Training Activities

Our Training Philosophy

Smart-BEEjS project has designed a Researcher Development Framework (RDF) to enable our ESRs to enhance their research ability and foster awareness of cultural and gender issues, creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking, thus their ability to face current and future challenges. The aim is to develop researchers who demonstrate three complementary professional dimensions: (a) deep disciplinary knowledge and experience; (b) ability to synthesise and exchange ideas and arguments at interdisciplinary audiences; and, (c) ability to convert knowledge and ideas into concepts for economic and social benefit as active stakeholders of the entire energy ecosystem.

Each element of the Smart-BEEjS RDF is connected through a series of specific personal attributes.

3rd Smart-BEEjS Winter/Spring School (Hybrid)

7th Feb – 27th May 2022, Wageningen University (WUR), Netherlands and Nottingham Business School (NBS), United Kingdom

The 3^rd Smart-BEEjS Winter School aims to disseminate and explore achievements across the Smart-BEEjS project and initiate training in relationship of developing the future career of the ESRs.

2nd Smart-BEEjS Winter School (Virtual)

18th Jan – 19th March 2021, Nottingham Business School & Technische Universität Wien

The 2nd Smart-BEEjS Winter School (virtual) provides action-based training that supports the design and development of key deliverables of the project, enhance the analytical skills of the ESRs and introduce planning and foresight techniques. Furthermore, the ESRs get familiar with different communication techniques to disseminate and communicate scientific results to a variety of audiences, with a variety of media.

Smart-BEEjS Research Kick-off Meeting

3rd Feb – 21st Feb 2020, University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), Lisbon, Portugal

The 1st Smart-BEEjS Winter School builds a wider innovative mindset by exposing our researchers to the wider global challenges, such as Energy Justice through a multiple set of workshops. In parallel the Winter School provides a physical platform of collaboration among the ESRs based on Peer-to-Peer and action-based training under the Systems Thinking methodology, practicing in different real-life cases utilising the Living Lab concept.

1st Smart-BEEjS Winter School

25th – 29th November 2019, Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias, S.A. Pozo Izquierdo, Gran Canaria (Spain)

This 5-day event initiates the Smart-BEEjS research community. Individual and collective actions are introduced and positioned under the context of the wider societal, political, economic and technological challenges.

Academic and Research Skills – Seminar Series

These seminars focus on a wide range of research methods relating to data collection, data analysis and forward thinking, defined by the Soft Systems Methodology needs of the project. These are enriched the baseline PhD training that each ESR receives at their local university.

Transferable Skills – Seminar Series

These seminars address wider aspects of research impact, e.g. influencing different audiences and stakeholders, addressing equality and gender issues, how to write bids for academic research grants, how to write bids for commercial contract research, and how to organise research-oriented and practitioner-oriented events that make an impact, and how to communicate with academic and non-academic communities.

Empowering Global Citizens – Seminar Series

This part of the training transforms our researchers from residential researchers to active global citizens. The themes cover global questions on sustainability and wider issues on policies, regulations, government activities and supra-governmental institution activities (e.g OECD, World Bank, UN).