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Energy

Interdisciplinary Research Centre
 
  • 02May

    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.

  • 07May

    A free one-hour tour of the capabilities of the Royce Institute's 3D Bioelectronics Facility within the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge. Discover more about this open access equipment and Royce funding opportunities for your research.

    The Royce 3D Bioelectronics Facility is designed for physical scientists and engineers to test the interaction of 3D materials and bioelectronic devices with cells. Our focus is facilitating researchers, with limited access to cell biology equipment, in the fabrication and subsequent analysis of 3D-cell interfacing constructs.

    Cell-biological training provided at the 3D Bioelectronics Facility encourages networking between researchers from a range of disciplines. This facility is embedded within the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy to capitalise on their expertise. Equipment falls into six categories:

    • Ice-templating equipment to fabricate porous 3D materials from aqueous suspensions.
    • Cell culture equipment for growth and maintenance of cells in 3D culture.
    • Electrical acquisition equipment to analyse cell behaviour on novel materials and bioelectronic devices.
    • Simultaneous optical and electrical measurement of cells and materials via two-photon microscopy with integrated electrophysiology.
    • Apparatus to section 3D samples.
    • Equipment to transport live cell containing devices to and from the 3D Bioelectronics Facility.
    • This tour will give an overview of the capabilities of the 3D Bioelectronics Facility as well as information on booking, funding opportunities and the work of the Royce Institute.

    For more information about Royce Facilities at Cambridge please contact royce@maxwell.cam.ac.uk and see our full equipment listing at: https://www.maxwell.cam.ac.uk/programmes/henry-royce-institute

  • 07May

    Climate change and sustainability are social issues, to a large extent perpetuated by social, political, and economic systems that shape and govern our access to resources, livelihood possibilities, and capacity to change, as well as to utilise old and new technologies and livelihood practices in order to mitigate and adapt to new realities. Furthermore, the way we talk about and frame these issues also shapes how we conceive of solutions and our abilities as individuals and communities to act.

    Cambridge Zero and the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH) invite you to the Symposium 'Climate change is a social issue! taking place at the Alison Richard Building on the 7th May 2024.The symposium will bring into focus the impact and contributions the social sciences, arts, and humanities have had on climate and sustainability-related discussions, ranging from engaging communities and practitioners to instigate climate action; (re-)framing climate and environmental narratives, solutions, and technologies; allaying emotions of anxieties, grief and loss; contextualising the ‘place’, geographies, and politics of green transitions and climate-related negotiations; to creating usable and applied histories and archaeologies. Changing our understanding of climate change and sustainability issues, how they arose, and how they can exacerbate unjust transitions is a huge endeavour that is hard to quantify and hardly recognised, but has potentially huge social impacts.

    The symposium will feature a number of keynote presentations from senior Cambridge academics, and we are inviting submissions from Early Career Researchers (Cambridge Postdocs, PhD and Masters students) to present their research. The symposium aims is to highlight the necessity of social science, humanities, and arts research around climate change as well as to strengthen collaboration cross-disciplinary collaboration including with STEM disciplines, business, and others, in order to make social, policy, economic, and technological advances more impactful at local and national scales.

     

    Keynotes:

    We invite researchers to speak on (but not limited to):

    • Changing and re-framing climate narratives among communities, authorities, and policy makers
    • New frameworks that help communities, businesses, and authorities to adapt to new climate realities and increase access to resources
    • The impact of climate policies, systems, and technologies on politics, economics, and societies
    • The use, re-use, and (re-)invention of old and new social practices, livelihood strategies, infrastructure, and technologies to adapt and mitigate new climate realities
    • Localisation of climate and environmental change
    • Climate communication that makes the effects of climate and sustainability more tangible, relatable and experiential
    • Shaping perspectives on health through climate and vice versa
    • Barriers and solutions to sustainable and just net-zero transitions
    • Religious thought and practice as motivator, resistor and/or guide for climate engagement

    Cambridge Early Career Researchers can submit their abstract here!

  • 10May

    Speaker: Dr emke Nijsse, University of Exeter

    Abstract:

    Solar power has seen massive and unexpected growth over the last decade. It developed from a niche technology used by ambitious citizens to a utility-scale resource used all over the world. Net-zero plans across the globe aim for 2050 or 2060. Solar energy is the most widely available energy resource on Earth, and its economic attractiveness is improving fast in a cycle of increasing investments.

    During my talk, I will discuss a data-driven technology and economic forecasting model to establish which zero carbon power sources could become dominant worldwide. The simulation models seeks to explore likely future scenarios, based on historical trends, rather than exploring “least-cost” configurations of a future clean energy system, as is usually done in energy modelling.

    We find that, due to technological trajectories set in motion by past policy, a global irreversible solar tipping point may have passed where solar energy comes to dominate global electricity markets, without any additional policies directly supporting solar. Uncertainties arise, however, over grid stability in a renewables-dominated power system, the availability of sufficient finance in poorer economies and the capacity of supply chains. Policies resolving these barriers may be more effective than price instruments to accelerate the transition to clean energy.

    Bio:

    Dr. Femke Nijsse specializes in modelling climate, energy systems, and the economy. With a background in climate physics, they earned a Ph.D. in mathematics, focusing on multi-model comparisons and statistical techniques related to decadal variability, historical warming, and climate sensitivity. In energy research, Dr. Nijsse contributed to the Economics of Energy Innovation and System Transition project, informing energy policies in China, Brazil, India, the UK, and the EU. They improved the E3ME -FTT model’s power sector representation, using evolutionary economics for technology diffusion. Currently, they’re working on cascading tipping points across sectors and a stronger implementation of hourly supply and demand in E3ME -FTT.

  • 13May

    Talks from 1pm

    Short introduction to Royce Cambridge open access facilities and funding - Dr Andrew Dobrzanski.

    Followed by a talk from Vasilis Theofylaktopoulos, Business Development Manager from Heidelberg Instruments and a remote demonstration of the Nano AG.

    Finish with a Q&A session and an optional tour of Royce equipment in the Maxwell Centre.

    Summary

    E-beam and focused ion beam are the most common methods for achieving nanometer resolution patterning in research. They each come with their strengths and weaknesses. Join us to learn about Thermal Scanning Probe Lithography(tSPL). This method relies on a heated cantilever to sublimate the resist with sub 15 nm resolution. It allows for grayscale patterning and read-write capabilities. You can perform tSPL with the NanoFrazor and focus on your research in 2D materials, optics and photonics or biosensing.