EAP

Propose an Internship or Research Project Exploring Energy Access in the Developing World

Sarah Dwyer

EAP internships.

Deadline: March 8, 2020

The Energy Access Project at Duke University (EAP) works to address the challenges of increasing access to modern energy solutions for underserved populations around the world. We take an interdisciplinary approach to developing sustainable, reliable, and modern energy for all. Established in 2017, the project aims to deepen our understanding of energy access challenges and foster constructive dialogue among the world’s policy makers, entrepreneurs, and scholars to advance solutions that close the access gap.

The EAP provides funding to students that will spend their summer conducting internships or research projects. Students should submit proposals for projects in summer 2020 related to energy access in low- and middle-income countries (LMICS), with a focus on either modern technologies or fuels for cooking, or access to reliable, affordable, safe, and sustainable electricity. EAP is particularly interested in supporting projects and work with organizations that (i) promote innovative approaches to accelerate sustainable energy transitions in LMICS; (ii) offer insights that are applicable or generalizable to wider audiences; (iii) build linkages with innovative companies and non-profits in the energy access space; and/or (iv) are related to ongoing EAP projects.

Students at Duke who are currently enrolled, and will be enrolled full-time at Duke in Fall 2021, are eligible to apply. While funding is available for a variety of experiences including internships or research projects, we will prioritize proposals that identify a sponsoring organization that the student has established contact with and secured logistical and institutional support from. We will also prioritize proposals for projects in the field (i.e., in LMICS, working with communities that directly experience energy access challenges). However, we will consider proposals for internships or projects based at Duke, or in other parts of the developed world. If you are uncertain if your position or setting would qualify, we encourage you to contact us before applying.

We will prioritize funding for travel and living expenses, and we will also consider (with lower priority) requests for payments to sponsoring organizations, funding to purchase equipment or data, or translation services. This call for proposals is not intended to provide funding for tuition for language schools, nor student stipends or salaries.

Proposals must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, March 8, 2020. Proposals submitted after this time will not be considered.

Proposal Questions

  • Your contact information: Name, degree program and expected graduation year, department, faculty advisor, and email address
  • Description of the project or internship. This section should be reasonably well detailed, and should include specific responsibilities to the extent you know them. If the experience includes field work, please also indicate how long you intend to stay in the country, and where specifically you will be (in one city, traveling to communities, etc.).
  • Description of the sponsoring organization (if applicable), including location, and the nature of your conversations with the organization to date. Please note whether the organization has agreed to provide logistical and institutional support, and describe the nature of this support (e.g., an office space, teammates, logistical or language support for travel, etc.).
  • How your proposed project or internship contributes to the priorities of the EAP, as noted in this call for proposals and on the EAP website. If you believe your project or internship relates to ongoing research or research interests of Duke faculty, please identify the relevant faculty member(s) and describe how it relates to their research program(s).
  • How your proposal fits within your academic program, and within your broader learning goals and/or professional goals
  • What other funding sources you have applied or intend to apply for, including amounts you have already secured. (For undergraduates, please indicate if you have also applied to Duke Engage; if not, please explain why not.)
  • A budget for the proposed internship or experience

Contact

Questions or clarifications may be addressed to Rajah Saparapa, Policy Associate at the Nicholas Institute: rajah.saparapa@duke.edu

See list of available opportunities and learn more, then use this online application.

Key Duke collaborators in the Energy Access Project include the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, the Duke University Energy Initiative, the Sanford School of Public Policy, Bass Connections, and the Nicholas School of the Environment.

Can a Small Green Idea Provide Energy Access in Rural Nepal?

Sarah Dwyer

Graphic of mountains in Nepal.

As Subhrendu Pattanayak and a group of researchers from Duke University navigate narrow catwalks high into the Annapurna mountain range in the Himalayas, they begin to understand first-hand the difficulties of establishing any set infrastructure in such difficult terrain.

Gone are the paved roads of Pokhara, the Nepali city where they had begun their day, or even the narrow dirt roads that had carried them deep into the mountainside.

Ahead, the whir of engines in symphony with the rushing water of a nearby stream mark an end to their journey: a tiny structure containing within it a single turbine, waist high and six feet wide. Here lay the source of electricity for an entire community.

Eighty percent of the geography of Nepal is composed of mountain ranges like Annapurna, making the big power grids that we take for granted in the developed world an impossibility in much of Nepal. For most mountain communities, living off-grid is the only option.

But rather than fight against their geography, many of these communities have discovered a way to use the mountains to their advantage, harnessing the power of the fast-flowing mountain streams for power using a system called a micro-hydro minigrid.

For many communities, these systems not only provide power for basic necessities like lighting and cooking, but also are drivers of local economies.

In other villages however, these systems are far less effective. Many don’t produce enough electricity for the community, or sometimes none at all.

It is for this reason that the team of Duke researchers find themselves in the Himalayas: to find out why some work and some don’t, and to see if this small but beautiful alternative energy source may be a viable solution for providing electricity to off-grid communities not only in Nepal but around the world.

Robyn Meeks and Subhrendu Pattanayaak’s work is funded by the Duke University Energy Initiative’s Energy Research Seed Fund. Both researchers are also affiliated with the Duke Energy Access Project, an exciting initiative that takes an interdisciplinary approach to developing sustainable, modern energy solutions around the world.

For their work in Nepal, Robin and Subhrendu are collaborating with the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, which is a part of the Government of Nepal in its Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation.

Originally posted on the Ways & Means website. Ways & Means is a podcast produced by Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy.

Students Can Propose Energy Access Projects for Summer 2019

Sarah Dwyer

Portable cookstove.

Deadline: March 17, 2019

The Energy Access Project at Duke University (EAP) invites proposals for student projects in Summer 2019 related to energy access in less-developed countries, with a focus on either modern technologies and fuels for cooking, or access to reliable, affordable, safe, and sustainable electricity.

EAP is particularly interested in supporting projects and work with organizations that (i) promote innovative approaches to accelerate sustainable energy transitions in low- and middle-income countries; (ii) offer insights that are applicable or generalizable to wider audiences; (iii) build linkages with innovative companies and non-profits in the energy access space; and/or (iv) are related to ongoing EAP projects.

Undergraduate and graduate students at Duke who are currently enrolled, and will be enrolled full-time at Duke in Fall 2019, are eligible to apply for up to $4,000. While funding is available for a variety of experiences including internships or research projects, we will prioritize proposals that identify a sponsoring organization that the student has established contact with and secured logistical and institutional support from. We will also prioritize proposals for projects in the field (i.e., in low- or middle-income countries, working with communities that directly experience energy access challenges). However, we will consider proposals for internships or projects based at Duke, or in other parts of the developed world. While EAP recognizes that energy poverty exists worldwide, including in developed countries, at present our focus is on less-developed countries. If you are uncertain if your position or setting would qualify, we encourage you to contact us before applying.

We will prioritize funding for travel and living expenses, and we will also consider (with lower priority) requests for payments to sponsoring organizations, funding to purchase equipment or data, or translation services. This call for proposals is not intended to provide funding for tuition for language schools, nor student stipends or salaries.

We will also prioritize funding for applicants who have investigated and pursued other funding alternatives. We anticipate considerably more demand for student funding than we can accommodate, and we aim to use our limited funds to help students assemble projects that also leverage other funding sources to further their goals.

Proposals must be submitted electronically (MS Word preferred) to victoria.plutshack@duke.edu by 11:59 pm (EST) March 17, 2019. Proposals submitted after this time will not be considered. Recipients will be notified by mid-March. Upon completion of the summer work, recipients will be required to write a brief article or blog post summarizing their project and present an overview of the work at an EAP-sponsored event in Fall 2019 (the latter requirement can be deferred to accommodate study abroad).

Proposal Format

Proposals should be two to three pages long and must include the following:

  • Your contact information: Name, degree program and expected graduation year, department, faculty advisor, and email address.
  • Description of the project. This section should be reasonably well detailed, and should include specific responsibilities to the extent you know them. If the experience includes field work, please also indicate how long you intend to stay in the country, and where specifically you will be (in one city, traveling to communities, etc.).
  • Description of the sponsoring organization (if applicable), including location, and the nature of your conversations with the organization to date. Please note whether the organization has agreed to provide logistical and institutional support, and describe the nature of this support (e.g., an office space, teammates, logistical or language support for travel, etc.).
  • How your proposed project contributes to the priorities of the EAP. If you believe your project relates to another ongoing project at EAP, please identify which project and describe how yours is related.
  • How your proposal fits within your academic program, and within your broader learning goals and/or professional goals.
  • What other funding sources you have applied or intend to apply for, including amounts you have already secured. (For undergraduates, please indicate if you have also applied to Duke Engage; if not, please explain why not.)
  • A budget for the proposed internship or experience. (Budget information can be provided on a separate page.)

Contact

Questions or clarifications may be addressed to Victoria Plutshack, Policy Associate at the Energy Access Project: victoria.plutshack@duke.edu.