TEK4450 – Interdisciplinary Research for Sustainability: A Toolkit for the Energy Transition

Schedule, syllabus and examination date

Course content

The energy system is undergoing a fundamental change from being carbon intensive to zero carbon, so as to achieve the goals according to the Paris Agreement of limiting global mean surface temperature rise to well below 2 °C. Typically, energy-related questions are answered by a single discipline and lead to decisions and solutions that are not optimal when assessed in an integrative, interdisciplinary approach. This course provides early career researchers the opportunity to acquire a toolkit for interdisciplinary research.

The course is conducted by academics in the EMPOWER project at UiO and from CircleU. EV batteries will be discussed from different lenses, including user behaviour, market, regulation, material, and technologies. Achieving sustainable EV batteries is related to far-reaching socio-technical transitions in many sectors of the economy. Thus, this course will adopt an interdisciplinary and systemic approach to examining the role of EV batteries in sustainable development, energy transitions, and zero-emission e-mobility in the socio-spatial context of Norway and Europe and providing students with a broad understanding of both the challenges and opportunities of a path to sustainability.

This course will draw on a synthesis of different approaches and disciplines for sociotechnical transitions in e-mobility. Students have opportunities to try out or deepen their competencies by taking an interdisciplinary approach to the complex phenomenon of EV batteries in the socio-spatial context of e-mobility in Norway by combining insights from different strands of literature, e.g., Regulatory Ecology, Sustainability Transitions, Hotspot Analysis, Institutional Analysis, Modelling, etc. It will bring together students from different disciplines and provide them with deeper insights?into the work of other disciplines. The course will apply a research-led teaching philosophy based on the ongoing outcome of relevant research projects.

Learning outcome

After completing this course, you will be able to

  • demonstrate knowledge of sustainability concepts from natural science (e.g. material sciences, mathematical modelling) and social sciences (e.g. law, psychology, political sciences and anthropology)
  • provide examples of how disciplines may complement each other in the course of formulating and answering research questions
  • identify and demonstrate different forms of collaboration and analyse why and when forms are appropriate
  • read and analyse state-of-the-art academic literature in the field of sustainability
  • compare and contrast the perspectives of different actors, for instance, governments and industry, in sustainable energy transitions
  • map and explore the complexity of the energy transition
  • communicate and present complex sustainability issues to an interdisciplinary audience

Admission to the course

Students admitted at UiO must?apply for courses?in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other master's de