Secondment opportunities

We supported six paid energy policy secondments for PhD and early career researchers working in the social sciences and humanities.

The core purpose of these secondments was for new voices to participate in dialogue with key policy players around tangible social sciences and humanities questions.

Each secondment lasted for six weeks during January–March 2019. They were part of the UKERC-funded Energy-PIECES project, and run by ARU's Global Sustainability Institute and the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Science & Policy.

Our secondment opportunities were as follows:

• Secondment #1: Options for a new model of energy industry governance (UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy)
• Secondment #2: The social dimensions of moving away from gas cookers and hobs’ OR ‘How can transition research inform heat decarbonisation policy? (UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy)
• Secondment #3: The role of public energy advice in transitioning towards a low carbon, decentralised energy system with lower levels of fuel poverty (Energy Saving Trust)
• Secondment #4: How local authorities can support and promote citizens’ involvement in energy systems (Energy Cities)
• Secondment #5: Exploring the socio-economic impact of nationally significant energy infrastructure projects (EDF Energy)
• Secondment #6: Achieving inclusive rural electrification: policy and regulatory options for improving the effectiveness of mini-grids in developing countries 

Outputs

Following successful completion of the placements, each of the secondees produced a written report, supported by their placement supervisors. These reports are available on the UKERC website, along with a report consolidating learnings from the project on what makes a successful secondment or placement within a policy-making institution. Read the reports here.