Record St Andrews participation in a Europaeum event
Seven St Andrews students and one St Andrews alumnus participated in the Europaeum’s The Future of the European Green Deal Winter School event, held at Complutnese University Madrid. This marks a record participation by St Andrews in the events organised by the Europaeum, a group of 18 leading European universities, including Oxford, St Andrews, Bologna, LMU Munich, Charles and Copenhagen. The event brought students and researchers from across Europe together to discuss how the continent will become climate neutral by 2050.
Three students presented the mobile app WillCO2st, which enables users to track carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions of research activity, across three key areas: experiments, travel, and direct emissions. This tool is part of a broader grassroots effort aimed at empowering postgraduate students to estimate the carbon footprint of PhD research and drive changes. Aimee Bebbington (School of Mathematics and Statistics), Ranjini Sircar, and William Smith (School of Psychology and Neuroscience) presented their work, which is supported by a Scotland’s Future Series Grant and mentored by Dr Stefan Pulver.
William said: “It was great to deliver an inspiring talk about how individual researchers can meaningfully contribute to sustainability. Our central message of how easy, accessible, and low effort many sustainability estimations and improvements was well received and well embraced.”
Ranjini added: “The event brought together postgraduate students from various European universities, who were all interested in sustainability as a solution to climate change. These students were from different disciplines and backgrounds, so it was very insightful to see how each of them was thinking about these big issues, for example from perspectives of policy, individual action and industry accountability.”
Also in attendance were three other students from the University of St Andrews: Hannah Christensen from the School of Psychology and Neuroscience, Aswin Sasi from the School of Physics and Astronomy, and Chandrika Ghosh from the School of Chemistry. Additionally, Heather Cameron from the Business School was present. Heather is currently pursuing a PhD focused on the Circular Economy—a model that emphasizes the repair of goods and the recycling of materials, aiming to minimize waste and reduce environmental pollution. Heather said: “It was fascinating to learn about the European Green Deal from the perspectives of a diverse range of speakers including academics, lawyers, business leaders, and public servants. This was both fascinating in its own right and will be very relevant for my PhD research on the Circular Economy. Hearing from panellists about the challenges and opportunities of pursuing circular economy models has given me confidence in the relevance and significance of my research. It also helped to clarify my research interests in how challenges to implementing a circular economy are navigated; and given me confidence to consider my research in a broader, international and cross-sector context.”
Another St Andrews connection, Professor Raphael Heffron, hosted a roundtable discussion on energy transitions in the EU. Prof Heffron is a Professor in Energy Justice & The Social Contract at the Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, France, and has worked for the European Commossion on Low-Carbon Economy. He is als a qualified Barrister-at-Law, and Senior Counsel at a law firm in Brussels. Prof Heffron added, “My interdisciplinary education at the University of St. Andrews prepared me to tackle real world problems such as energy and climate change which are the greatest challenges for the world today.”
The Europaeum regularly announces upcoming events for postgraduate students on its core events page. Selected students receive accommodation and meals, and are reimbursed for travel costs. The Europaeum Special Graduate debate on AI and democracy and the Europaeum Summer School on AI are currently open for applications, until 31 March. The Global Office coordinates St Andrews’ membership of the Europaeum, and advertises opportunitites. Please contact [email protected] for further information.