All posts by Luisa Last

Professionals

Politics scholarship for academics – Prepare yourself and submit a successful science and policy application

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PSC Science and Policy Talk

On May 24, 2023, Dr. Sophie Girardin will share her experiences on how can you prepare for a career at the interface between science and policy? In the Science and Policy Talk series professionals working in different roles at the science and policy interface explain how they communicate research findings to have an impact on policies and give us insights in their career pathway.

Dr. Sophie Girardin holds a politics scholarship for academics. The scholarship of Scientific Policy Grants enables each year two graduates of Swiss universities to experience the political processes in the Swiss parliament by working for the Parliamentary Services in the Federal Palace in Berne. The scholarship recipients support the parliamentary legislative committees by joining the team of one of the committee secretary’s offices.

Your interested? Please register here.

Continue reading Politics scholarship for academics – Prepare yourself and submit a successful science and policy application →
Energy Transformation

Diversifying and scaling direct air capture for a net-zero future

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To meet net-zero targets by mid-century, gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year must be removed through direct air capture and storage (DACS). However, current deployment is low, requiring DACS technologies to be deployed at an unprecedented pace. The ETH Energy Blog post of RESPONSE fellow Katrin Sievert explores the two most advanced capture methods used in DACS, compares their scalability, and stresses the significance of investing in multiple technologies over the next decade instead of solely relying on existing approaches.

Read Katrin Sieverts’ Energy Blog article.

Katrin Sievert is currently a fellow in the RESPONSE Doctoral Programme (DP) «RESPONSE – to society and policy needs through plant, food and energy sciences» funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 847585.

Citation: Sievert, Katrin. “Diversifying and scaling direct air capture for a net-zero future”, Energy Blog @ ETH Zurich, ETH Zurich, February 28, 2022, https://blogs.ethz.ch/energy/diversifying-dacs

Featured photo is owned by Katrin Sievert.

Energy Transformation

Diversifying and scaling direct air capture for a net-zero future

Leave a comment

To meet net-zero targets by mid-century, gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year must be removed through direct air capture and storage (DACS). However, current deployment is low, requiring DACS technologies to be deployed at an unprecedented pace. The ETH Energy Blog post of RESPONSE fellow Katrin Sievert explores the two most advanced capture methods used in DACS, compares their scalability, and stresses the significance of investing in multiple technologies over the next decade instead of solely relying on existing approaches.

Read Katrin Sieverts’ Energy Blog article.

Katrin Sievert is currently a fellow in the RESPONSE Doctoral Programme (DP) «RESPONSE – to society and policy needs through plant, food and energy sciences» funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 847585.

Citation: Sievert, Katrin. “Diversifying and scaling direct air capture for a net-zero future”, Energy Blog @ ETH Zurich, ETH Zurich, February 28, 2022, https://blogs.ethz.ch/energy/diversifying-dacs

Featured photo is owned by Katrin Sievert.

Fellowships, Policy

Politikstipendien für Wissenschaftlerinnen oder Wissenschaftler

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Die Stiftung wissenschaftliche Politikstipendien vergibt per September 2023 zwei Politikstipendien für junge Wissen­schaftler­innen oder Wissenschaftler. Die Stipendien ermöglichen Abgängerinnen und Abgängern von Schweizer Hochschulen aller Fachbereiche und Disziplinen, die politischen Prozesse im Schweizer Parlament kennenzulernen. Für ein Jahr unterstützen Sie die Arbeit der Parlamentsdienste im Bundeshaus in Bern. Die Bewerbungsfrist läuft bis zum 13. März 2023. 

Mehr Informationen

Courses, Energy Transformation

ESC Summer School 2023: Energy Technology, Policy and Politics – how to build a net-zero GHG emissions energy system

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27. August – 1. September 2023, Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland

For more information and registration

This summer school of the Energy Science Center (ESC) is aiming to present an in-​depth understanding of the energy sector to early-​stage researchers from around the world. The theme of the summer school will be to address the following questions from a technical, economic and policy perspective:

  • How does the energy supply system function today and potentially in the future?
  • What are the main challenges and opportunities in achieving a net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions energy supply system?
  • How can needed investments in the energy system be realized?
  • How can policy accelerate the transition to a net zero energy system?
  • How can political ambition be increased or implement such accelerating policies?

The ESC is a collaborating competence center of the RESPONSE Doctoral Program .

Energy Transformation

America’s Inflation Reduction Act is asking too much of car manufacturers and electric vehicle supply chains

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America’s recently passed climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), provides strong support for accelerated adoption of clean vehicles in the US. Subsidies are generous for consumers looking to go electric, but only for vehicles that meet strict geographic requirements for critical mineral sourcing, battery manufacturing and vehicle assembly. Unabashedly, the US is seeking to shift the EV supply chain from China to North America, but at what cost?

RESPONSE fellow Bessie Noll discusses whether the isolationist IRA is the right move for the US and, more importantly, the climate.

Read Bessie Nolls’ Energy Blog article.

Bessie Noll is currently a fellow in the RESPONSE Doctoral Programme (DP) «RESPONSE – to society and policy needs through plant, food and energy sciences» funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 847585.

Citation: Noll, Bessie. “America’s Inflation Reduction Act is asking too much of car manufacturers and electric vehicle supply chains”, Energy Blog @ ETH Zurich, ETH Zurich, December 6, 2022, https://blogs.ethz.ch/energy/inflation-reduction-act/

Featured photo is ETH-licensed from Adobe Stock.

Energy Transformation

America’s Inflation Reduction Act is asking too much of car manufacturers and electric vehicle supply chains

Leave a comment

Response Doctoral Programme

America’s recently passed climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), provides strong support for accelerated adoption of clean vehicles in the US. Subsidies are generous for consumers looking to go electric, but only for vehicles that meet strict geographic requirements for critical mineral sourcing, battery manufacturing and vehicle assembly. Unabashedly, the US is seeking to shift the EV supply chain from China to North America, but at what cost?

RESPONSE fellow Bessie Noll discusses whether the isolationist IRA is the right move for the US and, more importantly, the climate.

Read Bessie Nolls’ Energy Blog article.

Courses

Getting Your Message Across: How to Make Yourself and Your Research Visible – RESPONSE Mentoring Workshop

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March 17, 2023, 9:00 – 17:00, ETH Zurich

In this workshop, participants will learn how to reach a wider audience with your topics and texts and how to prepare and convey your content in an understandable and attractive way in the digital age. They will work on a popular science blog post, learn about graphic tools to support the text in a multimedia and interactive way, learn about the pitfalls and strengths of social media and how to create and manage your own web presence for yourself and your research. Another focus is on visibility: How do I build and manage a community? How can I communicate the importance of my research for politics, economy and society – and actually reach them?

Continue reading Getting Your Message Across: How to Make Yourself and Your Research Visible – RESPONSE Mentoring Workshop →
Courses

RESPONSE Mentoring Workshop – Getting Your Message Across: How to Make Yourself and Your Research Visible  

Leave a comment

In this workshop, participants will learn how to reach a wider audience with your topics and texts and how to prepare and convey your content in an understandable and attractive way in the digital age. They will work on a popular science blog post, learn about graphic tools to support the text in a multimedia and interactive way, learn about the pitfalls and strengths of social media and how to create and manage your own web presence for yourself and your research. Another focus is on visibility: How do I build and manage a community? How can I communicate the importance of my research for politics, economy and society – and actually reach them?

Continue reading RESPONSE Mentoring Workshop – Getting Your Message Across: How to Make Yourself and Your Research Visible   →
Professionals

Communicating Science and Policy by Fact Sheets

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PSC Science and Policy Career Talk Series

On November 16, 2022 the first event of PSC Science and Policy Talk series took place. During 1.5 hours our invited guest speaker Dr. Sascha Ismail provided a lively insight into his work at the Swiss Biodiversity Forum at the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) in Berne and on his career path.

Sascha Ismail gave personal insights about his science and policy interface work in Switzerland. He explained how he is impacting conservation and biodiversity policies with factsheets that he coordinates in collaboration with Swiss research institutions. From his personal experience, he highlighted important considerations when planning, writing, consolidating, and communicating science-based policy recommendations in policy briefs and factsheets. This included considerations related to data design and layout as well as perspectives and perceptions of stakeholders on the topic of the current biodiversity crisis.

“For a factsheet to have impact, it is not enough to summarize scientific findings in an understandable way. The topic must be relevant to society, it needs careful graphic design, and the publication must be accompanied by other communication measures such as a press release.”

Continue reading Communicating Science and Policy by Fact Sheets →