Participation in UNIS AE-842 Arctic Energy Meteorology 2025
Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne - EPFL
Lay summary
Description of the programme
During the AE-842, I was able to meet many scientists working in the field of polar meteorology. As Inear the end of my PhD, with the intention of continuing in science, this has been very helpful to network and learn about current openings for my future steps. With the fieldwork centered approach of UNIS, I have gained more experience working in the Arctic environment, which is a very important skill for me to develop, as it is exactly what I want to continue with in my career.
How did you benefit from the programme?
The course on Arctic Energy Meteorology made a very good summary of the underlying meteorology, and how this builds up to the renewable energy sources that I study. Often, I feel that with my background in the “pure” physics and then the applied side of renewable energy, I was missing some of the background knowledge of meteorology. This course has helped me put my own research
into perspective, and gave me new ideas for my future research goals in the last part of my PhD as well as during post doc positions.
What were the highlights of the training?
My personal highlight was giving my own guest lecture during the course! After our fieldwork activities and a few lectures, I realized that my research was highly relevant to the project goals. I asked the teacher if I could give a lecture about my work, and she enthusiastically agreed. I prepared a two-hour lecture tailored to our course objectives but also open to the public, including scientists and people from the local energy sector. There was great participation and valuable feedback. It has long been my dream to lecture at UNIS, and this felt like the first step.
Would you recommend the programme to other students?
I would recommend students to take AE-342/842 if you don’t have much knowledge about Energy Meteorology. As a 4th year PhD working on this exact topic, many things were quite redundant, and I sometimes felt that I was pulling the project of my group because, I just had much more experience compared to the master students, many of whom had never done field work before, nor worked with
weather data. Though even as a PhD student, I think UNIS is an excellent place to network and find new contacts for your career, you just have to make the most of this excellent environment.
Details
| Regional focus | Arctic |
| Location | Svalbard |
| Funded amount | 1,500 CHF |
| Project dates | 22nd September 2025 – 31st October 2025 |
| Category | Field and Summer Schools |