Introduction:

Objectives: International and Interdisciplinary:

The main objective of the proposed project is to facilitate and encourage wider research collaboration and networking possibilities between energy researchers, with a focus on including early career researchers, in the UK and Russia. The project is intended to help develop key career skills among early career researchers through their involvement in the workshops and by taking part in an international network with a view to publication. This proposal will have at its heart an understanding that energy, particularly oil and gas, can be perceived and understood from a number of perspectives which is why it is a topic for departments as diverse as engineering, economics, business and increasingly international relations. However, in 2006 the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP) at Dundee University concluded a report for the ESRC into the state of research into energy, oil and gas, as a subject area in the UK which concluded that there was a particular lack of research into energy from an International Relations (IR) perspective[2]. This research project intends to form part of the process of filling that void in addition to providing the core international networking and travel opportunities, specifically between Russia and the UK, for early career researchers focused on energy. Specifically the PEEER project intends to provide funding for early career researchers to attend two workshops, one in Moscow and one in the UK, for establishing an associated virtual network, as well as a smaller, more flexible funding element for international travel required in order to complete research related to the project as it emerges.
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International Networking and Training for Early Career Researchers:

The primary organiser of this research proposal will be a PhD student from the Politics and International Relations (PaIS) department of the University of Warwick, Caroline Kuzemko, whose research topic is UK-Russia energy relations. Through the process of leading this application, as well as through organising and managing any successful project, Mrs Kuzemko's professional skills and qualifications should be substantially developed. She has an established working relationship with an associate professor from Moscow State University’s Higher School of Economics (HSE), Andrei Belyi, with whom she wrote an article on UK-Russia energy relations which has been published, in Russian, through the Institute of Strategic Evaluation and Analysis and which is forthcoming in English for the Defence Academy’s Advanced Research and Assessment Group (ARAG). The HSE has recently inaugurated a cathedra dedicated to energy research called the World Politics of Energy. This cathedra is headed by Professor Nodar Simonia, a leading Russian energy geopolitics specialist and former energy advisor to Vladimir Putin during his Presidency of the Russian Federation. It is intended that Professor Simonia’s considerable expertise in Russian energy research and policy practice will be available to support the network and provide non-Russian participants with valuable insight into Russian energy policymaking practices. Professor Simonia’s departmental co-chair is Dr Andrei Belyi who is a leader in the field of research into EU-Russian energy relations and Russian and European energy regulation. Dr Belyi will act as a full member of the network and workshop teams and is expected to lead and be involved in research on one or more of the chosen topics for analysis. Through offering funding to UK early career researchers and through the expertise based at the Politics of World Energy cathedra in Moscow, and the support lent by Professor Seabrooke, CSGR and GARNET, the PEEER network should be able to ensure a high degree of international collaboration and training on the subject of energy, oil and gas.
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Proposed Activities:

PEEER is proposing two workshops. The first would take place in September 2009 at the World Politics of Energy department in the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow, and the second in September 2010 within the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation (CSGR) of the University of Warwick. They will both be organised by Caroline Kuzemko with the support and advice of Andrei Belyi and Professor Len Seabrooke, Director of CSGR, as appropriate. Both CSGR and the Garnet Network of Excellence (GARNET), particularly Professor Armstrong, have expressed interest in supporting this project as it will provide a much needed opportunity for international research collaboration in an under-researched area. The first workshop, after an initial introductory panel lead by Professor Simonia, will be given over to the clear establishment of specific research topics with a view to the chosen topics ultimately forming chapters in an edited book as well as some co-authored articles. The Moscow workshop will also serve as an introductory event for researchers, as an opportunity to identify individuals to lead research on specific topics going forward and on other future possibilities for the network. The second workshop hosted by CSGR will invite both Amelia Hadfield, Director of the Energy Analysis Group, and Professor Seabrooke to open proceedings. This workshop will provide an opportunity for researchers to present their findings in the form of papers and to subject their research results to scrutiny by the group as a whole. It will also provide an opportunity to discuss specifics regarding the publishing process and book and article submissions. In addition to the planned workshops PEEER proposes the establishment of a website dedicated to the network and workshops, which can be supported either by the GARNET virtual network or the University of Warwick web system, and which would store all working papers, serve as a blog and as a way of disseminating information about related events and future proposals. As both the GARNET and Warwick networks are already up and running this should limit the organisation required to establish the PEEER virtual network. Key technical support is on offer within CSGR and GARNET which will be vital to the maintenance of the network and this has been costed into the proposal.

The bulk of the cost of the proposed project will be dedicated to funding attendance at workshops as well as some flexible travel related to the production of research specified at the Moscow workshop. It is proposed that funded places for the Moscow workshop will be offered to 14 early career researchers with particular and or growing research interests in energy from international relations, security, business studies and economics backgrounds. The majority of funded places will go to early career researchers based at UK institutions (10 places), but some will be offered to researchers based in Europe and Russia (4). As Dr Belyi is already based at the cathedra of Politics of World Energy his place at the Moscow workshop will not require funding. Likewise, 14 places will be funded for researchers to attend the Warwick workshop in the same proportions and as Caroline Kuzemko is based at Warwick. In the likely event that there are more applications for funding than places available then Caroline Kuzemko and Andrei Belyi will allocate the funding according to relevance to the overall topics and with a view to including as inter-disciplinary a group as possible.
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Communication and User Engagement:

The PEEER virtual network is intended to act as a core communication tool for the project but other marketing channels will initially be needed to attract the highest calibre, relevant early career researchers to this project. PEEER would be in a position to market its proposed network and workshops, through Caroline Kuzemko and Andrei Belyi’s membership of a number of separate energy and international relations groups and networks in the UK and Russia. In the UK energy networks include the Working Group on Russian and East European Energy based at Birmingham University (with an area studies and geography bias), the Energy Analysis Group based at Kent University (with a foreign policy bias) and the more recently formed working group on energy security at Exeter. International relations networks to be utilised in initial marketing include the British International Studies Association (BISA) and the Garnet Network of Excellence with includes 42 leading European universities and Chatham House. Caroline Kuzemko has approached a few early career researchers through these groups some of whom have expressed provisional interest in the network and workshops. Russian places at the workshop can be communicated through a number of energy networks including those based at the Fund Institute for Energy and Finance, the Institute for Oil and Gas, the Institute for Energy Studies and at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
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Outcomes and Academic Impact:

The principal anticipated outcomes of this proposed research project, beyond the establishment of an international and inter-disciplinary energy network, would be the development of particular topics of research related to the overarching theme of the political economy of energy in Europe and Russia. Although it is anticipated that specific topics will become more clearly defined at the first workshop in Moscow in September 2009 at this stage the following broad topic areas are being proposed:

1. In a time of changing conceptualisations of, and policy responses to, energy this project will seek to explore the ways in which international relations perspectives can enrich economics approaches to energy (and vice versa) as conceptualisations and policy change;

2. An overview and comparative analysis of the transition processes in energy regulatory approaches over the past decade in the UK, Russia and the EU;

3. Analysis of the changing role of the public and private sectors over the last decade in the UK, Europe and Russia;

4. Analysis of how emerging notions of energy as a security issue (or the securitisation of energy) has effected energy policymaking in the EU, UK and Russia;

5. Analysis of the ways in which energy has affected international relations between European countries and Russia with an emphasis on notions of politicisation and securitisation;

6. An exploration of ways in which regulatory approaches (including governance, institutions and legal practices)need to adapt to manage the transition period between reliance on fossil fuels as a primary source of energy and emerging alternative technologies;

It is intended that research produced through this networking process will be published both in an edited book format and as co-authored journal articles as well as disseminated through the associated website. A very preliminary approach has been made to one of the co-editors of the Garnet book series with regard to their publishing an edited book on the political economy of energy in Europe with provisional interest having been indicated. Initial interest has also been expressed by the journal Oil, Gas and Energy Law Intelligence. In addition research produced by this new network could provide useful reading material for the WBS and HSE Masters programmes in energy as well as an established channel for further international student collaboration between these Masters programmes. Research produced should also prove complimentary to the newly formed research clusters (ESRC/EPSRC funded) on energy sustainability and security and to other energy networks in the UK and Russia.
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Non-academic Impact:

In addition, the research proposed by this network is intended to have implications for and relevance to the energy policymaking community in the UK specifically at this time of institutional and policy change. By addressing the proposed research topics research produced by PEEER should prove useful to the UK energy policymaking community and those conducting energy relations with Russia in that it will add international relations into the analysis of energy at a time when energy analysis has been conducted in the main by economists with less emphasis on diplomatic relations. Specific institutions in the UK which might benefit from the outputs of the PEEER network would be the newly formed Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Advanced Research and Analysis Group (ARAG) of the Ministry of Defence. There is some established contact between members of PEEER and these institutions which PEEER aims to use to disseminate its findings, for example Dr Belyi and Mrs Kuzemko have already produced some research for ARAG and Mrs Kuzemko has some established contacts within DECC and the energy analysis and Russia teams at the FCO. Dr Belyi, and Professor Simonia, also have contacts within Gazprom, in particular, as well as within Russian energy policymaking circles which they will aim to utilise in disseminating PEEER reports and findings. GARNET also has wide experience in disseminating research into policymaking communities, particularly within the EU, upon which the network will also be able to draw. PEEER's virtual network should prove particularly useful in helping to maintain contact with the policymaking community, specifically in the UK.
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Exit Strategy:

The exit strategy for this project will depend on progress and decisions made across the 18 month period and it is possible that the network may seek further funding for additional research projects and international networking and collaboration. At a minimum it is expected that the dedicated website will be kept up and running for a minimum of six months post the end of the project and that, if publication has not yet been achieved, that the network will be sustained until this is achieved.
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Jump to

Introduction

Objectives

International Networking/Training

Proposed Activities

Communication/User Engagement 

Outcomes/Academic Impact

Non-Academic Impact

Exit Strategy