Many countries are making great strides with their hydrogen economies, particularly in Europe, the United States and north-east Asia. CSIRO’s Hydrogen Industry Mission includes an international collaboration program, supported by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The purpose of the program is to strengthen international research ties between Australia and other active countries, so that we can work together to develop the global hydrogen industry and thus contribute to our net zero ambitions.
Global Scan for Research, Development and Demonstration opportunities
In 2022 we worked with international governments and organisations to develop reports outlining opportunities for country-to-country engagement in hydrogen research, development and demonstration projects (RD&D). Each report provides an overview of the country’s hydrogen priorities and ecosystem, as well as a publication and intellectual property (IP) scan identifying the key stakeholders actively undertaking hydrogen RD&D.
These reports have also been shared by Mission Innovation’s Clean Hydrogen Mission.
- Australia PDF (929KB)
- Canada PDF (1.6MB)
- China PDF (1.3MB)
- France PDF (1.7MB)
- Germany PDF (1.7MB)
- India PDF (1.4MB)
- Japan PDF (1.4MB)
- Republic of Korea PDF (1.6MB)
- Singapore PDF (941KB)
- United Kingdom PDF (1.4MB)
- United States PDF (1.7MB)
Knowledge Centre
This publicly available platform aims to develop new or connect existing hydrogen knowledge resources, allowing users to access reliable and relevant information from hydrogen industry projects, research activity and key organisations.
The Hydrogen Knowledge Centre is a key pillar of CSIRO’s Hydrogen Industry Mission.
- HyResearch is an online tool, built in partnership with the Australian Hydrogen Research Network, to help researchers, decision-makers and stakeholders more broadly access hydrogen-related R&D information via an easy-to-navigate platform.
- HyResource is a collaborative knowledge sharing resource supporting the development of Australia’s hydrogen industry.
Research Mobility
International delegations
We then led delegations for Australia’s researchers to learn more about hydrogen activities in other countries. Research delegations during 2022 involved 14 Australian universities visiting Germany, France, Japan, UK, and the USA during September – December 2022.
In 2023 delegations are Singapore 19-23 June 2023, South Korea 4-8 September and India later in the year.
Download the 2022 delegations report
- External communique of 2022 AHRN hydrogen research delegations PDF (1 MB)
- External communique of 2022 AHRN hydrogen delegations (accessible text) TXT (78 KB)
2023 Delegations
Find out who participated in our delegations and organisations we visited.
International research fellowships
The International Hydrogen Research Fellowship Program supports research in areas of critical national importance, by providing the opportunity for early to mid-career researchers in Australia to partner with researchers overseas.
We have awarded 20 fellowships, and we hope to hold a third and final round for this program in May 2024. Please watch this space for further announcements. The fellowships will close when spaces are filled (potentially 35-40 fellows).
Find out how to express interest in a research fellowship. Family assistance PDF (211 KB) is available to fellowship holders.
Round one fellows
Dr Hongjun Chen
University of Sydney
Dr. Hongjun has national leading expertise in solar-driven hydrogen production using either the design and fabrication of photoelectrodes for efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting or photovoltaic (PV) integrated electrochemical devices | Research Project: Solar-driven production of clean H2 and value-added chemicals from biomass waste | Host University: Northwestern University, USA | Fellowship status: In progress.
Dr Yi-Sheng (Eason) Chen
University of Sydney
Eason’s research focuses on the effect of hydrogen to structural alloys, i.e., hydrogen embrittlement of alloys, which is a serious challenge for hydrogen industry to address the safety concern in handling and using hydrogen fuel at scale | Research Project: Characterising hydrogen embrittlement of structural alloys in low-temperature hydrogen storage vessels | Host University: University of Alabama, USA | Not yet commenced
Dr Christian Hornung
CSIRO
Dr Hornung is a trained chemical engineer and he currently leads CSIRO’s Centre for Industrial Flow Chemistry, FloWorks | Research Project: Process Engineering for Chemical Hydrogen Storage | Host University: University of Erlangen, Germany | Fellowship status: In Progress
Dr Yuhan Huang
University of Technology Sydney
Dr Huang’s research interests include hydrogen energy, carbon capture and utilisation, air pollution, urban planning, urban heat island, and computational fluid dynamics | Research Project: Synergy of carbon capture, waste heat recovery and hydrogen production for heavy industry decarbonisation | Host University: Oxford University, UK; Poznan Insitute of Technology and Poland University of Technology, Poland | Fellowship status: Complete
Dr Hao Liu
University of Technology Sydney
A/Prof Hao Liu is an ARC Future Fellow at UTS with interests in the research fields of electrochemistry, nanotechnology and energy storage and conversion | Research Project: High-entropy nanomaterials for efficient hydrogen production | Host University: University of Surrey, UK | Fellowship status: Complete
Dr Fatemeh Salehi
Macquarie University
Dr Salehi’s expertise is in the development of physical models for computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations of turbulent flows to advance new energy technologies for clean renewable fuels such as hydrogen and biomass | Research Project: Data-driven models for safe and reliable use of hydrogen | Host University: Surrey University, UK; Imperial College London, UK; KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden | Fellowship status: Complete
Dr Mahnaz Shafiei
Swinburne University of Technology
Dr Mahnaz Shafiei has extensive experience in nanomaterials, gas sensing techniques, and device fabrication | Research Project: Hydrogen Sensing and Safety | Host University: University of Bayreuth, Germany; University of Brescia, Italy; Institut de Combustion Aérothermique Réactivité et Environnement (ICARE), France; Simon Fraser University, University of Victoria and University of British Columbia, Canada | Fellowship status: In progress
Dr Helena Wang
University of Melbourne
Dr Wang's research interests focus on developing and characterising nanoporous materials for metal-air batteries and electrocatalytic applications | Research Project: Next Generation Solar to Hydrogen: Materials to Devices | Host University: National University of Singapore, Singapore | Fellowship status: In progress
Dr Quan (Sam) Xie
Curtin University
Dr Xie specialises in fluid-rock interactions, rock flow dynamics for applications in Underground Hydrogen Storage and CO2 Geological Storage | Research Project: Continuous Hydrogen Flow Dynamics in Microfluidics and Hydrogen Conditioned Grain-Scale Mechanics to Enable Underground Hydrogen Storage | Host University: University of Edinburgh, UK | Fellowship status: In progress
Dr Zongyou Yin
Australian National University
Zongyou’s research is interdisciplinary, encompassing AI-driven materials innovations, nano-to-atomic materials science, fundamental relationship among materials-structures-devices, and synergistic integration of multi-functions towards systems for energy conversion and storage, body-wearables and (opto)electronics | Research Project: Machine-learning aided design of electrolytic cells for water splitting | Host University: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Fellowship status: In progress
Round two fellows
Dr Saman Ashgari Gorji
Deakin University
Dr Ashgari Gorji has contributed to a number of projects funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Future Energy Exports (FEnEx) CRC, in collaboration with energy sectors stakeholders | Research Project: Integration of Solar-/Wind- based Microgrids with Hydrogen Cycle Systems | Host University: University of Sheffield, UK; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany | Fellowship status: Not yet commenced
Dr Shaun Chan
University of New South Wales
Dr Chan’s research focuses on combustion diagnostics in high-pressure, high-temperature environments and fire safety | Research Project: Renewable Hydrogen-Fuelled Engines for Carbon-Free Stationary Power Generation | Host University: Danmarks Teknisk Universitet, Denmark; Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai | Fellowship status: In progress
Dr Liyuan Fan
James Cook University
Dr Fan’s research interests focus on application of fuel cell technology, biomass gasification and gas cleaning technology to renewable energy systems founded by strong fundamentals in mathematical modelling and materials investigations | Research Project: Techno-Economic Analysis of Bio-Based Hydrogen Production in Gasifier-Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems: Exploring Dry Reforming Materials for Enhanced Performance and Cost Efficiency | Host University: Imperial College London, University of Oxford, University College London, Cardiff University and Swansea University, UK; Delft University of Technology, Groningen University, The Netherlands | Fellowship status: In progress
Dr Daniel Lane
CSIRO
Dr Lane’s research has supported the development of emerging renewable energy technologies, practical solutions for waste management problems, and processes that transform wastes into valuable materials | Research Project: Hydrogen combustion study | Host University: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Fellowship status: Not yet commenced
Dr Bin Lu
Australian National University
Dr Lu’s research interests include energy system modelling, renewable energy resource assessment, geographic information system algorithm development, electrical system design and power system analysis | Research Project: Industrial hydrogen storage for zero-carbon electricity grids support | Host University: Stanford University, USA | Fellowship status: Not yet commenced
Dr Lauren Macreadie
University of New South Wales
Dr Macreadie investigates metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) which are porous materials with incredibly high surface areas | Research Project: MOF for gas storage and separations | Host University: Northwestern University, USA | Fellowship status: Not yet commenced
Dr Nisa Salim
Swinburne University of Technology
Dr Salim’s research is focused on engineered materials and composites that provide multiple functionalities such as energy storage, structural health monitoring, and EMI shielding and structural performance | Research Project: 3D printing of 2D materials for efficient Hydrogen energy storage | Host University: University College London, University of Cambridge + Levidan Nanosystems Ltd, UK; University of Bayreuth, Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability, Germany; National University of Singapore, Singapore | Fellowship status: Not yet commenced
Dr Mitchell Scovell
CSIRO
Part of Dr Scovell's research has specifically focused on applying new quantitative methods to better explain social licence/social acceptance in the context of the emerging hydrogen industry | Research Project: Social acceptance of hydrogen applications in the UK and Europe | Host University: University of Portsmouth, UK | Fellowship status: Not yet commenced
Dr Nic Surawski
University of Technology Sydney
Dr Surawski has significant experience with the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions, criteria pollutants and also unregulated emissions species with a major focus on particle phase species | Research Project: Constraining the role of the hydrogen economy on global climate, air quality, and health outcomes | Host University: Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC), Germany | Fellowship status: In progress
Dr Mohesen Talei
University of Melbourne
Dr Talei’s research involves a significant use of high-performance computing to develop predictive tools for designing cleaner gas turbines and reciprocating engines | Research Project: Advancing hydrogen technologies using high fidelity simulations | Host University: University of Cambridge, UK | Fellowship status: Complete
This project received grant funding from the Australian Government.
Australian Hydrogen Research Network
The Australian Hydrogen Research Network (AHRN) is a community of researchers and interested stakeholders supporting the emerging hydrogen industry, founded by the CSIRO. By providing thought leadership, advocacy and research tools, the AHRN offers its members domestic networking opportunities as well as access to international collaborations.
The inaugural Australian Hydrogen Research Conference was held in February 2023, facilitated by the AHRN.
The report Australia’s critical hydrogen research questions was produced based on panel discussions and attendee feedback.
The next Australian Hydrogen Research Conference will be held on 4 - 6 September 2024. Details are available on the AHRN website.