Summer school on renewable energy provides broader understanding
The NorRen Summer School on energy production and consumption unites PhD candidates from various disciplines, providing them with new insights and creating the basis for future collaborations in renewable energy.
Hovedinnhold
This year the University of Bergen (UiB), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the University of Oslo (UiO) had the pleasure of gathering 29 PhD candidates working within the field of energy to the 2021 interdisciplinary NorRen Summer School on energy production and consumption.
The summer school took place in Bjørnafjorden outside of Bergen, with an overall focus on energy production and consumption with a particular emphasis on the increased integration of energy end-use and supply sectors with one another. The participants were also given an insight into legal and financial framework conditions of the new emerging technologies.
The PhD candidates were all from Norwegian universities (UiB, NTNU, UiO, USN, HVL, UiT, NMBU and UiA) and from a diverse spectre of disciplines. The majority of the students come from international backgrounds.
The programme included perspectives from academia, the private sector and decision makers in the public sector and the PhD candidates attended lectures from experts in the field of energy systems, energy production, energy consumption and energy storage. Mid-week the participants visited Midtfjellet Windpark and Aker Solutions at Stord.
One of the most important things about the summer school is its collaborative educational environment—participants worked in interdisciplinary groups throughout the week on a topical project and presented their work on the last day of the summer school.
Energy in a larger context
“The NorRen Summer School offers our PhD-students an opportunity to view their own research from a new perspective and get a broader understanding of how their research fits as part of a larger context” says Kristin Guldbrandsen Frøysa, Energy Director at UiB and member of the NorRen organising committee.
PhD-student Mirjam Dyrhovden Fjell from the Department of Physics and Technologies at UiB found it both an interesting and inspiring experience:
“I really enjoyed participating in the NorRen Summer School. The lectures were interesting and covered a wide range of topics, with committed lecturers and great discussions. It was both instructive and inspiring to meet other Ph.D. students with various backgrounds and from various disciplines. The mix between lectures, group work, the excursion and social activities was very good,” says Fjell. "
PhD-student Christina Gkini, of the UiB Climate and Energy Transition strategy, made the following reflections about the summer school:
"The NorRen Summer School was a fantastic opportunity for learning about the many facets of energy production and consumption! We were presented with an excellent mix of lectures from numerous academic disciplines, as well as perspectives from the private and public sector. Moreover, site visits, and the exciting interdisciplinary group work made the summer school a very rewarding experience.
Both the lectures and the discussions with fellow PhD candidates helped me reflect on aspects of my own work and to see how it fits in “the bigger picture”. I left the Summer School with a deeper understanding of the complexity of the energy system and how multiple components interact in our path to energy transition. Those pose numerous challenges but also present exciting opportunities for the future. Interdisciplinary learning spaces, such as the NorRen Summer School are extremely important for our way forward." says Gkini
PhD student Sajjad Ahmadigoltapeh from the Department of Geosciences at the University of Oslo was another participant. He found the program interesting and useful:
“NorRen summer school is a good opportunity to learn about all the related aspects of energy. For instance, before attending NorRen summer school, I was unaware of the connection between energy and psychology, economics and law. Now, I have learned that energy may influence every aspect of life.” says Ahmadigoltapeh.
Vebjørn Bakken, Director of UiO:Energy and member of the NorRen organizing committee was is impressed by the participants at the summer school:
“It is a hectic and packed week. We provide the framework, but it’s really the students themselves that make the summer school a success. I’m really impressed by the effort they put into it. There were lots of questions and very active dialogue with all the lecturers, and the more informal exchanges continued long into the evening.” says Bakken
NorRen Summer School 2021
Participants from: UiB, NTNU, UiO, USN, HVL, UiT, NMBU and UiA
The NorRen Summer School is a colaboration between University of Oslo (UiO), University of Bergen (UiB) and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
For more information about this year's summer school, please have a look here
