February 22, 2023, by Postgraduate Placements Nottingham

My placement for a cutting-edge research project with Biodiversify and ClimateHorizon

Szu-Yu Chen, a researcher in Nottingham University Business School, talks about her postgraduate placement experience.

In 2022 summer, I was not sure what I would like to do after my PhD and felt anxious about the future since I was a 3rd year PhD student. Without any publication and teaching experience, I was wondering what jobs I could obtain after my PhD ends. I contacted one postgraduate Career Consultant to discuss what I was concerned about. She gave me the advice to keep an eye on the Researcher Academy website to find out opportunities not only inside academia. Through this I found a great chance to conduct a desk-research project on carbon market at Biodiversify .

My main research interests are the social and environmental responsibilities of business, so this placement work perfectly matched my research background. I needed to use my data collection and analysis skills and apply my research knowledge to develop a market report for the general audience. This was a challenge for me since I was used to explaining things in academic language and talking to people with the same background. To conduct a general introduction to carbon market, I collaborated with a co-worker from ClimateHorizon, which company collaborates with Biodiversify on this carbon market project.

“My placement started when I was entering the thesis pending period, which was a rather boring time. Thanks to the remote working style, I could easily arrange my time to fit my research writing and placement.”

Photo credit: Christina Morillo (Pexels)

Initially, there were some conflicts between my co-worker and myself. For example, I was developing the core concept of carbon market but my co-worker wanted to add more details to the content. I learned about how my writing and expression misled others, and I also learned how to absorb others’ opinions. It took us some time to communicate efficiently with each other, especially since we all worked remotely. However, through more online meetings with small talk and some real reflections, we finally enjoyed working together and completed a high-quality report. We then presented it to all our colleagues inside the team, across two companies, and received great feedback.

This placement provided me with a good opportunity to work independently but also collaboratively. The encouraging environment and everyone’s trust made me more confident. I was also happy to contribute my knowledge to real businesses and to provide the team a clear concept of the carbon market for their future research and collaborations. I am thankful for all the colleagues I met during this placement. Our connections through LinkedIn also give us a good platform to share some new findings about carbon market.

My placement started when I was entering the thesis pending period, which was a rather boring time. Thanks to the remote working style, I could easily arrange my time to fit my research writing and placement. I had a wonderful time discussing carbon offset and biodiversity with some pioneers. I also found some inspiring topics for my future research. Based on my experiences, I highly recommend students who feel uncertain about their careers to apply for the placement provided by the Researcher Academy. The placement may enrich your knowledge and build new connections in a fantastic working environment.

Szu-Yu Chen
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/szuyuchen1/

> Excellence Through Experience: Why do a Researcher Academy placement?

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