World-leading Ocean Energy Professor receives prestigious international scholarship

Professor Lars Johanning, Professor of Ocean Technology at the University of Exeter, has been appointed a “Hai-Tian” Sea-Sky Scholar by the Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China.

The influential award will see Professor Johanning lead collaborative research with colleagues from China to create more secure and sustainable energy resources for China.

Professor Johanning received the award for his high-profile ocean energy research, which focuses on meeting the challenges of generating wave power, as well as enhancing the mooring designs for novel energy platforms.

He has been head of the University of Exeter’s Offshore Renewable Energy group, based at the Penryn Campus in Cornwall, since 2011.

Speaking after receiving the award, Professor Johanning said: “It is a great honour to have received this award. With a growing energy demand in China it is essential to collaborate in the ocean energy sector to enable a secure and sustainable energy future in China. Addressing climate change is a global challenge, and only by working together can we make the difference that is so desperately required.”

The award has a three-year term and Prof Johanning will be implementing collaborative research activities for one month for each of the next three years, working with DUT researchers by addressing ocean energy challenges to boost renewable energy generation in China.

The Hai-Tian Scholar award is part of DUT’s efforts to improve its research quality through collaboration with well-known researchers throughout the world, and as part of his visit in November Prof Johanning gave a keynote speech at a Sea-Sky seminar to a large research audience.

DUT, located in the coastal city of Dalian in North-Eastern China, is among the country's top universities. Renowned for its highly focused science and engineering research units, DUT is engaged in a historic mission of rejuvenating the North-Eastern Chinese industrial base in a sustainable basis, and carrying out a talent-training strategy to build DUT into a world-famous research-oriented university.