Clean energy workshop for ECRs: promote your work and prepare excellent research proposals

Within the research project Science 4 Clean Energy, funded by the European Commission and coordinated by Prof. Alberto Striolo and Prof. Adrian Jones (UCL) as well as by Prof. Paolo Capuano (University of Salerno), specific attention has been given to the training and empowering of Early Career Researchers (ECRs) involved in R&D activities for the sub-surface geo-energy sector. 

In this regard, on the 30th of January 2020, 14 ECRs from across Europe gathered in London at the Wellcome Collection to learn “How to promote themselves and their work!” as a first session to start the day. The coach, facilitator and trainer Tracy Bussoli delivered a 2-hour presentation where the participants discovered the concept of Career Management and what it involves. They understood that their personal values and soft skills apply at work, both in academia and the industry, as well as during interviews. They also appreciated the importance of social platforms such as LinkedIn. One of the participants said on the after-workshop survey:

During the second session of the workshop, the participants were asked to “think about new proposal ideas related to geo-energy operations”. They were coached by successful professionals, experts in their respective fields: project management, scientific coordination and proposal writing. The experts were all UCL professionals: Edyta Kostanek, Teaching Fellow in Project Management, School of Management, Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Nick Hazel, RAE Visiting Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Laura Fenner, Senior School Research Facilitator for the BEAMS School, Dr. Juliet Ellis, Proposal Manager, European Research & Innovation Office. 

A talented multi-disciplinary group of 13 ECRs (8 females and 5 males) took on the challenge and collaborated forming four groups to brainstorm and propose new research ideas. They were asked to go through all the main stages of proposal preparation, had the chance to discuss with experts, and prepared a ‘sales pitch’. The event was really intense:  each group had 20min discussions with each expert, followed by 1-hour to prepare their presentations, and finally pitching their proposals to a panel of experts in 15 minutes. 

What proposals ideas did the ECRs pitched? 

• Proposal 1 - Securing societal progress while reducing environmental impact: this group proposed a project called “Science for Clean Air”. Carbon mineralisation is a novel technology for the permanent storage of CO2. This group aimed to identify the most suitable CO2 injection locations for the initial deployment of the technology. This project idea is actually the continuity of S4CE.
   
• Proposal 2 - Public acceptance of geologic operations: this group developed an educational/dissemination project titled “Geo Education Objectives” (GEO), to create a protocol to educate the general public regarding the perception of risks related to operations concerning the exploitation of geo-energy resources.
   
• Proposal 3 - New technologies for the energy sector: this group proposed a project to develop a novel state-of-the-art machine learning algorithm to optimize site operations and minimize risks, leading to an increase in technologic and economic feasibility of subsurface operations. 
   
• Proposal 4 - The life-energy-geology nexus: what opportunities lie ahead? The final proposal pitched tackled the clean extraction of rare earth elements from geothermal waste water by making the most of the already-existing processes in geothermal exploitation.

Members of the panel deliberated on the strengths and the winning team on “New technologies for the energy sector” gave an excellent presentation describing an ambitious, innovative and detailed project plan. The group of four ECRs was awarded the early bird registration to the Goldschmidt Conference 2020, which is part of S4CE dissemination activities!