The week's journey:

🔹 Norway's energy history w/ Assoc. Prof. Marius Korsnes（马力）(NTNU)
🔹 Feminist materiality w/ Prof. Zoran Lee Pecic (NTNU)

Tuesday: 

🔹 Pop-up signing event for Inga Strümke (NTNU)’s award-winning book Maskiner Som Tenker (“Machines That Think”)
🔹 AI-enabled futuring w/ Prof. Marit Haldar (OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University - DIGIT research school)

🔹 AI- tool for imagining the future w/ Lois Blackwell & Franziska Pilling

Franziska Pilling (The Manchester Metropolitan University) 

🔹 How AI Empowers Engineering Innovations: A Theoretical Analysis, Dazhou Wang, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
🔹 Clean stoves research with Assoc. Prof. Hong Wei (Tsinghua University)
🔹 Audio methods with Prof. Scott Knowles (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology - KAIST)

🔹 Questions of gender, technology, and clerical labor with Jingwei Wu (Tsinghua University)

🔹 Field visits to Lian Gård & Svartlamoen, having vegan lunch with Tony Jacobsen (Jacobsen & Svart) and Julius Maske (Storbuan Gård)
🔹 Degrowth perspectives with Prof. Max Koch (Lund University)

These represent unprecedented collaboration across 17+ nationalities & 12+ institutions including:

• Norwegian University of Science and Technology

• Institute of Science Tokyo

• Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)

• Tsinghua University

• University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)

• Oslo Metropolitan University DIGIT School

• Manchester Metropolitan University 

• Monash University's Emerging Technologies Research Lab & FUTURES Hub

• ​​University of Sussex

• University of Pisa

• Sciences Po Paris

• Universitat de Barcelona

• University of Ostrava

• Lund University

40 international and local PhD students and lecturers together with Dean and Prof. Tianfu Wang of the School of Sociology at Tsinghua University to Trondheim - NTNU Dragvoll Campus for this year’s INTPART-SOMAT 1st PhD School on Sociomaterial Transformations, led by two “STAR” scholars: Assoc. Prof. Marius Korsnes（马力）(co-PI) & Prof. Roger A. Søraa (co-PI) at the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, with a broad representation on the 16th-20th of June - from Norwegian to our Asian partners and beyond. SOMAT project is funded by the Research Council of Norway Norges forskningsråd, 

Our Tokyo partner Prof. Kayoko Nohara set us a good example over the last 2 years in Tokyo for the project kick-off & the Graduate School. Since the beginning, we were lucky to receive support from the Norwegian Ambassador (Designate, at that time) to Japan, Ms. Kristin Iglum, Norwegian Embassy in Tokyo - ノルウェー大使館, who opened the kick-off 2023, thanks to assistance from Innovation Norway Head of Japan: Ms. Marianne Støren Berg. Benedicte Løseth from The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills and Ms. Marianne Støren Berg came to the end of the student presentations and held a trilateral meeting. 

SOMAT builds world-class research partnerships and academic environments in Norway through long-term collaboration for research and Higher Education. Besides key partners Institute of Science Tokyo, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Tsinghua University (THU), and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), including several PhD students from European countries and Australia e.g., AUTOWORK collaborator, Emerging Technologies Research Lab & FUTURES Hub, Monash University led by Prof. Laureate Professor and Director Sarah Pink. 

A few extra motivated MA students, including one from Science Tokyo, and one visiting student from our UTFORSK mobility program, PI Assoc. Prof. Jennifer Branlat and her collaborator Prof. Kumi Yoshihara from Ochanomizu University in Tokyo.

The Dean of Humanities received a special gift, an ancient timekeeping instrument known as the sundial, from Dean and Professor Tianfu Wang of the School of Sociology at Tsinghua. It directly reflects the passage of time and constantly reminds teachers and students that "every moment should be cherished" - time is the most precious wealth.

Monday’s program offered insights into Norway’s long and complex energy history in a lecture by Assoc Prof. Marius Korsnes, and an introduction to feminist materiality by Prof. Zoran Pecic (KULT) The students were then invited to present their PhD projects, introducing us to diverse perspectives from a wide array of scientific fields and cultural contexts. 

On Tuesday, a special pop-up book signing event was organized by INTPART SOMAT Project for our NTNU colleague Assoc.Prof. Inga Strümke’s award-winning book Maskiner Som Tenker (“Machines That Think”), which has topped bestseller lists and received the prestigious Brage Prize in 2023 for its accessible, insightful exploration of AI, from its technical foundations to ethical and societal impacts. Beyond academia, Inga is a prominent public voice calling for stronger AI regulation and democratic oversight, cautioning against both fear-driven narratives and uncritical adoption of powerful AI systems. She has recently finished performing in her theatre play Mennesket og Maskinen (“The Human and the Machine”) at Trondheim’s Nye Hjorten Theatre, supported by the Reitan Eiendom. 

Following Inga’s heartkicking event, the program offered a rich and interdisciplinary lineup of lectures: from AI-enabled futuring with Prof. Marit Halder (OsloMet DIGIT School) to clean stove initiatives in Yan’an, China with Assoc. Prof. Hong Wei (Tsinghua University); to audio-based research methods with Prof. Scott Knowles (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology); and to questions of gender, technology, and clerical labor with Jingwei Wu (Tsinghua University). This diverse range of perspectives reflects NTNU’s commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue and invites you to see your own work through new and challenging lenses. 

In the evening, we held a special dinner reception at Grafen, where key collaborators and outstanding students of the SOMAT project shared great conversations over a delicious meal made with locally sourced ingredients. We are proud to have been able to share a bit of Trondheim’s unique food culture, and even give our guests the opportunity to try the Norwegian specialty brunost. 

On Wednesday, students visited two key locations in Trondheim that will serve as case study sites for the PhD projects: Lian Gård and Svartlamoen. Each site presents unique challenges at the intersection of SOMAT’s central themes — sustainability, diversity, and digitalization. Over a delicious and enlightening lunch at Stammen Café, we were joined by Tony Jacobsen of local coffee roastery Jacobsen & Svart, who passionately shared his vision for sustainable coffee culture and food systems. Julius Maske also introduced us to his work at Storbuan Gård, highlighting his holistic, farm-to-table approach that connects agriculture with community wellbeing. 

Thursday started with an inspiring lecture on degrowth by Prof. Max Koch from Lund University, providing insightful perspectives on how we may study degrowth theoretically and empirically. The rest of the day was reserved for group work, in which the students continued working on their cases. It has been truly inspiring to see how students from different academic and cultural backgrounds can work together to solve locally situated issues here in Trondheim, embodying SOMATs aims for interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaboration.  

Last day, the groups presented the results of their projects in a format of their choice, and their reflections on how we may solve the issues presented in the cases.