PhD Students Across Europe Set To Gather For Geothermal Energy Conference

PhD students from across Europe are set to gather in Glasgow this week for a major conference on geothermal energy research.

The annual European Geothermal PhD Days (EGPD) is visiting the UK for the first time between April 4th and April 6th. The 2023 event will be the 14th of its kind, after it began in 2010 as part of the European Educational Research Association’s joint programme on geothermal energy.

Around 60 PhD students from universities across the continent are expected to attend the event, which combines two days of training and presentations followed by a field trip to the UK GeoEnergy Observatory in the city’s east end.

Each year, the event is organised by volunteer PhD students studying geothermal energy across a range of disciplines. This year, students from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Strathclyde have arranged a varied programme for visitors.

Dozens of the attendees will present their research at poster and presentation sessions held at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde. They will have opportunities to network throughout the events and the chance to attend a drinks reception at Glasgow City Chambers and a ceilidh held at the Strathclyde University Union. The event will also include keynote addresses from leading geothermal researchers

William Nibbs, a first-year PhD student from the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering, is one of the organisers of this year’s event. He was inspired to host this year’s event in Scotland after participating in the Geothermal-DHC summer school at TU Delft in July 2022.

William said: “Geothermal energy has a lot of potential to help the world reach net-zero. To get there, we’ll need a great deal of international collaboration between researchers, governments and funders to share knowledge, form new partnerships, and build new technologies.

“This event offers PhD students a fantastic opportunity to get to know each other, learn about the interdisciplinary research that we’re undertaking, and find new ways to work together that will help us develop not just our careers but the field of geothermal research in the years to come.

“I’m pleased to have played a part in bringing this event to Glasgow along with my counterparts at Strathclyde and Edinburgh and the support of my PhD supervisor, Prof Gioia Falcone. Glasgow is a fantastic city with an ambitious target of achieving net-zero by 2030. I’m looking forward to introducing my peers from across Europe to some of Scotland’s culture while they’re here.”

Professor Gioia Falcone, Rankine Chair of Energy Engineering and Associate Director of the Centre for Sustainable Solutions said: “We are delighted to co-host this unique opportunity for peer-to-peer networking and for fostering geothermal innovation. To witness the collegiality with which our students have come together to plan this event over the past few months has been truly inspiring.”

Once the event is complete, the team will prepare a post-event summary of the discussions which will be made available online.

EGPD 2023 is sponsored by Geothermal-DHC, Celsius Energy, CGG, COWI, Energy Technology Partnership, Eden Geothermal, and TownRock Energy. The event is supported by Clyde Gateway, the British Geological Survey, the European Geothermal Energy Council (EGEC) and Women in Geothermal (WING). Think GeoEnergy are the event’s media partner.