The Pioneer Centre

By building upon recent advances in complementary fields like computational materials design, operando characterization, and scalable materials synthesis, as well as autonomous robotics, digital twins, and machine learning, CAPeX will reinvent the ways we invent new sustainable materials for P2X.

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Tejs Vegge and Frede Blaagaard in front of a building similar to the future ‘Climate Challenge Laboratory’

The Pioneer Center unites leading Power-to-X experts from five Danish and three international universities in conducting fundamental strategic research and delivering transformative breakthroughs across scientific disciplines, methods, and sustainable and scalable materials discovery and development.

By building upon recent advances in complementary fields like computational materials design, operando characterization, and scalable materials synthesis, as well as autonomous robotics, digital twins, and machine learning, CAPeX will reinvent the ways we invent new sustainable materials for Power-to-X.

The Center is run in a partnership between DTU and Aalborg University (AAU), and is located in a new interdisciplinary ‘Climate Challenge Laboratory’ at DTU, Kgs. Lyngby in Greater Copenhagen.

CAPeX will establish a unique self-driving laboratory for P2X materials discovery, which accelerates the discovery process by fully integrating multiple scientific disciplines and techniques to transcend existing sequential and trial-and-error-based discovery approaches. The CAPeX approach will be capable of bridging the extensive separation in spatial and temporal scales between the fundamental processes controlling the electrochemical performance and the degradation processes that govern the durability, reliability, and economic viability of the P2X devices. In doing so, we can shorten the divide between fundamental breakthrough science and materials discovery bringing curiosity-driven strategic research to the proof-of-concept level. 

By establishing CAPeX, a significant capacity building of leading P2X scientists and researchers in Denmark will take place, bringing innovative societal solutions to the urgent climate challenges. In summary, CAPeX will create a five-pronged legacy.

  • A world-leading Pioneer Center unites experts from five Danish and three international universities in conducting fundamental strategic research and delivering transformative breakthroughs across scientific disciplines, methods, and sustainable and scalable materials discovery and development.
  • Educate and mentor the next generations of researchers by establishing the CAPeX Academy, including three fellowship programs for Danish PhD and postdocs with leading international institutions and consortia, targeting digital competencies to accelerate the global green transition.
  • A chemistry-versatile closed-loop infrastructure and digital twin for accelerated materials discovery, enabling a 5-10x reduction in the time of discovery of new P2X materials, cells, and proof-of-concept scale devices.
  • The X-trails will deliver a range of new sustainable and scalable materials, catalysts, and supports, which can reduce the CO2 footprint and increase the system efficiency while retaining a long lifetime, delivering proof-of-concept of more energy-efficient P2X processes with the ambition to double the efficiency in specific research areas.
  • Develop transformative methods for proactive use of the electrical power supply to enable dynamic control of processes ranging from the atomic scale to the device level. 

Leadership

Director

Professor Tejs Vegge, DTU

is an internationally recognized expert in the accelerated discovery of materials for the green transition, specializing in the close integration of atomic and multi-scale computer simulations with experimental characterization and machine learning (ML) application.
Frede Blaabjerg

Vice Director

Professor Frede Blaabjerg, AAU

has pioneered the application of power electronics to power conversion and control for renewable energy systems and P2X for over three decades. He has been a key driver for the power electronics technology in renewable energy systems, including its control.

Steering committee

From the left: Prof. Søren Højgaard, Vice Director & Prof. Frede Blaabjerg, Director & Prof. Tejs Vegge, Prof. Brian Seger, Prof. Maria Escudero-Escribano, Prof. Jakob Kibsgaard and Prof. Anne S. Meyer.

Picture of the seven X's and T's research leaders

Click on the picture to read about our research

Get in touch

For other questions than press-related inquiries:

CAPEX@dtu.dk

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