectronics. A comparatively small part of this research is of fundamental character with no direct connection to a possible application. However, in any research concerning device technology, materials do play a very essential role. Scientific collaboration with groups at the Physics department at Chalmers, or elsewhere, is important. This includes for example the fabrication of exotic materials (such as ferroelectric thin film, metamorphic MBE materials etc.), the characterization of materials and devices, better theoretical understanding of materials and devices, and sometimes the initiation of new fields of research (e. g. nanoscience will certainly become important in a “near future”).

Examples on research that has proven directly useful for industry are: accurate modelling of devices, design methods, and knowledge about how new materials and new devices behave in practice (e. g. for understanding failures). The research involve advanced experiments, precise device characteriza­tion, theoretical modelling.

Presently the SECE is conducting research in a number of areas related to electronics materials: microelectronics devices, opto-electronics devices, high power devices and sensors. Main future applications are found within IT technology and power technology. The high quality of the research has been confirmed in several evaluations.

Examples of current materials related research is:

Semiconductors: Si, Si on insulator, SiC, III-V, II-VI, epitaxial growth, processing, characterization, charge transport, optical properties, high frequency devices, sensors, device modelling, design methods, etc. (Solid State Electronics Laboratory, Photonics Laboratory, Microwave Electronics Laboratory)

Superconductors: film fabrication, characterization, modelling electrical properties, device modelling, and design methods, etc. (Microwave Electronics Laboratory, Department of Radio and Space Science)

Ferroelectrics: film fabrication, characterization, modelling electrical properties, device modelling, design methods, etc. (Microwave Electronics Laboratory)

Polymer materials: nanometer devices, (Photonics Laboratory, Microwave Electronics Laboratory)

Elastomers: for high voltage outdoor applications (Dept. of Electrical Power Engineering)

New gases: for high voltage insulation (Dept. of Electrical Power Engineering)

Ultra thin SiO_x films on Si & SiO₂ films SiC: for next generation MOS transistors and power devices (Solid State Electronics Laboratory)

Dielectrics (glass) for diffraction optics: (Photonics Laboratory)

There are strong collaborations with physics groups at Chalmers. A new building for microelectronics is planned in co-operation with the Physics department.

A.5.5 School of Mechanical and Vehicular Engineering - Chalmers

The school of Mechanical and Vehicular Engineering has an annual turn-over of about 315 MSEK and the number of employees is about 320, including 34 professors and 29 associate professors/lecturers. The School is responsible for three undergraduate programmes leading to the MSc degree. The Mechanical Engineering programme is the largest with 150 students/year. The second largest is the Automotive Engineering programme with 90 students/year, while the newly started programme in Technical Design accepts 30 students/year. The school also runs two international masters programmes in Automotive Engineering and Advanced Materials. The research is divided into the core areas Engineering Mechanics (Fluids and Solids), Materials Science and Technology, Product and Production Development, Energy Technology, Machine and Vehicle Systems and Marine Technology. The research spans from applied to focused basic research. Research projects are often carried out in co-operation with industry and there is a strong involvement in competence centers, national research programmes and European research. The school is currently developing a new organisation in order to further strengthen the possibilities for co-operation between research groups and develop the infrastructure for co-ordinated research efforts.

Being a key strategic area within the school, Materials Science and Engineering comprises in broad sense research in Engineering Metals, Polymeric Materials, Materials Mechanics and Production Technology. The two main areas Engineering Metals and Polymeric Materials cover subjects such as surface technology, high temperature corrosion/oxidation, powder technology, nano-structured materials, dynamical behaviour of materials and fatigue design, advanced materials synthesis (e.g. new intermetallics), polymer processing and rheology, surface coatings and joining, design and properties of engineering polymers and composites, physical ageing of polymers, recycling of polymers, etc. About 30 PhD students are engaged in these subjects and the faculty staff comprises 7 professors and 7 associate professors/lecturers. The materials research is largely experimentally focused. Facilities include materials characterisation (electron microscopy, micro-probing and surface sensitive techniques, polymer rheology, etc), materials processing and mechanical testing. There is relatively strong involvement in various interdisciplinary activities including co-operation with industry, institutes, and other universities as well as within Chalmers. Important such activities are the Interdisciplinary Graduate School in Materials Science, the Competence Centre for High Temperature Corrosion (HTC) and the Competence Centre for Railway Mechanics (CHARMEC).

Besides the core activities in Materials Science (Engineering Metals and Polymeric Materials) there is also materials-related research in Production Engineering and Solid Mechanics areas. Activities in these areas include, for example, design and characterisation of surface topography, continuum mechanics modelling of materials behaviour and processing, fatigue design, modelling of non-destructive testing and electronics production (mounting technique, failure mechanisms, joining, etc).

A.5.6 Materials Science at the School of Physics

The materials science interest is shared by many of the research groups at the School of Physics. A common factor is the strive to establish relationships between microscopic structure and materials properties since the development of new materials today is largely concerned with functionalization, i.e. the molecular engineering ”atom-by-atom” manipulation of systems to obtain specific electrical, optical, magnetic properties, etc.

The most extensive research at the school of physics is conducted in condensed matter or materials physics and spans several areas with the emphasis on material science. This is reflected in the latest strategic research plan for the school of Physics and engineering physics, where four of the six core areas for the next decade are intimately related to materials or condensed matter physics; (i) materials and surface physics, with special new efforts in soft matter physics, (ii) mesoscopic physics, nanoscience, and quantum devices, with extensions to molecular electronics, (iii) chemical and biological physics, towards interfaces between solids and biological system, and nanostructures coupled to biomolecules, (iv) computational physics, especially large scale dynamical simulations and calculations. Examples of materials physics research at the school include:

• phenomena on surfaces, including studies of molecule-surface reactions, ranging from two-atomic molecules to biological macromolecules (materials and surface theory, surface physics, chemical physics, solid state physics, molecular physics, condensed matter physics groups);

• Soft matter and disordered materials, including fundamental research on polymer, gels and glasses, energy-related materials such as polymer and glassy electrolytes and for batteries and fuel cells, and liquid crystals studied both basically and for special applications (condensed matter physics, materials physics solid state physics groups liquid crystals group);

• semiconductor materials, including synchrotron radiation-based basic studies of surfaces, material fabrication using MBE techniques and implantation and investigation of nanostructures for microeletronics (MBE group, solid state physics, condensed matter electronic structure, and physical electronics and photonics groups);

• microscopy and microanalysis of the metallic and ceramic materials are studied as a function of the manufacturing parameters (microscopy and micro-analysis, materials and surface theory groups);

• biomaterials, e.g. for implants in biological tissues and biosensors, production of new materials, and mimicking biological functions (chemical physics, condensed matter theory, condensed matter physics)

• superconducting materials are studied on a fundamental level as examples of materials with strongly correlated electrons and also for applications in electron and sensor devices (applied solid state physics, condensed matter theory, theoretical physics, microscopy and microanalysis, condensed matter physics groups).

• nanostructures is a central theme, boosted by the nanometer laboratory, for several groups focusing on low-dimensional systems, quantum devices, single electron devices, biomaterials, bioelectronics, single molecule spectroscopy (applied solid state physics, chemical physics, condensed matter theory, surface materials theory, condensed matter physics)

• Several of the groups are involved in larger interdisciplinary materials science related programs (materials consortia of superconductivity, biomaterials, and materials theory, Competence centres on catalysis, and high temperature corrosion, SSF programs on Biocompatible materials and functional polymers, Graduate school in materials science)

A.6. Interdisciplinary collaborations between the schools at Chalmers.

Materials science is of highly interdisciplinary character, and many of the most exciting developments lie at the boundaries between traditional disciplines. Therefore it is essential to promote contacts and collaborations between the different disciplines at the various Schools and also with Göteborg University (GU).

A.6.1 Center for materials science

The benefits of promoting interdisciplinary activities in the field of materials science was realized by researchers at Chalmers and GU about three decades ago and led to the founding of a Center for Materials Science.

The Center for Materials Science serves as an umbrella for organizations involved in materials, research at Chalmers/GU and at certain branch institutes in the Gothenburg region. The overall aim of the Center is to promote materials research among the member organizations as well as to provide a link to industry and society. The activities of the Center comprise in materials science, inviting guest scientists, organizing workshops in materials science, producing a catalogue on materials science at Chalmers, directing external inquires to relevant research groups, supporting various initiatives for heavy equipment, etc.

A.6.2 Resources for Materials Synthesis

At Chalmers there exists a unique infrastructure that enables synthesis of nano-structured and highly functional materials. Distributed over Chalmers are facilities for synthesis of polymers, ceramics, powder metals, semi-conductors, etc with a variety of techniques ranging from molecular beam epitaxy to laser ablation and extruders for polymer blends. Of special interest are perhaps the excellent nanofabrication facilities that exist in the Physics department and the even more advanced equipment that will soon be installed in the new clean room of the Microtechnology Centre at Chalmers (MC2). For more information about MC2 see <www.mc2.chalmers.se>.

A.6.3 SSF Programs in Materials Science

At present six materials related research programs at Chalmers/GU are run with funding from SSF. These are at the level of 3-7 MSEK per year. In addition a seventh program with close to 50% engagement at Chalmers/GU is run at LiU:

1. Molecular Engineering in Polymer Science,

2. Biocompatible Materials.

3. High Performance Outdoor Electrical insulation.

4. Complex oxide materials for advanced devices, Lars Börjesson Chalmers

5. Theory, modeling and simulation, Göran Wahnström, Chalmers

6. Carbon based nanostructures for electronics, Eleanor Campbell, Chalmers

7. Biomimetic materials science, Bo Liedberg LiU

The first two programs were funded in the beginning of 1997 and the third one about a year later. A common board and program director (Bengt Kasemo, Chalmers) manage the first three programs presented briefly below. The last four programmes started during 2000.

The Molecular engineering in polymer science program involves physics and chemistry groups only at Chalmers and the SP institute in Borås. Three main research themes are funded: (i) polymer ionics, (ii) electro-optically active polymers, and (iii) polymer surfaces and thin film polymers.

The Biocompatible materials program incorporate activities at several universities (Linköping University, Göteborg University, Lund University, Uppsala University and Chalmers University of Technology). Five major research themes are funded; (i) optimal surface topography for bone anchored implants, (ii) tribology of articulating joints, (iii) screening of tissue integrated materials, (iv) a systematic approach to improve blood compatibility of biomaterials for cardiovascular applications, and (v) time and functionally programmed surfaces.

The SSF financed research program on "High performance outdoor electrical insulation - ELIS", is co-ordinated at the school and it comprises research activities at CTH, KTH, UU and LTH. Today 15 PhD are active, 8 of them at CTH, and an interdisciplinary training program has been developed. The financing is granted until 2002. In the future the material related education and research activities are to be continued and even extended. Competent specialists with an interdisciplinary background are needed by Swedish industry (Ericsson, ABB, Borealis, etc.). Also new and active functions are expected from dielectric materials in applications within electric and electronic industries, especially within newly developed energy systems. Examples are materials for electric field control or containing chemically bonded voltage stabilizing additives. In this respect, there exist possibilities for further strengthening the co-operation with other schools at CTH as well as for initiating new collaborations with other universities. About 10 PhD students can permanently function within such a network.

A.6.4 National competence centers

A new form of co-operation between universities, business and industry, National competence centers was established during 1995. The mission of these competence centers is to work with long-term competence development at universities. These centers are geographically concentrated units able to offer support in different questions and issues through providing direct contact between universities and industry. There are two competence centers at Chalmers, whose foci are largely within the materials science field:

Competence Center for Catalysis (KCK)

Academic partners at the center are Division of Chemical Physics at Dept of Applied Physics, Engineering Chemistry, and Chemical Reaction Engineering, and the industrial partners are AB Volvo, Saab Automobile AB, Johnson & Mathey Ltd, ABB Fläkt Industri AB, Perstorp AB, and AB Svensk Bilprovning

The aim is to create a better environment by using catalytic techniques in order to reduce emissions from vehicles and industries. Specific research areas are the reduction of nitrogen oxides, low-temperature catalytic activity, catalytic ignition, transient emissions, deactivation of catalysts, oxidation of VOC's, kinetic modelling and computer simulations. Important materials related ingredients are nano-technology (dry and wet), oxide materials and clusters.

Competence Center for High-Temperature Corrosion (HTC)

Academic partners are the Departments of Energy Conversion, Engineering Metal, Inorganic Environmental Chemistry, and Thermo and Fluid Dynamics, and the industrial partners are AB Sandvik Steel, ABB Stal, Avesta Sheffield AB, Kanthal AB, Kvaerrner EnviroPower AB, Stockholm Energi, Sydkraft, Vattenfall, and Volvo Aero Corporation

The HTC is a centre for industrially relevant fundamental research on high-temperature corrosion. The HTC aims to conduct research on high temperature corrosion of relevance for energy production, motors and in many industrial processes.

Other Competence Centers involving materials research at Chalmers

Aspects of materials science are also treated in the Competence Center in Environmental Assessment of Product and Material Systems (CPM). This center analyses material and energy flows in society aimed at sustainable development. Furthermore, strong Materials research is also found within the Competence Center in Railway Mechanics (CHARMEC), which partly deals with improved materials in axles, wheels, rails, sleepers and roadbed as well as with reduced wear, decreased maintenance costs and increased technical/economic service life for these components.

A.6.5. Industrial Graduate School in Materials Science (MARCHAL)

MARCHAL is an industrial graduate in Materials Science that is organised by Chalmers in co-operation with Swedish companies. The school is jointly supported by the KK-foundation and the participating companies. The graduate students are normally employed in the companies and the overall aim is to provide improved opportunities for Swedish industry to recruit PhDs with background in Materials Science. The research projects span over a broad area covering subjects such as welding, anisotropy, powder technology, polymer surfaces, functional polymers and catalysis.

A.7. Materials science activities at other Swedish universities

Considerable efforts in the materials-science field exist outside the network, primarily at the universities in Linköping, Lund, Stockholm (KTH and SU), and Uppsala. There are also material science activities at the universities in Luleå and Umeå and at the University College of Jönköping.

The fields of strength of the respective universities can be summarised as follows:

• Linköping – strong programs in thin film deposition techniques, biomaterials, conducting polymers, and semiconductors,

• Lund – large and successful program in nanostructured materials, host for the MAX-lab synchrotron facility , and the Lund laser center.

• Stockholm – strong program in materials chemistry (Arrhenius lab, SU), thin films (superconductors, semiconductors, magnetic materials), polymers, engineering metals (especially thermodynamic modeling, KTH), materials for microelectronics (Kista KTH), surface chemistry, optical materials.

• Uppsala – a new interdisciplinary laboratory for Materials science, Ångström, with strong Chemistry, Physics, and Electrical engineering groups. Focus on thin film growth, with applications of magnetic materials, electrochromic materials, electrochemical cells, solar energy, , strength in tribology of materials.

• Umeå – fullerenes, high pressure studies, superconductors.

• Lulå – engineering materials for structural applications..

• Jönköping, materials research on cast materials, aluminium, polymers with emphasis on component technology

Thus there are major national competitors and future co-operators in a platform for materials science graduate education in Sweden. Particularly, new co-ordinated and inter-disciplinary efforts are developed in Uppsala in the new Ångström laboratory for materials science.

A.8 National research facilities

MAX-Lab

MAX-lab is a Swedish National Laboratory for synchrotron radiation research The facility consists of a 550 MeV storage ring, MAX I, and a third generation 1.5 GeV storage ring, MAX II. A cost-effective, state-of-the-art 700 MeV storage ring is under construction as well as a 500 MeV LINAC-based accelerator system for injection and possible SASE-FEL activities.

At the 550 MeV MAX I storage ring there are six synchrotron radiation beamlines (stations) in operation. Research is done in a large variety of disciplines including condensed matter physics, surface/interface physics, semiconductor physics, materials science, atomic and molecular physics, chemistry, biology, biochemistry and medicine. Among the techniques used are electron spectroscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, photoelectron microscopy, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, ion mass spectroscopy, high-resolution infrared spectroscopy, infrared microscopy, photoelectron diffraction and soft x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy.

MAX II represents one of the most brilliant radiation sources for the VUV and soft x-ray spectral regions in the world. Six stations are in operation, one is under commissioning and several more are under construction. The stations are focused on a variety of disciplines, such as protein crystallography and x-ray diffraction, high resolution electron spectroscopy and microscopy, soft x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, x-ray dichroism, surface x-ray diffraction, EXAFS, x-ray lithography for nano-structure patterning and micro-machining, UV-VUV spectroscopy with ultra-high spectral resolution (meV), etc.

MAX-lab continues to expend the range of its facilities and the first beam-line at MAX III is planned to become operational during 2003.

MAX-lab presently accommodates more than 530 scientists/year representing research groups from industry, academic and governmental laboratories from more than 20 countries. It is an interdisciplinary meeting point for a large number of users from different disciplines. A large fraction of the users are Ph.D. students who perform important parts of their experimental work at MAX-lab. MAX-lab is also engaged in undergraduate and graduate courses. There are for instance courses where the laboratory work is performed at the research equipment at the lab. MAX-lab also has a programme for summer schools which attract a large number of Ph.D. Also in this case the students are given access to the research equipment. This programme is presently being expanded and there will be courses at least annualy.

MAXLAB has a strong technical development programme, which will add further to its capabilities and continue to create new opportunities for visiting researchers across a wide variety of disciplines. Several new beamlines are planned and will become operational during the next contract period. These include further beamlines for protein crystallography, magnetism, studies of environmental problems and synchronized laser-synchrotron radiation experiments.

NFL

NFL is the Swedish centre for reactor based research using neutrons in physics, chemistry, materials science and enigneering. NFL is a department of Uppsala University, but the facilities are available to scientists at all Swedish universities and to international users. NFL also acts as a competence center for Swedish use of national and international neutron sources.

The neutron interacts weakly with matter, with a very simple “billiard ball like” interaction, which makes it the perfect tool for experimental studies of condensed matter, providing high quality data which can be directly related to computer modeling and simulations. This is the reason that neutron scattering will become even more important in the future see section 3.1 on current trends).

The science performed at NFL by external users ranges from studies of atomic structures on the Å scale (super conducting materials, nano-tubes, polymer electrolytes and many more), to engineering studies of residual stresses on a scale of millimeters. There is considerable in-house research expertise on disordered materials and the development of new methods for computer modeling of the data (the Reverse Monte Carlo method). Recently this has expanded to include studies of crystalline structures with local disorder.

The laboratory gives several courses and summer schools on neutron scattering methods. If there is interest courses can also be given at the local university. Neutron scattering course have been given at e.g. Chalmers.

For more information, please visit www.nfl.uu.se

Appendix B. The reference group and the work group members

Telefon Fax

Högskolan i Borås

Kim Bolton 033-17 46 02 033-16 71 94

Institutionen Ingenjörshögskolan

501 90 Borås

Kim.Bolton@hb.se

Dag Henriksson 033-17 46 23 033-16 40 08

Institutionen Ingenjörshögskolan

501 90 Borås

Dag.Henriksson@hb.se

Tomas Wahnström 033- 17 46 19 033-16 40 08

501 90 Borås

tomas.wahnström@hb.se

Jukka Lausmaa 033-16 52 96 033-10 33 88

SP Sveriges Provnings- och

Forskningsinstitut

Box 857, 501 15 Borås

jukka.lausmaa@sp.se

Högskolan Dalarna

Mikael Grehk 023-77 86 77 023-77 86 01

781 88 Borlänge

mge@du.se

Mikael Olsson 023-77 86 43 023-77 86 01

781 88 Borlänge

mol@du.se

Kent Skarp 023-77 86 28 023-77 86 70

781 88 Borlänge

ksa@du.se

Högskolan Trollhättan Uddevalla

Lars Pejryd

Volvo Aero Corporation 0520-936 97 0520-985 22

Manufacturing Technology

Dept. 9630

461 81 Trollhättan

lars.pejryd@volvo.com

Telefon Fax

Karlstad Universitet

Jens Bergström 054-700 12 59 054-700 14 49

Inst. för ingenjörsvetenskap,

fysik och matematik

651 88 Karlstad

Jens.Bergstrom@kau.se

Lars Johansson 054-700 16 77 054-700 18 29

Inst. för ingenjörsvetenskap,

fysik och matematik

651 88 Karlstad

Lars.Johansson@kau.se

Lars Järnström 054-700 16 25 054-700 20 40

Institutionen för kemi

651 88 Karlstad

Lars.Jarnstrom@kau.se

Linköpings Universitet

Olle Inganäs 013-28 12 31 013-28 89 69
Biomolecular and organic electronics,

N-309, Dept. of Physics

Linköping University, S-581 83 Linköping

ois@ifm.liu.se (email)

Magnus Odén 013-28 27 20 013-28 25 05

Konstruktionsmaterial, IKP

581 83 Linköping

magod@ikp.liu.se

MAX-lab

Nils Mårtensson 046-222 96 95 046-222 4710

Box 118

221 00 Lund

Nils.Martensson@maxlab.lu.se

Neutronforskningslaboratoriet i Studsvik

Robert McGreevy 0155-22 18 31 0155-26 30 01

611 82 Nyköping

Robert.McGreevy@studsvik.uu.se

Uppsala Universitet

Åsa Kassman 018-471 31 16

Ångströmlaboratoriet

Box 534

751 21 Uppsala

asa.kassman@angstrom.uu.se

Telefon Fax

Chalmers tekniska högskola

Lars Börjesson 031-772 33 07 031-772 20 90

Kondenserade materiens fysik

412 96 Göteborg

borje@fy.chalmers.se

Stanislaw Gubanski 031-772 16 16 031-772 16 17

Högspänningsteknik

412 96 Göteborg

stanislaw.gubanski@elkraft.chalmers.se

Thomas Hjertberg 031-772 34 10 031-772 34 18

Polymerteknologi

412 96 Göteborg

th@pol.chalmers.se

Per Jacobsson 031-772 34 27 031-772 31 77

Materialfysik

412 96 Göteborg

pjacob@fy.chalmers.se

Bengt Lundqvist 031-772 31 98 031-772 84 26

Material- och ytteori

412 96 Göteborg

lundqvist@fy.chalmers.se

Lars-Olof Nilsson 031-772 22 98 031-773 22 96

Inst. för byggnadsmaterial

412 96 Göteborg

nilsson@bm.chalmers.se

Lars Nyborg 031-772 12 57 031-772 12 62

Metalliska konstruktionsmaterial

412 96 Göteborg

lars.nyborg@em.chalmers.se

Ulla Rilby 031-772 25 23 031-772 26 39

Utbildningsavdelningen

412 96 Göteborg

ulla.rilby@adm.chalmers.se

Rose-Marie Wikström 031-772 31 76 031-772 31 77

Materialfysik

412 96 Göteborg

rosie@fy.chalmers.se

Igor Zoric 031-772 33 71 031-772 31 34

Kemisk fysik

412 96 Göteborg

f7xiz@fy.chalmers.se