In a significant advancement for boosting renewable energy generation development, the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has taken the lead in breaking through studies of the nanoscale properties of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). This initiative has resulted in the development of more efficient and durable cells, poised to substantially diminish costs and broaden applications, thereby connecting scientific research with the needs of the business community.

Osaka Metropolitan University and Osaka University researchers investigated the factors influencing older adults’ acceptance and use of demand-responsive transport (DRT) in Senboku New Town, Osaka. The results revealed a significant relationship between social influence and behavior intention for both older people and adults.

How can the loss of species and habitats in agricultural landscapes be stopped? Up to now, measures have mostly been implemented by individual farms. In contrast, agri-environmental measures that are planned across farms at landscape level offer greater potential for creating suitable habitats for different species as a mosaic in the landscape. However, successful landscape level approaches also require cooperation between farms and other stakeholders from local governments, politics and nature conservation. Researchers at the University of Göttingen have therefore identified essential key factors that facilitate successful agricultural-environmental collaboration at landscape level. The results of the study were published in People and Nature.

Beacon Technology Solutions (Beacon), with collaborators at Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), has been awarded a grant to support a novel study on how Far-UVC technology can help mitigate the spread of infectious diseases in public spaces. The grant was awarded through the Illinois Innovation Vouchers (IIV) Program, which fosters research collaborations between small- and medium-sized enterprises and Illinois’ world-class universities.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in Economics, Finance and Management has gone in this seventeenth edition to Olivier Blanchard (Paris School of Economics and MIT), Jordi Galí (CREI and Pompeu Fabra University), and Michael Woodford (Columbia University) for “profoundly influencing modern macroeconomic analysis by establishing rigorous foundations for the study of business cycle fluctuations.”