UKCCSRC September 2017 Biannual: An account by Sergio Ramirez Solis

To attain a successful academic career, training must be part of the daily life of a PhD student pursing this target. The early career program supported by UKCCSRC provides a great opportunity interact with practitioners in the field of carbon capture and storage (CCS) and thus, learn from their wide experience. The organization of events such as the biannual meeting held at the University of Sheffield also permits to get an update of the current trends in terms of science and technology available in the portfolio of the UK in regards with CCS.

From my personal perspective, the biannual was an important occasion to spread my research work conducted in the course of the first two years of my PhD at the University of Leeds. The poster session coupled with the competition for the ECR poster prize was an amazing experience owing to the knowledge and the feedback acquired through the positive comments released by the experts in CCS. On the other hand, being awarded one of the ERC prizes is an indescribable feeling and all I can say is that the effort and dedication were worth it.

As result of attending the parallel sessions, my perspective in CCS has matured and I am aware that there are weak points that need attention and improvement. Clear examples of that were mentioned in the interesting conference provided by Prof Patricia Thornley. The UKCCSRC event also provided me with an enriched overview in the context of what is the pathway that I must follow to contribute significantly to the common target pursued by the CCS practitioners.

Finally, I would like to thanks the UKCCSRC for sponsoring my attendance at the biannual in Sheffield and I also draw upon this blog to encourage other PhD students for attending these outstanding events organized to a great extent to ECRs.