2024 was the first year the PhD Community on green transition organized regular activities for candidates working on topics related to green transition. From its start in May to the end of December, 11 gatherings were held, focusing on getting to know other PhD candidates, exchanging ideas, and collaborating across disciplines.
Experiences from the first year
In April, an agreement was made with a PhD candidate from the Faculty of Social Sciences to take on the role of coordinator to maintain and manage the community. The PhD candidate herself is working on a project about citizen involvement and how to create good meeting places for information sharing.
The goal of the community is to bring together PhD candidates through social activities and gatherings, providing them with the opportunity to get to know each other and exchange ideas. The community aims to foster dialogue and collaboration across disciplines that can support the candidates in their projects and help them develop better solutions to their challenges.
The community consists of approximately 60 PhD candidates, mostly in the first or second year of their PhD journey. Since May, the community has organized 11 gatherings, with participant numbers ranging from 10 to 20 people. The gatherings have been both social and academic, and the PhD candidates have been engaged and interested in participating and driving the community forward.
It takes time to build such a community, but through the recent meetings, it is clear that the PhD candidates are beginning to see the value of having such a meeting place. This is an area of focus that can have great significance for the candidates and how they solve their tasks throughout their PhD journey, and we look forward to future activities in 2025.
Department of Innovation end External Collaboration supports the coordinator in their work and contributes resources to activities for the community.
Summary of activities
Monthly lunch gatherings
The community started by offering monthly lunch gatherings for the PhD candidates to provide them with a meeting place to get to know each other and discuss green transition at UiS and their projects. 6 lunch gatherings were arranged at different locations around campus. The year was concluded with a half-day seminar at Ydalir Hotel, where several PhD projects were presented, and the candidates had the opportunity to discuss the projects together. Researcher Jens Kaae Fisker shared insights about the NEBSTAR research project, and Ingvald Erga, the environmental manager at Stavanger Airport Sola, discussed the work to prepare the airport for electric planes and how they take responsibility for being a positive contributor to the environment in various areas.
Writing retreat to Egersund
18 PhD candidates went on a two-day trip to Egersund to spend some quiet time away from campus, where they could focus on their tasks and dedicate a few hours to writing. The trip also allowed ample time for socializing and fruitful discussions.
Coffee and cake
To create even more engagement, "coffee and cake" gatherings were initiated once a month. The community had a need to bring the PhD candidates together more frequently than once a month, to provide them with the opportunity to get to know each other better and to establish a strong foundation for the communitymoving forward. Two coffee and cake gatherings were held in the fall of 2024, and this will become a regular low-threshold offering for the PhD candidates in 2025 as well.
External gatherings
The community also aims to organize trips to local private and public actors to get better acquainted with what is happening in the region. Two gatherings were held in collaboration with Stavanger Municipality, one workshop with the World Energy Cities Partnership, and one session to better understand how the municipality works with green transition.