Edinburgh-headquartered oil explorer Cairn has pledged £300,000 to a new energy scholarship programme at Heriot-Watt University .
The funds will be available over three years for postgraduate students to study for Applied Geoscience degrees in the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering that focus on cleaner energy themes like carbon storage or geothermal energy.
The Cairn Energy Prize will also award £500 each year to the student with the best clean energy-focused geoscience project, from any part of the university.
Eric Hathon, exploration director at Cairn, said: “The Cairn Energy scholarships will focus on developing talent and research in clean energy from a subsurface and geoscience perspective, which are key areas of expertise in our business.
“We have collaborated with Heriot-Watt on research projects in the past and the university was a natural partner for our new scholarship scheme, which will complement our ongoing commitment to summer internship and graduate programmes. The energy transition needs expertise and detailed knowledge of the subsurface, and we are delighted to support the Applied Geoscience Masters degree programmes at Heriot-Watt.”
Professor John Underhill, chair of exploration geoscience at Heriot-Watt University, said: “The Cairn Energy scholarships will enable world-leading postgraduate research and training to be undertaken in the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering. The award underlines the confidence the industry has in Heriot-Watt’s ability to find subsurface solutions that address the low carbon energy transition.”
A committee at Heriot-Watt will approve all programmes of study to ensure they focus on clean energy. Heriot-Watt has research expertise in subsurface geoscience that helps evaluate carbon storage sites and underpins geothermal energy applications. Students interested in applying for the scholarship should contact Professor John Underhill , Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering (IGE), Heriot-Watt University.
