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Annual Report 2014
8
Organisation and coordination
Einar Jordanger
Centre Manager
SINTEF Energy Research
After the Midterm evaluation process of CenBio
in 2013, the evaluation panel and the Research
Council of Norway
(RCN) concluded with some
recommendations for improvements of CenBio.
Based on these recommendations, the
Centre
Management Team
(CMT) proposed a set of de-
tailed actions to be followed up. This action list
was approved by the
Executive Board
(EB) and
endorsed by the RCN toward the end of 2013.
Some of the actions are defined as continuous
until the termination of CenBio while others
have concrete deadlines. The main axis of these
improvements is to
induce stronger interac-
tions
with both the User partners and the inter-
national research community and to
enhance
the industrial utilization of the research
work
performed within CenBio.
The implementation of the detailed actions list
started late 2013, as stated in the Annual Report
2013, and has continued during 2014. Some of
the actions with major impact on the coordina-
tion of CenBio can be summarised as follows:
– The traditional CenBio Days (arranged in
March 2014) were extended from two to three
days. The
Organising Team
(OT) consisting of
representatives from both the research institu-
tions and the User partners, of which two from
EB, were actively involved in the preparation of
the CenBio Days. The OT ended up with an ex-
cellent programme with more involvement from
User partners than in previous years. Altogether
62 participants expressed their satisfaction:
“Best CenBio Days ever!”
.
– The
Foresight process
was also a result of
the Midterm evaluation. CenBio, as the other
FMEs, was challenged to think about future
needs for continued research within its respec-
tive research area. Three workshops, arranged
in January, March and May, resulted in the de-
scription of four distinctive future scenarios, all
included in the report that was finalised in Sep-
tember. In total, 36 people participated in this
exciting process. The main outcomes will be pre-
sented to relevant actors in 2015.
– The new
Advisory Board
(AB) recommended
by the evaluation panel was established during
2014. Four international experts proposed by
EB members have positively accepted their
involvement in the Centre. The AB’s main pur-
pose is to provide unbiased advice to the EB
about the relevance and quality of the activities
planned and performed by CenBio, as well as
guidelines for future bioenergy research needs
post-CenBio. It is worth mentioning that the
existing Scientific Advisors will continue their
cooperation within the relevant Sub-Projects, in
close dialogue with the respective SP Leaders.
– The successful first
CenBio Strategic Day
in
2013 was followed up in October 2014 with a
similar format as in 2013. The main objective
was to discuss the proposed activities for 2015,
and agree the prioritisation of them, in close co-
operation with the User partners. Further, the
Foresight process and preliminary results from
the cross-cutting activity
Sub-Project 6 Value
Chain Assessment
were presented. The latter was
explicitly acknowledged by the User partners.
This CenBio strategic event gathered 44 participants, mostly representing CenBio partners.