Graduate Consortium on Energy and Environment

New!  Apply Online   Next application deadline will be May 2012.

Contact program administrator Brenda Hugot for more information.

Training a New Generation of Scholars

The Harvard Graduate Consortium on Energy and Environment will foster a new community of doctoral students who will be well versed in the broad, interconnected issues of energy and environment while maintaining their focus in their primary discipline. Through debate and dialogue in coursework and seminars, students will be able to identify the obstacles, highlight the opportunities, and define the discussion of an energy strategy for the 21st century and beyond.

Program Description

The Consortium is open to Ph.D. or Sc.D. students at Harvard who have completed at least one year in their home department or school and can demonstrate that participation in the Consortium will advance the goals of their research experience. Once admitted to the Consortium, students are required to take three of the four courses offered -- including either Energy Policy or Geopolitics of Energy -- each designed to give doctoral students an introduction to critical aspects of energy issues. Students are also required to participate in a weekly reading seminar that will provide an overview of the energy field from a wide range of perspectives, and will be led by faculty members from around the university. Each student in the program will be eligible to apply for a graduate fellowship and up to $1,000 to attend conferences or other appropriate professional activities during their time in the program.

Courses

• Energy Consequences: The Consequences of Energy Systems (Fall)
  

  This course will give students an introduction to climate and climate change, the carbon cycle, air and water pollution from energy systems, impacts of land use on natural ecosystems, and implications of energy use for human health.

• Energy Security: Geopolitics of Energy (Fall)
  

  This course takes energy security as its launching point, exploring not only how countries shape their grand strategies to meet their energy needs, but also how such actions have implications for other countries and the international system. It looks at new technologies and innovations—such as those making the extraction of shale gas economical—and how they are changing patterns of trade and could shape new alliances. Finally, it considers the consequences of a successful shift away from petroleum-based economies to anticipate how a new energy order will alter global politics in fundamental ways.

• Energy Technology (Spring)
  

  This course will provide a basic but technically rigorous introduction to energy systems, including a review of thermodynamics of energy technologies and surveys of some of the major fossil fuel technologies across all sectors. It will also cover recent innovations, and examine new technologies that could replace existing types of energy systems.

• Energy Policy (Spring)
  

  This course will provide students with an introduction to economic and policy dimensions of the energy choices needed to meet economic and environmental goals in both the near and long term. It will cover both international and domestic programs and policies.

• Reading Seminar (Fall, Spring)
  

  Articles will be assigned each week on various topics related to the energy field, with discussion to be led by faculty across the university. Regular attendance during the entire academic year is mandatory.

Graduate Fellowships

Students accepted into the Consortium will be eligible to apply for graduate fellowships provided by the Harvard University Center for the Environment. Teaching fellowships will also be available, and applicants who can serve as teaching fellows will be given admission priority. Students interested in competing for these awards should provide a list of current and anticipated sources of support for their doctoral research on their applications.

To Apply:

Doctoral students (Ph.D. or Sc.D.) are eligible to enroll in the Consortium after completing one year of study in their home department. Applicants should submit a 1-page C.V. and a statement of no more than 500 words describing their interest in and qualifications for the program and how it relates to their graduate work. Applicants must obtain the approval of their research advisor and submit a proposed course of study that specifies when they plan to take each course. Note that the program must be completed within two years.