Newsletter MSc & PhD Education NL
March 2015
Spring is around the corner! The March equinox on the 21st marks the beginning of springtime. The
days are getting longer, temperatures are slowly rising and flowers are starting to blossom. We hope
you are enjoying the sunny days and at the same time remember that we have to fight against the
results of a climate change!
In this newsletter you can find updates of upcoming events, the Pre-Journey, PhD thematic summer
school, ClimateLaunchpad 2015, the last PhD Day, the last SPARK! lecture, an internship opportunity, a
vacancy and a mobility showcase.
We would like to remind you that when MSc students finish a complementary course they have to send
a copy of the transcript to the Climate-KIC Education Coordinator of their University and to Nies
Springer. Please remember that you can find all contact details of the Dutch Education Team here or
by clicking on the following link: http://www.climate-kic.nl/team/.
Also, don't forget to regularly check out our website (www.climate-kic.nl) for templates, news and
updates.
Enjoy spring!
The Dutch Education Team
Agenda March/April 2015:
* 27 March: Deadline application Climate-KIC Master Label
For more information please check our website www.climate-kic.nl
* 9 April (18:00 to 21:00): Greenhouse meeting
Location: Wageningen and Research Centre. ATLAS, Building 104, room B107. Droevendaalsesteeg 4.
6708 PB Wageningen.
Pre-Journey workshops
6 and 13 June
In June we are organizing two pre-journey
workshops. Master and PhD students who will attend the Journey this year can
choose one of the two dates to attend a pre-journey workshop. Please note
that the content of both workshops are the same.
When: Saturday 6 June and Saturday 13 June
Location: Atlas building. Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708 PB. Wageningen
Timing: 10:45 to 16:00
Important: Please email Franky Tai (franky.tai@climate-kic.org) before 16
March indicating which of the two dates you will be attending the prejourney workshop.
PhD thematic summer school
Save the dates
All PhD students, please save the dates for our PhD thematic summer school
2015:
* "BioEconomy and Land and Water Management and Engineering Summer
School": 27 July- 7 August, Copenhagen
* "Green City Frankfurt: Shaping transition pathways for a future economy",
(linked to Making Transitions Happen and Industrial Symbiosis platforms): 24
August - 4 September, Frankfurt
* "Design for Adaptation - Resilient Urban Communities" (linked to
Adaptation Services platform): 7 September - 26 September, Bologna
As you might remember, the PhD summer school is a compulsory element of
the PhD label programme. Students are free to choose the thematic summer
school that fits best their research topic and their platform affiliation. Usually,
PhD students embark on the PhD summer school in year 2 or 3 of their
research.
All summer schools will be practice-oriented, meaning that one of the learning
objectives will be to link individual research projects to real-life low carbon
innovation initiatives and on the ground challenges.
As soon as we have more info, we will share this with you.
Please note that after you finished the PhD thematic summer school, you need
to inform Nies Springer on which dates you were present.
ClimateLaunchpad 2015
Call for entries: Join Europe’s largest and most
exciting business idea competition
Does your business idea tackle climate change? And
do you dream of becoming an entrepreneur? Join Climate-KIC’s
ClimateLaunchpad, your ticket to European and global success.
We offer you a rousing ride to starting your own business:
• 2-day business Boot Camp;
• 6 Coaching Sessions where you’ll learn to find your target markets and turn
your idea into a business;
• a chance to pitch your idea in front of renowned national and international
juries.
Europe’s top-8 ideas win direct access to Climate-KIC Accelerator, the only EU
business acceleration programme focused on cleantech commercialisation. The
top-3 of the European Final win € 2,500 to € 10,000.
You can apply if you have a business idea about sustainability and you have
what it takes to become an entrepreneur. Your idea can be about an all-out
mind shift in urban mobility, a sustainable transition in the food chain or any
other way to tackle climate change. Even if your idea is still on the back of a
napkin, you’re most welcome to join.
For more information click here or check the following website:
http://climatelaunchpad.org/
Important: Closing date for The Netherlands: April 7th 2015.
PhD Day
Summary and photos
On 19 February we organized our yearly PhD Day for
our PhD students. The location was at Seat2Meet in
Utrecht. The aim was to strengthen our community and to support our PhD’s in
the translation of their research into societal value.
The morning started with an introduction of the Climate-KIC organisation and
the PhD programme by Martine van Veelen. Afterwards the students split in
two groups and during these sessions they presented their PhD project to their
peers.
In the afternoon trainer Jochum Jarigsma gave a workshop called 'Involving
stakeholders'. Topics such as entrepreneurship, influencing potential
customers, pitching, obtaining funding, human behavior and management
expectations were discussed. The PhD students were tasked with an exercise in
pairs, during which they had to practice the art of convincing and learning
techniques on what works and what doesn't.
Our students appreciated the organization of the PhD Day which allowed them
to network with peers and to obtain practical entrepreneurial advise that can
be put in practice immediately. "It was nice to meet with colleagues of other
universities", says Panagiotis Moriatis. "The advise that I appreciated the most
was that you just need to call a stakeholder, don't assume anything and plan
the next meeting", says Allard van Mossel.
If you want to have a closer look at our PhD students please click here or on
the following link: http://www.climate-kic.nl/phd-education/our-phdstudents/
Photos of the PhD Day can be found here or on the following link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/131036486@N02/sets/72157650874482479/
SPARK! lecture
Summary and audiovisuals
On 19 February we organized a SPARK! lecture for
our students at 'In De Ruimte' in Utrecht. The topic
of the event was 'Scenario Planning' by Ulrich Goluke, a world-renowned expert
in scenario-planning and system dynamics.
Ulrich gave a presentation on scenario planning (also called scenario thinking or
scenario analysis) which is a strategic planning method used to make flexible,
long-term plans. He explained among others the seven phases of scenario
planning. Scenarios can contain known facts about the future such as
demographics, geography, military, political, industrial information, and
mineral reserves, with key driving forces identified by considering social,
technical, economic, environmental and political trends.
After the lecture, students engaged in an interactive workshop around
sustainability and big data. There were four groups and each of them
brainstormed on different future scenarios. All groups made a presentation of
their group scenario planning. They described how we would live in such a
world and which possible business ideas there could be developed in this
scenario.
The atmosphere of the evening was truly vibrant with lots of energy in the
groups and good team working. Mexican food and drinks were served during the
evening. "I really enjoyed to be in an environment where everybody actively
participated in making this a productive evening" says student Roy Hendriks.
“Tonight was like a mini-journey”, says Anouk Vlug.
Photos of the SPARK! lecture can be viewed here or by clicking on the following
link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/131036486@N02/sets/72157651298845725/
You can have a look at the video of the presentation of Ulrich Goluke here or
clicking on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8QmUMjhKBA&feature=youtu.be
Internship opportunity
Starting 1 May 2015, duration 3 months
Interested in working with an early-stage company that is developing
gamechanging solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems? CO2i an
Oxford-based cleantech incubator is looking to recruit for two positions - one
focusing on communications and marketing and the other on business
development. Initially, these positions will be 3-month internships, and we
hope to convert them into permanent positions.
About CO2i
CO2i is a start-up working with start-ups. Lead by two experienced
entrepreneurs who share a commitment to addressing some of the world's most
pressing problems, it seeks to develop commercial solutions that draw on stepchange innovation.
For more information please click here or go to http://www.climatekic.nl/vacancies/
Vacancy
Freelance Editors Wanted
Valoriz, a new online European platform, is looking for
freelance journalists / editors. You will interview science researchers on
subjects ranging from biology, astronomy, sustainability to ICT.
For more information please click here or go to http://www.climatekic.nl/vacancies/
Mobility showcase
Bas van Vliet: My Mozambique experience
As part of my business internship of my Master
Science and Business Management (UU) I went
with the Climate-KIC Mobility Scholarship for 3 months to Mozambique,
executing research for the feasibility study of a start-up renewable bio-energy
project from the company Everest Energy. The goal of the project is to provide
Mozambican households with a more sustainable charcoal produced from high
efficiency and circular process technology with sustainable forestry resources,
thereby fostering a transition towards healthier cooking fuels.
Given the feasibility research it was of high importance to engage intensely
with several important stakeholders such as governmental agencies, embassies,
engineering and logistic firms, local community members, producers and so
forth. As this is a real start-up project, I have been doing entrepreneurial work
in a new, unfamiliar and highly exciting environment. This environment was
Mozambique, which is one of the poorest countries in the world, but also a
country with high potentials for renewable and clean energy development.
To mention only one out of many positive experiences I had, I went for
example for my market research to one of the main train stations in Maputo.
This was where the charcoal is unloaded from the train to be distributed
further into the municipal markets of capital city Maputo. At this place I saw
the real Mozambican charcoal businesses in action: many transporters and
charcoal producers selling many bags of charcoal to many wholesalers, retailers
and consumers and all at the same time. Having prepared a lot and assessing
the full value chain to investigate what the key potentials are for the start-up
business, seeing with my own eyes the contemporary business in full operation
has been very inspiring.
Having been for only 3 months in Mozambique I learned to familiarize myself in
a very short time with the unknown world I entered. Of course I faced from day
one onwards also some first challenges. However, I can definitely say that we
found the optimal levels and optimal combinations of all the key variables
involved to be able to really start-up the project. Further I can definitely say as
well, that from the point I started to engage fully with all key contacts in
Mozambique itself, everything started to work out increasingly smoothly. I have
just one main advice: when you are going to enter as a student-entrepreneur
the exciting and unknown new world of your Mobility location, try to engage as
soon as possible with all your key stakeholders and the entrepreneurial process
will start in your most beneficial way! In other words: Just start!
For some more insights about the project this link provides more information,
including a short photo impression of the fieldwork conducted:
www.everestenergy.nl/project-tasha-sustainable-charcoal-production-fromrenewable-biomass-in-mozambique