Education
Because of the close co-operation with NTNU, education is an important part of FFF's research programme. 6 professors take part in the projects, and students' work for MSc-theses and particulary for PhD-theses accounts for about half of FFF's research activity. Since 1989 15 students have graduated as PhDs (in Norwegian dr.ing.).
At present 9 more students are working for their PhD. 4 of these students have planned to graduate in 2000, 1 student in 2001, 2 in 2002 and 2 in 2003. FFF are giving educational grants as well as covering all expenses for the research activities.

Projects
The research programme is aimed at supporting the education of PhD-students within ferroalloy processes and products as well as general research of interest to all the Norwegian ferroalloys producers. Most of the projects have been carried out by SINTEF Materials Technology, Dept. of Process Metallurgy and Electrochemistry in co-operation with The Division of Metallurgy at The Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTNU). One exception is the project "Silicon as a raw material for the chemical industry", which is carried out at The Division of Inorganic Chemistry at NTNU. Highlights from the projects are given on the following projects.

Some of the present and completed projects are:

• Plasma process technology.
• Mathematical model for the Si-metal process.
• Modelling electric AC-arcs.
• Slag processes, manganese and chromium based ferroalloys.
• Thermodynamics of ferroalloys.
• Coal in the electric reduction furnace in the production of silicon and silicon-rich ferroalloys.
• Characterization of products.
• Dissolution of ferroalloys in steel.
• Foundry alloys.
• Clogging of ferrosilicon furnace gas off-takes.
• Ferroalloys production and the environment.
• CO2 and ferroalloys.
• Silicon as a raw material for the chemical industry.