The BIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP-BIT) attaches great importance to the international cultivation of talents, encouraging students to engage with the world’s top universities and research institutions to broaden their academic horizons and build cross-border research collaborations. Currently, more than ten doctoral students from the center are pursuing joint training at prestigious universities and research institutions across Europe, North America, Australia and other regions. Through active participation in international conferences, in-depth research group seminars and extensive academic exchanges, doctoral students absorb frontier knowledge and refine their research capabilities. The following is the latest update on overseas academic visits.
Academic Visit Updates
Chen Zheyi attended a thematic forum hosted by the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction at University College London (UCL) on January 28, titled Should the UK embrace air conditioning in the face of climate change?. Featuring expert presentations and panel discussions, the event explored the opportunities and challenges brought by the rapid proliferation of residential air conditioning from multiple perspectives, including power system capacity, climate adaptation strategies, energy burden and equity, and alignment with net-zero targets. By learning from perspectives of experts across different fields, Chen Zheyi gained a deeper understanding of the considerations for climate adaptation technologies in building and energy systems, as well as the policy trade-offs between low-carbon transition and equity.
In addition, from January 19 to January 29, Chen Zheyi successively participated in multiple pre-upgrade academic presentations for PhD candidates at the school. The topics covered areas including infrastructure project governance, project ecosystems and value creation, whole-life cycle coordination mechanisms for supply chains, and carbon assessment in building heating transition. Through exchanges with numerous PhD candidates in the field of sustainable construction on research design, methodological frameworks and scenario setting, Chen Zheyi deepened his understanding of research paradigms for carbon transition in complex projects, and also gained new insights into the requirements for phased doctoral assessments overseas, research norms and relevant academic planning options.
On January 27, Zhang Ruining attended the first Energy & Environment Seminar of this semester, where Peipei Chen, a postdoctoral researcher from the Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG) at the University of Cambridge, delivered a presentation titled Implementation gap in global power capacity expansion. On January 29, he took part in the PhD lunch network seminar at the Judge Business School, and exchanged views with doctoral students from other departments on research directions, research plans and career options. On January 30, he had a discussion with Professor Minna Sunikka-Blank from the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge, who focuses on household energy research. Zhang introduced his research ideas and received highly constructive feedback.
