São Paulo Excellence Chair (SPEC) project – a joint initiative of the Research Centre for Gas Innovation at University of São Paulo and the Sustainable Gas Institute at Imperial College London

This project proposes to develop into a centre of excellence in FC research by  tapping into world-class researchers from both UK and Brazil. By starting the project with  state-of-the-art knowledge and a diversity of points of view, a fundamental goal of this SPEC  is to bring about a multiscale modelling-driven perspective into the now mature Brazilian FC community and share this knowledge, and the advances obtained through it, through the  multi- and transdisciplinarity of the RCGI. Seeing as how the traditional FC community has yet to deliver on critical components of a practical FC device, this project reaches out to leaders in research subjects that are cornerstones of FC technology, viz., quantum and
molecular mechanics, meso and macroscopic transport phenomena, and electrocatalysis.
These are coupled together via energetic and innovative young researchers, and a modellingdriven approach backed by advanced experimental techniques towards validation of multiscale models of FC devices. Thus, this São Paulo Excellence Chair (SPEC) aims at providing the state of São Paulo with a research nucleus in FCs through the participation of  Professors Nigel Brandon, Spencer Sherwin, Erich Muller and Anthony Kucernak, who are  world leading researchers in their respective fields. Tackling core and applied sciences, this SPEC advances on FC technologies as viable options to Brazil, where (bio)methane and bioethanol evolve to be important players in its future energy scenario. The proposed research hub is a joint initiative of leading institutions within the framework of the Research Centre for Gas Innovation (RCGI), at USP, and its paired institution, the Sustainable Gas  Institute (SGI), at Imperial College London (IC).