The PhD Integration Workshop is an annual event that introduces our new first-year Sustainable Energy Systems PhD students to energy research in the MIT Portugal Program. Coming together for the first time as a cohort, they have an opportunity to interact with each other as well as with the more senior students and faculty in the context of workshops, research presentations, and social events. This year’s program took place in Lisbon over the course of a full week in mid-November, distributed between venues on the IST Almeda campus, the University of Lisbon campus, and ISEG.
MIT faculty and researchers who participated were Prof. John Fernandez, Prof. Joel Clark, Prof. David Marks, Stephen Connors, and Ned Spang. They were joined during the week by students from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), the School of Economics and Management (ISEG), the University of Coimbra, the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL), and the University of Porto, and Portuguese professors Carlos Silva (IST), João Serra (FCUL), Antonio Vallera (FCUL), Miguel Brito (FCUL), Isabel Proença (ISEG), Luis Dias (Coimbra), and Antonio Martins (Porto). About 40 students from the four participating Portuguese universities were present. On several days students further along in the PhD program joined the first-year students.
The week started at IST with a welcoming address by Prof. David Marks and opening presentation about the Green Islands project by Stephen Connors. The seminars scheduled during the week, including those offered by John Fernandez (Research Methodology) and Joel Clark (Entrepreneurship), were very well received. In addition to the seminars, there were group exercises and activities around the application of methodologies and development of research proposals. Research presentations from the Portuguese faculty and some of the senior MPP energy students focused on the four main themes of Smart Grids, Green Islands, Urban Metabolism and Smart Buildings.
The final workshop on Friday included many of the continuing PhD Students (2nd, 3rd and 4th years), who provided a lot of advice and guidance to the entering students about their particular research clusters as well as the challenges of the PhD process in general. These interactions were well-received, as one first-year student, Ahmad Karnama, noted the value for new students “to know more about the research being carried out by senior students in the program.”
The workshop was very successful. The first-year PhD students received an in-depth introduction to ongoing research topics within the Sustainable Energy Systems focus area of MPP, and had the opportunity to network with faculty and other students across all the participating universities. “This is quite important because it is through these events that a strong network of researchers and future entrepreneurs is created,” commented Andreia Carreira, a first year PhD student from Coimbra. “It’s something that stays for life.”
The students in Portugal particularly appreciated the opportunity to interact more closely with the MIT faculty. “The MIT team that participated was an important asset for the group,” noted FCUL PhD student Zeus Zamora. “The professors were really open for conversation and provided the group with new insights and enthusiasm.”
Students Collaborate at SES Research Integration Workshop
