An Inaugural Energy Centres for Doctoral Training Student Conference

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The Centres of Doctoral Training (CDTs) are the research-training flagship initiative for EPSRC/NERC. In these centres students are recruited into cohorts and receive high-level specialist training in areas of strategic importance to UK. Within these there are nine identifiable as having an energy focus.One criticism of CDTs is that they are overly specialist and there is a danger that students may not develop an overview of energy necessary to bring their particular specialism to the complex problem of modernising the UK's energy system. To remedy this we are seeking to organise a two-day invited conference in which the student cohorts will have the opportunity to meet and to form inter-CDT teams to competitively develop solutions to the problem of decarbonising the UK's low-grade heat network. The teams will need to pool different technologies and produce solutions that will be assessed by high-profile energy experts. During this process they will have access to consultancy specialists in the areas of finance, law and policy. Thus the students will not only gain experience in systems thinking but also in the broader skills necessary to develop and implement new energy technologies.This conference will also introduce our external expert consultants to the CDT structure, thus raising its overall profile. We will be actively seeking new methods for introducing new 'additional' skills into energy CDT training programmes