The students participating in this research seminar will develop a more advanced understanding of:

• the interdisciplinary dimensions of energy systems and climate change research and analysis and key emerging questions for scholars and practitioners
• a range of methodological approaches with foundations in systems models and data science that are used for energy systems and climate change analysis
• critically engaging with academic material through reading, presenting, and discussing high-impact peer-reviewed publications
• preparing visualization of data or complex modeling output for scientific publications that are also accessible to (and useful for) practitioners in business, government, and society
• preparing research for high-impact journals in this area, by understanding expectations on scope, writing style, data and code, figures and visuals
• giving and getting concrete and constructive feedback

The participants will also advance their own research through a concrete output (e.g., writing an extended abstract, new data or model visualization)

This discussion-based course is based on preparatory readings, joint seminars, instructor input, and discussions with an interdisciplinary group of scholars.

Readings will be assigned from high-impact peer-reviewed journals and discussed collectively, with each participant (co)leading at least one discussion. The specific readings will be aligned to some extent with the collective research interests of the participants. External speakers or methodological experts may be invited.

The readings and discussion will be a foundation for advancing students’ research, where mutual feedback on scope, writing, methods, analysis and figures will be provided.

The course language is English.

Background (or interest in) interdisciplinary and data-intensive approaches (e.g., systems models, integrated assessment models, data science, network science, complex systems) is expected, regardless of discipline or department. For students from other universities, consent from Prof. Surana is required. Please email kavita.surana@wu.ac.at.