Latest Events

Speaker: Arthur van Benthem (Wharton School) 

Arthur van Benthem is an Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Wharton. He is also the Faculty Co-Director of the Wharton Climate Center. His research specializes in environmental and energy economics. His recent work studies the unintended consequences of environmental legislation and the economic efficiency of energy policies. His current research focuses on markets for transportation, renewable energy, and oil & gas.

EPRG Energy & Environment Seminars Easter Term 2024 Tuesdays fortnightly at 12.30-1.30pm (in-person) Please contact EPRG Administrator (eprgadm@jbs.cam.ac.uk) for further details

Chaired by Academy CEO Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, this Critical Conversation will discuss the nuclear technologies that can help achieve a decarbonised energy system by 2035, and the challenges faced in delivering them.

As the UK works towards a decarbonised energy system, what will the role of nuclear power be over the next decade or so? What new technologies will help deliver energy decarbonisation? And what challenges do we face in fully realising the technology's role? Join us on LinkedIn live, and submit your questions to our panel.

Guest speakers to be announced shortly.

Register to attend: https://raeng.org.uk/events/2024/april/what-s-next-for-nuclear-power-in-...

Critical Conversations series

Bringing together the thoughts of leading experts from across the Academy’s networks, our Critical Conversations explore issues of relevance to global professional engineering community and wider society. Fellows, awardees, and engineering partners gather to tackle topical issues of relevance to the global professional engineering community and wider society.

Catch up on all previous Critical Conversations here.

How has the energy security of the Baltic Sea region evolved since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and how can we secure these and other vital trading and supply networks in this new age of geopolitical competition and grey-zone conflict? This panel will discuss how the Baltic’s energy security has been challenged since 2022, and explore how countries across the region have had to adapt their energy consumption and supply habits in light of the changing strategic landscape. It will also investigate the historic and current role of navies in protecting trade and general commercial activity in the region. Join us as we hear from a distinguished panel of academic experts and senior naval officers to discuss this important and timely topic.

This event is organized in partnership with the Royal Navy and is one of three official side events as part of the First Sea Lord’s Sea Power Conference 2024. 

Register: https://www.cfg.polis.cam.ac.uk/events/sea-change-in-the-baltic-protecti...

SPEAKERS:

Dr Sidharth Kaushal is a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) specialising in sea power and missile defence. His research at RUSI covers the impact of technology on maritime doctrine in the 21st century and the role of sea power in a state’s grand strategy. Dr Kaushal holds a doctorate in International Relations from the London School of Economics, where his research examined the ways in which strategic culture shapes the contours of a nation’s grand strategy.

Commodore Andy James currently serves as a Deputy Director within the Defence Nuclear Organisation in London. He has over 25 years’ experience in the Reserves and the Royal Navy. His early career was focussed on seagoing roles in operational submarines deployed around the world. Since then, Commodore James has served on the staff at Britannia Royal Naval College and in headquarters roles, including at US Central Command, twice in Navy Command Headquarters, in UK Strategic Command and now in three different roles in the Ministry of Defence. He has an undergraduate engineering degree from Edinburgh University and post graduate qualifications including a Masters in International Security from Massey University, New Zealand and an MBA from Cranfield University. Commodore James is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology and was a First Sea Lord Fellow from 2022 to 2024.

Dr Izabela Surwillo is a Senior Researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), where her research focuses on international relations and energy security in the Baltic Sea region and Central and Eastern Europe. Dr Surwillo’s current work analyses the development of new energy infrastructure projects in the Baltic Sea region, and what role scientific knowledge and technical data play in the decision-making process and public communication around these projects. She also studies low-carbon energy transitions and wider political developments in Poland, Ukraine, and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Dr Surwillo holds a PhD in International Relations from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

Captain Brian Trim serves as Secretary to the Chiefs of Staff in the Ministry of Defence. He has over 30 years of experience in the Canadian, Australian, and British navies. A deep specialist in navigation, Captain Trim served extensively at sea until 2015 when he took up shore-based operational roles. He has an MA from King’s College London (War in the Modern World) and an undergraduate degree from St Mary’s, Halifax. Captain Trim completed an MPhil in Politics and International Studies at Cambridge (Clare Hall) last year as the Navy’s Mountbatten Fellow.

Dr Katja Yafimava is a Senior Research Fellow in the Gas Research Programme of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES). She has been an expert at the UNECE Group of Experts on Gas since January 2015, and was an expert at the EU-Russia Gas Advisory Council from 2012-16. Her main research areas include EU pipeline gas and LNG regulation, regulation of decarbonisation, and transit security of Russian gas exports to Europe. Dr Yafimava holds a DPhil in Geography and an MPhil in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Oxford.

CHAIR:

Trevelyan Wing is a Baltic Fellow at the Centre for Geopolitics and a Centre Researcher at the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG). His research focuses on the transition to net zero and evolving energy security issues. He is the recipient of a DAAD award from the German government and is a former Research Associate of the University of Heidelberg and Zukunftskolleg Fellow of the Heidelberg Center for the Environment. A native of New England, Trevelyan holds a BA from Dartmouth College, an MPhil from the University of Oxford, and is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge.

This event will be followed by a drinks reception.

We’re inviting business leaders, policymakers, academics, innovators, and pioneers to learn how to build and nurture a sustainability and circular economy culture within their organisation.

The circular economy model is considered an important enabler to achieving sustainability outcomes and tends to help shape sustainability strategies. Understanding how the circular economy works and how it can be implemented is pivotal to the success of the sustainability vision and mission of companies, industries, sectors, and the economy at large.

In Executive Education’s upcoming webinar, Khaled Soufani, Management Practice Professor of Financial Economics & Policy, and Dr Samsurin Welch, Cambridge Judge Associate, will discuss the most impactful circular solutions and topics that will be covered in the Sustainability and Circular Economy programme. Learn and assess the difference between a traditional economic model and the circular economic model in achieving sustainability goals.

To learn more about the programme and its content and learning objectives join us at our webinar and register below. There are two slots to choose from; one at 09:00 GMT and one at 15:00 GMT.

If you have any queries about this event or the programme please do not hesitate to reach out to Adriana Baciu, Sales and Business Development Manager, Open Programmes.

Register: https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/events/what-is-sustainability-and-circular-eco...

The School of Physical Sciences and School of Technology Research Relations Team invites you to an information session about the Wellcome Trust’s Discovery Research programme, especially designed for researchers in SPS and SoT.

The session will be presented by Sarah Lloyd, Senior Research Manager, Discovery Research, Wellcome. It will focus on exploring funding opportunities for physical sciences and technology research. Wellcome supports research from any discipline as long as it has the potential to improve human life, health and wellbeing, and aligns with Wellcome’s funding remit.

This is an excellent opportunity for those who are not very familiar with Wellcome to hear about the remit of its discovery research programme as well as key features of the schemes, review processes and topics such as exploring research culture in Wellcome applications.

There will be an initial overview of the Wellcome remit, followed by two sessions, one aimed at PIs and focused on Discovery Awards, and one aimed at postdocs and Early Career Researchers looking at Wellcome Fellowship schemes. We invite you to attend all or any parts you will find most useful.

When: Thursday 2nd May, 11am – 2.15pm

Where: Room East 1, West Hub, University of Cambridge, JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0US 

Who this is open to: This event is open to any researchers in the Schools of the Physical Sciences and Technology, and collaborators in other parts of the University.

How to register: Please complete the MS Teams registration form here by Wednesday 24th April.

Once signed up, please hold the time in your calendar; we will circulate a diary invitation to all registrants in due course.

Agenda:

11.00 – 11.15am              Arrival & welcome

11.15 – 11.45am              Overview of Wellcome remit – how technology and physical sciences fit into the discovery science portfolio.

11.45 – 12.15am              Focus session on Wellcome Discovery Awards – key features, review process, panels, research culture and other topics of interest

12.15 – 12.30pm             Q&A

12.30 – 1.15pm                Lunch and free networking

1.15 – 1.50pm                   Focus session on Fellowship schemes (Early Career Awards and Career Development Awards)

1.50 – 2.00pm                   View from a successful Fellow – Dr Mateo Sanchez Lopez (Dept. Chemistry)

2.00 – 2.15pm                   Q&A

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at SPSResearchFacilitator@admin.cam.ac.uk.