Progression Opportunities In CCS Provided By Industrial Placements In China

Scottish and Chinese research centres will collaborate to provide students with the opportunity to enhance their work prospects in the field of carbon capture and storage (CCS) by completing an industry placement.

The agreement between the UK-China (Guangdong) CCUS Centre (GDCCUS) and Scottish Carbon Capture & Storage (SCCS) will pave the way for three to four graduates a year to travel to Guangdong for six-month internships, either at the centre itself or with one of its industry partners – such as Guangdong Electric Design Institute, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China Resources Power or the CIMC Group.

The placements will be open to graduates who have completed a CCS-relevant Masters degree at an SCCS partner institute. Students who completed their postgraduate studies this year will be in pole position to apply for the first internships. Those currently studying will be able to apply for internships starting in September 2017.

The SCCS research partnership includes the universities of Heriot-Watt, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Strathclyde. Each institute has a variety of CCS-related MSc opportunities, from engineering and hydrocarbon geoscience to carbon management and carbon finance. Further details can be found at: http://www.sccs.org.uk/education-and-training/masters-programmes

Dr Xi Liang, Secretary General of GDCCUS, said:

“The Guangdong Centre is delighted to offer this opportunity to highly motivated students with an interest in enhancing their knowledge. Successful applicants could see themselves spending up to six months with one of our industry partners on a CCUS demonstration project in South China. That is an invaluable experience for anyone wanting to pursue a career in CCS. Our collaboration is also a great example of knowledge exchange between research centres in China and the UK.”

These internships offer postgraduates an ideal progression into real-world CCS activities in China, following on from CCS study and research at SCCS partner universities.

 

Dr Philippa Parmiter, SCCS Project Manager, said:

“These internships offer postgraduates an ideal progression into real-world CCS activities in China, following on from CCS study and research at SCCS partner universities. They offer a great opportunity to work on near zero emission technologies in Guangdong.”

Yutong Shu, a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, completed her MSc course before going on to do a two-month internship at GDCCUS last summer.

Shu said: “During my two-month internship at the Guangdong centre I had a chance to be involved in a real CCS initiative – the China Resources Haifeng Power Station CCS project. The internship is a unique cross-disciplinary one that combines the skills of project management, project engineering design, carbon finance and management. I also worked with staff from DNV-GL, CNOOC, the South China Sea Institute and engineers from the power station. It was a precious experience, which gave me a lot of stimulation for my current PhD research. I am now collaborating on a study of the CO2 storage potential of the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the South China Sea as part of the Haifeng project.