We're hiring!
Fancy a job as a research associate? It pays over thirty grand, and involves lots of travel to exotic destinations in Africa. You'll be working on an exciting new project, funded by the British Academy, that is focused on renewable energy, development and the digital economy. It's part of the UK government's £1.5 billion Global Challenges Research Fund. The project is for sixteen months. For more information, and to apply, please visit the website. #MakingLightWork #SmithScho
Investing Responsibly
Students reading for a D.Phil (PhD) at Oxford are formally assessed a couple of times over the course of their studies. Yesterday I assessed a candidate who is exploring questions around responsible investment (RI). At the end of what was a very interesting meeting, my co-assessor asked the candidate and myself what we thought about the future of RI - particularly, did we think it would evolve into the mainstream, or remain a niche activity. The candidate was (probably very s
Whitewall rafting
I participated in my first Whitewall 'ideation session' in Oxford today, led by the redoubtable Lucas Kruitwagen. Over two hours at sunny Mansfield College, seven colleagues from the Smith School and INET started off with some brainstorming warmup, before establishing some large questions, and then did a few rounds of divergent/convergent thinking to get to some concrete ideas. Having grown up in an era when 'brainstorming' gave us businesses like boo.com, my default switch i
Thank you, British Academy!
I am delighted to have secured one of 16 grants awarded by the British Academy, under their Sustainable Development Programme. The grant will fund a major research project to further sustainable development and work to eliminate poverty. This programme from the British Academy' is supported by the UK government's £1.5 billion Global Challenges Research Fund. My project, entitled 'Making Light Work' focuses on a unique model for delivering utility-scale solar powered electrici
War Games
I had an opportunity to participate in an energy transitions wargaming session, run by my colleagues in Sustainable Finance, along with others. The simulation gave players the responsibility of running energy companies, and making choices on what resources they would invest in. Imagined exogenous events such as oil price movements, regime changes etc. were overlaid onto the game, highlighting the consequences of different decisions made over time, as measured by changes in th
