Energy-PIECES

Two people walking on a hillside with wind turbines seen in the distance

Our Energy-PIECES project created policy opportunities for PhD and early career researchers working in the energy-related social sciences and humanities.

We achieved this through two main activities: 

  • an energy policy masterclass on how social sciences and humanities can better connect with energy policy(making), held in Cambridge on 10 December 2018.
  • a set of six-week energy-SSH policy secondments, which took place during 2019.

There was funding available for both of these activities.

For far too long, there has been an overt policy focus on gathering evidence and insights from the more technical energy disciplines. Traditionally, there have also been far fewer opportunities and mechanisms for researchers nearer the start of the careers to engage with policy organisations and their agendas. This project dovetailed nicely with the Global Sustainability Institute's co-ordination of the European Commission’s Platform for the energy-related Social Sciences & Humanities (SHAPE ENERGY).

Energy-PIECES (Energy Policy Insights from Early Career Events and Secondments) was co-ordinated by ARU's Global Sustainability Institute (GSI), alongside The University of Cambridge’s Centre for Science & Policy (CSaP). It was funded by the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), via the UK Energy Research Centre’s (UKERC) Whole Systems Networking Fund.