The Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action is pleased to announce that it will host a PhD master class event on 27 May. This event is intended for PhD students who are working on or interested in energy and climate issues, or who aspire to engage with pressing global issues in their research. The class will be an opportunity for students to learn new research approaches, discuss methodological questions and receive feedback on their research projects and ideas.

The event’s principal instructor will be Prof Imre Szeman (University of Waterloo, Canada), a leading scholar in the energy humanities – an emerging field of humanities research into the cultural, social and ethical aspects of energy issues. With Prof Szeman, we will explore various ways in which academic work can engage with the problems our society faces and contribute to their solutions. We will also learn how the climate crisis is reconfiguring academic disciplines, creating a new interdisciplinary mode of research in response to the planetary-scale crisis. The event’s moderators will be Prof John Barry and Dr Hiroki Shin.

The master class will consist of short talks, a Q&A session, a PhD poster presentation and a lunch social.

PhD poster presentation is open for any QUB PhD students conducting research on sustainability, equality and climate action. The purpose is to provide an opportunity for PhD researchers to present and discuss their research findings and ideas in a non-competitive, in-person environment.

Registration is required, and we accept registration from any PhD student from any school/discipline enrolled in QUB. There is no obligation for participants to present posters; however, they are strongly encouraged to do so. (See Guidelines for the Presentation of Posters below.)

Timetable

10.00–10.15 Welcome

10.15–10.30 Introduction by Imre Szeman

10.30–11.30 Q&A

11.30–12.15 Poster Presentations

12.15–13.30 Poster and Social Lunch

Prof Imre Szeman is University Research Chair of Environmental Communication and Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo. Prof Szeman is the co-founder of the Petrocultures Research Group and one of the founders of the energy humanities. His publications include: After Oil (2016), Energy Humanities: An Anthology (2017) and On Petrocultures: Globalization, Culture, and Energy (2019).

Guidelines for the Presentation of Posters:

Any PhD student in any discipline can present a poster as long as the subject of presentation clearly falls within the SECA's research fields – sustainability, equality and climate action:

• Sustainability: the adaptation, mitigation and resilience measures needed for a transition to a low carbon, regenerative society which will limit the impacts on future generations while
• Equality: exploring inclusive solutions which lead to truly just and equal economies and societies.
• Climate Action: addressing the planetary emergency and climate crisis concentrating on the creation of climate resilient communities at all levels of society.

The poster may comprehensively represent your research to date, a central theme of your research or indeed a very specific aspect of your research that you are keen to present.

This event is an excellent opportunity for PhD researchers to gain meaningful experience in presenting their work. In this regard, presenters are expected to attend their posters at the event for Q&A.

Further guidance on constructing posters can be found here. 

Please Note: presenters are responsible for printing their posters (preferably A0 but other formats are also acceptable) and bring them to the venue on the day.

Further guidance on the installation of posters will be given closer to the date.

If you have special requirement (accessibility, the use of objects/AV etc.), please let the organisers know in advance.

For any enquiries regarding the event, please contact h.shin@qub.ac.uk